Saturday, August 06, 2005
Newsday.com: Insurgency continues targeting civilians
Newsday.com: Insurgency continues targeting civilians: "Even the bloodiest rebellions of modern times did not target civilians the way the insurgents have in Iraq. In Algeria, for example, rebels fighting against French colonial rule in the 1950s and '60s adopted a classic guerrilla tactic: They provoked the occupying troops to use excessive force and kill thousands of civilians. That prompted a public backlash and international condemnation of French actions. The French eventually withdrew from Algeria, after as many as 1 million people had been killed."
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
365 and a Wakeup: Desert Creatures
365 and a Wakeup: Desert Creatures: "The sun has been pitiless these last few days, doubling and redoubling its radiant energy until everything stationary shimmers in its own invisible pyre. The sputtering coughs of wind that limp across the cracked soil lack any real force; it’s as if the temperatures have cowed the air into refusing to stir. In these temperatures nothing moves without purpose. The troops that have to move back and forth across the FOB move along deliberate paths, their heads slightly bowed in unconscious deference to the flashbulb brilliance.
Now that we are several weeks into this withering season our cycles of work and rest have come to mirror the desert creatures that creep and slither through this harsh land. As is so often the case, we’ve had to slowly relearn the lessons nature hardwired into the native wildlife. The biggest key to surviving the temperatures is to (surprise, surprise) avoid the sun. Our barracks serve the same purpose as the desert creatures underground haunts – they both offer reservoirs of chill air. The only difference is our concrete berths hum to the steady whir of overworked air conditioning units.
Soldiers who decide to be infantryman don't join for the luxurious acomodations. That doesn't make it any easier to leave the air conditioned barracks, but it does help muster the will to keep heading out those doors into the atmospheric inferno. The sun isn't the only cruel taskmaster, the sheer weight of our combat equipment more then doubles the misery index. The thick ballistic carapace that we all wear is a life saver, but on days like this it seems to be a karmic bank selling protection in exchange for hour after hour of broiling misery. When you are wearing slabs of ceramic armor evaporative cooling becomes impossible, the sweat just soaks through layer after layer until your uniform is a sodden, salt encrusted mess. It is a pain, but nobody really worries to much about coming away from a mission soaked. We have a lot more to worry about then how to leach salt from a uniform."
Now that we are several weeks into this withering season our cycles of work and rest have come to mirror the desert creatures that creep and slither through this harsh land. As is so often the case, we’ve had to slowly relearn the lessons nature hardwired into the native wildlife. The biggest key to surviving the temperatures is to (surprise, surprise) avoid the sun. Our barracks serve the same purpose as the desert creatures underground haunts – they both offer reservoirs of chill air. The only difference is our concrete berths hum to the steady whir of overworked air conditioning units.
Soldiers who decide to be infantryman don't join for the luxurious acomodations. That doesn't make it any easier to leave the air conditioned barracks, but it does help muster the will to keep heading out those doors into the atmospheric inferno. The sun isn't the only cruel taskmaster, the sheer weight of our combat equipment more then doubles the misery index. The thick ballistic carapace that we all wear is a life saver, but on days like this it seems to be a karmic bank selling protection in exchange for hour after hour of broiling misery. When you are wearing slabs of ceramic armor evaporative cooling becomes impossible, the sweat just soaks through layer after layer until your uniform is a sodden, salt encrusted mess. It is a pain, but nobody really worries to much about coming away from a mission soaked. We have a lot more to worry about then how to leach salt from a uniform."
2Slick's Forum: To Paradise and Back Again
2Slick's Forum: To Paradise and Back Again: "Let's tee up a big screaming match about whether a high official of the White House committed a crime by breaching security in a dust-up over terrorists like Saddam Hussein and Usama bin Laden.
No, I'm not talking about Karl Rove. I'm talking about Sandy Berger stuffing secrets into his socks so the 9/11 Commission wouldn't be able to see what he and Bill Clinton were really thinking and saying and doing about Usama bin Laden.
Let's see now, what happened when Berger got caught with the secrets in his socks?
Hmmm. Did we hear the Democratic senators and congressmen wailing about breaking national security? No, we did not."
No, I'm not talking about Karl Rove. I'm talking about Sandy Berger stuffing secrets into his socks so the 9/11 Commission wouldn't be able to see what he and Bill Clinton were really thinking and saying and doing about Usama bin Laden.
Let's see now, what happened when Berger got caught with the secrets in his socks?
Hmmm. Did we hear the Democratic senators and congressmen wailing about breaking national security? No, we did not."
Sunday, July 31, 2005
normblog: So why...?
normblog: So why...?: "There are 250,000 Iraqis living in Great Britain - that's quarter of a million people, one of the biggest communities in Iraqi diaspora, and just under one sixth of the total British Muslim population of some 1.6 million.
So why, among the original 7/7 bombers, the next lot of recently captured bombers, and all the other people arrested in connection with the attacks, aren't there any British Iraqis?"
So why, among the original 7/7 bombers, the next lot of recently captured bombers, and all the other people arrested in connection with the attacks, aren't there any British Iraqis?"
Our extreme makeover
Our extreme makeover: "Favorable impressions of the U.S. are being detected around the world, including inside Muslim countries."
Read this from LA Times!
Read this from LA Times!
Iraqi Bloggers Central whence terrorism
Iraqi Bloggers Central: "Troubles have spread from the Middle East to get on planes and hit targets in New York, and wore explosive belts to blow up trains in Madrid and London and some have even went as far as hitting targets Indonesia.
The reasons (and theories) that explain the spreading (or export) of these troubles may vary; some say that the West's policy toward Israel is what inflamed the situation.
Ironically, the same people who adopted this theory a few years ago now say that war in Iraqis the main reason.
But I do believe that dictatorships are the main reason; the Arab regimes didn't accept Israel as a neighbor, of course not because they care about the Palestinians and their interests as everyone knows how Palestinians are treated in Arab countries and how many thousands on them were killed in Jordan and Lebanon and perhaps Arabs killed more Palestinians than the Israelis did.
Obviously, Arab regimes and leaders didn't like Israel because it's a democratic state and its presence in the region can threaten their thrones.
Actually I think that Arabs who live inside Israel and the Joulan heights know this better than I do and I don't think they'd like to replace their Israeli passports with passports from any Arab country; they know the difference and even people living inside Arab countries began to see the difference after the revolution in communications and news flow.
"
The reasons (and theories) that explain the spreading (or export) of these troubles may vary; some say that the West's policy toward Israel is what inflamed the situation.
Ironically, the same people who adopted this theory a few years ago now say that war in Iraqis the main reason.
But I do believe that dictatorships are the main reason; the Arab regimes didn't accept Israel as a neighbor, of course not because they care about the Palestinians and their interests as everyone knows how Palestinians are treated in Arab countries and how many thousands on them were killed in Jordan and Lebanon and perhaps Arabs killed more Palestinians than the Israelis did.
Obviously, Arab regimes and leaders didn't like Israel because it's a democratic state and its presence in the region can threaten their thrones.
Actually I think that Arabs who live inside Israel and the Joulan heights know this better than I do and I don't think they'd like to replace their Israeli passports with passports from any Arab country; they know the difference and even people living inside Arab countries began to see the difference after the revolution in communications and news flow.
"
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