August 21, 2003
EAST TIMOR? NEVER HEARD OF IT
Given Sergio de Mello’s successful involvement in the liberation of East Timor, this might be right on the money:
The cement mixer was driven into the side of the converted three-storey hotel on which Mr de Mello's office was located, prompting the US administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, to speculate that Mr de Mello had been deliberately targeted.
The idea of East Timor as a root cause has never really caught on, despite Osama bin Laden including it way up high in his list of grievances against the imperialist West. The likes of Pilger and Chomsky deflect or deny any link between Islamic terror and East Timor. Well, they would, wouldn’t they? As Andrew Hagen writes:
Posted by Tim Blair at August 21, 2003 04:01 AMI believe Dr. Chomsky has dug himself a hole.
Honorary Doctorate in Hole Digging?
Well at least now we know where the 'Dr.' came from.
Posted by: Murdoch Soft Eng Student at August 21, 2003 at 06:42 AMDon't look now, but Third Battalion of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade, Left Wing Division, has concluded that the U.S. bombed the UN HQ in Baghdad. The primary reasons posited are (1) To draw the UN into a war on... well, our enemies in Iraq, whoever they are; (2) to justify our continued fighting in Iraq ("see, we told you they are bad..."); and (3) The Republicans tried to knock of the Senate delegation now visiting Baghdad, which evidently includes Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
That last theory really kills me; the argument is that it would trigger a special election in the State of Washington, at which time an electorate (which didn't want to elect a Republican 10 months ago) would elect a Republican replacement. Not that the truth matters, but it would be interesting to see who is in the Senate delegation and if it was scheduled to be at UN HQ Baghdad yesterday afternoon. Which begs the question, how did the Bush Administration not know what the Senator's itinerary was? I thought the vast tentacles of the VRWC had better reach...
Posted by: Blackavar at August 21, 2003 at 07:37 AMFor that matter, their first theory kills me-- so you draw the UN into a war, big deal, what troops would that involve that aren't there already anyway? How many divisions does Kofi Annan have?
Posted by: Mike G at August 21, 2003 at 07:40 AMBlackavar,
Just to really hash up the Senate conspiracy, one of the visiting senators is/was Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican Senator from the great state of Texas. Only the moonbats would think that Dubya would be putting out a hit on his supporters.
Posted by: aelfheld at August 21, 2003 at 07:42 AMIf Dr. Chomsky hasn't dug himself into a hole, I'd be glad to perform the task for him.
Posted by: Ken Begg at August 21, 2003 at 07:51 AMThe UN, the World Bank, and the IMF are all pulling their staff out of Iraq for the time being. The main objective of the bombing is very easy to see: to drive out the NGOs and leave the US and its coalition partners on its own. Sadly, it seems to be working.
Posted by: Eric at August 21, 2003 at 07:53 AMThat's why Bali was bombed.
Was it he who said earlier this year not to let the UN anywhere near Iraq's rebuilding cos they can't even make headway in East Timor?
Posted by: Sandy P. at August 21, 2003 at 07:54 AMAnd then we could fill it in, turn to each other, manfully shake hands and nip off for a beer.
Sigh.
Posted by: Ken Begg at August 21, 2003 at 07:54 AMI posted a reference to the article on SF Indymedia. Anyone else care to have a whack at those who believe that the US is the source of all evil, and that Islam is nothing but good, and the more fanatical the Islamist, the less likely that they'd be the bad guys?
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/08/1635975_comment.php#1636324
Posted by: Indymediot... at August 21, 2003 at 08:53 AMah, but aelfheld, you fail to appreciate the schemeing ruthlessness of the VRWC! what better way to hide their tracks than by getting rid of one of their own for the greater good of their glorious cause? they're twisted, i tells ya! twisted!
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at August 21, 2003 at 09:02 AMre: Maria Cantwell
Our beloved Senatrix from the Upper Left Washington was elected in 2000, not last year, narrowly beating incumbent "Sierra" Slade Gorton, with some Libertarian help.
I doubt Gov. Locke (D) would appoint a Republican as her replacement, and any special election would be more than a year away, which is plenty of time to be established as the incumbent.
Patty Murray is trying for a third term in 2004. She'll probably face Nethercutt, who removed Foley in 1994. Having both Senate seats up at the same time would probably help the "stupidest Senator" retain her seat, as Locke would be hard pressed to name someone who wouldn't bring the average intellegence of the Dem's team up. So Patty can limit her campaign to "what he said."
If you are going to make fun of Tin Foil Hats, make sure yours is on tight.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at August 21, 2003 at 09:45 AMSo how would getting rid of Inhofe, Graham, and Kolbe help the Republicans? Forget the tinfoil. They need a cast-iron skillet. Stinkin' moonbats.
Posted by: Dan at August 21, 2003 at 10:19 AMChomsky is a linguist. Language is his plaything. As such he resembles the poets of Plato's Republic, famously exiled for their habit of depicting things not as they are, but as they see them, with an attendant inability to discern the difference between the two.
Did you know that the hole's only natural enemy is the pile?
Posted by: Joe Ego at August 21, 2003 at 11:44 AMAre people unwilling to describe our actions in Iraq or Afghanistan as a "root cause" for terrorism, yet happy to describe East Timor as a "root cause" for terrorism? Or are they just mocking "root cause" analysis made by the left? The former may be a bit illogical.
Posted by: Andjam at August 21, 2003 at 10:25 PMAndjam
I really think its the mocking thing. Many blogs have been mocking that "root cause" bullshit for some time.
Joe Ego
Are we the only ones left who watch the Simpsons?
Granted last year was, shall we say, a bit lacking, particularly the season finale.
I love to make fun of all things, to me nothing is sacred but to make fun it really, er has to actually be funny. But thats just me.
I remember reading a book by Dave Horowitz about Chomsky where he claimed that, during the Khmer Rouge nightmare, Chomsky repeatedly denied the existence of the killing fields. He also provided a direct quote (which I cannot recall from memory). However, the Horowitz book where the comments were made has since been purchased (my fault for treating Borders like a library, I guess), and I can't seem to find the quote anywhere on the web. Chomsky's website and fan sites don't have it, natch, but I can't seem to find it anywhere else either.
Anyone know where I could find this quote? It would be quite devastating to Chomsky's supporters if true, but something tells me a quote I can't quite remember from a book by David Horowitz isn't going to convince the average Chomsky supporter of anything other than my need to be re-educated.
Posted by: Sean at August 22, 2003 at 03:34 AMDear Tim Blair
I was following the East Timor problem from 99 or earlier, I'm Portuguese, and I fully agree with you. East Timor was starting point for the islamic fanatics found motivation to kill.
Regards
Okay, I've got the tinfoil hat answer as to why Bush would have knocked off his own Senate supporters on the war (like Hutchinson and McCain and so forth).
Because that way, it wouldn't look like a hit on Cantwell.
See? It's so easy.
If you admit there is a conspiracy, then it's proven.
If you deny there is a conspiracy, then you prove it, because conspirators would naturally deny the existence of a conspiracy.
It's so perfectly logical, when you think about it...
But then who quipped that most insanity isn't the result of a lack of logic; instead, it's usually the result of an excess of it.
Posted by: Blackavar at August 22, 2003 at 03:47 AMchomsky never calls himself "doctor" [no book of his that i know of is written by dr. noam chomsky], so the sarcastic prefix to his name that hagen has given him is a little misplaced.
the link for deflect is a blog entry by hagen which provides pretty weak evidence of deflection, but far better evidence that hagen isn't a smart man:
Chomsky forgets to mention that Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah are cold-blooded murderers...Then, [chomsky] condemns what the terrorists do (such as murder).I mean, jeebus, good work einstein. also, hagen says chomsky's view that "Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah is a creation of the people it is now fighting" is "wrong". with respect to jemaah, this points perhaps to a different conclusion on who is "wrong". and is there anyone who seriously doubts that the CIA gave pakistan's intelligence service a bunch of cash to train and arm a resistance to the soviet occupation in afghanistan?
also, sean, pretty much every chomsky quote re KR-cambodia is sourced from this article, which incidentally is found on chomsky's zmag page.
and i like how we're not supposed to care what terrorists think [see eg hitchens, "against rationalisation"], except of course when you guys reckon it shows "Dr. Chomsky has dug himself a hole".
Posted by: adam at August 22, 2003 at 04:18 PMWho bombed the UN headquarters in Iraq? I believe it was ultimately the U.S for several reasons. 1. Although the UN was there for humanitarian reasons, they were also there in an independent role that one might consider contentious. DeMello, who Bremmer believes was targeted, as High Commissioner for Human Rights had some complaints about the U.S.'s arbitrary detention of those who were being rounded up just for their known political support of the Baath Party. The blindfolding and gagging of suspects, The stress and duress techniques of being forced to kneel or stand for many hours or days in 120 to 130 degree heat and being held without charges or notification of family members for months are all not condoned techniques by DeMello's UN International Convention on Human Rights, which made anti-US resolutions on Saturday, in Geneva. Reuters pictures of soldiers being marched around town naked in public with a sterotyped arab "Ali Babba" scrawled on their chests, the confiscated published photos of Iraqi soldiers being forced by British troops to give each other oral sex at gunpoint, the CNN video of a daughter of a sought military officer bound and gagged in front of her house because she was chanting "pro-Saddam slogans" adds up to the types of human rights incidents the UN would want to investigate, considering Iraq's legacy for abuses and the claims by the coalition of liberation. 2. The Kurdish freedom fighter Chalabi's warning on 8/14 of "an impending attack by a suicide truck bomb on a soft target, such as the UN" -MSNBC 8/21, which was dismised by the US as a lie. 3. The lead role of PAK forces in the rounding up of Iraq's departing officials that morning. 4. The type of explosives used, old Soviet devices, were being confiscated for months all over Iraq and comprises the current arsenal of PAK. 5. The lack of recognition for the struggle for Kurdistan in the UN would give them a reason, after all they are in the same position that the Palestinians are in, so why not act the same way. 6. The Congresional delegation was scheduled to meet with Demello that afternoon at 1:30, but their plane was "delayed for 2 hours"-Hutchinson (R) Texas on MSNBC, 8/20. Hutchinson, and Vietnam Hawk McCain, later met with Bremmer not far from the now destroyed UN for a scheduled meeting AFTER the explosion and did not visit the site as Bremer did later that day. 7. Few Americans were injured but many French, German, Canadian and Japanese were injured in the MacVeigh style bombing, possibly with the hope of provoking them to become more "willing" at the Colin Powell initiated special session of the Security council to be held tomorrow to commit troops in response to what Bush refers to as a "defining moment that will chrystalize" world opinion. 8. Colin Powell's ganster protection like statement to Kofi Annan, refering to what is "obviously a very dangerous situation there".
Posted by: mean green at August 22, 2003 at 06:32 PMMMM Mean Green! wanna bend you over an snap you like a twig!! MMMM
Posted by: roscoe.p.coltrane at August 22, 2003 at 08:09 PMWatch this go down the memory hole:
this item, which has more than a humdred TV and print news links
Why didn't Chalabi Dial the UN himself? Maybe his American cellphone doesn't work in GSM format
Posted by: $mean green$ at August 22, 2003 at 08:14 PMmean green,
You have waaaayyyyy to much time on your hands. Go outside, get some sun, breathe fresh air. Don't worry, it's real oxygen, the big bad conspiracy machine hasnt found a way to create molecular tracking devices that are transmittable through air. Now sssshhh, listen, here that? That's life, get a grip on it.
To: Mister Green (your middle name wouldn't be "Joe", would it?)
Re: "Theoretical" US bombing of the UN headquarters
Let's take off the tinfoil cone for a moment and put on the Rational Human Chapeau instead, shall we? (There's a rental shop down the street, I believe.)
Consider, if you will, the staggering amount of money that would be available to the turncoat who revealed such a nefarious plot to the international press. Then consider the number of people who'd have to have knowledge of such a labyrinthian scheme. Then consider that, while we're a generally patriotic lot, there's just no denying we're rather easily swayed by the greenbacks...we do, after all, look out for number one. Kind of makes the whole "the US did it!" theory a little more implausible, no?
Short version - Bunk.
Posted by: Sekimori at August 22, 2003 at 11:45 PMMean Green, you need some serious help. I believe you are suffering from something that has altered your perception of reality. I suggest you go and seek treatment at the nearest doctor/hospital/ER immediately before you start hearing voices that say FoxNews, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly want to use you for alien experiments.
Let's put it this way, if you are right then so what? Nothing you say change the known facts that we are over there, they are shooting at us, and the people shooting at us will not stop until Saddam is back in power or they are dead.
Your complex intertwining conspiracy might look good on paper (to a deluded person) but it ignores the basic human nature to blab about their achievements. The more complex and more parties involved in a conspiracy of secrecy, the more likely people will find out about it in the regular old media. Prime example is Congress. If you want everyone to know about something, tell Congress its a secret and they will leak the information. Need I say more?
Posted by: John Hysmith at August 23, 2003 at 02:04 AMReally, Sekimori, dis my foil? I'm just a cheap imitation! Tony Blair has 45 minutes to get into his Deluxe SPF 2000 suit and salute the American flag before the WMDs sap his precious bodily fluids.
Sheriff Coltrane, HHHHMMMMWHA? If you snap the green you'll only get greenx2.
Vast conspiracy theory, Nope. The U.S. didn't have to do it. The U.S. gets fingered for looking the other way, and for throwing the checkers all over the floor whenever the security council says no. We can still share the spoils, save some troops and make a little change in the process.
Congress didn't have to know about it - as far as they were concerned, their plane was late. Don't know, can't leak. Bremer didn't need know a specific time or date. Besides his take is: "What warning?". Chalabi says he tipped off his Boss last week. Next, speed-dial DeMello, Ahmed, you got the scoop, you get the glory.
In a country where you can get cheeky and drop a huge dime on your neighbor, just for making that kissing sound again, you might think even the babblings of an ambitious underling might get one battalion to detour from the 34th Saddam-in-smart-pumps apparition and run a couple of road blocks, even if the UN says they don't want it. It is still a war on terrorists, right?
Val, my aliens tell me "Don't call the Clarksville Biohazard Team, it's not anthrax, it's Equal." Since 9/11 even the common sense folk have slippery realities.
Posted by: mean.n.green at August 23, 2003 at 08:34 AMThat's some combo of meds you're on, Mr. Greenie.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at August 23, 2003 at 12:23 PMITV
April 15, 2003
Ahmed Chalabi: "I that the UN has a limited role in Iraq. They have messed up their previous enterprises in Iraq and the Iraqi people view them as if they are the defacto allies of Saddam, that is the view that is expressed here".
http://www.itv.com/news/944608.html
(dead link)
&
AFP (via Yahoo)
Wed Aug 20, 2003
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s 25-member interim Governing Council received intelligence on August 14 that a truck bombing was imminent in the capital, council member Ahmad Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, said.
"The intelligence specifically said that a large-scale act would take place ... against a soft target, such as Iraqi political parties or other parties including the UN," said Chalabi, who is a FAVOURITE of the US Defense Department [and PNAC and AEI].
He stressed that according to the information, NEITHER the ruling Coalition Provisional Authority n NOR coalition troops would be targeted. [!!!!!]
[...]
Chalabi added that the intelligence had warned the attack would be a truck bombing, using either a kamikaze driver or a remote control detonator, but declined to disclose the source of his information or how it was collected.
Chalabi said the council shared the news with US intelligence agents.
However, it was not clear if the information had been relayed to the United Nations.
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In Washington, Team Chalabi is led by Deputy Secretary of Defense [zionist] Paul Wolfowitz and [zionist] Richard Perle, the neoconservative strategist who heads the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. Chalabi's partisans run the gamut from far right to extremely far right, with key supporters in most of the Pentagon's Middle-East policy offices -- such as Peter Rodman, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser and Michael Rubin. Also included are key staffers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, not to mention Defense Secretary Donald [so-called occupied territories] Rumsfeld and former CIA Director Jim Woolsey.
The Washington partisans who want to install Chalabi in Arab Iraq are also those associated with the staunchest backers of Israel, particularly those aligned with the hard-right faction of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Chalabi's cheerleaders include the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).
http://www.prospect.org/print/V13/21/dreyfuss-r.html
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Free Iraqi Resistance Calling on Jewry For Support in Quest to Depose Saddam
Allies of Chalabi Meet Ambassador Gold, Warn of White House Folly
By SETH GITELL FORWARD STAFF
[...]
An adviser to INC chairman Ahmad Chalabi, Francis Brooke, and a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, David Wurmser, met with Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Dore Gold, last Friday to begin the process of getting Israel to back the INC. Representatives of the group have also met with a spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu, David Bar-Illan.
Domestically, the INC advisers believe that the core of America's organized Jewish community could rally the requisite amount of political support for the Iraqi opposition group to enable it to successfully challenge Saddam Hussein.
[...]
A resident fellow at the AEI, Richard Perle, is calling upon both Israel and the American Jewish community to support the INC. "Israel has not devoted the political or rhetorical time or energy to Saddam that they have to the Iranians. The case for the Iraqi opposition in Congress would be a lot more favorable with Israeli support," said Mr. Perle, who was assistant secretary of defense for international security policy during the Reagan administration.
With regard to the American Jewish community, Mr. Perle said: "There's NO QUESTION [my emph] that the Jewish community's been at the forefront with the legislation with regard to Iran. One can only speculate what it might accomplish if it decided to focus its attention on Saddam Hussein."
http://www.forward.com/BACK/1998/98.07.31/news.html
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Bush aide: Inspections or not, we'll attack Iraq
Exclusive By Paul Gilfeather, Whitehall Editor
GEORGE Bush's top security adviser last night admitted the US would attack Iraq even if UN inspectors fail to find weapons.
Dr Richard Perle stunned MPs by insisting a "clean bill of health" from UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix would not halt America's war machine.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?
objectid=12377231&method=full&siteid=50143
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Thank God for the DEATH of the UN
Its abject failure gave us only anarchy. The world needs order
Richard Perle
Friday March 21, 2003
The Guardian
Saddam Hussein's reign of terror is about to end. He will go quickly, but not alone: in a parting irony, he will take the UN down with him. Well, not the whole UN. The "good works" part will survive, the low-risk peacekeeping bureaucracies will remain, the chatterbox on the Hudson will continue to bleat. What will die is the fantasy of the UN as the foundation of a new world order. As we sift the debris, it will be important to preserve, the better to understand, the intellectual wreckage of the liberal conceit of safety through international law administered by international institutions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,918812,00.html
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