The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 01/16/2005 - 01/23/2005

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Despite violence, Iraq poll can be credible - U.N.

Despite violence, Iraq poll can be credible - U.N.
22 Jan 2005 12:42:13 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Luke Baker

BAGHDAD, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Conditions for Iraq's election are far from ideal and violence is expected on the day, but the vote will go ahead on Jan. 30 and should be credible, the U.N.'s top election official in Iraq said on Saturday.

With eight days to go before the country's first multi-party election in nearly half a century, Carlos Valenzuela said he and Iraq's Electoral Commission were in a race against time but remained on target to have everything in place on polling day.

"We've got to the stage where we can say that all electoral preparations are, at least at this point, in place, although there is still a lot of work to be done," Valenzuela, 47, told reporters inside the heavily fortified Green Zone compound.

"(Conditions) are not the best and certainly far from ideal, but if the security measures work there is a very good chance that the elections that take place will take place successfully ...and will be accepted as legitimate," he said.

Insurgents have stepped up their 18-month campaign of violence in the build-up to the poll, killing 25 Shi'ites in two suicide bombings in and near Baghdad on Friday in an apparent attempt to drive a wedge between religious communities.

Valenzuela, who has spent the past 13 years planning and overseeing elections in hotspots ranging from Haiti and East Timor to Mozambique and Mali, said he expected militants to try to disrupt the poll but hoped counter-measures would work.

"There has been violence in the run-up and it is likely that there will at least be attempts at violence on the day," he said, emphasising that conditions were far from perfect. "But violence does not necessarily disqualify the elections."

TOO MUCH VIOLENCE?

A little over 14 million Iraqis could potentially turn up to vote at some 5,700 stations, prompting very real fears that militants will target crowds of people waiting to vote.

To try to counteract that threat, the location of voting centres will be revealed only at the last minute in some areas, and intense security measures will be in place countrywide. U.S. forces are hoping to keep a distance, putting Iraqi troops in charge, but they will move in if violence gets out of hand.

Some Sunni Arab politicians have called for a boycott arguing that the violence and intimidation gripping the country is too great, making it impossible for their supporters to go and vote and rendering the poll neither free nor fair.

It is unclear how much violence might be too much violence on the day -- enough to prompt electoral officials to declare the vote invalid or call it off. Valenzuela did not dismiss such a scenario but said the Electoral Commission would decide.

"It's something they will be monitoring very closely," said the Colombian diplomat, who believes conditions in Iraq are still not as bad as they were for East Timor's election in 1999.

"Should there be -- which is something that we hope will not happen -- but should there be massive violence that forces a significant number of polling centres to be closed down, then the commission might decide to do something regarding the election at that time," he said.

If the vote does come off, the results are unlikely to be known for several days, possibly as long as a week, Valenzuela said. And even then, no one expects the violence to disappear. U.S. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld told reporters last month it would be a mistake to think violence would end and conditions in Iraq improve after the election.

Iraq refuses to say if Zarqawi detained

Iraq refuses to say if Zarqawi detained


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Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 22, 2005

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Iraq's interior minister on Saturday refused to comment on rumors that the top terror leader in the country had been taken into custody.

"I wouldn't like to comment for the time being," Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib said when asked about rumors that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been arrested. "Let's see. Maybe in the next few days we will make a comment about it."

Pressing him, a reporter asked, "Does that mean he is in custody?"

"No comment," the minister repeated.

The rumors about al-Zarqawi followed an interview aired on an Arab television station earlier this month in which a Saudi man arrested for a deadly truck bombing claimed that he heard from other insurgents that al-Zarqawi had been arrested by Iraqi police in Fallujah but released because authorities didn't recognize him.

Rumors spread that Iraqi authorities had al-Zarqawi in custody but were waiting to announce it just before the Jan. 30 elections.

Al-Zarqawi, the leader of Iraq's al-Qaida affiliate, has claimed responsibility for numerous kidnappings and the beheadings of several foreigners, including Americans. His group, al-Qaida in Iraq, has also carried out many other bombing and shooting attacks on American troops and Iraqi police and soldiers.

In an audiotape posted Thursday on the Web, a speaker who identified himself as al-Zarqawi called on his followers to prepare for a long struggle against the Americans and denounced Iraqi Shiites for fighting alongside US troops in last November's assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

The United States has offered a US$25 million reward for al-Zarqawi's capture or death - the same amount as for Osama bin Laden.

Earlier on Saturday, an Iraqi insurgent group said in a Web statement that it had killed 15 Iraqi National Guard members seized this month off a bus northwest of Baghdad.

"After the investigation, they confessed to the crimes they have committed with the crusader forces against civilians and mujahedeen," the Ansar al-Sunnah group said in the statement. "With God's help, God's verdict has been carried out against them by shooting them....They should be a lesson to others."

The claim could not be independently verified, and the statement contained no photographs. Iraqi insurgents have targeted Iraqi military and security forces because they are less well-trained, less equipped and less protected than American and other multinational troops.

The Iraqi guardsmen were pulled from a bus Friday near their base in the town of Hit, 140 kilometers (90 miles) northwest of Baghdad. A statement posted the following day on an Islamic Web site took responsibility on behalf of Ansar al-Sunnah.

Ansar al-Sunnah is among Iraq's most aggressive insurgent groups, claiming attacks including a December suicide bombing that killed 22 people, most of them Americans, at a U.S. military mess tent at the northern city of Mosul.

The group is also blamed in the August executions of 12 Nepalese construction workers and twin suicide bombings in February that killed 109 members of Iraq's assertive Kurd minority.

Elite Iranian agent arrested in Iraq

Admits smuggling insurgents,
weapons through border


Posted: January 22, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein

� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
An agent of Iran's prestigious Jerusalem Force was arrested in Iraq carrying money and planning attacks against U.S. troops, sources said.

U.S. Coalition forces arrested members of an underground armed group operating in Iraq's eastern Diyala province Thursday. Among them was a senior member of the Jerusalem Force carrying $150,000 in cash, said the sources.


The Iranian agent, along with an Iraqi insurgent, reportedly revealed during interrogation the location of a group of other Iranian agents working with them and admitted to having smuggled the group and their weapons through the Iran-Iraq border, avoiding security controls.

The Jerusalem Force is a specialized, elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that reportedly oversees Iran's military activities in other countries.

The arrests follow the confession earlier this week of Col. Muayed Al-Nasseri, an insurgent leader and former head of Saddam Hussein's "Army of Muhammad," who told U.S. interrogators Iran was the principle financer of the insurgency in Iraq.

Al-Nasseri's confession was broadcast on an Iraqi television station operating from the United Arab Emirates, Al-Fayhaa TV, and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"Many factions of the resistance are receiving aid from the neighboring countries," Al-Nasseri said. "We in the Army of Muhammad � the fighting has been going on for almost two years now, and there must be aid, and this aid came from the neighboring countries. We got aid primarily from Iran. The truth is that Iran has played a significant role in supporting the Army of Muhammad and many factions of the resistance. I have some units, especially in southern Iraq, which receive Iranian aid in the form of arms and equipment."

Al-Nasseri also said another resistance group actually traveled to Iran to pick up arms and cash and to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "As for other factions of the resistance, I have reliable information regarding the National Islamic resistance, which is one of the factions of resistance, led by Colonel 'Asi Al Hadithi. He sent a delegation to Iran from among the people of the faction, including General Halaf and General Khdayyer. They were sent to Iran in April or May and met with Iranian intelligence and with a number of Iranian leaders and even with Khamenei."

Al-Nasseri said the group picked up $1 million and two cars full of weapons.

They still have a very close relationship with Iran," he said. "They receive money, cars, weapons and many things. According to my information, they even got car bombs."

Friday, January 21, 2005

Poll Finds Iraqis Overwhelmingly Favor Elections

By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 19, 2005 � As coalition and Iraqi forces continue to kill and capture insurgents bent on disrupting or preventing Iraq's national assembly election, a new poll shows Iraqis overwhelmingly believe it's important for them to cast their ballots Jan. 30.

According to a public opinion survey in Iraq taken in early January, more than 90 percent of Iraqis believe it is important to vote in the election. A total of 82.9 percent said it was "very important," and 9.4 percent said it was "somewhat important."

The breakdown along religious lines shows 70.1 percent of Sunnis listing very important and 15.9 percent listing somewhat. A total of 86 percent of Sunnis, therefore, believe the election is important to the future of Iraq.

Sunnis make up about 20 percent of Iraq's population. They were the dominant group under the former regime. Some Sunni groups have called for Sunnis to boycott the election, but this poll seems to show that the calls are not effective.

In Shiia communities � the largest in Iraq, with about 60 percent of the population � 91.1 percent believe the election is very important and 5.5 percent say it is somewhat important. Shiia leader Grand Ayatollah Sistani has called on all Shiia to vote in the election. He has a slogan, "Vote or Die" that has struck a chord with the Shiia population.

The survey contacted almost 2,000 Iraqis from all parts of the country. An Iraqi company conducted the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three points.

On the all-important question of whether they will vote or not in the election, 87 percent said they were very likely or somewhat likely to vote on Jan. 30. Along religious lines, almost 80 percent of Sunnis said they were likely to vote, and more than 90 percent of Shiias said they would go to the polls. Roughly 10 percent of the sample said they would not vote, and the rest didn't know.

The survey showed that 63.6 percent of Iraqis believe there will be free and fair elections in the country, with 17.8 percent responding they do not believe the elections will be free and fair. The rest listed don't know or not applicable. Overall, more women said they believe the elections would be free and fair than men � 65.1 percent to 62 percent.

Along religious lines, just over half � 50.5 percent � of Iraqis who list themselves as Sunni Muslim believe the elections will be free and fair, with 29.1 percent disagreeing. Among Shiias, 72.1 percent believe the elections will be free and fair, with 11.2 percent disagreeing.

Other interesting facets of the survey show that almost three quarters of Iraqis have at least some confidence in Iraq's interim government. A third of the people have some confidence, 29.5 percent have a lot of confidence and 10.8 percent have a little confidence. Only 15.8 percent have no confidence in the interim government.

Overall, more than 54.1 percent of Iraqis said they believe the country is headed in the right direction, with 28.1 percent saying the opposite. The Sunnis are almost evenly divided, with 42.6 percent 41.3 percent, respectively. Among Shiia Iraqis, the percentages are 61.1 and 21 percent. For more good news stories please check out: � Chrenkoff


FBI Adds 10 Names to List in Boston Threat

By CURT ANDERSON

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI on Thursday added the names of nine Chinese people
and one other man to the list of those being sought for questioning about a
possible terror plot targeting Boston.

FBI spokesman Joe Parris said the names "were developed as a result of the
ongoing investigation" but did not signal that credible evidence has emerged
indicating such a plot actually exists.

"Information is still uncorroborated and from a source of unknown
reliability and motive," Parris said.

The names are part of the same anonymous tip that led authorities on
Wednesday to announce that they are seeking to question four other Chinese
and two Iraqis. The new names bring to 16 the people being sought for
questioning.

Another federal law enforcement official in Washington, speaking condition
of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said the tip was received
by the California Highway Patrol. The tipster claimed the four Chinese - two
men and two women - entered the United States from Mexico and were awaiting
a shipment of "nuclear oxide" that would follow them to Boston.

The official said the nuclear oxide could be a reference to material used to
make a "dirty bomb" that would spew radiation over a wide area.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of Boston said earlier Thursday that
authorities had learned more background about the original four Chinese, but
"it makes us no more alarmed this morning, this afternoon, than we were
yesterday."

"They're not wanted at this point in time for any crimes because there's no
evidence at this point in time that they've committed any crimes," Sullivan
said. "We're not certain exactly where they are. We can't even say for
certain that they're in the country."

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said he discussed the manhunt with
President Bush during an Oval Office meeting a few hours before Bush's
inauguration for a second term. Card did not provide details on what was
said.

The four Chinese previously named by the FBI were identified as Zengrong
Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin. Authorities said none of
the names had appeared on previous watch lists of terror suspects. The
bureau also released pictures of those four but not of the others being
sought.

One woman was among the nine new Chinese names added: Yu Xian Weng, a woman
either 40 or 41 years old. The others were all men: Quinquan or Quiquan Lin,
21; Liqiang Liang, 28; Min Xiu Xie, 27; Xiang or Xing Wei Liu, 22; Mei Xia
Dong, 21; Xiuming Chen; Cheng Yin Liu; and Zao Yun Wang.

The final name on the new FBI list was Jose Ernesto Beltran Quinones, of
unknown age or national origin.

In Boston, there were visible signs of stepped-up security, including some
underground parking garages searching vehicles as they entered and pictures
of the Chinese suspects posted inside the booths where subway tokens are
sold by transit employees.

It was from Boston's Logan International Airport that two of the planes
involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were launched, and tight security
is something residents dealt with in the midst of the Democratic National
Convention this past July.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who skipped President Bush's inauguration to
return to the state Wednesday night after learning of the threat, sought to
reassure residents that there was nothing to be alarmed about.

"These kinds of threats are going to be received from time to time.
Generally we're going to be able to deal with them in a prompt manner and
dismiss them with time and evidence," Romney said. "It's our hope that this
turns out to be an invalid hoax of some kind. ... And yet we take these
things very seriously."

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Terror cop: Qaeda 'heavily damaged'

BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

WASHINGTON - Al Qaeda is "heavily damaged," constantly on the run and so financially strapped that it is having trouble making payments to the families of its dead fighters, the Daily News has learned.
The terror group remains determined, however, to attack the U.S.

"What we see, and I'm including information we've seen as recently as this month, is that the remnants of the organization are not diverted from their goals of attacking us," a senior counterterrorism official told The News.

"Al Qaeda Central is heavily damaged," said the official, who requested anonymity. "But they're still plotting. These guys don't do anything else."

The official provided no details on the plots or targets being concocted by Al Qaeda Central, the name U.S. officials have given Osama Bin Laden's henchmen to distinguish them from loosely affiliated splinter groups.

Bin Laden's goons have complained that slipping jihadists into the country has become increasingly hard to do. Al Qaeda reportedly has looked into infiltrating the border with Mexico, but a senior FBI official recently told The News that it has never been proven they succeeded.

"People denigrate [the Department of Homeland Security] but the 'target' itself talks about the difficulty of getting into this country and operating," the counterterrorism official said.

Al Qaeda Central also can no longer field "committees," teams of terrorists focused solely on operations, fund-raising, propaganda or acquiring a nuclear weapon.

Money woes also are plaguing the once-powerful terror group.

"They have financial problems, including even their ability to take care of families of Al Qaeda fighters who have gone down," the official said.

A report last week by a CIA think tank predicted that by 2025, Islamic extremists unaffiliated with Al Qaeda will dominate global terrorism.

"I think what we'll be transitioning to over the longer term is an organization that may not have the global reach, capability and notoriety of Al Qaeda, but still is extremely lethal on the local level," the official said.

New anti-U.N. ad debuts

TV spots running on CNN, Fox News

Posted: January 20, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Move America Forward, the organization leading the effort to evict the United Nations from the United States and halt U.S. funding of the U.N. today launches a national television ad campaign to "Get the U.N. Out of the U.S."

Beginning today, a new 30-second TV spot called "Stingy" begins airing on CNN Headline News and the Fox News Channel.

Judge upholds traditional marriage

Affirms federal law, rejects extending Massachusetts policy to Florida
Posted: January 20, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
A federal judge in Florida yesterday rejected an effort to extend a Massachusetts same-sex marriage to the Sunshine State, thereby upholding the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

Judge James Moody Jr. dismissed a challenge to Florida's marriage laws, ruling in the first case to uphold the DOMA against challenge from same-sex marriage advocates, said a statement from Liberty Counsel, which filed to intervene in the case.


The DOMA, passed by Congress in 1996, says one state does not have to recognize an out-of-state, same-sex marriage.

The suit was filed by two lesbians, the Rev. Nancy Wilson and Paula Schoenwether, who traveled to Provincetown, Mass., in May to get married and then sought to have their marriage recognized in their home state of Florida.

In upholding the DOMA, the court wrote, "Florida is not required to recognize or apply Massachusetts' same-sex marriage law because it clearly conflicts with Florida's legitimate public policy of opposing same-sex marriage. � Adopting Plaintiffs' rigid and literal interpretation of the Full Faith and Credit would create a license for a single state to create national policy."

In his ruling, Moody also rejected the federal due-process claim, stating that "no federal court has recognized that this right includes the right to marry a person of the same sex."

The decision also stated that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas cannot be read as creating a fundamental right to same-sex marriage. Moody expressly found that the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence "was explicitly clear that its holding did not extend to same-sex marriage."

The court further found that "homosexuality is not a suspect class that would require subjecting DOMA to strict scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause." The ruling states the federal DOMA was presumed constitutional and the burden was on the plaintiff to negate "every conceivable basis which might support [the legislation], whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record."

Said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel: "The decision to uphold traditional marriage is a common-sense ruling. There is no constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Although the court upheld the Defense of Marriage Act, we still need a federal constitutional amendment so that we don't have to scour the wire services hour by hour to determine whether our marriage laws remain intact. Marriage is a fundamental basis of our society, and it must be preserved and stabilized once and for all through the passage of a constitutional amendment."

Boston scrambles over nuclear terror threat

FBI on alert for 4 Chinese said smuggled across border

� 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

FBI on alert for possibly smuggled illegal aliens who may be involved in nuclear plot

Officials in Boston are dealing with a possible nuclear terror threat after receiving word that a number of illegal aliens were smuggled into the U.S., and would be headed to the Massachusetts capital, possibly with nuclear material.

Teams of police officers were said to be prowling city streets with radiological sensors after receiving information of a possible dirty bomb.

According to the Boston Herald, a man from Mexico called authorities in California to tell them of the smuggling and potential nuclear threat.


"They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of material,'' a law-enforcement source told the Herald.

"He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''

The source said the caller didn't identify himself and failed to show up for a meeting with federal authorities in California, but he did leave pictures of four Chinese men along with some names at a drop site on the Mexico-California border.

"They were dropped by the source at a location. He literally threw them over a fence from Mexico to the U.S. side,'' the source told the paper. "There are pictures of the four Chinese and some names but just how accurate they are remains a question.''

Four suspects have been identified as Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen and Guozhi Lin. None of them appeared on any terrorist watch list.

Law enforcement in Massachusetts was first notified of the threat at 5:30 a.m. through the FBI and Boston Police Joint Terrorist Task Force.

Local officials took the matter seriously enough to meet with representatives of the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security, according to a high-ranking city official.

"They are desperately trying to piece it together,'' the official told the Herald, adding it's "very scary" if the threat is real.

Explosive-sniffing dogs are reportedly being deployed to search for a "dirty bomb," according to a New York City official.

According to the Associated Press, FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the terror alert had not been raised for Boston.

"Basically, what you have here is information that we often get," she told AP. "It's uncorroborated at this time. It's been passed on to our law enforcement partners and we're working it aggressively."

Deputy Chief Paul MacMillan of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority told AP an alert bulletin has been issued to its officers, as well as subway, train, and bus-station workers to be on the lookout for the individuals.

"There is no specific threat or target indicated," he said.

Gov. Mitt Romney returned to Massachusetts after traveling to Washington, D.C., where he had planned to attend the inauguration of President Bush.

"The source is anonymous," Romney told reporters. "But it is specific in that it mentions a location where individuals were dropped off � the location is New York � and it identifies a location where a threat might be directed in � the location is Boston."

The investigator talking to the Herald said much of the information sounds far-fetched.

"A lot of it doesn't make sense and some of it does,'' the source said. "It's totally uncorroborated. This all began several days ago as a series of phone calls and they don't know who the caller is. There are some parts of it that just don't make sense and other little pieces of it that fall into place. The information is these people that came into the country are going to New York into Boston and the (nuclear) material will follow them.''

There's speculation the caller could have been ripped off by illegal aliens he helped cross the border, and is now seeking vengeance.

"It's very weird. Even if (the Iraqis and Chinese) were going to do something why would they be blabbing to the yahoo smuggling them across the border? You have to wonder if they screwed him on a deal but you have to treat it seriously and the issue is how do you put it out to the public and not get everybody (in a panic)?''

FBI alerts Boston law enforcement about four suspects

By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press | January 19, 2005

BOSTON --The FBI notified Boston area law enforcement Wednesday to be on the lookout for four Chinese nationals described as possible terror suspects who may be headed to the area.

Federal law enforcement officials in Boston said they had received a tip earlier in the day about an unspecified threat against Boston, and released photographs of the four people they were seeking.

In a joint statement issued by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Kenneth Kaiser, special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office, they were identified as: Zengrong Lin, Wen Quin Zheng, Xiujin Chen, Guozhi Lin.

Authorities said none of the names had been on previous watch lists of terror suspects, and their whereabouts aren't immediately known.

The investigation stirred a frenzy of media reports and prompted Gov. Mitt Romney, who had gone to Washington to attend Thursday's presidential inauguration, to decide to return to Massachusetts later Wednesday.

Romney told reporters in Washington that he planned to be on a 9 p.m. flight back to Boston, and cautioned that the threats were unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.

"We have had threats in the past. We take them seriously, even when they're not corroborated," he said.

Romney said that the state's threat level would not be raised, but more people would be on duty in the state's emergency management bunker in Framingham, about 20 miles west of Boston.

Asked why he didn't come back immediately after hearing of the threat in the morning, Romney said that as the information became more public, he wanted "to assure the people of Boston that it is safe to be at home."

A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation, told The Associated Press that the FBI's joint terrorism task force has not yet corroborated a tip that the suspects entered the United States through Mexico in recent days, possibly bound for Boston.

The official stressed the tip is one of many from around the country that routinely are forwarded to local task forces for further investigation. No credible, specific terror threat has been identified in connection with the tip about suspects possibly entering the country from Mexico.

FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the terror alert had not been raised for Boston.

"Basically, what you have here is information that we often get," she said. "It's uncorroborated at this time."

"It's been passed on to our law enforcement partners and we're working it aggressively," she said.



� Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Boston terror threat probed

By Tom Farmer and Michele McPhee
Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Federal and state authorities are investigating a nuclear terrorist threat against Boston after a man calling from Mexico told California police that he smuggled two Iraqis and four Chinese over the border, the Boston Herald has learned.

``They got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway Patrol and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chinese (individuals) across the border and according to him, they stated soon to follow behind them would be some sort of material,'' said a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

``He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''

According to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show up for a meeting with federal investigators in California but he did leave pictures of four Chinese men and some names at a ``drop'' site at the Mexico-California border.

``They were dropped by the source at a location. He literally threw them over a fence from Mexico to the U.S. side,'' said the source. ``There are pictures of the four Chinese and some names but just how accurate they are remains a question''

Massachusetts law enforcement officials were notified of the threat at 5:30 a.m. today through the FBI and Boston Police Joint Terrorist Task Force.

The threat was serious enough that Mayor Menino ordered the Fire Commissioner and the state's Homeland Security Chief into his office at City Hall, where they met with officials from the CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a high-ranking city official told the Herald.

``They are desperately trying to piece it together,'' said the offial, who added that if the threat is real it is ``very scary.''

A company that trains explosive-sniffing dogs said it was alerted that the canines would be searching for a ``dirty bomb,'' a New York City law enforcement official said yesterday.

The Massachusetts investigator said much of the man's information sounds far-fetched and investigators have some doubts about the caller's validity because he has not identified himself.

``A lot of it doesn't make sense and some of it does,'' said the source. ``It's totally uncorroborated. This all began several days ago as a series of phone calls and they don't know who the caller is. There are some parts of it that just don't make sense and other little pieces of it that fall into place. The information is these people that came into the country are going to New York into Boston and the (nuclear) material will follow them.''

The source said there is speculation the caller may have been ripped off by illegal immigrants he helped over the border and is now trying to exact revenge.

``It's very weird. Even if (the Iraqis and Chinese) were going to do something why would they be blabbing to the yahoo smuggling them across the border? You have to wonder if they screwed him on a deal but you have to treat it seriously and the issue is how do you put it out to the public and not get everybody (in a panic)?''

The source said the information will soon ``come out over police channels and BOLOs (be on the lookout).''

The source added the FBI office in San Diego is leading the investigation. ``The FBI in San Diego is the originating office so they are driving the investigation. The FBI in Boston is in a tough position because they are waiting for information''

The caller has not given investigators any means to contact him.

``They tried to set up a meet with him but he didn't show up.''

NEW DOCUMENTARY 'WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION: THE MURDEROUS REIGN OF SADDAM HUSSEIN' INVESTIGATING SADDAM TERROR REIGN

New film exposes the atrocities committed by the former Iraq dictator through first hand accounts and demonstrates the necessity of removing him from power. It also provides insights into WHY OVER 70% OF ALL IRAQI'S ELIGIBLE TO VOTE - PLAN TO! - Despite death threats for voting!

Another Great Tribute to the Troops !

Check Out JibJab's First Inaugural Animation!

Click here to check it out!

From the sick and twisted minds that brought you �This Land� and �Good to be in DC!� comes a new look at the state of world politics...

JibJab Media Inc.

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

This is a must see Thank You tribute to our troops !

If I can stop the tears rolling down my face from seeing those powerful images and write this reply. All I can say is WOW.....no matter what we might see on the news or in newspapers, this really brings it home, the people behind the news reports and the toll it must take on the soldiers.

To anyone who has loved ones in iraq or elsewhere godspeed for their safe return.
"liz lynch"

God Bless Our Troops
and God Bless the United States of America !

J.R.


Report Expected to Address WMD in Iraq

2 hours, 12 minutes ago

By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The final U.S. intelligence report on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq (news - web sites) is expected to address whether the banned armaments may have been smuggled out of the country before the war started.


Top Bush administration officials have speculated publicly that chemical, biological or radiological weapons may have been smuggled out, and the question is one of the unresolved issues on WMD. The report is due next month.


Intelligence and congressional officials say they have not seen any information � never "a piece," said one � indicating that WMD or significant amounts of components and equipment were transferred from Iraq to neighboring Syria, Jordan or elsewhere.


The administration acknowledged last week that the search for banned weapons is largely over. The Iraq Survey Group's chief, Charles Duelfer, is expected to submit the final installments of his report in February. A small number of the organization's experts will remain on the job in case new intelligence on Iraqi WMD is unearthed.


But the officials familiar with the search say U.S. authorities have found no evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) transferred WMD or related equipment out of Iraq.


A special adviser to the CIA (news - web sites) director, Duelfer declined an interview request through an agency spokesman. In his last public statements, he told a Senate panel last October that it remained unclear whether banned weapons could have been moved from Iraq.


"What I can tell you is that I believe we know a lot of materials left Iraq and went to Syria. There was certainly a lot of traffic across the border points," he said. "But whether in fact in any of these trucks there was WMD-related materials, I cannot say."


Last week, a congressional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said suggestions that weapons or components were sent from Iraq were based on speculation stemming from uncorroborated information.


President Bush (news - web sites) and top-raking officials in his administration used the existence of WMD in Iraq as the main justification for the March 2003 invasion, and throughout much of last year the White House continued to raise the possibility the weapons were transferred to another country.


For instance:


_Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in early October he believed Saddam had WMD before the war. "He has either hidden them so well or moved them somewhere else, or decided to destroy them ... in event of a conflict but kept the capability of developing them rapidly," Rumsfeld said in a Fox News Channel interview.


Eight months earlier, he told senators "it's possible that WMD did exist, but was transferred, in whole or in part, to one or more other countries. We see that theory put forward."


_Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) expressed concern the WMD would be found. However, when asked in September if the WMD could have been hidden or moved to a country like Syria, he said, "I can't exclude any of those possibilities."


_And, on MSNBC's "Hardball" in June, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said: "Everyone believed that his programs were more active than they appeared to be, but recognize, he had a lot of time to move stuff, a lot of time to hide stuff."


Since the October report from Duelfer, which said Saddam intended to obtain WMD but had no banned weapons, senior administration leaders have largely stopped discussing whether the weapons were moved.


Last week, the intelligence and congressional officials said evidence indicating somewhat common equipment with dual military and civilian uses, such as fermenters, was salvaged during post-invasion looting and sold for scrap in other countries. Syria was mentioned as one location.


However, the U.S. intelligence community's 2002 estimate on Iraq indicated there were sizable weapons programs and stockpiles. The officials said weapons experts have not found a production capability in Iraq that would back up the size of the prewar estimates.


Among a series of key findings, that estimate said Iraq "has largely rebuilt missile and biological weapons facilities damaged" during a 1998 U.S.-British bombing campaign and "has expanded its chemical and biological infrastructure under the cover of civilian production."

Although the U.S. had little specific information, the estimate also said Saddam probably stockpiled at least 100 metric tons, possibly 500 metric tons, of chemical weapons agents � "much of it added in the last year."


Attacking the inauguration and cost: The latest scheme of the left to smear President Bush:

Yes, all figures indicate that the $40 million being spent on this year's Presidential inaugration surpasses that of Clinton's second term, in which he spent roughly $30 million (about $35 million when adjusted to today's inflation). Yet it's a tad unfair to complain about this world crisis or that, and how we spend our money, when one looks at the events at this time eight years ago.

In January 1997, 47,000 American troops were in both Haiti and Bosnia keeping the peace as well as those who maintained a constant presence in Iraq. Also by that time, North Korea was facing severe famine which ended up killing about 2.5 million people over a three year period. Why weren't people calling for Mr. Clinton to scale back his inauguration so we could feed the starving people in North Korea?

Regardless, the argument is a sham. Most of the inauguration money comes from private donations, not the taxpayer's wallets, so it makes no sense to call for anyone to relocate the funds for purposes for which federal monies are already allocated... in large part, it's not our money, nor is it the government's with which to do what it wishes.

In contrast, money spent for tsunami victims by the US is expected to reach $1 billion or more by the time all is said and done. The US has always been the number one donor to global crises, surpassing many combined nations in its charitable giving (that's about what you can call it, because we don't owe a lot of people anything). And that doesn't include private charities and donations. And here's something else you should realize: the money alloted for international disaster relief has more than doubled since the Clinton administration.... so who's being frivolous and stingy? The next closest nation in charitable spending is Japan, who just barely gives over half what we do.

This is a lot of hubbub over 1/200 of a billion dollars, and that much less as a percentage of our GDP. It's a mosquito in the wind, and I'll be looking forward to all those faces turned in shame and envy to protest the inauguration... because envy is all that this is, nothing more. Just another hurdle in the mental rehabilitation process of the PEST pseudo-disorder...


Hundreds of Taliban Want to Stop Uprising

KABUL (Reuters) - Hundreds of Taliban fighters may abandon their insurgency in Afghanistan as a result of peace talks under way between local commanders and President Hamid Karzai's government, a provincial governor said on Saturday.


Three years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power for harboring al Qaeda, Karzai and his U.S. backers hope to coax lower-level Taliban fighters back to normal life, leaving senior commanders and al Qaeda leaders isolated.

Tribal chiefs are acting as intermediaries between the Taliban and Karzai's government in the southeastern provinces of Paktia, Khost and Paktika, said Paktia governor Assadullah Wafa.

"We have more than hundreds of Taliban who want to return to their normal lives," Wafa told Reuters.

In return, the tribal chiefs and local officials want the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, to urge U.S. forces not to harass Taliban members who quit the insurgency, he said.

"The government is talking to them through tribal chiefs and we are demanding Khalilzad use his influence and propose to the American military not to detain or harass those Taliban who plan to stop fighting the government," Wafa said.

But a government official said only those Taliban fighters who had not committed any crimes would be eligible for amnesty.

"Those Taliban whose hands are not stained in blood are welcome," said Khaliq Ahmad, of Karzai's office. But asked how many militants that might be, he said: "Not more than 100."

Wafa said a regional delegation had traveled to Kabul hoping to meet Khalilzad, but he was not in the capital. An embassy spokesman said Khalilzad had since left the country.

TALIBAN SAY WILL FIGHT ON

Senior Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah said the militants were holding no negotiations with either the Afghan or the U.S. government.

"This is a part of their strategy ... to spread rumors and try to divide and weaken their enemy," he told Reuters by satellite telephone. "But we will continue our struggle till the time when there is not a single foreign soldier on Afghan soil."

Leaders of mainstream opposition parties fear Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, wants to use the amnesty to strengthen his power base in the Pashtun and former Taliban heartlands in the south and southeast ahead of parliamentary elections due in April.

Wafa declined to identify any of the Taliban he said were willing to stop fighting, but said the group that he was in contact with consisted of both senior and ordinary members of the radical Islamic movement.

U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001 after it refused to hand over al Qaeda's leader Osama Bin Laden, the architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities.

The Taliban and their Islamic allies are mostly active in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan near the rugged tribal areas along the Pakistan border.

Nearly 1,100 people including civilians, militants, aid workers, and foreign and Afghan troops have been killed in those regions since August 2003, mostly in Taliban-linked raids.

But militant activities have dropped off since Karzai was picked as the first directly elected president in October's elections and also because of the harsh Afghan winter.

Monday, January 17, 2005

Zarqawi Captured?

So says Hammorabi blog. I don't believe it, but Hammorabi has solid reasoning, and it does line up with the rumors floating 2 weeks ago.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

NEW HAMPSHIRE INTRODUCES RESOLUTION TO GET US OUT OF UN

January 17, 2005

Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
NewsWithViews.com

The State of New Hampshire continues to introduce what some would call unusual resolutions, but considered constitutional and vital in protecting America's soverignty by supporters. This new bill in their legislature states:

2005 SESSION/05-0002/05/01 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1

A RESOLUTION urging Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations.

This resolution urges Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

A RESOLUTION urging Congress to withdraw the United States from the United Nations.

"Whereas, the United States is the greatest nation in the world and is known for its compassionate people who are generous and kind in caring for the needs of those in other countries and whose resources are used worldwide to alleviate hunger and poverty; and

"Whereas, the United States is called upon to defend the rights and freedoms of people in other nations as only we have the capacity to do so as a world superpower; and

"Whereas, these responsibilities create an immense burden on the citizens of this country, many of whom are in need and living in poverty themselves; and

"Whereas, United States military forces are called upon to bear the brunt of any conflicts that may arise while other nations stay on the sidelines and expect the United States to fight its battles; and

"Whereas, the United States provides the largest share of the financial burden for the United Nations, paying hundreds of millions of dollars each year that could be used to address many of the nation's challenges, including homelessness, education, law enforcement, poverty, a strong military, and the war against terrorism; and

"Whereas, many of the members of the United Nations are not friendly to the United States and support many things that are detrimental to the country and against its interests, yet expect the United States to provide the finances and manpower to solve all of the world's problems, even putting the lives of the nation's military forces in danger; now, therefore, be it

"Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

"That the New Hampshire general court respectfully but firmly requests that the United States Congress:

"I. Take measures to dissolve the membership of the United States in the United Nations, thereby freeing the nation from a large financial burden and retaining its sovereignty to decide what is best for the country; and

"II. Take the steps that it considers appropriate as the leader of the free world, with full control of its armed forces and destiny; and

"That a copy of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, be forwarded by the house clerk to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.

"New Hampshire has also in the past introduced an "AN ACT (HB 1193) establishing a committee to study the constitutionality of the federal income tax and constitutional abuses in the collection of the income tax and its effects on New Hampshire citizens. This bill establishes a committee to study the constitutionality of the federal income tax and constitutional abuses in the collection of the income tax, specifically as it affects New Hampshire citizens.

"HJR 23 introduced in 2004 dealt with election law, specifically "This joint resolution urges Congress to transmit to the states for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution returning the authority to choose United States Senators to the state legislatures."

"According to retired Judge J.J. Boesel, America's participation in the United Nations is unconstitutional because it violates many clauses of the U.S. Constitution and violates the rights of the individual states of the Union under the Tenth Amendment. (search) This bill in the New Hampshire General Court (state legislature) is new and is now in committee.

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QUAKE COMING???: Major MT Shift in Progress WARNING

Heads up People, just in case !
From: Frank Condon,
Hello all:
There is a now major MT shift in progress. Most likely
it indicates a strong earthquake is in final preparation, and deep
crustal resonant harmonic energy is surfacing along the Pacific and
North American Plate boundary. The high priority level warning
encompasses the San Andreas fault from Gorman to the Salton Sea,
including the Mojave Desert and the San Jacinto Fault Zone from
Wrightwood to Mexicali. and the Imperial fault from Brawley to Northern
Baja, Mexico. Southern and Central California should now be on advisory
from Bakersfield to San Diego to expect a strong seismic event (M6+)
within the next several days along one of the major faults in the
region.


Frank Condon