15. desember 2003

Swedish manners on display The Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson was caught talking into his mobile phone during the official Nobel Prize dinner. The lady on the left who looks rather embarrassed by his lack of manners is the Crown Princess Victoria. The prime minister excused himself by pointing out that Sweden was in the end negotations about the EU constitution, and it was just a short conversation. 10:25:38 PM    comment []  trackback []

Crying for Saddam Andrew Sullivan is giving out Galloway Award nominations "for thinly veiled disappointment at the capture of Saddam." I have already mentioned some of them, but there are quite a few good candidates around. 9:16:25 PM    comment []  trackback []

Snappy answers According to Maj. Gen. Bryan Reed, the following exchange took place when Saddam Hussein was arrested by members of the 4th Infantry Division. A man came out of the hole in the ground, his arms raised, and said: "My name is Saddam Hussein. I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate." The soldiers replied: "Regards from President Bush." 7:55:05 PM    comment []  trackback []

Searched on brunettes A surprising amount of people have just found this blog searching Yahoo for "men prefer brunettes". Which is apparently true; at least I wrote just that some time back. 7:12:33 PM    comment []  trackback []

A century of flying Nature is a few days early, and so am I so I don't forget. On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers' famous first powered flight took place, so in two days we have had 100 years of human aviation, with its - literally - ups and downs. 6:58:49 PM    comment []  trackback []

Just for the record Take note that in his speech to the nation, President Bush said: I also have a message for all Americans: The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq. We still face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent than accept the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East. Such men are a direct threat to the American people, and they will be defeated. [bold added] It will not take long before critics will claim, directly or implied, that the Bush administration somehow argued that Saddam's capture would mean the end of the terrorist attacks in Iraq. 4:45:03 PM    comment []  trackback []

Which court to try Saddam Hussein The leftists at metafilter are not the only ones who have been bemoaning the US opposition to the International Criminal Court today, arguing that this would be the perfect tribunal for trying Saddam Hussein had not the US opposed it. This is ignorant on at least two levels. First, it doesn't matter that the US is not a party to the ICC. Slightly more important is the fact that Iraq is not a signatory either. Second, and crucially, the ICC only has jurisdiction for crimes committed after the Rome Statute entered into force July 1, 2002, making almost all the serious crimes Saddam is accused of outside its jurisdiction. Iraq's ruling council has just insistuted a special court for crimes committed by the former regime, and it will certainly want to try Saddam Hussein. This will be a court of Iraqi judges with international judges as observers (and advisers). Alternatively, a special international court like the ones set up for former Yugoslavia or Rwanda could be set up for Iraq, but it is widely believed the US would oppose that solution. It is also strange that so many of those war critics who insist that the US transfer power to the Iraqis immediately are also demanding that the Iraqi people should not be given the right to try Saddam Hussein in a court of their own making. 6:23:41 AM    comment []  trackback []

Good grief Remember that annoying "thong song"? Well it did provide some nice visuals. This is the opposite! 5:53:10 AM    comment []  trackback []

Palestinians not celebrating Palestinians are mourning the capture of Saddam Hussein. Pictures of the brutal dictator have been prominent at Palestinian demonstrations for years, and Arafat famously and stupidly supported Iraq against Kuwait and the coalition in the 1991 Gulf war. Whatever one thinks about the plight of the Palestinian people, they have an unmistaken talent for backing the wrong leaders, both domestically and internationally. Obviously, whoever "stands up to" Americans and the Jews is a hero in their eyes, no matter how many hundreds of thousands he has slaughtered. This also explains why Mein Kampf and the Protocols of Zion have become increasingly popular among Palestinians and Islamo-fascists. Another reason there is a good reason to worry who will be in charge, and what will be its policies, if a Palestinian state is ever set up. Maybe that is an additional reason many Arab countries really don't want a Palestinian state, scary as that thought may be. 3:48:32 AM    comment []  trackback []

Documents link 9/11 hijacker to Baghdad The Telegraph has seen documents allegedly proving that 9/11 terrorist leader Mohammed Atta had received training by Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal in Baghdad shortly before the deadly terrorist strike. Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively by the Telegraph, is dated July 1, 2001 and provides a short resume of a three-day "work programme" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's base in Baghdad. In the memo, Habbush reports that Atta "displayed extraordinary effort" and demonstrated his ability to lead the team that would be "responsible for attacking the targets that we have agreed to destroy". The document is confirmed as genuine by Dr Ayad Allawi, a member of the Iraqi ruling presidential committee, for whatever that is worth. The feared terrorist leader Abu Nidal committed suicide, or was killed by Saddam Hussein, very shortly after this allegedly happened. If the claim is true, it would make sense that Saddam executed a man who could tie him to al-Qaeda, and indeed directly to the 9/11 attacks. The Telegraph has earlier revealed what it claims are genuine Iraqi intelligence documents proving a link between the Baathists and al-Qaeda, and they also found alleged evidence that maverick British MP George Galloway took bribes from Saddam Hussein. Galloway is currently suing The Telegraph over those allegations (anyone know the status of that case?). 1:59:51 AM    comment []  trackback []

Beeb Just heard on the BBC World radio now, where a female interviewer whose name escaped me asked how we can avoid the trial of Saddam Hussein becoming "a show trial like the Nuremberg." Huh? 1:09:53 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.01.2004; 02:46:47.