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19. mars 2003
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Mullah Krekar "misquoted"
Mullah Krekar, head of the Iraqi Kurdish Islamist organisation Ansar al-Islam, has according to Reuters threatened US forces occupying Iraq with waves of Islamic suicide bombers:
"We have now the young people who kill themselves. Yes, suicide bombers. We have these, more important and more dangerous than Hamas and Jihad Islam (Islamic Jihad) use in Palestine," Krekar said.
"We believe it's America's war against Islam," he said pointing at a map of Iraq.
Mullah Krekar is currently fighting to avoid being thrown out of Norway, where he managed to become a permanent resident as a refugee.
 Krekar's Norwegian lawyer Brynjar Meling (picture right; a poster child for the proverbial sleezy looking lawyer, not?) is desperately claiming that Mullah Krekar is misquoted. He was allegedly talking about Afghanistan, and about what Ansar al-Islam could have done there, not what it would do. How's that for a desperate rationalisation?
Well, in case you don't buy the first explanation, Meling has a second version. The statements were made in an interview with the Dutch TV station NOS, and Krekar spoke to them without an interpreter, so it may have been a language misunderstanding.
While his lawyer is desperately trying to save the day, Krekar himself declined to comment.
(From a Norwegian article in VG)
11:25:07 PM 
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Three hours to go, and counting
It is now quite exactly three hours until Bush' deadline to Saddam Hussein expires.
11:07:09 PM
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In Indian territory...
"Following a brief prayer, Capt. Philip Wolford of Marysville, Ohio, led the troops in a Seminole Indian war dance. After making sure their weapons were empty, the men started chanting, jumping up and down with their weapons in the air. Wolford also told them to take down the U.S. flags from the tops of the tanks.
"We will be entering Iraq as an army of liberation, not domination, so it would not be right to go in with the American flag flying," he said." (iWon News/AP)
You can read all sort of symbolism out of this, I guess. The Seminoles resisted the US government forces for a long time; it was perhaps the most successful native American force in the "indian wars."
10:38:09 PM
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Define irony
"Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia banned broadcast media from his speech Wednesday at an appearance where he received an award for supporting free speech." (NY Newsday)
9:20:47 PM
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Much ado about Tareq Aziz
 This has been a day of confusion about Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz. This morning hit us with rumours about him trying to defect to the Kurdish area and having been shot. Later followed reports that he had defected, successfully.
Then the reports were denied all around, and we could experience the rare occrrence of US and Iraqi officials stating the same thing. The whole story died spectacularly when Aziz made a live appearance on Iraqi TV, talking to reporters in Baghdad.
It seems Saddam's old-time ally has decided to face the music and go down like a man, as they say.
Just get used to it: there's going to be an endless amount of false and unconfirmed rumours in the days to come, and also outright false propaganda from all sides, as there is a real news blackout and the audience is more hungry than ever for any scrap of news.
9:11:42 PM
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Humanitarian cause for war
Labour MP Ann Clwyd makes a strong case for war against Iraq on humanitarian grounds alone when outlining some of the documented human rights abuses in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. She describes men shredded to death by a plastic shredding machine, women raped while their families watched.
"For these humanitarian reasons alone, it is essential to liberate the people of Iraq from the regime of Saddam."
Many have pointed out that considering the solidity of the case against Saddam Hussein, it is amasing how the Bush administration has botchered the international support.
8:43:46 PM
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Hands up
As colation forces move within sight of their opponents, the first 15 Iraqi soldiers have defected and surrendered.
I hope they have lots of room in those POW camps.
6:50:37 PM
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Do believers really believe?
"Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee may believe God ordered them to kidnap Elizabeth Smart, but legal experts say divine revelation will be little help to them in the courtroom." (Salt Lake Tribune)
When it really comes down to practical, hard realities, people don't really believe in such things as divine relevation. Except, apparently, the kidnappers, but everybody identifies them as freaks. It's odd how in a deeply religious society like the USA, people manage to hold the two conflicting ideas in their heads at the same time.
On one hand, they do profess to believe (or, as I say, they believe they believe) in things like a virgin birth, divine revelation and resurrection. However, since they also live in the real world, and have to account for the total lack of experiences of the supernatural in their daily lives, they don't really believe in the supernatural for any practical purposes.
The brain is simply checked out at the church door, allowing a sense of dualism: two widely conflicting world views: one for sacred moments, and the other for dealing with reality. The true believers know when to apply the different conflicting rulesets. This makes it possible for the superstitious to be as successful as anyone else in the real world.
5:13:06 PM
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The council of hawks
Rumsfeld's provocative style has not gone over well on the diplomatic arena, but after initial conflicts, it now seems Pentagon has gotten used to his management-by-wrestling..
3:09:12 PM
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EU building bugged
 Telephone bugs have been discovered in European Union offices used by German and French officials. The equipment was discovered during routine seurity inspections. The building is to house a EU leaders' summit soon.
EU officials have said other countries also have been affected, but did not specifiy. The office is also the building housing the offices of EU council secretary general Javier Solana.
And let the finger-pointing begin... Who will have specific interest in knowing what goes on behind EU's closed doors? Well, everybody. But a shortlist could look like this: The UK, the new EU members, Russia, the US, Germany, France, everybody else.
2:26:09 PM
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How to know if we're winning
Fred Kaplan doesn't make the usual silly attempt at second-guessing coalition tactics, but gives some useful ways for the people at home knowing whether the war goes well or not.
3:59:25 AM
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Anti-French sentiments hit home
Francoise Thomas, a native French living in a Houston suburb, experienced that anti-French sentiments are strong when she found the text “Scum go back to France” spray painted on her garage door.
However, demonstrating that for every braindead moron there are some thoughtful individuals, one neighbour covered up the angry letters with white paint, and others gave her flowers and chocolate.
1:57:26 AM
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Lawsuit for blowjob
"Mount Clemens attorney Robbie D. Lang has filed a lawsuit against the Lake Shore school district in hopes of getting his client, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Kennedy Middle School, back in classes. Lang said the boy was "victimized" Feb. 6 when a female student performed oral sex on him during a science class." (The Macomb Daily)
I'm quite sure lots of 14 year old boys would not mind being "victimised" in this way.
12:29:16 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.04.2003; 01:33:16.
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