Canadian FM Pettigrew Condemns Iranian "Farce"

Disgusted by the Iranian regime's lack of cooperation in investigating the death in Iranian custody of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew raised the possibility of "joint pressure" by Canada and its allies against Tehran.

The Canadian government has accused Iran's hardline courts of covering up the true circumstances of Iranian-born photographer Zahra Kazemi's death last year in order to protect senior judiciary officials implicated in her murder.

"We've tried dialogue with the Iranian government but it has turned into a farce, this situation around Madame Kazemi," Pettigrew told reporters after meeting Belgian Foreign Minister Karl de Gucht.

"Certainly we are sharing our outrage at the way the Iranian government and the judiciary system has treated this citizen. We lose no opportunity to raise it."

"What we want is to know what has happened in that jail, we've asked for the body to be returned to Canada so that we could autopsy it. They say it's an accident, that she fell. Well, we'll know. When you have the body you know those things," he added.

Read the article at Free Iran.

Najaf: A War for Shi'a Leadership

Big Pharaoh has some very illuminating observations in his analysis of the Najaf confrontation.

'Last April, Sadr ignited his first uprising. His gang stormed the holy shrine in Najaf and literally occupied it. They controlled the keys and the treasures. When the fighting intensified, Sistani ordered all armed groups to leave Najaf including American forces. Sadr didn’t comply, his occupation of the shrine continued, and US forces had to withdraw outside Najaf to fulfill their part of the shaky truce. Poor Sistani, he lost all control over the shrine and that didn’t feel good. What would the pope feel if a wayward monk occupied the Vatican and its treasures?!

Today Sistani sleeps with the keys under his pillows! How did the keys jump from Sadr’s pocket to Sistani’s bed? Did Sistani form a militia? Sistani stayed for over 3 months with no keys, how did the old man manage to return them back? ... '

Read the rest at the link.

Morning Report: August 31, 2004

Republican Convention captures nation's attention. Blogging live from the Republican Convention in New York, Roger L. Simon is impressed by McCain. Serenity, blogging live from in front of the TV set, calls day one a "hell of an opening". Charles notes here that one of the speakers was Zainab al-Suwaij, the Iraqi woman whose account of the 1991 uprising appeared in The New Republic in February 2003. And Sully, back from his August break, appears to have been won over.

Flight 587: News Roundup

When Al-Qaeda on a website in May 2004 claimed the plane’s fall as an attack, however, I paid it little attention, for just about anyone can claim just about anything on a website.
But now comes a wisp of evidence to suggest that AA 587’s demise was in fact not an accident but an operation carried out by Al-Qaeda. This information has a complex pedigree:

 *It is recounted in a top secret Canadian Security Intelligence Service report written in May 2002 and made public on Aug. 27, 2004 by Stewart Bell in Canada’s National Post.
*Its source is Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a 22-year-old from St. Catharines, Ontario, said to be of “unknown reliability.”
*Jabarah in turn is reporting on what he heard from Abu Abdelrahman (a Saudi Al-Qaeda member who worked for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the organization’s highest ranking operatives). KSM’s information has usually turned out to be reliable.
So, the information that follows is not exactly rock-hard, but it is a real lead.
And this is it: Abu Abdelrahman told Jabarah who told CSIS ...
Daniel Pipes, FrontPage


"The operative told Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents during five days of questioning that ``Farouk,'' a Canadian citizen whose real name is Abderraouf Jdey, downed the plane in a suicide mission on Nov. 12, 2001, with explosives similar to those carried by convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid. ... "
Boston Herald


"The Airbus A-300 flight headed to the Dominican Republic crashed in the Rockaways shortly after takeoff from Kennedy Airport on Nov. 12, 2001, killing 265 people.

The source told agents from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that the man had trained in Afghanistan along with the 9/11 hijackers, according to a report in Canada's National Post.

During five days of questioning, he revealed that a Montreal man named Abderraouf Jdey used a shoe bomb like the one Richard Reid wore, to bring down the plane.
NY Post


Consider. The war rages in Iraq, our military are being injured and killed; Muslim extremists continue their evil, including downing two Russian passenger jets killing some 90 people; an al-Qaida operative tells Canadian investigators that an Afghanistan-trained Canadian terrorist brought down American Airlines flight 587 in New York three years ago; terrorist warnings continue in our country – the latest for Veterans Administration hospitals. All this and more!
...

So what does John Kerry, the presidential challenger, focus on to present himself to the American voters and ask for their vote? Vietnam!
Barbara Simpson, WorldNet Daily

Canadian Intel: AA 587 Downed by Shoe Bomb - Debka

"According to a top secret Canadian government report, the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York, had a sequel two months later. On November 13, 2001, American Airlines flight 587 crashed over Queens, New York, shortly after takeoff from JFK killing all 265 people aboard. A captured al-Qaeda operative, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, told Canadian intelligence investigators that a Montreal man who trained in Afghanistan alongside the 9/11 hijackers was responsible, using a small shoe bomb similar to the one used by convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid for his “suicide mission.” He named Abderraouf Jdey, a Canadian citizen ... "

The Debka article adds that, despite vigorous denials by Washington, this scenario seems plausible, in part because a number of suspected operatives were behaving strangely in the hours before the crash. The article also states that the US received numerous warnings from foreign intelligence agencies before the crash.

Breaking News from Debka: November 13, 2001 Crash No Accident

The post- 9/11 crash of American Airlines flight 587 over Queens, New York, was the work of al-Qaeda, according to a recent Debka article citing Canadian intelligence.

Stay tuned.

The Left Imploding; the Dems' Expanding Universe

Not wishing to waste the opportunity to make fools of themselves, the far-left factions are converging on New York with a level of ferocity and viciousness the city hasn't seen since ... well, never mind. But it's getting clearer and clearer that the tide of public opinion is turning: President Bush is now edging ahead in the Rasmussen polls, and while it's too early to get excited, I do think things are going to start looking up.

With lots of help from the moonbats in New York. If Whoopi Goldberg's vulgar joke about "bush" alienated some Kerry supporters, I think these protests will alienate even more. They are showing, more clearly than Karl Rove ever could, the intellectual vacuity and moral bankruptcy of the anti-Bush camp.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has completely lost its moorings and is moving ever farther away from its nonexistent center. Theoretically, the DP may have an ideological "center of gravity"; but through the action of a sort of "cosmological constant", it continues to expand ever further into the abyss.

Democrats who wonder about the direction their party is taking should look well at the faces of the protesters in New York City this week: That is the face of your future.

Another Blog Bites the Dust

Protesting the amnesty given to Muqtada al-Sadr, Jeffrey is shutting down his blog Iraqi Bloggers Central. IBC, which operated under several titles, was originally meant as a successor to the defunct Cry Me a Riverbend, providing a place for readers to openly discuss "certain Iraqi blogs that don't allow comments". While the original CMAR had to shut down due to death threats, IBC evolved into a popular discussion forum for the various Iraqi blogs (both annotated and comment-free).

For those new to the world of Blogdad, several important debates and meta-debates have been flourishing since the inception of Iraqi blogging last October/November. Among the important questions:
- How do we know whether an Iraqi blog is authentic?
- To what extent does a particular Iraqi blogger represent the Iraqi population as a whole? And what is the role of personal, individual opinions?
- How can non-Iraqis best understand the various, sometimes conflicting views expressed on the Iraqi blogs? And where does a fledgling democracy draw the line between responsible dissent and hostile subversion?
- Given that some Iraqi blogs allow reader comments while others do not, are we permitted to draw inferences about the bloggers' possible biases? That is, does the absence of a comment corner indicate a blogger's unwillingness to face the challenges of open debate?

The passing of Iraqi Bloggers Central will be a big loss to the blogosphere; it's up to the rest of us to pick up the slack and carry on IBC's mission as best we can.

Good News for Bush

President Bush's poll numbers continue to climb, according to Rasmussen Reports. Could it be that the tide is turning?

The New Republican: Columbia Flashback

Are you a fan of the print media? I know I am. I love the internet, but it will never replace the ease, reliability, authority, and permanence of traditional publishing. Just yesterday I lovingly unpacked my 1973 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica; it's now sitting on the shelf right above my OED. I expect to use both on a daily basis.

And magazines! If you're a magazine lover, you know what I mean: the only thing harder than schlepping around a lot of old magazines, is throwing them out.

So it was quite a pleasure, last week, to unearth some old copies of The New Republic, some going back ten years. ("CNN Wrecked Television News"? Who knew?) And sitting before me now is the June 3, 2002 print issue, open to Michael Crowley's illuminating article "The Makeover". Back in the summer of 2002, in the heat of primary season, two rivals for the Democratic nomination crossed paths in Columbia, South Carolina - and, for one magic moment, shared the spotlight:

"... As they stand side by side beneath a dreary exit sign, Kerry looms over Edwards by several inches. He also overwhelms his adversary rhetorically. After Edwards delivers some brief and subdued words to the crowd, Kerry whips them up with a furiously ideological stem-winder that makes Edwards grimace as if he were suffering a sudden migraine. Afterward there is much speculation that Edwards was irked at having to share the stage with Kerry, not least because of their striking height difference - a difference Kerry's backers love to dwell on.

It's a small, perhaps petty, triumph. But these days the Kerry camp will take whatever it can get. For, in a sense, Kerry is the anti-Edwards. Where Edwards has become the darling of the national media, Kerry can't seem to catch a break. His press clippings record 18 years of journalistic wisecracks about his ego, his looks, and his self-promotion."

Crowley explains that the goal of Kerry's makeover is to dispel his image as an aloof, narcissistic aristocrat. The candidate himself allows that "I haven't really reached out to or met a lot of people in the press until the last couple of years." But his very aggressiveness highlights "a degree of personal manifest destiny and self-love rare even among politicians. Indeed, his biography suggests an almost liofelong grooming for power."

Crowley notes that Kerry is aware of his image problem - but, as with everything else about himself, a little too aware of it, and we get the impression he's trying just a little too hard to prove he's a regular guy. As an unnamed Democratic activist says, "It's the rebranding of John Kerry ... that arrogant jerk you've heard so much about is really just a regular guy."

Ah, but John Forbes Kerry has a secret weapon. And what, you ask, might that be? I'll give you a hint: It starts with a V and ends with "nam."

When I asked Kerry whether he worries that Republicans might find a way to use that old footage of Michael Dukakis riding absurdly in a tank against him, he grew defiant. "If they want to put up an image of Mike Dukakis in a tank," Kerry replied, his eyes narrowing, "I'll put up an image of me on a boat in Vietnam."

And Vietnam isn't only an answer to Kerry's ideological vulnerabilities; it's an answer to his characterological ones as well: Out-of-touch, selfish rich kids didn't risk their lives in the jungles of Vietnam. ...

Indeed.

Morning Report: August 27, 2004

Iraqi police secure shrine area in Najaf. Heeding the embattled Muqtada al-Sadr's call to join the "peaceful masses", remnants of the so-called Mahdi Army are leaving the Najaf shrine according to news reports. This came as a result of negotiations between Sadr and Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq's leading Shi'a cleric. "Sadr accepted the peace proposal in a face-to-face meeting Thursday night with the 75-year-old grand ayatollah. The interim Iraqi government also agreed to the deal, and U.S. commanders ordered their troops to cease fire in Najaf." But according to the latest bulletin from Debka, "Under 5-point plan negotiated by Ayatollah Sistani with radical rebel Sadr overnight, rebel stronghold towns of Najef and Kufa declared weapons-free, foreign troops leave, handing security to Iraqi police, compensation paid for damage of three-week conflict.... US forces who fought rebellion withdrew to edge of city. Not all militiamen hand in weapons. Sadr walks free under Allawi government amnesty." For a very informative background on Shi'a Islam, read Ali's April 10 post, "The Myth and the Reality". (IHT, ITM, Debka)

Russian air disaster called terrorism. Not that it was ever in much doubt, but the twin crashes, within 20 minutes of one another, of two Russian airliners are being considered the result of terrorism. The crashes killed 90 people. Russian officials say traces of explosives have been found on at least one of the wrecked planes, according to this report on the Russian plane disaster. According to the Debka report, 'al Qaeda has finally come forward with a claim of responsibility, published by the Islamic Minbar website associated with the Islamist organization.' A denial by moderate Chechen rebels begs the question of whether Chechen extremists were involved; some analysts consider it likely that the hijackers came from outside of Russia. Russian newspapers have already referred to the event as "Russia's September 11", inviting speculation that the planes might have been intended to target high-level officials. It is noteworthy that the event comes less than a week before both the Chechen presedential election (scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday) and the Republican National Convention.

Sudan: Deadline? What deadline? In the latest chapter in the unfolding tragedy in Sudan, Jane has some thoughts on the importance of UN-imposed deadlines.

Al-Qaeda/Hezbollah/Ba'ath link? This piece by FDD's Cliff May on Munah al-Abdullah suggests that the capture of an inter-organizational terror liaison may provide proof of collaboration between various fascist regimes.

Remarks. Events in Russia encourage questions as to whether islamo-fascist elements are turning their attention toward West/Central Asia. An article on Uzbekistan by Andrew Apostolou sheds some light on the challenges facing that region.

Goooooold!

US Women Beat Brazil for Olympic Soccer Gold Medal. Is this great or what?

ATHENS, Greece — An hour after the game, Mia Hamm was still on the field, hugging, crying, and posing for pictures with an Olympic gold medal around her neck.

Then, finally, she left.

After 17 years, 153 goals and 266 games -- including a grueling overtime finale -- it was time for her to go.

"There are few times in your life where you get to write the final chapter the way you want to," Hamm said. "I think a lot of us did that tonight."

Hamm and the rest of the Fab Five had just enough left in their thirtysomething bodies for one more triumph in their final tournament together. Led by two goals from the next generation, the United States beat Brazil 2-1 Thursday to claim the Olympic title. ...

Read the rest of the Fox News story at the link.