Posted on 08/07/2006 3:43:15 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?
Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.
The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”
As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.
The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.
The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.
A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.
What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.
Lopez: So…did the Cedar Revolution fail?
Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.
The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.
The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.
The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.
More at link...
Just got back in.
Are YOU feeling better?????
The brutal killing of that poor young girl in Colorado kept me awake last night - hovering over my own girls.
May she rest in the arms of our Father and may He comfort her family.
~tears~
Dizzy again, but am off the 7up diet.
I cannot bear to think of the parents of the dead girl.
Or to think of the damage done to the other kids, not that far from Columbine and all the kids are very aware of it.
Liberty rocks has pulled it all onto one page, so it will be complete as a report, it is at her website.
I couldn't take anymore. so quit.......reading.
The radio said he is a 54 year old homeless man.
At least we know, his soul is rotting in hell.
messingaround, the first is interesting, the second useful for research:
http://www.google.com/search?q=www.globalterroralert.com&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.globalterroralert.com/
------
Might call this the history of jihadi websites, of use might be the links; also footnotes to trials of the top American jihadi arrests, and see notes 54 and 55 , one thing to keep in mind
Food and Beverage Industry is the FBI in code.
Foot note 32 says it is Niagarra falls jpg at night, someone wanted that recently.
http://www.globalterroralert.com/loopholes.pdf
http://www.google.com/search?q=Legal+and+Investigative+Loopholes+in+Modern+Cyberterrorism+Cases&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
More on feminists and all aspects of life, from a long list of magazines, etc, mostly mideast, should go to several good articles, but I am not up to chasing them today.
http://www.dayan.org/currentcontents08-2006.htm
I see your France riots here and several Israel/Jewish history articles...I am not up to checking them out.
http://www.acpr.org.il/nativ/2006-3/2006-3-contents.htm
Says open to all researchers:
http://www.dayan.org/framebul.htm
Several to read:
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usacsl/IPapers.asp
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/featured_articles/Sep06/2Sep06-SRP.htm
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/
The use of the word 'funny' in my last post was a poor choice, maybe "creepy" would have been better.
THE NEXT ADDED 100 MILLION AMERICANS
PART 1
By Frosty Wooldridge
September 28, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
Consequences of Human Tsunami
According to a front page feature story in USA TODAY, July 5, 2006, “A NATION OF 300 MILLION”, the United States surpasses 300,000,000 people by the end of October. Their current demographic prediction, based on accelerating immigration-pushed growth levels, shows America adding 100 million people by 2040.
For those asleep at the wheel—that’s 34 years from now—a blink in time.
To place this kind of horrific growth rate into perspective, it resembles a human tsunami. Much like nature’s earthquakes that occurred beneath the surface last year, the wave of energy sped under the ocean for hours and hundreds of miles without notice. Once it hit the shoreline in Sri Lanka, it created cataclysmic devastation and tens of thousands of deaths. Why? No one suspected it. No one took action to save themselves. They didn’t know it was coming. Once it hit, everyone became victims! The tsunami rendered a human tragedy of epic proportions!
The U.S. Senate in May, 2006 passed S.B. 2611 that doubled current immigration levels from 1.0 million to 2.0 million annually. It increased work visas by tens of thousands. It continued allowance for millions in chain migration. It allowed millions more in anchor babies. The senate bill did nothing to stop illegal immigration estimated by Time Magazine in a feature story on September 20, 2004, that showed three million people crossing into America illegally every year. It did not stop the 50,000 annual diversity visas that allow that many people to come to America from the poorest countries in the world. It added more visas that allow more foreigners to gain jobs and anchor babies in America that assures they never return to their home countries.
The bill did not take into account that millions of people arriving from Third World countries do not change their large family propensities of six to eight and more children per couple.
What does that mean to American citizens? What about our overloaded cities? Overwhelmed schools? How about our water, farm land, energy, air quality, food sources, species habitat, and dozens of other issues? Is there any way to stop it? Does anyone understand the ominous consequences?
In this 10 part series published on Thursdays, this column addresses what we as a nation face if we allow this ‘human tsunami’ to crash upon our shores. It addresses every aspect of our society, environment, sustainability, culture, language and viability as a civilization.
The first question we must all ask ourselves is: can anyone name a single advantage to adding 100 million people to America in 34 years? From Third World countries? What will it do to our society? Do we want to grow to 1,000,000,000 people? Why? If not, at what point will we stabilize growth?
What has a 2.4 billion person population done to India or China? Do you think their citizens enjoy the standards of living and quality of life we enjoy in the United States? Not even close!
In 1900, the world population reached 1.6 billion; today, it exceeds 6.4 billion; by mid century it’s expected to grow to a low of 9.0 to as high as 9.8 billion. (Source: Population Reference Bureau)
Name one advantage to adding 3,000,000,000 more people to the globe? Is there some cosmic reason? Reasonable religious reason? Any rational reason? Any sane purpose?
Already, according to March 14, 2005 Time Magazine, eight million people starve to death annually. Over 35 percent of humanity does not have clean drinking water. Species extinction exceeds thousands annually. What is it that we hope to accomplish by adding another 3.0 billion people to the planet with the consequences already raining down on us with current population levels?
For those who can remember, in 1964, America housed 194 million people. Gas prices remained steady at 29 cents a gallon. Candy bars sold for five cents along with ice cream cones. A pack of cancer sticks cost 20 cents. Movies cost 50 cents. Nine-five percent of kids arrived at school from a two parent home. No one heard of gridlock, air pollution or road rage. Today, gas exceeds $3.00 a gallon, ice cream cone tops $2.00 and cigarettes run $3.80 a pack and moves exceed $8.00 a ticket. A bag of popcorn costs $5.00. What’s changed? Short answer: supply and demand caused by population.
In 1965, U.S. Senator Teddy Kennedy passed the stealth Immigration Reform Act that changed 50 years of a steady influx of immigrants from 175,000 annually to a gargantuan 1.1 million people per year. Along with illegal immigration, the United States grew by 106 million people in 41 years. If allowed to continue, we will add 100 million in three decades. Reports show America will add another 100 million by 2065, which is 25 years. That number means America reaches a half billion on its way to a billion.
Here are a few things you can expect in your state as population rises all over this country.
In the next 50 years, you can expect 1,000,000 to as many as 3,000,000 more people added to your state depending on location. Once their numbers manifest, they won’t go away. Why? Because, at the same time, that 100 million spreads to other states! Texas adds 12 million by 2025, Arizona adds five million and California adds 20 million by 2035.
Today, states like Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and California don’t possess enough water for their residents. Aquifers degrade as fast as diesel engines pump them dry. No matter how many reservoirs they build, it won’t rain or snow more because they add millions of people. Water shortages and rationing will become the norm while green lawns become as extinct five cent candy bars.
At the same time, states like Colorado lost 1.65 million acres of prime farm land to development in the past 10 years. Why? They added 1.3 million people. They will add four million more by 2050. Latest reports show Colorado will lose 3.1 million more acres by 2022. How many by 2050? An additional 2.0 million more acres will be placed under concrete and asphalt via roads, malls and housing. Ask yourself: have you ever seen cows grazing on concrete or have you ever seen corn growing out of pavement? What will be the acreage losses in your state? Your losses will be commensurate to your population growth.
While we exceed the land’s carrying capacity, we pack ourselves in like sardines with smart growth, slow growth and managed growth. It’s all growth that adds cars, trucks, homes, power plants, malls and smoke stacks. Have you noticed traffic in your city? Have you seen the Brown Cloud thicken in toxicity over your area? How about the bumper-to-bumper traffic? Can you imagine what it will be with an added 100 million people in 34 years?
By that time, gas or other alternative fuel will cost $8.00 to $10.00 per gallon and water prices will break your wallet. Your food costs will triple. Goods and services will explode beyond predictions.
How about your quality of life? Standard of living? What about species extinction? Air pollution? Acid rain? Crowding of national parks? Lakes? Streams? How about soil erosion?
We paint ourselves into a corner. We’re driving this population train into a dead end tunnel. When will local and national leaders stand up and speak out? When will newspapers, TV and radio talk shows deal with our number one crisis: overpopulation? In this series, I’m going to expose it. I will offer solutions. I invite your solutions. To give you a hint of our future, visit: www.thesocialcontract.com
“Immigration of the kind and on the scale America has had for the last three decades is in effect a recipe for cultural suicide and the squandering of a rich national heritage.” Dr. Lee G. Marland
What will become of the ‘American Dream’? Short answer: it will go the way of the dodo bird.
Coming next week in part 2: Water and food
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty192.htm
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4412265
Article Launched: 9/28/2006 04:29 PM
Single-engine plane crashes at El Paso airport (4:28 p.m.)
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
A single-engine airplane crashed at about 4:07 p.m. today at El Paso International Airport, an airport spokeswoman confirmed.
One witness said the experimental home-built plane landed and then flipped over.
The pilot, who was the only person on board, was killed. The crash occurred on runway 422 and is under investigation.
Four flights were diverted to Midland and Albuquerque during the time the airport was not accepting flights for 48 minutes. The airport was expected to return to normal at about 6:15 p.m. Check back to elpasotimes.com later for further updates.
Hezbollah's Russian Arms Seen on the Internet, French TV
A short video clip shot by Reuters' correspondents in southern Lebanon shows the newest model of Kornet antitank rockets, which Russia recently supplied to Syria. Israel has claimed since the first days of the conflict with Hezbollah that its opponent was well trained and well armed. Israel suffered most of its losses in tank units. The Israeli military claimed that Hezbollah was using Russian-made arms, particularly 105-mm. RPG-29 Vampire multiuse antitank grenade launchers and Kornet rockets. Both of those weapons were recently provided by Russia to Syria. Israel protested loudly when the arms deal between Moscow and Damascus was concluded, but Moscow gave assurances that the grenade launchers and antitank rockets would not leave the territory of Syria.
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=527&id=708257
Report: Hezbollah back at Israeli border
United Press International - USA
28 (UPI) -- Israeli military sources said Thursday militant Hezbollah members are returning to safe areas along the Lebanon-Israel border. ...
See all stories on this topic
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4408584
Article Launched: 9/28/2006 12:00 AM
Smuggling ring sent immigrants around U.S., feds say
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
A smuggling network used checkpoint scouts and safe houses and offered bribes to U.S. Border Patrol agents as it moved hundreds of immigrants from El Paso to other cities across the nation, a federal indictment stated.
The federal grand jury indictment named 27 people accused of taking part in a ring that transported undocumented immigrants to cities such as Albuquerque, Dallas and New York since June 20, 2002.
The sealed indictment, filed on Aug. 23, was acquired by the El Paso Times' media partners at Channel 7-KVIA (cable Channel 6), which reported that 11 suspects have been arrested while 16 remain at large.
Suspects face charges of conspiracy-alien smuggling, encouraging and inducing alien smuggling, transportation of aliens, and harboring aliens or money laundering conspiracy.
The document stated that the ring included border-crossing guides, recipients of money wire transfers, safe houses in El Paso and transportation to cities in the interior of the United States. Some of the migrants were transported by tractor-trailer rig drivers.
"In order to secure passage through the immigration checkpoints, defendants offered bribes and gratuities to Border Patrol agents stationed at the checkpoints," the indictment stated.
The document mentioned telephone conversations among suspected smugglers discussing a "safe passage" fee to be paid to Border Patrol agents to allow migrants to pass the highway checkpoints. The fee was $300 a person and $1,000 a truck.
It was unknown whether any Border Patrol agents were also indicted. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
The indictment mentions that the alleged ring members charged migrants to illegally cross them into the United States and, in some cases, take them to other cities.
In an Aug. 17, 2004, telephone conversation, defendant Luis Carlos Fierro and an unidentified person allegedly talked about smuggling up to 39 people into the United States, the document stated.
"During the conversation, they discussed whether the river was too high to cross pregnant ladies or if they might drown," the indictment stated. On Aug. 20, 2004, about 39 migrants were taken and harbored in a house in El Paso.
An investigation including undercover agents continued until last August.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
Smuggling ring suspects
A federal grand jury indictment named 27 people accused of being part of an immigrant smuggling network. Those listed were:
oOfelia Marquez Chavez, aka Ofelia Deal, aka Ofelia Rivas.
oMaria Luisa Chavez de Gonzalez, aka La China.
oLuis Carlos Fierro, aka Guero, aka Jose L. Rivas.
oMariano Rodriguez Arroyo.
oLuis Fernando Gonzalez Chavez.
oGabriel Alvarez Cardenas, aka Gaby.
oOvidio Rios Atehortua.
oJorge Reyna Castaneda, aka Shorty.
oEfrain Torres Armendariz.
oJesus Jose Venegas, aka Chuy, aka Jose Lopez.
oJose Erasmo Ibanez Rodriguez, aka Jose Magallanes.
oCarlos Humberto Reyes Hernandez, aka Mauricio.
oDaniel Natividad Rico Rosales.
oTito Romulado Hernandez.
oLizbett Vargas.
oYolanda Mondragon, aka Yolanda Garcia.
oArmando Solano Cruz, aka Chino.
oRebeca Zapeda Chavez.
oBrenda Hernandez Montoya.
oOsvaldo Villalba Esparza, aka Jarocho.
oJosephina Alvarez Cardenas, aka Pina.
oJose Guadalupe Villanueva Carreon, aka Pepe.
oCarolina Olivarez Ochoa.
oJames Campos Vasquez, aka Jimmy.
oMaria Esther Cohen de Foster.
oJesus Guadalupe Yanez, aka Don Lupe.
oJesus Gonzalez Soriana, aka Chuy.
interesting read...
September 28, 2006 at 06:28:04
America, the Reluctant Empire
by Sam Vaknin
http://www.opednews.com
When the annals of the United States are written, its transition from republic to empire is likely to warrant special attention. Nor is the emergence of this land and naval juggernaut without precedent. Though history rarely repeats itself in details - both Ancient Rome and Byzantium hold relevant - albeit very limited - lessons.
The first teaches us how seamless the transformation from democracy to military dictatorship appears - when it is gradual and, ostensibly, reactive (responding to external shocks and events). The second illustrates the risks inherent in relying on mercenaries and insurgents as tools of foreign and military policy.
Arnold Toynbee, the distinguished historian correctly observed that the last days of empires are characterized by grandiose construction schemes, faraway conquests and a materialistic spree of conspicuous consumption. Is the United States about to disintegrate?
The notion sounds preposterous. Hale, affluent, mighty, victorious and assured - the USA appears to be beyond destruction. But so did the U.S.S.R. in 1981. As history accelerates, processes which used to unfold over centuries, now consume mere decades. Telecommunications, global transports and information networks, such as the Internet - pit the likes of the USA against the ultimate superpowers: world opinion and global capital.
But first, Rome.
The disintegration of empires is rarely the outcome of merely one or more external shocks. For these to have their deleterious effects, the edifice must be already rotten, the pillars crumbling, the consensus gone, the ethos disputed and adversity rampant. As internal tensions mount and the centrifugal outweighs the centripetal - democracy is surreptitiously and incrementally eroded and replaced by an authoritarian form of government.
In his tome, "The Future of Freedom", Fareed Zakaria bemoans the existence of "illiberal democracy" - with all the trappings of one but without its constitutional substance and philosophical foundations. The United States is: ''increasingly embracing a simple-minded populism that values popularity and openness as the key measures of legitimacy... The result is a deep imbalance in the American system, more democracy but less liberty.''
Herodotus (Histories, Book III) would have concurred:
''In a democracy, malpractices are bound to occur ... corrupt dealings in government services lead ... to close personal associations, the men responsible for them putting their heads together and mutually supporting one another. And so it goes on, until somebody or other comes forward as the people's champion and breaks up the cliques which are out for their own interests. This wins him the admiration of the mob, and as a result he soon finds himself entrusted with absolute power.''
As would Jose Ortega y Gasset (The Revolt of the Masses, 1932):
"A characteristic of our times is the predominance, even in groups traditionally selective, of the mass and the vulgar. Thus, in intellectual life, which of its essence requires and presupposes qualification, one can note the progressive triumph of the pseudo-intellectual, unqualified, unqualifiable..."
The columnist Chris Deliso notes in Antiwar.com that "since September 11th especially, the country has suffered draconian restrictions on civil liberties and the rapid erosion of judicial and governmental transparency. At the same time, the increasing expenditure of taxpayer dollars has been conducted at variance with traditional ideals of free market competition and avoidance of embedded government cronyism. Now, with the invasion of Iraq, the nadir has been reached: long-suppressed desires for empire have come out into the open."
Deliso ascribes these worrisome trends to "three toxic substances. The first is relentless paranoia of the outside world. According to this, all kinds of civilian restrictions and pre-emptive foreign wars become justified for the sake of 'national security'. Second is the all-pervasive cronyism between government oligarchs and corporations, which retard the practice of a free market economy. Finally, there is a belief in the ineluctable nature of 'progress', i.e., a teleological narrative that describes America's political system as supreme, and destined to supercede and convert those of all other nations."
As others have noted, America's transition from republic to empire is remarkably reminiscent of Rome's. The irony is that as the United States inevitably becomes less democratic - it will also become less elitist. The mediocre and inapt peripatetic representatives of the popular will be replaced not by disinterested technocrats and expert civil servants but by usurpers, power brokers, interest groups, and criminal-politicians.
The Founding Fathers looked to Rome as a model. It is often forgotten that Rome has been a republic (509-27 BC) for as long as it has been an empire (27 BC - 476 AD). Hence the Senate, the bicameral legislature, the institutions of jury and professional judges, the interlocking system of checks and balances and other fixtures of American life.
Rome, like the USA, was a multicultural, multiethnic and inclusive melting pot. The family and religion - the mainstays of the American value system - were also the pivots of Roman society. Their work ethic was "Protestant" and their conduct "Calvinistic": frugality, self-reliance, steadfastness, seriousness, "fides" (good faith and reliability) were considered virtues.
From 287 BC, Rome was a full-fledged democracy and meritocracy - one's acquired wealth rather than one's arbitrary birth determined one's place in life.
The Roman takeover of Italy is reminiscent of the expansion of the United States during the 19th century. Later, Rome claimed to be "liberating" Greek cities (from Macedonian domination and other Middle Eastern tyrants) - but then proceeded to establish a series of protectorates throughout Asia Minor, Greece and today's Israel, Palestine, Syria, Egypt and North Africa.
As Rome's sphere of interests and orbit of alliances widened to include ever growing segments of the world, conflicts became inevitable. Still, early Roman historians, patriotic to a fault, always describe Roman wars as "just" (i.e., in "self-defense"). Rome was very concerned with international public opinion and often formed coalitions to attack its foes and adversaries. It then typically turned on its erstwhile allies and either conquered or otherwise absorbed them into its body politic.
Roman commanders and procurators meddled in the internal affairs of these territories. Opposition - in Carthage, Corinth and elsewhere - was crushed by overwhelming force. Lesser powers - such as Pergamum - learned the lesson and succumbed to Roman hegemony. Roman culture - constructed on Greek foundations - permeated the nascent empire and Latin became the Lingua Franca.
But, as Cato the Elder forewarned, foreign possessions and the absence of any martial threat corrupted Rome. Tax extortion, bribery, political machinations, personality cults, and moral laxity abounded. Income equality led to ostentatious consumption of the few, contrasted with the rural and urban destitution of the many. A growing share of gross domestic product was appropriated for the state by the political class. Rome's trade deficit ballooned as its farmers proved unable to compete with cheap imports from the provinces.
A whole class of businessmen - the equites, later known as the equesterian order (the equivalent of today's "oligarchs") - lucratively transacted with the administration. When erstwhile state functions - such as tax collection - were privatized, they moved in and benefited mightily. The equites manipulated the commodities markets, lent money at usurious rates, and colluded with Senators and office holders.
Sallust, the Roman historian, blamed the civil wars that followed on this wealth disparity. Cato the Elder attributed them to moral decadence. Cicero thought that the emergence of the armed forces and the "mob" (the masses) as political players spelt doom for Senatorial, republican Rome.
Some are comparing the relentlessly increasing weight of the Pentagon since 1941 to the rise to prominence of the military in republican Rome. Yet, this is misleading. The role of the army in the Roman republic was enshrined in the centuriate assembly (the army as a voting collective) and the consuls, magistrates in chief were, invariably, former army generals. Though many American presidents, starting with George Washington, were former generals - the ethos of the United States is individualistic, not military.
Thus, when the tribune Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (133 BC) embarked on a land reform, he was opposed by the entrenched interests of the nobility (the optimi). Undeterred, through a series of piecemeal, utterly legal steps, Tiberius Gracchus sought to transform himself into a despot and neutralize the carefully constructed system of checks and balances that sustained republican Rome. The Senators themselves headed the mob that assassinated him. This was the fate of his no less radical brother, Gaius, ten years later.
These upheavals gave rise to the populares - self-appointed populist spokesmen for the disenfranchised "common man" in the Senate. They were vehemently confronted by the nobility-backed Senators, the optimates. To add instability to earthquake, Roman generals began recruiting property-less volunteers to serve as mercenaries in essentially private armies. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, an impoverished aristocrat turned army commander, actually attacked Rome itself twice.
To secure popular support, Roman politicians doled out tax cuts, free entertainment, and free food. Ambitious Romans - such as Julius Caesar - spent most of their time electioneering and raising campaign finance, often in the form of 'loans" to be repaid with lucrative contracts and sinecures once the sponsored candidate attained office. Long-established, prominent families - political dynasties - increased their hold on power from one generation to the next.
Partisanship was rampant. Even Cicero - a much-admired orator and lawyer - failed to unite the Senators and equites against assorted fanatics and demagogues. The Senate kept repeatedly and deliberately undermining the interests of both the soldiery and the equites, Rome's non-Senatorial businessmen.
This clash of vested interests and ulterior motives gave rise to Gaius Julius Caesar, a driven and talented populist. Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the river that separated Gaul from Italy, and subdued a rebellious and obstructive Senate. He was offered by an intimidated establishment, the position of dictator for life which he accepted. The republic was over.
Life in Rome improved dramatically with the introduction of autocracy. Roman administration was streamlined and became less corrupt. Food security was achieved. Social divisions healed. The republic was mourned only by the discarded ancien regime and by intellectuals. Rome the city-state was no more. It has matured into an Empire.
And now, to Rome's crippled successor, Byzantium.
The modus operandi of the United States involves ad-hoc alliances with indigenous warlords, drug czars, terrorists, guerrilleros, freedom fighters, and armed opposition groups aimed at ousting unfriendly incumbent regimes, imposing political settlements or military solutions, countering other foreign influences, attaining commercial goals, or securing long-term presence and say in local affairs.
America's "exploit and discard" or "drain and dump" policies consistently boomerang to haunt it.
Both Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Manuel Noriega in Panama were aided and abetted by the CIA and the US military. Later, America had to invade Panama to depose the latter and conquer Iraq for the second time to force the removal of the former.
The Kosovo Liberation Army, an American anti-Milosevic pet, provoked, to great European consternation, a civil war in Macedonia two years ago. Osama bin-Laden, another CIA golem, "restored" to the USA, on September 11, 2001 some of the materiel it so generously bestowed on his anti-Russian outfit - before he was dumped unceremoniously once the Soviets retreated from Afghanistan.
Normally the outcomes of expedience, the Ugly American's alliances and allegiances shift kaleidoscopically. Pakistan and Libya were transmuted from foes to allies in the fortnight prior to the Afghan campaign. Milosevic has metamorphosed from staunch ally to rabid foe in days.
This capricious inconsistency casts in grave doubt America's sincerity - and in sharp relief its unreliability and disloyalty, its short term thinking, truncated attention span, soundbite mentality, and dangerous, "black and white", simplism. It is also a sign of short-sightedness and historical ignorance. All major empires fell prey to rampant mercenaries, erstwhile "allies" turned bitter enemies.
At its peak, the Ottoman Empire ruled most of the Balkan, up to the very gates of Vienna, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Egypt, North Africa including Algeria, and most of the Arab Peninsula. It lasted 600 years.
The Ottomans invaded Europe while still serving as a proxy army of mercenaries and guerilla fighters. When not at war with Byzantium, they were often used by this contemporary superpower (Byzantium) to further its geopolitical goals against its enemies - very much as the Afghan Mujaheedin or the Albanian KLA collaborated with the USA and its sidekick, the EU, during the last two decades of the twentieth century.
Not unlike the Moslem Afghani warriors of 1989, the Ottomans, too, turned on their benefactors and brought on the demise of Byzantium after 1000 years of uninterrupted existence as a superpower.
The Ottomans were named after Osman I, the Oguz (Turkmen) tribal leader, the off spring of a noble Kayi family. They were ghazis (Islamic Turkish warriors). Fleeing from the Mongols of Genghis Khan, they invaded Anatolia in the second half of the 11th century. They immediately and inevitably clashed with Byzantium and delivered to it the first of a string of humiliating and debilitating defeats in the battle of Manzikert, in 1071.
They spread inexorably throughout the fertile Anatolia, confronting in the process the Byzantines and the Mongols. They were no match to the brute efficacy of the latter, though. They lost most of Anatolia to the Mongols and maintained a few autonomous pockets of resistance in its eastern fringes. One of these anti-Mongol principalities (in the northwest) was led by Osman I.
Osman's was not the strongest principality. Its neighbour to the east, the Germiyan principality, was much stronger and more sophisticated culturally. Osman, therefore, drove west, towards the Bosporus and the Marble (Marmara) Sea. His desperate struggles against the corrupt and decadent Byzantines, made him the Robin Hood, the folk hero of the millions of urban unemployed, nomads, and dislocated peasants turned brigands - from Syria to the Balkan. Osman offered to these desperados war booty, a purposeful life, and Islamic religious fanaticism. They joined his armies in droves.
Byzantium, his avowed enemy, was no longer prosperous and powerful, but it was culturally superior and vital, Christian, and modern. But it was decaying. Its social fabric was disintegrating, corroded by venality, hubris, paranoia, avarice, inter-generational strife, and lack of clear religious and cultural orientations. Its army, much reduced and humbled by defeats and budget cuts, was unable to secure the frontier. Economic, religious, and social discontent undermined its consensus.
Gradually, it lost its erstwhile allies. The Ilhanid dynasty in Persia refused to back it against its tormentors. Byzantium, high handed and conceited, was left to fight the Islamic terrorism on its borders all by itself. Mercenaries imported by the Byzantines from Europe served only to destabilize it further. Osman's successors tore Byzantium to hemorrhaging shreds, conquering the rest of Anatolia and the Balkan. They even employed Christian mercenaries against the Byzantines.
When Orhan, a successor of Osman, secured a territorial continuum and access to the Sea of Marmara, he took on another Turkmen empire, based in Aydin.
The people of Aydin were mercenaries at the service of competing factions in Byzantium (Thrace versus Constantinople). Orhan wanted to cut into this lucrative business. He started by defeating emperor Andronicus III and his advisor, John Cantacuzenus in the battle of Pelekanon in 1329. This unleashed the Ottoman troops upon Nicaea (1331) and Nicomedia (1337).
Faced with the loss of the historic heart of their empire, the Byzantines accepted a Faustian deal. They made peace with the Moslem Turks and recruited them as allies and mercenaries against the Christian enemies of Christian Byzantium - the Serbs, the Italians, and the Bulgarians. Orhan became the principal ally of the young and dynamic Byzantine politician (later emperor) John VI Cantacuzenus, thus gaining entry, for the first time, into Christian Europe.
Andronicus III died in 1341and another civil war broke out in Byzantium. John Cantacuzenus, deprived of the much expected regency, confronted Alexius Apocaucus, the patriarch John Calecas, and the powerful and cunning empress mother Anne of Savoy.
The Serb king Dusan wavered between support and rejection for Cantacuzenus, who was crowned as Emperor John VI in Thrace in 1346. The new emperor, aided by hordes of Turkish troops, demolished the coalition set against him. A revolution erupted in Thrace and Macedonia. "The Zealots", having seized power In Thessalonica, declared an independent community which lasted till 1350.
Byzantium was reduced to penury by these events and by the Black Death of 1347. It fought with Venice against Genoa only to lose tax revenues hitherto paid by the Genoese. Foreign powers - the Turks included - manipulated the hopelessly fractured Byzantine ruling classes to their advantage.
In the meantime, Orhan was introduced to Europe's modern weaponry, its superior tactics of laying siege, and its internecine politics by his Byzantine masters. After he helped Cantacuzenus grab the Byzantine throne from John V Palaeologus, the new emperor granted him the right to ravage both Thrace and his own daughter, Theodora, whom Orhan married.
Ottoman raiding parties between Gallipoli and Thrace became a common sight. The loot was used to attract all manner of outcasts and dispossessed and to arm them. Byzantium was thus arming and financing its own worst enemy, facilitating its own demise.
In 1354, Ottoman mercenaries occupied and fortified the earthquake shattered Gallipoli. The Ottomans crossed permanently into Europe. When Orhan's son, Suleyman, transformed Gallipoli into an ominous base from which to overpower Christian Europe - the emperor (and other Christian nations) protested.
The Ottomans ignored them and proceeded with their expansionary preparations. They raided the Balkan as far as Adrianople. Cantacuzenus was toppled and denounced for his collaboration with the Turks. Europe woke up to the nightmare on its doorstep. But it was way too late.
It was the emperor John V Palaeologus who forced Cantacuzenus to abdicate and to retire to a monastery. John V appealed to the Pope, and through him, to the Western world, for help against the Turks. But the Popes were more concerned with the three centuries old schism between the Roman Church and the Church in Constantinople. John V has begged for help for more than a decade. In 1366, he visited Hungary and pleaded for assistance, but in vain.
The Ottomans embarked on three centuries of unhindered conquests, arrested only at the gates of Vienna in the 17th century. Recurrent international (read European) alliances and crusades failed to constrain them. The Serbs, the Bulgars, the Hungarians were all routed in bloody battlefields.
Cut off from its grain supplies and tax base, proud Byzantium accepted the suzerainty of the Ottomans, their former mercenaries. When emperor John V united the churches of Constantinople and Rome in a vain and impetuous effort to secure the military involvement of the West - he only succeeded to fracture Byzantium further.
Murad, the Ottoman ruler, incorporated large parts of Christian south-eastern and central Europe into his burgeoning feudal empire. Local kings and emperors were left to govern as administrators, vassals to the Ottomans. They paid annual tribute and provided contingents to the Ottoman army. These achievements were consolidated by later Ottoman rulers for centuries to come.
In 1449 the sultan Mehmed II prepared to assault Constantinople. The West wringed its hands but provided no material or military help. The union of the two churches - Rome and Constantinople - was celebrated in the magnificent church of in Hagia Sophia in 1452. But the people of Byzantium revolted and protested against this opportunistic move. Many said that they preferred the rule of the Turks to being enslaved by the Latin West. Soon their wish would come true.
On May 29, 1453 Turkish soldiers forced their way into the shattered city. Most of the commanders (among them Venetians and Genoese) were dead or wounded. Constantine, the last emperor, fought, on foot, at one of the gates and was seen no more.
Constantinople was plundered and savaged for three long days and nights by the triumphant Turks.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (2002 edition) sums it up thus:
"The Ottoman Empire had now superseded the Byzantine Empire; and some Greeks, like the contemporary historian Critobulus of Imbros, recognized the logic of the change by bestowing on the Sultan all the attributes of the emperor. The material structure of the empire, which had long been crumbling, was now under the management of the sultan-basileus. But the Orthodox faith was less susceptible to change. The Sultan acknowledged the fact that the church had proved to be the most enduring element in the Byzantine world, and he gave the Patriarch of Constantinople an unprecedented measure of temporal authority by making him answerable for all Christians living under Ottoman rule.
The last scattered pockets of Byzantine resistance were eliminated within a decade after 1453. Athens fell to the Turks in 1456-58, and in 1460 the two despots of Morea surrendered. Thomas fled to Italy, Demetrius to the Sultan's court. In 1461 Trebizond, capital of the last remnant of Greek empire, which had maintained its precarious independence by paying court to Turks and Mongols alike, finally succumbed; the transformation of the Byzantine world into the Ottoman world was at last complete."
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_sam_vakn_060928_america_2c_the_relucta.htm
[Now it is girdles, and bomb bra's and in the body of humans and animals, dope or explosive, not a lot of difference....granny]
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4407719
Article Launched: 9/28/2006 12:00 AM
Area crime
Agents discover cocaine hidden in girdles worn by women
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
El Paso Times
Drug smugglers are increasingly attempting to cross narcotics strapped to the bodies of passengers in vehicles at the international bridges in El Paso, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.
The latest reported seizure occurred about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Paso del Norte Bridge when two Juárez women were found with a total of 32 pounds of cocaine hidden in girdles they were wearing, federal officials said. The women were passengers in a 1993 Buick Century.
"It used to be very rare, almost never seen, that someone would have dope strapped to their body when they were in a vehicle. It used to be mostly pedestrians coming in the (pedestrian) line" with contraband on their bodies, Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier said.
Maier said border inspectors in the past 12 months have seen an upward trend in similar smuggling attempts. An exact number of cases was not immediately available.
The girdle cases have involved both men and women. The drug is usually cocaine, which has a higher dollar value than marijuana.
"It's another thing the officers have to focus on, another threat," Maier said.
In the Tuesday incident, an officer at an inspection booth at the Paso del Norte Bridge became suspicious when some of the occupants in the car were nervous and had a bulky appearance, officials said.
The Buick was sent to secondary inspection.
An officer spotted a bundle in the waistband of one of the women as she got out of the car. A drug-sniffing dog reacted to that woman's seat in the car. A subsequent pat-down search of the women led to the discovery of the cocaine.
Photos provided by Customs and Border Protection showed that both women had large builds.
Martha Alicia Rincon Marquez, 36, was allegedly wearing a girdle with five bundles weighing a total of 13.1 pounds of cocaine. Maria Del Carmen Castro Lucero, also 36, allegedly had five bundles totaling 18.9 pounds of cocaine, Customs and Border Protection officials said. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $640,000.
"This important and sizeable seizure was the direct result of a diligent and focused CBP officer performing a thorough primary inspection," CBP El Paso Port Director David Longoria said in a news release. An investigation continues.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
plane crashes
Light plane crashes off Tasmania
Newstalk ZB - New Zealand
It is believed one person has been killed in a light plane crash on Flinders Island, off the coast of Tasmania. The single-engined ...
Light plane crashes on Flinders Island
The Australian - Sydney,Australia
AIR ambulance crews are flying to Flinders Island in Bass Strait, where a plane has crashed into a mountain. The single-engined, low ...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TX_TODDLERS_JOURNEY_TXOL-?SITE=TXELP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Sep 28, 4:39 PM EDT
Sheriff calls toddler's survival after three days 'miracle'
By ANGELA K. BROWN
Associated Press Writer
ALVARADO, Texas (AP) -- For three days, 2 1/2-year-old Kevin Brown's chubby bare feet took him through acres of rugged North Texas pastures of grass taller than his head and around several ponds where bobcats and coyotes roam.
He probably slept and hid under thick bushes in some woods, frightened from a brief thunderstorm and the noise of rescue helicopters and searchers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles.
When a helicopter pilot spotted Kevin on Sunday night, he was nearly a mile from his home. Kevin was lying on his stomach at the edge of a pond as if he had been drinking, and the co-pilot jumped out, scooped him up and flew him to a hospital.
"This little fellow was gone 69 hours and 16 minutes. There's no way he should have been alive," Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford said. "I don't know if you believe in God, but this is truly a miracle that this boy is alive."
Advertisement
As authorities continued Thursday piecing together details of the toddler's improbable journey and rescue, he was recovering from his sunburn, dehydration, minor cuts and insect bites.
Doctors also were trying to determine whether Kevin was abducted but are not revealing their findings until a child psychologist talks to him in a few days, Alford said.
During the extensive search by local, state and federal authorities, many feared Kevin had been snatched from a road near his rural home because they found no signs of his yellow T-shirt or gray checkered shorts. Officials even got tips about a suspicious red truck in the area.
But the sheriff said he believes the child simply wandered off because his diaper was so soiled and because he had fresh cuts as well as some that had started to heal, indicating he had been outside for several days.
continued..................
http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_4355182
This is dated 9-28-06
Threat puts unwanted spotlight on Las Cruces
By Renee Ruelas-Venagas For the Sun-News
Las Cruces Sun-News
LAS CRUCES — Police reported no new developments Sunday in the investigation of letters sent to city officials and the Sun-News threatening to shoot residents at random if demands for a substantial amount of money are not met.
The case has aroused national attention that is not exactly welcome by many local residents.
The letter received by the Sun-News arrived on Friday through the United States mail. It had a stamp with a post mark of "Sept. 13, 2006." The location on the postmark was El Paso.
It was delivered in a letter-sized white envelope with the same distinctive, hand-printed block-style writing as the letter, addressed to "Editor." The paper often receives mail addressed in that manner.
Sun-News Editor Jim Lawitz checked the day's mail late Friday afternoon and soon realized this letter was out of the ordinary. He and another editor read it over several times because the unusual writing made it somewhat difficult to decipher in some places.
The letter laid out a threat of random shootings if the city did not deliver a specific amount of money within a certain time. In accordance with urgent requests from law enforcement, the Sun-News has agreed to not release details about the demands.
The letter claimed that if the money demand is not met, "reesidents (sic) of your city would be randomly selected and shot."
If the money is paid, the letter said "we will leave peacefully."
The writer claimed that city officials were aware of the demands.
The letter closes by stating, "Your city is in danger."
"We decided this was a threat that needed to be reported to authorities and called the FBI," Lawitz said.
An FBI agent arrived at the Sun-News a short time later and took the letter.
Later Friday, police called an emergency press conference and announced that the city had received two letters.
Las Cruces Police Lt. Randy Lara said police remain on heightened alert. The FBI, New Mexico State Police and the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department are all cooperating in the investigation.
The case has brought national attention to Las Cruces.
City spokesman Udell Vigil said investigators have received calls for interviews from CNN, Fox News and Good Morning America.
An Internet search found the story listed on news Web sites that included MSNBC, Seattle, Boston, Washington D.C., San Diego and as far away as the United Kingdom.
Las Crucen Ricardo Chavarria was out and about enjoying his Sunday afternoon.
"I've lived here 55 years," he said. "I don't like the city to get this kind of attention."
Mike Chavez, also of Las Cruces, sat under an umbrella eating lunch at a Sonic drive-in restaurant.
"I wish (the attention) was for something more positive. Unfortunately it has to be recognized in this matter," Chavez said.
Lara has asked residents to continue with their daily routine, but to be more vigilant and report suspicious behavior to police.
Residents appeared to be doing just that. Several outdoor events over the weekend drew residents out in the fine late summer weather.
"We can't live our lives in fear," said Becky Rios as she sat outside eating lunch on Sunday. "We are being more cautious, though."
Most Las Crucens said they definitely want to know if this is a serious threat or a hoax.
"I think whoever is doing this is stupid," Chavarria said. "I hope they catch this person or people before they hurt someone."
Renee Ruelas-Venagas can be reached at rruelas@lcsun-news.com.
Anyone with information is asked to call
Crime Stoppers
505-526-8000
1-800-897-2746sThreat puts unwanted spotlight on Las Cruces
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4408105
Article Launched: 09/28/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT
Investigators say blaze in Northeast is arson
A car engulfed in flames Tuesday night at Logan Park in Northeast El Paso was intentionally set on fire, a spokesman for the Fire Marshal's Office said.
Investigators said witnesses saw a man and children near the gold-colored Pontiac Grand Prix before the fire was reported at 10:05 p.m. Tuesday in the
3500 block of Wickham Avenue. The car received an estimated $4,000 in damage. The fire was ruled arson.
Anyone with information may call the Fire Marshal's Office at 771-1090 or Crime Stoppers of El Paso at 566-8477.
Daniel Borunda
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_AUDIOTAPE?SITE=TXELP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-09-28-22-39-17
Sep 28, 10:39 PM EDT
Iraq Terrorist Calls Scientists to Jihad
By DAVID RISING
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Al-Qaida in Iraq's leader, in a chilling audiotape released Thursday, called for nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war and urged insurgents to kidnap Westerners so they could be traded for a blind Egyptian sheik who is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.
The fugitive terror chief said experts in the fields of "chemistry, physics, electronics, media and all other sciences - especially nuclear scientists and explosives experts" should join his group's jihad, or holy war, against the West.
"We are in dire need of you," said the speaker, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir - also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri. "The field of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them."
The 20-minute audio was posted to a Web site that frequently airs al-Qaida messages. The voice could not be independently identified, but it was thought to be al-Masri's. He is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June, as head of the al-Qaida-linked organization.
Thursday's message focused attention on Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a 68-year-old Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy for his advisory role in a plot to assassinate Egypt's president and blow up five New York City landmarks including the United Nations. Abdel-Rahman is considered the leader of Egyptian Islamic militants, and the 1993 World Trade Center conspirators were known to have attended his lectures.
"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," said al-Masri, who is also Egyptian.
He also said more than 4,000 foreign militants have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 - the first known statement from the insurgents about their death toll.
It was unclear why al-Masri would advertise the loss of the group's foreign fighters, but martyrdom is revered among Islamic fundamentalists, and could be used as a recruiting tool. Analysts said the announcement was likely a boast aimed at drumming up support.
"It's showing the level of dedication to their cause, the level of sacrifice jihadists are making," said Ben N. Venzke, director of the Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications.
"In a strange kind of way, it's almost showing a sense of strength and purpose in their cause to other people around world who might be thinking about joining the fight," Venzke said in a telephone interview.
The statement followed the release of a U.N. report Wednesday that said fewer foreign fighters have been killed or captured in Iraq in the last few months, "suggesting that the flow has slackened." The report also said some fighters had expressed dissatisfaction they were asked to kill fellow Muslims rather than Western soldiers and that the only role for them was to be suicide bombers.
Still, the report said al-Qaida "has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence; and Iraq has provided many recruits and an excellent training ground."
On the tape, al-Masri offered amnesty to Iraqis who cooperated with their country's "occupiers," calling on them to "return to your religion and nation" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which Sunnis began observing in Iraq on Saturday and Shiites on Monday.
"We will not attack you as long as you declare your true repentance in front of your tribe and relatives," he said. "The amnesty ends by the end of this holy month."
The audio message came on a day that saw the killings of at least 23 people and the discovery in the capital of 40 apparent victims of sectarian death squads. To stem the violence, the government announced it will soon lock down traffic access to Baghdad.
continued......................
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