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...
Oh that poor child and his family. How horrible for them. I saw your other post, and you are so right about he and his brother being adopted by people who obviously love them all so much. Prayers for the whole family going out.
The Sheriff seemed to know a lot, but he refused to talk.
He did say they had a lead on the guy, but would go no further.
It is going to be unbearable, if the killer turns out to be well known to the kids or even related.
Yes, I have noticed that the KOA news team is sharper than most, one of them went to Iraq, as a reporter and I was lucky to hear him call in several times, and his first morning back.
He saw and felt, far more than many over there and was quick to fix one of the first news stories that another reporter read off the wire.
I cannot recall his name, but he said he had a blog on the
850koa.com site.
He went as a so so middle of the road on the war, he came back saying "we must stay until the job is done, the Iraqi people are worth it".
He also set right in and had a fund for school supplies and balls and shoes I think, all for the kids and all from donated money, he and the Americans serving in the area where he was, figured out what they thought should be bought.
LOL, Last year, Gunny Bob got the idea to collect stuffed toys for the Iraqi children, the small dolls that the Soilders take with them to give the kids........I laugh, because Bob hoped for a few hundred toys and I think he got 24,000.
But then, you never know what one of those toys is worth, last year, there was a story and photo of a 4 year old Iraqi girl, who was sitting in the middle of the roadway, holding a doll given to her the day before, by a Soldier.
He got out and went to remove her from the road, but she just pointed at the wires coming from the explosive that had been set up for the convoy.
How many Americans lives was that one small stuffed doll worth?
Oh, I also remember reading a student say that he picked blonde, blue-eyed girls for his hostages and the student said she found that a little strange, but I can't find that quote now... Don't know if it got edited out, but if you run across that little bit of info, please let me know...<<<
I did not find that, but after seeing the girls photo, have little doubt that it was true, Emiley was about as blonde as they come.
But the all blond girls, makes me doubt that he was white.
Thank you for your prayers, the little boy sounds as tho he needs a lot of freeper prayers, hope someone puts him in a thread all his own, so others will know of his needs.
Google Alert - bomb threat [9-27-06]
Students return to SF school after bomb threat
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
... heading back to classes at June Jordan School for Equity after
police
found nothing in a sweep of the school following this morning's bomb
threat,
according to ...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/15622002.htm
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Bomb Threat Forces Evacuation Of Madison Heights School
WDIV - Detroit,MI,USA
Students from Madison High School in Madison Heights have been
evacuated
after a bomb threat, according to school officials. The ...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/9946606/detail.html
UW-Oshkosh Student Jailed for Bomb Threat
WBAY - Green Bay,WI,USA
Authorities say one threat was made from an off-campus pay phone. The
caller
said a bomb would explode at the Halsey Science Center. ...
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5465990
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Jammu: Hizb militant shot dead in Doda
Jammu, Sept 28: A Hizbul Mujahideen militant has been shot dead by security forces in Doda while trying to evade his capture, officials said today.
Roshan Din, a Hizb militant, who came to his residence in Ramban last night, was killed by a joint team of Army and police when he tried to run away after he was cordoned off.
One AK-47 rifle alongwith two magazines and 60 rounds were recovered from the slain militant, who was involved in series of subversive activities, officials said.
Meanwhile, another operation was continuing in Sangaldan area in Udhampur district where three militants are believed to have been trapped in a cordon laid by the forces, they said.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=325760&sid=NAT
Home > Nation
Terror accused admits buying fertilizer for attacks in J&K
London, Sept 27: An alleged member of a British al-Qaeda cell, facing charges of conspiring to carry out bombings in Britain using ammonium nitrate has admitted buying the fertilizer for bomb, but claimed it was meant for shipping to Pakistan for attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
Twentyfour-year-old Anthony Garcia, who is facing the charges along with six others, yesterday told the old bailey court that he was asked to buy the material in November 2003 by one of his co-defendants, Omar Khyam.
He told the court that the ammonium nitrate was meant for shipping to Pakistan to carry out explosions in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Khyam said the brothers in Pakistan have asked me to get some fertilizer and ship it out to them.
"He said he could not do it because he is Asian and might arouse some suspicion," Garcia said.
Garcia had previously told the court how he started fundraising for militants in Kashmir after watching a video about alleged atrocities against Muslims.
"At the time I thought it was really the same as fundraising because I thought it was going to help people in Kashmir - to be used as an explosive, as a bomb... It would be basically to protect the villages under attack from the Indian soldiers," he said.
Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=325762&sid=NAT
No sense in Ramzan truce, ready to stop J&K operations conditionally: Hizb chief
New Delhi, Sept 27: Pakistan-based militant group Hizb-ul Mujahideen today said "there is no sense" in Ramzan ceasefire and it was willing to "stop operations" in Jammu and Kashmir if Army troops in the state moved to position before the outbreak of militancy.
"There is no sense in a Ramzan ceasefire. It means that for one month, there is no violence but for the rest of the 11 months, forces will continue their killings and so will militants".
"So, if the government is sincere, then as a good gesture, they should withdraw their forces to the pre-1989 position and we will stop operations, I assure you," Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin told a news channel from Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
Salahuddin favoured a long-term ceasefire in the state, a move seen by New Delhi as an attempt to keep its flock together as rift has widened in recent times. The outfit`s North and South Kashmir commanders have not been cooperating with each other.
Salauddin sought to downplay the implication of the joint anti-terror mechanism set up by India and Pakistan after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf saying it did not apply to Hizb or any other militant group operating in Kashmir.
Bureau Report
Jemaah Islamiyah May Expand Outside Asia, US Report Says
Bloomberg - USA
... The group poses ``less of a danger'' to the US homeland than Osama
bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, said the report. It will ``pose ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aLuI_nRspuMA&refer=asia
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Karzai Says No Intelligence on Bin Laden's Location (Update1)
Bloomberg - USA
... on the location of Osama bin Laden, President Hamid ... a French
newspaper
reported the al-Qaeda chief died ... said yesterday in an interview
with
Cable News Network. ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a0TAxA9Jjxh0&refer=asia
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[What do you make of this, it is a hate America site]
http://www.jihadunspun.com/index-side_internal.php?article=106411&list=/home.php
Once There Was A Great God Called America
Sep 26, 2006
Lewis Attiyatullah | Translated By JUS
We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this article are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of JUS, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff. In addition, JUS assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of third party content.
Lewis Attiyatullah is a well known Al-Qaeda intellectual who frequently makes regular contributions to the Sawt Al-Jihad magazine. His latest journalistic undertaking is a three part play titled "There Was Once Behind This Sea, A Great God Called America". Here is the first scene, published here uncut and uncensored, as translated by JUS.
SCENE 1
Place: Kandahar (capital of the Islamic State of Afghanistan), the Grand mosque in the heart of the city.
Time: Spring of 1634H
Setting: The seekers of knowledge are seated in a circle around their Sheikh after Asr prayer, a dignified Sheikh with a black turban… his white beard lending him an air of reverence and glory.
[Keep in mind this is a hate America site, this site has been locked to outside people for months, was even shut down for awhile, it was a surprise, to find it again in one of my google alerts, it is a website to sing praise on the jihadi's]
http://www.jihadunspun.com/intheatre_internal.php?article=106415&list=/home.php&
Oops! Al-Jazeera Top “Terrorism” Investigative Journalist Yosri Fouda Slips Again
Sep 27, 2006
Ubaidah Al-Saif, JUS | Al-Fajr Media
Cairo, Egypt (JUS): A program called “Top Secret” said to be produced by Yosri Foda, Al-Jazeera’s top “terrorism” journalist, along with help from one of the Muhjahideen groups is causing a small firestorm, particularly with MSC, after it disclosed some of the methods fighters are gaining access to Iraq.
On Monday, the Mujahideen Shura Council released a statement that made its feelings known, accusing the producer and the channel that aired it, which they did not name, of several offenses, not the least of which was that this production intended to raise support for the corrupt Arab regimes rather than for the Mujahideen.
Here is their statement, published here uncut and uncensored, in its entirety.
We remind our viewers that the opinions and points of view expressed in this statement are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are necessarily those of JUS, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff. In addition, JUS assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of third party content.
An Announcement From The Mujahideen Shura Council In Iraq Regarding The Program Called "Serri Lel-Ghaya" (Top Secret) Broadcasted A TV Channel
In The Name Of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
All Praise and thanks are Allah’s, the Lord of the Worlds. And peace be upon our prophet Muhammad, his family and Noble companions.
A program called "Serri Lel-Ghaya" (Top Secret), prepared by Yosri Foda with the help of one of the Muhjahideen groups appeared on the screen of one of the TV channels. This program included a lot of mistakes and we want to correct and clear the matter for the Muslims in general and especially for the Mujahideen:
1. It clearly appears to us from the way the show was presented that the goal of the program was not to support the Jihad, which bothers the rest of the Muslims, but the goal was to gather the forces of the traitorous Arabs governments against the dangerous Mujahideen of Al-Qaida especially in Syria, Lebanon, Jordon, and Palestine.
2. The program exposed some secrets of the Mujahideen (Allah forbids exposing secrets of the Muslims) by talking about the ways that the Mujahideen reach Iraq. This really was very bad because it helps the enemies by providing them secret information about the Mujahideen. All of these reminds us of the suspicious meetings "Yosri Foda" had with those who executed the events of 911 and who were arrested shortly thereafter (1).
3. The ways that were mentioned in the program are only known by a well- known group that was not featured on the program!
4. Anyone who saw the program discovered that the message that was to be conveyed was that that there is a resistance effort is supported by the governments and their Sheikhs that represents moderate people on the one hand and on the other, there is Jihad which doesn't agree with the borders drawn by the occupation and represents the “terrorists” that the governments should take care of.
5. Reflect on those scenes of those smokers who were one day Mujahideen and the next day they went back home to their countries!
6. It would have been more suitable and beneficial to show the public the role played by the Arabs in the Jihad in Iraq by showing scenes of the martyrs and their martyrdom operations, but unfortunately there is no space for "another opinion" as they always claim!
Finally, we want to remind our Muslim brothers that all of this does not bother us; we are only concerned with what will be written in our papers in the Day of Judgment. Our media effort is to encourage Muslims to follow us and join the Mujahideen in their way.
O Allah: Give us the victory and defeat our enemies. Allah Is Great!
''Honor, power and glory belong to Allah, to his messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not.''
Media Committee
Mujahideen Shura Council Of Iraq
2 Ramadhan 1427
September 2, 2006
Footnote:
(1) MSC is referring to “Top Secret: The Road To September 11” that Al-Jazeera released following 911. In it, Fouda meets with Khalid Sheikh Muhammed and Ramzi bin Al-Shibh, two of the 911 operatives. Shortly thereafter, both Khalid and Ramzi were allegedly arrested although sources close to the Mujahideen continue to deny Ramzi bin Al-Shibh is in custody. This film is available at the JUS store.
http://www.jihadunspun.com/features_knowledge_act.htm
Knowledge to act on.
Is 4 photos:
U.S. Flag
WTC falling
Plane hitting WTC
Statue of Liberty
Statement:
5 years after 9-11 OBL calls Global Jihad.
nothing else on page.
[The next time you hear someone say the left of America does not support the jihad, send them this speech of Al Gore's,2004 speech, which runs to 6 pages and is published on a jehadi site ....granny]
http://www.jihadunspun.com/founders-algore.htm
In advance of the American presidential election that is rapidly approaching, Former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech in June, 2004 at Georgetown University Law Center that centers on the great distance between America today and the very principles America was founded on. While his main focus is the deceitful Bush administration and the wrongful invasion of Iraq, it is a short step to apply his same reasoning to the equally unjust invasion of Afghanistan and the pending invasion of Iran. With voter turnout expected to be at an all time low, and with the electorate faced with two candidates that support the same depraved foreign policy – America this one is for you.
When we Americans first began, our biggest danger was clearly in view: we knew from the bitter experience with King George III that the most serious threat to democracy is usually the accumulation of too much power in the hands of an Executive, whether he be a King or a president. Our ingrained American distrust of concentrated power has very little to do with the character or persona of the individual who wields that power. It is the power itself that must be constrained, checked, dispersed and carefully balanced, in order to ensure the survival of freedom. In addition, our founders taught us that public fear is the most dangerous enemy of democracy because under the right circumstances it can trigger the temptation of those who govern themselves to surrender that power to someone who promises strength and offers safety, security and freedom from fear.
It is an extraordinary blessing to live in a nation so carefully designed to protect individual liberty and safeguard self-governance and free communication. But if George Washington could see the current state of his generation's handiwork and assess the quality of our generation's stewardship at the beginning of this twenty-first century, what do you suppose he would think about the proposition that our current president claims the unilateral right to arrest and imprison American citizens indefinitely without giving them the right to see a lawyer or inform their families of their whereabouts, and without the necessity of even charging them with any crime. All that is necessary, according to our new president is that he - the president - label any citizen an "unlawful enemy combatant," and that will be sufficient to justify taking away that citizen's liberty - even for the rest of his life, if the president so chooses. And there is no appeal.
What would Thomas Jefferson think of the curious and discredited argument from our Justice Department that the president may authorize what plainly amounts to the torture of prisoners - and that any law or treaty, which attempts to constrain his treatment of prisoners in time of war is itself a violation of the constitution our founders put together.
What would Benjamin Franklin think of President Bush's assertion that he has the inherent power - even without a declaration of war by the Congress - to launch an invasion of any nation on Earth, at any time he chooses, for any reason he wishes, even if that nation poses no imminent threat to the United States.
How long would it take James Madison to dispose of our current President's recent claim, in Department of Justice legal opinions, that he is no longer subject to the rule of law so long as he is acting in his role as Commander in Chief.
I think it is safe to say that our founders would be genuinely concerned about these recent developments in American democracy and that they would feel that we are now facing a clear and present danger that has the potential to threaten the future of the American experiment.
Shouldn't we be equally concerned? And shouldn't we ask ourselves how we have come to this point?
Even though we are now attuned to orange alerts and the potential for terrorist attacks, our founders would almost certainly caution us that the biggest threat to the future of the America we love is still the endemic challenge that democracies have always faced whenever they have appeared in history - a challenge rooted in the inherent difficulty of self governance and the vulnerability to fear that is part of human nature. Again, specifically, the biggest threat to America is that we Americans will acquiesce in the slow and steady accumulation of too much power in the hands of one person.
Having painstakingly created the intricate design of America, our founders knew intimately both its strengths and weaknesses, and during their debates they not only identified the accumulation of power in the hands of the executive as the long-term threat which they considered to be the most serious, but they also worried aloud about one specific scenario in which this threat might become particularly potent - that is, when war transformed America's president into our commander in chief, they worried that his suddenly increased power might somehow spill over its normal constitutional boundaries and upset the delicate checks and balances they deemed so crucial to the maintenance of liberty.
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[Isn't the Gulf Times a muslim newspaper, the last line explains why this post was published....granny]
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109832&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21
Polish priest uncloaks communist era spies
Publish Date: Wednesday,27 September, 2006, at 11:10 AM Doha Time
GDANSK: A prominent Polish cleric yesterday named about 40 priests who he said had spied on him for the secret services during the communist era.
Father Henryk Jankowski, who took part in pro-democracy strikes that led to the end of communism in 1989, read out the names, which included those of well-known church members in Poland, after studying secret service files.
“I am very, very sad doing this but I am convinced that the truth has to come out,” said Jankowski, once a confessor and confidant of former Solidarity Union leader and democracy icon Lech Walesa.
“I was shocked by what I have seen in these files, shocked by the number of agents in the church ... To find out these names was very tragic for me,” he told a news conference, broadcast live on television.
As an official “victim of the communist regime”, Jankowski has the legal right to study secret service files on him and also to publish the names of agents who spied on him.
The Catholic Church, an influential institution in predominantly Catholic Poland, is opposed to the publication of agents’ names and a vetting process of the clergy.
Leading Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was a close friend of late Pope John Paul, said earlier this year such a move could discredit many innocent people. His spokesman declined on Tuesday to comment on Jankowski’s announcement.
Jankowski’s superior, the Archbishop of Gdansk, criticised his decision to reveal the names, saying Jankowski had failed to justify the move.
“He just read out the names saying that they were in the files but he did not give any reason why he did so,” Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski told Polish television.
“He did not say why he decided to shoot these people,” he added.
Jankowski is a controversial figure in Poland, who has a reputation for anti-Semitic remarks, including an incident in 1997 that led to him being banned from preaching for a year.
He told the news conference that according to the files, the agents were most active before the late Pope’s visit to his home country in 1987. The Polish-born Pope was a moral guide for Solidarity activists during this period.
The Polish Church played a leading role in supporting the democratic changes that helped end the Soviet-backed communist regime in Poland.
According to the National Remembrance Institute which oversees communist-era files, up to 10% of Poland’s priests may at one time have worked with the secret police, knowingly or unknowingly.
Since the fall of communism, the Polish Catholic Church has been hit by many scandals, including revelations that associates of Pope John Paul were communist-era spies. –
Reuters
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=110118&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
UAE to form agency to recruit workers
Publish Date: Thursday,28 September, 2006, at 10:50 AM Doha Time
DUBAI: UAE is planning to set up a specialised company to recruit skilled and semi-skilled workers from foreign countries.
Such a company, which would be set up by next year, will also help put an end to reported maltreatment of expatriates and non-payment of wages, local press reports said.
Labour Minister Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi said that if the experiment succeeded more such ventures would be considered as it would lead to competition and also improve quality of work.
He said the ministry had received many offers from recruiting agencies in this regard.
The specialist company would put to an end to the flow of expatriate workers brought here on false promises by recruiting agencies, which take huge amounts of money from them. – Agencies
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=109628&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19
Aircraft carrier group ready for all contingencies
Publish Date: Tuesday,26 September, 2006, at 10:45 AM Doha Time
WASHINGTON: The USS Enterprise aircraft carrier is deployed in the Indian Ocean and “prepared for all contingencies,” its top commander said yesterday, as speculation rises over possible US military action against Iran.
“We’re always prepared for any contingency,” said Rear Admiral Ray Spicer, speaking to reporters in Washington via teleconference.
Spicer commands the Enterprise Strike Group, which includes the nuclear-powered Enterprise and its warplanes, the cruiser Leyte Gulf, the destroyer McFaul, the frigate Nicholas – the last three armed with guided missiles – as well as the attack submarine Alexandria and a combat support ship.
He spoke to reporters as US news media speculates on US military preparations for a possible conflict with Iran.
According to Time magazine, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Mullen, has ordered a review of US plans to counter a possible Iranian blockade of the Straits of Hormuz.
Such a blockade would effectively disrupt the flow of oil tankers in the Gulf region.
The Enterprise Group has been in the Indian Ocean providing air support for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since early May, Spicer said.
“This mission also includes protecting the two Iraqi oil terminals in the northern Arabia Gulf, both of which are vital to Iraq’s overall oil infrastructure, as well as Iraq’s economy and self-determination,” said Spicer.
He also said that he had not seen any unusual activity on the Iranian side.
“I can say that, from our perspective, it seems pretty normal,” said Spicer. “I haven’t seen any upsurge in activity.” – AFP
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=110031&version=1&template_id=43&parent_id=19
Man charged with fleecing shepherds
Publish Date: Thursday,28 September, 2006, at 10:42 AM Doha Time
NEW YORK: A New York man who perhaps misinterpreted the biblical tenet “ask, and you shall receive,” was charged yesterday with defrauding priests across the United States in a wire payment scam.
Robert Riggio is alleged to have fraudulently obtained more than $200,000 in some 150 separate payments after telling priests his elderly mother was facing imminent eviction, or variations on the story.
He was nabbed in a sting operation conducted by an undercover agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation posing as the niece of one of the priests, according to prosecutors.
“Riggio typically made sympathy-inducing but bogus requests for money purportedly to help a relative facing a time-sensitive issue,” prosecutors allege.
The 60-year-old allegedly used a number of aliases who were linked through the same cell phone number, prosecutors charge. The complaint did not specify how many people had been defrauded but said most were believed to be priests.
In some cases, Riggio allegedly went back to priests who had already been defrauded to ask for more cash, according to the complaint.
Last month one of the priests, who had already handed over several thousand dollars at the request of a man using the name William Kelley, agreed to put the man in touch with his niece – in fact an undercover FBI agent. The ensuing undercover operation established that Riggio was masquerading as Kelley to obtain funds by deception, prosecutors allege.
Riggio was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted. – AFP
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13051
Click Here to PrintClick Here to Print
(09/29/2006)
Eyewitness: Pius XII Saved Jews In Lisbon From Nazi Threat
Aide to papal nuncio, now 94, recounts dramatic appeal to Dominican strongman for visas; expert sees ‘more complicated picture’ of Holocaust-era pope.
Walter Ruby - Special To The Jewish Week
Will fresh evidence change Jewish attitudes toward Pius XII?
Monsignor Giovanni Ferrofino remembers the event vividly, though it occurred in Port- au-Prince, Haiti, nearly 65 years ago. As secretary to Archbishop Maurillio Silvani, the papal nuncio, Ferrofino was on duty in February 1942 when a secret message arrived from the second most powerful man in the Vatican.
continued..................
I found this to be an interesting article.........granny
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=09&dd=28&nav_category=126&nav_id=37021
[There is one photo on site]
Early Christian tomb discovered
28 September 2006 | 14:13 | Source: Beta
NIŠ -- An early Christian tomb was discovered in Niš, containing a well-preserved Monogram of Christ on the ceiling.
Toni Èerškov, Niš Institute for Monument Conservation archaeologist, said that the tomb dates back to the 5th century A.D.
“The tomb is decorated with frescoes of exceptional color quality, while the Monogram of Christ spreads over one meter and contains a wreath of laurel leaves. This is the best preserved site ever found”, Èerškov said.
He said he was unaware that another tomb with the Monogram of Christ painted on the ceiling was ever discovered. “This is the fist time I have see it – the Monogram of Christ, with a symbolic message, ‘Christ is looking at us from the sky’”, Èerškov said.
He said the tomb, sized 2,3 x 2,3 x 2,5 meters was discovered in Ratko Pavloviæ Street in Niš.
The tomb’s eastern, northern and southern walls are covered with frescoes, while the western wall sustained most damage. “The tomb was never plundered”, Èerškov said, adding it was discovered by chance when the foundations were dug for a private structure and that it lies three meters deep.
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2006&mm=09&dd=27&nav_category=117&nav_id=36996
Youths riot in Brussels again over inmate death
27 September 2006 | 12:36 | Source: Reuters
BRUSSELS -- About a hundred youths of North African origin rioted in central Brussels on Tuesday.
This was the second night of trouble following the death of an inmate in jail, a police official said.
Violence broke out on Monday evening in the working class Marolles district of Brussels after news that a 25-year-old inmate of North African origin died on Sunday, the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
The inmate was given a product to help him calm down, the official said. An investigation has been launched.
On Tuesday, the youths torched a youth centre, attacked police cars and shops.
All the rioters on Tuesday were of North African origin, the official said, adding that 30 people were arrested.
The rioting was the worst since youths set fire to 15 vehicles across Belgium last year in violence which authorities said imitated unrest then going on in France.
Brussels' Mayor Freddy Thielemans told Belgian RTBF radio that he did not expect the riots to get worse. He thanked the family of the young inmate who died for helping to try and calm the young rioters down.
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