Wednesday, December 19, 2007

It might be a pardon, but they still believe she is guilty



Saudi king pardons gang-rape victim | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

At last the Saudi king has taken action for the sake of the welfare of the Qatif girl. King Abdullah has issued a pardon for the girl so that she will not have her sentence of 200 lashes carried out. This is good news, however, there is a catch. The justice ministry believes that she was treated fairly by the courts and that she was in fact guilty of the alleged crime.

Amongst the allegations dragged up against this girl is that she was dressed improperly. I guess that means she was not wearing a burqa, that most ridiculous get up that is destroying the health of Muslim women. She was also accused of being an adulteress, even though her husband has stood firmly by her side and has never accused her of such a thing.

Now for the first time I read that the girl's brother, when he heard about the rape had tried to kill the girl and she had tried to take her own life. Poor girl, what horrible treatment at the hands of a system that is so mysoginic that women who are raped are either killed by male relatives, commit suicide, or they are tried for a "crime" that they did not in fact commit.

Amongst the more sickening details of this story is the fact that the rapists took a mobile phone video of the attack, yet the judges in the case claimed that they could not find evidence of the kidnap, assault and rape. Really!!


Powered by ScribeFire.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Rudd sends home illegal immigrants from Indonesia

Rudd sends home 16 asylum seekers - National - the age.com.au
In a very clear cut case the Rudd government has acted properly in my view by sending home the asylum seeker to Indonesia. For the very first time this is a clear cut case of economic refugees, since they have stated that they had to flee their homes because they could not earn a living after they had been caught illegally fishing in Australian territorial waters.


The issue here is border security, and for this reason these Indonesians should be sent home. They are not in fear of their lives because of war, and they are not fleeing a one child policy. Neither are they facing persecution as Christians, Buddhists or Hindus as a result of Muslim intolerance.


There have been times when I have been clearly on the other side in this particular debate. I do believe that it was wrong to send the Chinese woman who was pregnant with her second child back to China. She was forced to undergo a late term abortion and then faced further punishment. Australia had a duty to protect her and her family from this kind of behaviour by the Chinese government because it was genuine persecution. I am only citing one case where I have believed that the refugees should have been allowed to stay and that the application of "economic refugee" has been incorrectly applied in the past. However, this is clearly not the case with these individuals.


It is for this reason that I stand against David Manne of the Refugee and Immigration Centre because he is talking about these illegals as not having the opportunity to put there case. Sorry, but where there is no war there is no case, and where there is clearly an economic motivation there is no case. These illegal immigrants were already guilty of entering Australian waters to fish illegally, why should they be allowed to remain in Australia as illegal immigrants. We need to take a tough stance, otherwise our borders will remain porous.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

More than 200 Saudi alleged terrorists arrested

Saudi Arabia has announced that following an investigation lasting several months more than 200 Saudi and foreign nationals have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in terrorism.

The arrests took place over the past few months but were kept secret so as not to jeopardize ongoing investigations, a Ministry of the Interior official said Wednesday.

Eight of those being held are accused of involvement in a plot to attack an oil facility in the Eastern Province, where much of the nation's oil industry is based, and had set a date for the attack.

Another militant cell is alleged to have planned to assassinate Saudi religious figures and security officials, while a separate cell allegedly planned to smuggle eight shoulder-fired rockets into the kingdom from Yemen for terrorist operations.

The official said 112 of those arrested were "linked in with elements stationed abroad who facilitate the exit and travel of those to conflict zones" such as Iraq.

U.S. military officials have said that Saudis make up the largest contingent of foreign fighters in Iraq, while a Saudi Counterterrorism official noted that fighters returning from Iraq to Saudi Arabia represent a "troubling" phenomenon.

Thirty-two individuals -- Saudis and non-Saudis -- were arrested for allegedly providing financial support to other militants; 16 others were arrested for alleged involvement in the publication of a militant newsletter called Sada Alrafidain.

According to the Saudi counter-terrorism official, the number of arrests is the largest ever announced by the ministry.

The Saudi official said the Saudi government released the information before the Hajj pilgrimage season, when 2 million pilgrims travel to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina, in order "to alert the public of the ongoing threat to security in the kingdom.

It should be noted that Yemen has close links with Al Qaeda, therefore the arrests could represent a very big blow to the efforts of Al Qaeda to gain world domination via the setting up of a world wide caliphate which is one of the aims of Osama Bin Laden.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

4 infants died - the police case against the mother collapses because of inadmissible evidence

Has Justice been served for this mother, who had 4 children and lost all of them for an unknown reason?

 

CAROL Matthey entered the Supreme Court yesterday charged with murdering her four small children, one by one, over five years.

Police said she deliberately suffocated them, partly in order to sustain her troubled relationship with her husband, Stephen Matthey, the children's father.

But yesterday, the criminal case against Mrs Matthey, who has always denied she harmed her children, collapsed.

Fifteen minutes after she arrived, Mrs Matthey left the court free, cheerfully accepting congratulations. In an extraordinary end to one of the most dramatic cases in Victorian legal history, prosecutors dropped the charges because much of the evidence gathered against her was ruled inadmissible.

A case that involved a three-year police investigation, thousands of pages of statements and 160 witnesses — and a case that dominated four years of Carol Matthey's life — was suddenly over before it reached trial.

After she left the court, Mrs Matthey walked along William Street smiling, declining to answer reporters' questions until this one: "Are you not guilty, Carol?"

"No," she said firmly.

The reporter pointed out the double negative and asked for clarification. Did she mean she was innocent? "Yes," she said, chuckling, amused at the misunderstanding. Then she walked off the public stage and into the rest of her life.

The Supreme Court case against Mrs Matthey ended as a result of pre-trial hearings before Justice John Coldrey. In a complex 94-page judgement on October 12, he found most of the proposed evidence inadmissible under the law.

In legal terms, this is not an acquittal. A defendant against whom charges are withdrawn is not protected by double jeopardy and, theoretically, faces the prospect of another trial if new evidence emerges.

Mrs Matthey, 27, of Geelong, lost four children between 1998 and 2003. Jacob was seven months old, Chloe nine weeks old, Joshua three months and Shania three years and four months. At her committal hearing in March 2006, Mrs Matthey's defence argued there was no physical evidence of harm done to any of the children. Her lawyers said it was possible the children shared an as-yet-undiscovered gene that caused a medical condition, such as a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, that led to their deaths.

Police yesterday declined to comment. The acting director of public prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke, QC, said the case was irreparably damaged when the judge deemed inadmissible much of the medical evidence.

Initially, Jacob and Chloe Matthey were found to have died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and Joshua of klebsiella septicaemia. A police investigation began after the death of Shania, who was too old to have died of SIDS, and for whom no cause of death could be found. At the committal hearing, experts acknowledged SIDS was a "diagnosis of exclusion" — the cause of death used for babies when no other cause can be found. They said there were often no forensic clues that would differentiate natural SIDS from deliberate suffocation.

This left much of the expert medical evidence at the committal heated and contradictory. Four local forensic pathologists strongly argued the autopsies revealed no scientific evidence of harm to any of the children.

But a pediatrician from South Australia who specialized in SIDS, Dr Susan Beal, and a forensic pediatric pathologist from the US, Dr Janice Ophoven, were equally vehement homicide was the most likely explanation.

They argued that "scientific" evidence included the lack of risk factors for SIDS in some of the children; the rarity of four such deaths in one family; the troubled marriage; and the fact that the children had experienced "ALTEs" — apparent life-threatening episodes in which they stopped breathing or were found unconscious.

Dr Beal said: "ALTEs are not a predictor for SIDS; they're a predictor for (homicide)."

Justice Coldrey ruled out most of the evidence of these two witnesses.

The conflict between the experts meant the Crown case relied on other evidence, such as Mrs Matthey's relationship with her husband and children.

Justice Coldrey said the Crown had submitted that, particularly at times of ALTEs or deaths among the children, the marriage was under severe strain.

"Moreover, it is asserted that the relationship of Mrs Matthey to her children, evinced by unwanted and unplanned pregnancies, mediocre parenting and indifference to their deaths, would enable a jury to infer they were the unfortunate pawns in this strategy to bolster her marital situation," he wrote.

Justice Coldrey found there was no discernible link between the timing of marital crises and the ALTEs or the deaths: "There is no foundation for the contention that the killings were designed to win back Stephen Matthey's love and affection."

While there was evidence of poor mothering, the judge wrote, other reports painted a picture of a woman "who was a concerned, caring and loving mother during the children's lives, and a distressed and grieving one when they died".

Mrs Matthey's lawyer, Paul Lacava, SC, said there were no winners in the case. "Mrs Matthey and her husband have lost their children and their sadness is profound and ongoing.

 

I find it very strange that it used to be accepted if one baby died from SIDS then there was a chance that further babies could die from SIDS, yet these two women "experts" on a mission claim that it is impossible and that the deaths must be homicide. If this mother did in fact kill her children, then both of these "experts" have done a lot of harm to the prosecution case. The local pathologists, who had more than likely examined the bodies of the babies indicated that there was no scientific evidence of harm being done to the children. Why then should the Prosecution be allowed to build a case based upon the evidence of "experts" who had not performed any forensic pathology on the children. The Judge did the right thing striking down the charges. Carol Matthey does not walk away from the court as a totally free woman, because she could be charged again, but at least justice is seen to be done when a case that is not based upon fact, but upon "experts with a mission" has been struck down because of the lack of real evidence that would lead to a conviction.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Denmark grants asylum to Eritrean Christian.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Asylum for Eritrean gospel singer
She does not belong to one of the 4 recognized religious groups, but she belongs to the Evangelical Rema church. Helen Berhane is a Gospel singer and she was arrested in 2004 because she belongs to what is termed in Eritrea as an underground and illegal Church. After a lot of pressure was put on the Eritrean government to obtain her release, Helen Berhane escaped to Khartoum in the Sudan.
What is extraordinary about this story is that Helen Berhane and her daughter Eva applied for asylum in the UK in January, but after 7 months of waiting no decision had been made. Yet, it took the Danish officials one month to accept that Helen and Eva were genuine refugees.
After reading about the torture that Helen and thousands like her experienced in yet another Muslim country where there is such "tolerance" for Christians, one has to wonder what is wrong with the British officials. Helen has to use a wheel chair because of her injuries. This is totally scandalous and against all human rights. Here is some more of the story as posted by the BBCL

An Eritrean Christian gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in her homeland has been granted asylum in Denmark.

Helen Berhane was imprisoned inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith.

Freed in December 2006, she took refuge in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, before being granted asylum.

Ms Berhane uses a wheelchair because of severe injuries to her legs and feet sustained in prison beatings.

More than 90% of Eritreans belong to one of four recognised religions - Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Churches and Islam.

All other religions were outlawed by a government decree passed in May 2001, though Jehovah's Witnesses had been denied their rights as Eritrean citizens as early as 1994.

Helen Berhane is a member of the unregistered Rema Church and had just released a cassette of gospel music when she was arrested in the Eritrean capital on 13 May 2004.

She was one of an estimated 2,000 members of illegal evangelical church groups in Eritrea who have been arrested in recent years, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

Arbitrary detention

After an international campaign, she was released in December 2006 and fled with her sister to Sudan, fearing she could be killed to cover up what had happened to her at the Mai Serwa prison camp near Asmara.

Among the tortures she endured was the infamous "helicopter" position, in which the prisoner is placed face down with arms and legs tied behind the back.

Her account of the cruel and inhumane treatment she suffered is echoed by the testimony of hundreds of others persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Prisoners say they are routinely subjected to extremes of heat and cold, denied water and sanitation, according to testimony collected from exiles by Release Eritrea, an organisation that campaigns for the rights of religious minorities.

Ms Berhane's daughter, Eva, who joined her in Khartoum, accompanied her to Copenhagen where the two were greeted by campaigners and well-wishers on Friday.

Dr Berhane Asmelash, Director of Release Eritrea, said: "We are relieved that Helen and Eva are finally safe and would like to thank everyone who has supported them."

"We hope that Helen will now have the peace and space to recover her health and rebuild her life."

Initially Helen Berhane applied to the United Kingdom for asylum and was interviewed by immigration officials at the British High Commission in Khartoum in January 2007.

Seven months later, with no decision on her case by the British, Ms Berhane sought help from Denmark which took one month to determine that she was a genuine asylum seeker.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide's Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: "We are thrilled that Helen has now finally found refuge for herself and her daughter after so many years of suffering."

"We cannot forget, however, that 2000 other Christians still languish in Eritrean detention centres simply for holding on to their faith," Mr Thomas said.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Pollution as a cause of cancer in children





If there is one thing I hate, it is hearing about yet another child who has cancer, and yes I do know one child personally. She is only 3 years old, and has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

However, this story concerning a young boy with leukemia has struck a chord because of the possibility that the pollutants that were pumped out into the air by the petro-chemical plants might have had an impact upon the health of this child.

No one can say for certain that Valentin's illness was caused by the
air he breathed, but earlier this year, the University of Texas
released a study showing that children who live within two miles of the
ship channel have a 56 percent greater chance of getting leukemia than kids living elsewhere.


It's the first study showing an association between the channel's air
quality and childhood leukemia. The health risks from the shipping
canal are not limited to cancer. The chemicals in the air can cause other serious health problems, such as respiratory diseases and birth defects.

Tom McGarity, a professor of environmental law at the University of
Texas, believes such conditions are allowed to persist because 90
percent of the people who call the ship channel home are Hispanic and
many of them are poor.


"If these plants were omitting these
kinds of levels in River Oaks, it wouldn't be happening, I promise," he
said. River Oaks is one of the more affluent communities in Houston.


The connection between poverty and poor environmental conditions is not
limited to Texas. In many of the countries visited for CNN's "Planet in
Peril" documentary, such as Cambodia, Thailand, Madagascar, Chad, China
and Brazil, it is the poor and disenfranchised who bear the brunt of
environmental burdens.

A similar dynamic plays out in the United
States, where class and very often race can determine where one lives.
In 2005, for example, The Associated Press reported blacks were 79
percent more likely than whites to live in neighborhoods where
industrial pollution was suspected of posing the greatest health danger.


"It's really mind-boggling that we could kind of write off, you know, a
whole section of our society," said Majora Carter, founder of the
Sustainable South Bronx, which fights what Carter calls "environmental
racism" in New York and around the country.

"No one should have
to bear the brunt of environmental burdens and not enjoy any
environmental benefits, and right now race and class ... really
determine the good things like parks and trees or the bad stuff like
waste facilities and power plants," she said.


Powered by ScribeFire.

Friday, October 12, 2007

An Open Letter to Steven Knapp at George Washington University


An open letter to Steven Knapp, president of The George Washington University

Whilst I do not consider American politics to be my business, I do think that sometimes it is necessary to blog on subjects where the left have been caught lying. What happened at GWU is a good example, therefore I have copied the open letter to Steven Knapp regarding the distribution of flyers that were in fact the responsibility of left wing students, who had the malignant intention of getting conservative students at the university expelled.




October 10, 2007


President Steven Knapp

The George Washington University

2121 I Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20052


Dear President Knapp,


Seven students at your institution falsely attributed the “Hate Muslims? So Do We!!” fliers
to The George Washington University chapter of Young America’s
Foundation. When the fliers initially surfaced you said, “There is no
place for expressions of hatred on our campus. We do not condone, and
we will not tolerate the dissemination of fliers or other documents
that vilify any religious, ethnic or racial group.”


We agree. Vicious personal attacks levied on students are
intolerable, and should not go unpunished. The question remains: what
will you do about such blatant character assassination now that the
truth is out? How will you demonstrate that you don’t “condone” or
“tolerate” the dissemination of hate?


To be clear, liberal radicals on your campus accused conservative
students of engaging in racist activities, and to buttress those
baseless claims, these same radicals manufactured actual racist
activities to pin on the young conservatives.


Student Association Executive Vice President Brand Kroeger told the GW Hatchet that
he “would support expulsion. These acts are completely heinous.” Again,
we agree with this statement if Kroeger believes it is the job of The
George Washington University to protect the reputation of students who
are wrongfully maligned. In an open letter to you, the culprits admit
to distorting the views of the conservatives on campus. They wrote, “We
want to reach out to our Muslim brothers and sisters in the Holy Month
of Ramadan in hopes that they will embrace our misrepresented, but honorable stand against racism” (emphasis added).


There is, of course, a clear difference between ordinary Muslims who
positively contribute to society and radical Jihadists who boast about
murdering people indiscriminately. It’s a typical left-wing tactic,
however, to just call names, such as “racist,” rather than engage in a
serious debate, in this case, over radical Islam. Only the
intellectually deficient revert to such slanderous attacks.


The seven who put up the phony fliers are frauds.


You should issue an apology to the conservatives unfairly targeted.
It was obvious that the fliers were spreading lies, but your
administration, led by Bridgette Behling—the assistant director of the
Student Activities Center—sent emails to the young conservatives
pressuring them to sign statements disavowing any hate speech that may
originate at any future Young America’s Foundation event.


That’s astonishing. Maybe she forgot that the presumption of
innocence is an American hallmark? Or maybe your administration should
pressure leftist groups to sign statements disavowing any future dirty
tricks on conservatives?


The political profiling of conservatives MUST stop. You need to
organize a forum immediately that embraces intellectual diversity and
denounces the Left’s attempts to create hostile learning environments
for conservatives. The campus leftists wrote that Young America’s
Foundation “should not [be] allow[ed]” to host conservative speakers.
These seven students are trying to squelch robust dialogue and free
speech. We believe this to be the goal of their scheme. As president of
The George Washington University, we hope that you will create an
atmosphere where all students, including conservatives, feel welcomed.


Don’t waste the opportunity.


Ron Robinson, President of Young America’s Foundation




Powered by ScribeFire.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Nine Christians murdered by the Muslim ragers - where is the outcry?

Nigeria: Nine Christians murdered over cartoon drawn by a Muslim in Bangladesh

"They cannot control their anger, they take knives and slaughter." Religion of Tolerance -- and Clear Thinking.

"Nigeria: Can Condemns Religious Killing in Kano," by John Shiklam for the Daily Champion (Lagos), with thanks to Twostellas:

GENERAL Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Mr Samuel Salifu has condemned the killing of Christians in Tudun Dankande local government area of Kano State.

He called on the state government to bring the perpetrators to book, warning that Christians would no longer condone any attack on them.

Salifu who spoke with newsmen in Kaduna weekend said that reports reaching him from Kano state said there was trouble in Tudun Dankande local government area of the state Friday where nine Christians, including a youth corper serving in the area were killed and their property destroyed over an internet cartoon said to have emanated from a 20-year-old Muslim boy from Bangladesh.

"Information available to me is that almost all the churches within that local government area have been razed down and shops belonging to Christians had also been burnt including their houses. We have been told that they have been ejected and their property brought down and burnt.

"The information given was that they saw a cartoon on the internet and they discovered that this cartoon was drawn by a 20-year-old Muslim boy from Bangladesh and they decided to visit their anger on innocent Christians and their churches.

"I have been told that nine people including a youth corper are confirmed dead and several others injured while the local government in a desperate attempt to cover the dastardly act pretended to be taking the victims to the hospital while in reality they sent some of the victims to Bauchi and some other places around so that people will not go there and see the number of destitutes or refugees caused by this incident.

"That is the information available, so far. What we have done is to ensure that the vice president is informed," he alleged.

He said Christians and their leaders were getting worried because both the Christian leaders and Muslims had been holding series of meetings within and outside the Nigerian Inter Religious Council (NIREC) to see how to bring about peaceful coexistence between followers of the two religions. Salifu regretted, however, that "the more we continue to meet with Muslim leaders the more some of these people attack our people.

[...]

"It is clear that the cartoonist is from Bangladesh and he is a Muslim, so why should they now visit their anger on Christians unless they are lunatics and if you call them this type of name, they say they are angry, but they go killing.

"They cannot control their anger, they take knives and slaughter. When you tell them what they are doing is wrong, they will turn round and start to kill. Very soon, there would be a lot of blood shed unless they stop this nonsense because the church is getting fed up.

Posted by Robert at October 5, 2007 6:05 AM

Hat Tip: Jihad Watch

Iraqis united against the Democrat led U.S. Senate proposal

Good News From Najaf, Fallujah and Basra

By Gateway Pundit


A demonstrator waves an Iraqi flag during a protest in Baghdad October 6, 2007. Members of the Iraqi Democratic Nation Party held a rally in Baghdad on Saturday protesting against the federal system in Iraq which was proposed by the U.S. Senate. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)
Iraqi American Haider Ajina sends this good news from Najaf and Fallujah today from the Iraqi media. The following is a translation of an article from Buratha News on 10/4/07:

Success for security operation in Nejaf during commemoration of the death of Imam Ali PBH
The streets of Nejaf city were flooded with almost two million visitors from all over Iraq and neighboring countries. They came to commemorate the death of Imam Ali Son of Abi Talib PBH (Son in law of the prophet Mohamed & founder of the Shiite branch) amidst strong security measures. Ahmed Duaail spokesman for the province said, the security operation was implemented successfully with no incidences and the public service side of the plan was also implemented successfully.
Brigadier Uthman Alghanum commander of the eight Iraqi Army Brigade and director of Military operations in Nejaf province said, ‘security forces dealt eagerly with all intelligence at their disposal to close all avenues which can be used by terrorist and criminals. Visitors praised the security and public services available during the length of their stay and on the roads leading to Nejaf from other provinces. Roads leading to Nejaf had many rest stations which provided places to rest and served Iftar (evening breaking fast meal during Ramadan) as well as medical attention to those who needed it.
The following is article from Voices of Iraq from Oct 2nd 2007:
Restless Falluja: a peaceful city in Ramadan
Anbar, Sept 30, (VOI) – Unlike its long history of bloody incidents and armed clashes, Anbar's Falluja city is living a renaissance of peace and hope this Ramadan with a drastic decrease in incidents of violence encouraging local residents to live their lives as fully as possible.
Unlike previous years, the city's mosques are crowded with worshippers invoking God to relieve their distress and restore stability to their war-torn country.
Sheikh Khaled Ahmed Saleh, an imam at al-Badawi mosque in central Falluja, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI), "We thank God that peace reigns over the city during this month. We were unable to perform Taraweeh prayers (evening prayers during Ramadan) in mosques over the past few years. But now we pray, go to the markets, and visit our relatives."
Sunni Falluja is distinguished among other Iraqi cities by its numerous minarets and its shish kebab. It is for this reason that the 53-year-old Hajj Abboud al-Sudra calls it "the city of minarets and kebab."
"A religious spirit is uppermost at such times in the city, which is known for its many mosques and high and shining minarets," Sheikh al-Sudra said.
Among the most common activities held at mosques during the holy month are religious and cultural competitions. Following the Taraweeh prayers, competitions for Quran memorization and recitations are held at the Grand Falluja mosque.
An official from the Religious Endowments Department in the city told VOI said that two young men and a woman were the winners in the competition. "The awards were 5 million Iraqi dinars (4,048 U.S. dollars) for the first prize, 3 million dinars ($2,429) for the second and 2 million dinars ($1,619) for the third," he indicated.
A few hours after the Iftar (the fast-breaking meal), residents of Falluja flow into markets and cafes, which remain open until a late hour in the evening.
Commenting on the growth in trade activities in the city, Yahia al-Badrani, an owner of Falluja Food Markets said that unlike previous years since the foreign invasion in 2003 there is an increasing demand for food products this Ramadan. Linking this to the stable security situation in the city, al-Badrani said that his market close at 11:00 p.m. to meet consumers' demands.
Playing a prominent role in promoting the spirit of tolerance and reconciliation between those in dispute, religious clerics in the city make every effort to resolve quarrels and conflicts and restore peaceable relations
Haider Ajina comments:
The increase in security and gradual return to normal life was confirmed with a phone call from my dad in Baghdad last week. He said security in Baghdad in the many areas he goes to is substantially better and almost normal. Shops are open till late in the night for Ramadan, people are out on the streets, water is back and power is on for over 8 hours per day rather than 8 per week. The provinces have been getting 12-20 hours of electricity per day for some time now. The tremendous increase in the buying power of Iraqis since we liberated Iraq from the ternary of the Baathists has increased many fold. Many Iraqis have more appliance more cars etc.. In fact the number of cars owned and driven by Iraqis has more than quadrupled in the last 3-4 years. Imagine what this is doing to the demand for electricity and gas etc…
The Iraqi industry ministry has distributes loans to over 1600 factories in 38 areas in and around Baghdad creating over 17 thousand job opportunities. Phase two of this project is in Basra province with other provinces to follow. By the way the Iraqi parliament and the Iraqi ministerial chamber (executive branch) have both strongly rejected the non binding resolution issued by our congress to divide Iraq into three countries. This has been one of the few issues on which the Iraqi parliament has been unanimous. The hard work and incredible efforts of our men and women, especially in Anbar (and now spreading to Musul) province, is creating strong stability and enhancing reconciliation efforts in Iraqi.
Regards,
Haider Ajina

There has been a tangible improvement in the security climate since British troops vacated their outpost in Basra. (Telegraph)
Bill Moore from the UK forwarded the latest good news from southern Iraq published in The Telegraph
"The Tide is Turning in Basra"
For after four painful years of missed opportunities and sacrifice, there are encouraging signs that progress is being made in helping the Iraqi people rebuild their country after decades of misrule.
The military surge undertaken by the Americans has seen a significant reduction in Baghdad and the surrounding provinces. Although accurate figures are hard to come by, coalition claims that the murder rate in Baghdad has halved since the surge began in June are being given credence by even the most critical aid agencies.
The American military's success in tackling the more militant insurgent groups has led to many Sunni tribal elders, who had given their tacit support to the insurgency, opting to cooperate with coalition forces in restoring security and political stability...
This significant change in Iraq's political and security climate is also manifesting itself in the south, where the British military has had responsibility for administering four provinces since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in the spring of 2003.
In the past few weeks there has been a tangible improvement in the security there, particularly since British troops vacated their last outpost in Basra's city centre at the end of August. Crime in Basra is down 70 per cent, and rocket and mortar attacks against British forces – which were running at more than 90 a day in the summer – have been reduced almost to zero – as Mr Brown experienced for himself this week...
The collapse of the government's infrastructure and security apparatus meant that this was always going to be a long haul. But, bit by bit, the building blocks have been put in place, starting with the new constitution, which was confirmed by a national referendum in late 2005, and followed by the election of the first democratic government in Iraq's history.
...One of their biggest tests came in the summer when the pro-coalition governors of Muthanna and Qadasiyah provinces were assassinated. "We half expected the Iraqi provincial authorities to contact us and ask for assistance," a senior British officer told me. "But in fact the Iraqis made it clear they did not want any assistance. They were adamant that they wanted to sort things out themselves. It was a very encouraging sign."
In fact, the desire of Iraqis to conduct their own affairs has caused British commanders to undertake a radical re-evaluation of how they go about providing support.
Another crucial consideration was whether the Iraqi security forces were capable of filling the security void. And if the evidence of the past five weeks is anything to go by, the signs are encouraging. The effectiveness of the Iraqi security forces is such that, as Mr Brown intimated during his lightning visit, Basra should be handed over to full Iraqi control by the end of next month.
Counterterrorism Blog has more on the disastrous Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Another Sunni leader opposing Al Qaeda dies

A leader of a Sunni Arab tribal council which opposed al-Qaeda in Iraq has been killed in a roadside bomb attack north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials have said.

Sheikh Muawiya Jebara, a senior member of the Salahuddin Awakening Council, and three of his bodyguards were killed as his convoy travelled near Samarra.

His death comes less than a month after the killing of the head of a similar group in neighbouring Anbar province.

Meanwhile, the Shia mayor of Iskandariya died in a separate bombing.

Abbas al-Khafaji, a member of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), and four of his bodyguards were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their car at a checkpoint, police said.

A mixed Sunni-Shia town 40km (25 miles) south of the capital, Iskandariya lies in a centre of the Sunni insurgency known as the "triangle of death".

Tribal alliance

The attack on Sheikh Muawiya Jebara occurred in mid-afternoon as he travelled to an area south-west of Samarra to support other members of the Salahuddin Awakening Council who were currently fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The sheikh survived the initial blast, but died from head injuries shortly after arriving in hospital, his brother said.

The head of the Tikrit-based Salahuddin Awakening Council, Sheikh Sabah Mutashar al-Shammari, recently said the tribal alliance had conducted more than 100 operations against Sunni extremist militants.

"Our forces are working in co-ordination with the ministers of defence and interior," he told the AFP news agency.

"Our troops consist of 3,000 fighters distributed across seven headquarters in the province."

Last month, the leader of the Anbar Awakening, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was killed in a bomb attack near his home in Ramadi.

US officials have pointed to the formation of the tribal alliances as one of the most positive developments in their efforts to reduce violence in Iraq.

MP arrested

In other news, the US military said it had taken an Iraqi member of parliament into custody after he allegedly attended a meeting of suspected al-Qaeda members.

The MP was seized during a joint raid by US and Iraqi forces in the town of Sharqat, north of Baghdad.

The main Sunni Arab alliance in parliament, the Iraqi Accord Front, said the man was one of its members, Naif Jassim Mohammed.

The US military said the man was being questioned by the authorities, but was not formally considered to be a detainee.

Later, parliament agreed to let the Iraqi Accord Front replace another of its MPs with one of the country's most famous football stars.

Ahmed Radhi, the only Iraqi player to have scored in the World Cup, replaced Abed Nasser al-Janabi, who was expelled from parliament in June after saying he was leaving politics to join the insurgency.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Sears Tower plot trial begins

Seven men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago have go on trial in Miami Florida.


The men intended to ignite a guerrilla war that would bring down the US government, federal prosecutors said.


Defence lawyers said FBI informants had devised the plot and the defendants had played along to con money from them.



"These defendants came together for one sole purpose, to
wage a holy war against the United States," said prosecutor Richard
Gregorie in his opening statement.


He said they wanted to bomb a number of landmark buildings and put poison in restaurant salt shakers.


There would be no survivors from the alleged Sears Tower
bomb, Mr Gregorie said, because the defendants planned to shoot anyone
who escaped.


'Con game'


But lawyers for the defendants said the purported plot
was the inspiration of two paid FBI informants, one of whom posed as an
al-Qaeda operative.









Narseal Batiste (l) and Stanley Grant Phanor, two of those charged
Lawyers for the accused said the case against them was overblown








The defendants hoped to con the two men of $50,000 (£24,500) they had allegedly offered the group, their attorneys said.


"All he wanted to do was get his money and run and who
better to con than somebody who was supposedly al-Qaeda," said Ana
Jhones, attorney for Narseal Batiste, the alleged ringleader of the
seven men.


Government officials described them after their arrest
as "home-grown terrorists" but said they posed no real threat because
they had no actual al-Qaeda contacts, no weapons and no means of
carrying out the attacks.



Powered by ScribeFire.