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Sunday, June 27, 2004 |
On Saturday, video of three Turkish hostages was broadcast. If the militants demands are not met, they will be beheaded by Tuesday evening.
Today, footage of an American marine and a Pakistani driver for an American contract company was broadcast on Arab telvision. The Associated Press report by Chris Tomlinson explained that the militants belong to a group who call themselves Islamic Response. They are demanding that all of the prisoners be released from "occupation jails" in Iraq or the hostages will be beheaded.
The US marine, Wassef Ali Hassoun, had been missing from his unit for nearly one week. The militants explained that they lured him out of the base and then kidnapped him. The Pakistani, known as Amjad, was a driver for the Halliburton subsidiary company Kellog, Brown & Root.
Again, what a hell of a week this is gonna be!
10:19:27 PM  | |
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Even though Michael Moore's film, Fahrenheit 911, only appeared in 868 theaters across the country, it was champion at the boxoffice in its debut weekend, bringing in $21.8 million dollars. This feat beats two boxoffice records. 1. It is the first documentary to be a top grossing film for a weekend. 2. It became the top grossing documentary of all time, beating out Moore's Bowling for Columbine ($21.6 million). The fact that it accomplished this in three days is literally amazing. Michael Moore thanked (and I paraphrase) the conservative groups and media for making a big deal about the film because it spurred more interest and curiousity in it.
10:02:44 PM | |
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Bush's campaign website contains a campaign ad that uses images of Hitler interlaced with footage of John Kerry, Al Gore, and Howard Dean. This ad was sent electronically to over 6 million supporters.
Of course, this attack follows on the heels of the MoveOn ad contest "Bush in 30 Seconds" last fall in which two entries out of 1,500 entries comparing Bush to Hitler. Neither one of these ads, however, even made it into the final 15 in January.
I must admit that having read Victor Klemporerer's biography I WIll Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, Martin Gilbert's The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War, and Three Against Hitler (the author's name has alluded me), I believe that Bush's rhetoric is a close shadow to Hitler's nationalistic rhetoric, policies and agenda. There's a smell of fascism to it all.
If you want to see the ad, visit the Bush campaign website at: http://www.georgewbush.com
If you want to read Kerry's remarks on this ad, visit his campaign website at: http://www.johnkerry.com
As a footnote, there are many who sense the comparison between Bush and Hitler, from the moment he took office via the decision of the Supreme Court. Robert's Virtual Soapbox has posted pictures created by a variety of such people that depict this fact. These graphics would surely send Republicans into cardiac orbit.
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Note: I updated this post to reflect the fact that MoveOn did not make the controversial ad that compared Bush's rhetoric to Hitler's. There were two submissions that focused on this theme, for MoveOn's contest Bush in 30 Seconds. Thank you Rayne for correcting me on this point. I apologize for being so remiss.
12:16:48 PM | |
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On Saturday, an Iraqi militant group with ties to Abu al-Zarqawi, sent a video to Al Jazeera that demanded that Turkey stop doing buisness with US operations and pull out of Iraq and that they (Turkish people) protest the country's meetings with Bush in Ankara. If these demands were not met, the group warned, they would behead three Turkish workers who they had kidnapped just two days earlier.
Turkey responded today that they would not negotiate with terrorists. So I guess we'll be seeing three more decapitations by Tuesday's deadline.
Here is the text of the Associated Press release today:
The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired a video issued by al-Zarqawi's "Tawhid and Jihad" organization, showing the three Turks kneeling on the ground in front of two black-clothed gunmen and a black banner emblazoned with the name of al-Zarqawi's organization. The men held up Turkish passports.
In a written statement, the group demanded Turkish companies stop doing business with American forces in Iraq and called for "large demonstrations" in Turkey against the visit of "Bush the criminal."
It said that if Turkey refused their demands the hostages "will receive the just punishment of being beheaded."
Al-Jazeera received the tape Saturday, an employee at the station told The Associated Press. The statement did not say when or where the three were abducted. It appeared the deadline was Tuesday, but the message did not specify what time it runs out.
The three men disappeared two days ago, said a Turkish consular official in Baghdad who asked to be identified only by his surname, Gungor. He said he had no further information.
And on Thursday, fighters loyal to al-Zarqawi launched a wave of coordinated attacks in five cities in Iraq, battling with U.S. troops who eventually regained control but only after some 100 people, including three Americans were killed....
Bush met with Turkish leaders in Ankara on Sunday ahead of a NATO summit starting the next day. Some 40,000 people protested in street demonstrations in Istanbul against Bush, whose policies in Iraq have been extremely unpopular among Turks.....
With the June 30th turnover a mere three days away, I wonder if the violence and death we are seeing will rise to yet a higher crescendo. The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has stated that the US will do all they can to track down the whereabouts of these Turkish workers before Tuesday. But with the rise of attacks throughout many Iraqi cities, is there even the bandwidth to accomplish this task, especially within 72 hours? The words seem as hollow as Saudi Arabia's comments regarding finding Paul Johnson.
This is going to be one hell of a week.
12:02:03 PM | |
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