From Israel’s YNet News:

Iran: Mahdi will defeat archenemy in Jerusalem

State media says, ‘Shiite messiah will kill archenemy in Jerusalem, could come during spring equinox’

Yaakov Lappin
12.31.06

A triumphal religious prophecy has appeared on an Iranian official state media website, heralding the return of the Shiite messiah.

According to the website, "Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka’ba in Mecca."

The Islamic Republic of Iran broadcasting (IRIB) website said in a program called ‘The World Towards Illumination,’ that the Mahdi will reappear in Mecca and form an army to defeat Islam’s enemies in a series of apocalyptic battles, in which the Mahdi will overcome his archvillain in Jerusalem.
The series has been regularly updated throughout November and December.

"The Mahdi’s far sightedness and firmness in the face of mischievous elements will strike awe. After his uprising from Mecca all of Arabia will be submit to him and then other parts of the world as he marches upon Iraq and established his seat of global government in the city of Kufa.

“Then the Imam will send 10 thousand of his forces to the east and west to uproot the oppressors. At this time God will facilitate things for him and lands will come under his control one after the other," the website declared.

"After his appearance the Imam would remain in Mecca for some time, and then go to Medina… a descendant of the Prophet’s archenemy Abu Sofyan will seize Syria and attack Iraq and the Hejaz with the ferocity of a beast… finally Imam Mahdi sends troops who kill the Sofyani in Beit ol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem), the Islamic holy city in Palestine that is currently under occupation of the Zionists," the IRIB added.

‘Jesus will be Mahdi’s lieutenant’

According to the Iranian series, the Mahdi will reappear on earth with Jesus: "We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, ‘the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him.’ …Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment of justice in the world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the coming of God’s last messenger and will see Mohammad’s ideals materialize in the time of the Mahdi."

"The seat of the Mahdi’s global government will be the city of Kufa , where his headquarters will be the Sahla Mosque… From here he will dominate the east and the west to fill the earth with justice," the special series predicted.

The website added that prayers for the Mahdi’s return were said daily in Iran: "In our time, many pray for his appearance and each day they renew their allegiance to him. ‘O God, make me one of his companions, show me his respected and bright visage, and hasten his reappearance.’"

‘Mahdi to come during spring equinox?’

The IRIB website is filled with details of the Mahdi’s return, including descriptions of physical attributes of "the perfect human being."

"He will appear as a handsome young man, clad in neat clothes and exuding the fragrance of paradise… He has a radiant forehead, black piercing eyes and a broad chest. He very much resembles his ancestor Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

“Heavenly light and justice accompany him. He will overcome enemies and oppressors with the help of God, and as per the promise of the Almighty the Mahdi will eradicate all corruption and injustice from the face of the earth and establish the global government of peace, justice and equity."

‘The World Towards Illumination’ series cites some Islamic sources as saying that the Mahdi’s return "may coincide with the Spring Equinox… A saying attributed to the Prophet’s 6th infallible heir, Imam Ja’far Sadeq (PBUH) says the Mahdi will appear on the Spring Equinox and God will make him defeat Dajjal the Impostor or the anti-Christ as the Christians say, who will be hanged near the dump of Kufa.

Any day now.

Of course there is suppose to be an apocalypse before the Mahdi comes. And Ahmadinejad has said Iran will have the bomb before March. But it’s probably all just wishful thinking.

Right?

From Ireland On-Line:

Hundreds of Turks injured in Muslim animal sacrifice

31/12/2006

Hundreds of Turks spent the first day of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha holiday in emergency wards today after stabbing themselves or suffering other injuries while sacrificing startled and agitated animals.

Muslims sacrifice cows, sheep, goats and bulls during the four-day religious holiday, a ritual commemorating the biblical account of God’s provision of a ram for Abraham to sacrifice as he was about to kill his son. They share the meat with friends, family and neighbours and give part of it to the poor.

In Turkey, at least 1,179 people – dubbed "amateur butchers" by the Turkish media – were treated at hospitals across the country, most suffering cuts to their hands and legs.

Four people were severely injured when they were crushed under the weight of large animals that fell on top of them, it was reported. Another person was hurt when a crane, used to lift an animal, tumbled onto him.

Three people suffered heart attacks and died while trying to restrain animals, private CNN-Turk television reported.

Two bulls escaped and caused havoc in the streets of the central Turkish city of Kayseri and in the south-eastern province of Sanliurfa, until they were caught with the help of veterinarians who fired tranquilliser darts.

Turkish authorities have introduced fines for those who slaughter animals outside facilities set up by local municipalities. But many Turks again ignored the rules and sacrificed animals in their backyards or on roadsides.

A little poetic justice at work, perhaps.

They share the meat with friends, family and neighbours and give part of it to the poor.

I’ve always wondered about the sanitary conditions and how many people fall ill from eating meat that has been slaughtered, butchered and distributed "to the poor" in this fashion.

Where is the FDA? And where are the lawyers? And where for the love of Allah is PETA?

One also has to ask if there anything related to the practice of Islam that isn’t drenched in blood?

(This was originally posted by 1sttofight in the "missed news" thread. But I thought it warranted its own thread.)

This letter which details Senator Edward Kennedy’s offer to help the Soviet Union defeat Reagan’s efforts to build up the nuclear deterrent in Europe was unearthed by a Times of London reporter in the 1990s after the KGB files were opened.

It got little or no attention, however, until the publication of Paul Kengor’s book "The Crusader – Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism."

But even then the actual text of the letter (which is in the book’s appendix pp 317-320) has gotten short shrift:

Appendix
TEXT OF KGB LETTER ON SENATOR TED KENNEDY
_________________________________________

Special Importance
Committee on State Security of the USSR
14.05. 1983 No. 1029 Ch/OV
Moscow

Regarding Senator Kennedy’s request to the General Secretary of the Communist Party Comrade Y.V. Andropov

Comrade Y.V. Andropov

On 9-10 May of this year, Senator Edward Kennedy’s close friend and trusted confidant J. Tunney was in Moscow. The senator charged Tunney to convey the following message, through confidential contacts, to the General Secretary of the Center Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Y. Andropov.

Senator Kennedy, like other rational people, is very troubled by the current state of Soviet-American relations. Events are developing such that this relationship coupled with the general state of global affairs will make the situation even more dangerous. The main reason for this is Reagan’s belligerence, and his firm commitment to deploy new American middle range nuclear weapons within Western Europe.

According to Kennedy, the current threat is due to the President’s refusal to engage any modification on his politics. He feels that his domestic standing has been strengthened because of the well publicized improvement of the economy: inflation has been greatly reduced, production levels are increasing as is overall business activity. For these reasons, interest rates will continue to decline. The White House has portrayed this in the media as the “success of Reaganomics.”

Naturally, not everything in the province of economics has gone according to Reagan’s plan. A few well known economists and members of financial circles, particularly from the north-eastern states, foresee certain hidden tendencies that many bring about a new economic crisis in the USA. This could bring about the fall of the presidential campaign of 1984, which would benefit the Democratic party. Nevertheless, there are no secure assurances this will indeed develop.

The only real threats to Reagan are problems of war and peace and Soviet-American relations. These issues, according to the senator, will without a doubt become the most important of the election campaign. The movement advocating a freeze on nuclear arsenals of both countries continues to gain strength in the United States. The movement is also willing to accept preparations, particularly from Kennedy, for its continued growth. In political and influential circles of the country, including within Congress, the resistence to growing military expenditures is gaining strength.

However, according to Kennedy, the opposition to Reagan is still very weak. Reagan’s adversaries are divided and the presentations they make are not fully effective. Meanwhile, Reagan has the capabilities to effectively counter any propaganda. In order to neutralize criticism that the talks between the USA and the USSR are non-constructive, Reagan will grandiose, but subjectively propagandistic. At the same time, Soviet officials who speak about disarmament will be quoted out of context, silenced or groundlessly and whimsically discounted. Although arguments and statements by officials of the USSR do appear in the press, it is important to note the majority of Americans do not read serious newspapers or periodicals.

Kennedy believes that, given the current state of affairs, and in the interest of peace, it would be prudent and timely to undertake the following steps to counter the militaristic politics of Reagan and his campaign to psychologically burden the American people. In this regard, he offers the following proposals to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Y.V. Andropov:

1. Kennedy asks Y.V. Andropov to consider inviting the senator to Moscow for a personal meeting in July of this year. The main purpose of the meeting, according to the senator, would be to arm Soviet officials with explanations regarding problems of nuclear disarmament so they may be better prepared and more convincing during appearances in the USA. He would also like to inform you that he has planned a trip through Western Europe, where he anticipates meeting England’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and French President Mitterand in which he will exchange similar ideas regarding the same issues.

If his proposals would be accepted in principle, Kennedy would send his representative to Moscow to resolve questions regarding organizing such a visit.

Kennedy thinks the benefits of a meeting with Y.V.Andropov will be enhanced if he could also invite one of the well known Republican senators, for example, Mark Hatfield. Such a meeting will have a strong impact on American and political circles in the USA (In March of 1982, Hatfield and Kennedy proposed a project to freeze the nuclear arsenals of the USA and USSR and pblished a book on the theme as well.)

2. Kennedy believes that in order to influence Americans it would be important to organize in August-September of this year, televised interviews with Y.V. Andropov in the USA. A direct appeal by the General Secretary to the American people will, without a doubt, attact a great deal of attention and interest in the country. The senator is convinced this would receive the maximum resonance in so far as television is the most effective method of mass media and information.

If the proposal is recognized as worthy, then Kennedy and his friends will bring about suitable steps to have representatives of the largest television companies in the USA contact Y.V. Andropov for an invitation to Moscow for the interview. Specifically, the president of the board of directors of ABC, Elton Raul and television columnists Walter Cronkite or Barbara Walters could visit Moscow. The senator underlined the importance that this initiative should be seen as coming from the American side.

Furthermore, with the same purpose in mind, a series of televised interviews in the USA with lower level Soviet officials, particularly from the military would be organized. They would also have an opportunity to appeal directly to the American people about the peaceful intentions of the USSR, with their own arguments about maintaining a true balance of power between the USSR and the USA in military term. This issue is quickly being distorted by Reagan’s administration.

Kennedy asked to convey that this appeal to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is his effort to contribute a strong proposal that would root out the threat of nuclear war, and to improve Soviet-American relations, so that they define the safety of the world. Kennedy is very impressed with the activities of Y.V. Andropov and other Soviet leaders, who expressed their commitment to heal international affairs, and improve mutal understandings between peoples.

The senator underscored that he eagerly awaits a reply to his appeal, the answer to which may be delivered through Tunney.

Having conveyed Kennedy’s appeal to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Tunney also explained that Senator Kennedy has in the last few years actively made appearances to reduce the threat of war. Because he formally refused to partake in the election campaign of 1984, his speeches would be taken without prejudice as they are not tied to any campaign promises. Tunney remarked that the senator wants to run for president in 1988. At that time, he will be 56 and his personal problems, which could hinder his standing, will be resolved (Kennedy has just completed a divorce and plans to remarry in the near future). Taken together, Kennedy does not discount that during the 1984 campaign, the Democratic Party may officially turn to him to lead the fight against the Republicans and elect their candidate president. This would explain why he is convinced that none of the candidates today have a real chance at defeating Reagan.

We await instructions.

President of the committee
V. Chebrikov

Of course Ted Kennedy has always been the willing stooge of any enemy of this country.

But it is fitting that we should remember this perfidy at the close of 2006. May it strengthen our country’s resolve to try to prevent — or at least expose — his and others’ sedition in the future.

With Congress back in the control of the Democrats, we will be kept very busy.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Somali women, including Nadifa Farah, who is holding the sign, joined a demonstration Saturday at Peavey Park in Minneapolis.

Area Somalis want peace for homeland

Many of the 1,500 protesters in Minneapolis were angered that the U.S. gave tacit support for ousting of Islamists.

By Liz Fedor, Star Tribune

December 30, 2006

More than a thousand Somalis gathered in Minneapolis on Saturday to call for Ethiopian troops to withdraw immediately from Somalia.

Their protest capped a week in which transitional government troops retook Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, with the backing of Ethiopian infantrymen.

The U.S. government "gave the green light" to Ethiopia to work in concert with the transitional federal government in Somalia, and that action was "totally wrong," said Hassan Mohamud.

He is the president of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice in Minneapolis, which organized Saturday’s rally.

"We ask the president of the United States, Mr. Bush, and his administration to stop supporting the terrorists. Ethiopian troops are terrorists," Mohamud said to a cheering crowd.

Somali men, women and children gathered Saturday morning in Peavey Park in Minneapolis, and they carried an array of signs. Some said "No more war" and "Islam is the solution."

Lt. Rick Thomas of the Minneapolis Police Department estimated the crowd at about 1,500 people for a rally that ran for more than two hours.

Mohamud said he and other Somalis want the United States to support talks that can yield "peace and reconciliation."

Somalia has not had a stable government in 15 years, but many attendees at the rally said that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) had brought some peace to the country during the past six months.

When that Islamic group took over the capital in June, many people were optimistic about the future, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.

"They brought back security," Jamal said in a telephone interview. "We were all hoping that the moderates would be able to take the lead in the organization of the UIC. But unfortunately, the radicals hijacked the process."

Jamal said the large Somali community in Minnesota "is divided," adding that many local Somalis supported the overthrow of the Islamists over the past few days.

Jamal said he attended the rally as an observer.

While leaders in the Somali community differ over the best political course of action to take for Somalia’s future, many Somalis yearn for a less violent, more stable environment that can better serve the people in Somalia.

Sadia Egal, 23, said she had been planning to visit her parents in Somalia in January. But the recent military actions prompted her to postpone the trip. She is fearful that her teenage brothers in Somalia could be killed in revenge slayings. "My dad asked them to stop going to school," she said, so they could stay home and avoid being targets for violence.

Egal, who lives in north Minneapolis, has not returned to Somalia since she left the country with her aunt when she was 12 years old. She works as a parking attendant and interpreter and has been saving her money for six months to pay for her plane ticket.

Abdullahi Hassan, a small-business owner from Eden Prairie, said, "What brought me here [to the rally] is our country is under occupation by foreign forces." He said the United States should support a process that would allow highly educated Somalis to find solutions to stabilize the country and build hospitals and schools that will serve the people.

A member of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, Abdul Mohamed of Minneapolis, said the military advances last week by Ethiopian troops created "one of the worst moments in Somali history."

Mohamed disagrees with U.S. policy in Somalia, which he said is driven by "Islamophobia."

Reports in the New York Times and other news organizations characterized the United States as giving tacit approval to Ethiopia’s military actions.

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., has been heavily involved in working with the Minnesota-based Somali community, said Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich.

"Clearly, there are many different factions concerned with the future of Somalia, and thus many different voices," Friedrich said Saturday. "In the end, it is in Somalia’s interest and America’s interest for the country to establish a democratic, secure and functional government — one where human rights are protected and terrorists cannot get a foothold."

We should send these people back to Somalia poste haste so that they can do something about this outrage.

(What the hell is going on in Minnesota?)

In a slight variation on our weekly theme, this thread is for our readers to post news items that might have not gotten enough attention during the last year.

As usual, articles that fit under the topic of a fairly recent thread should be posted as comments there.

In order to make the articles as readable as possible, try to conform to the format described in the first of these weekly threads here.

More good news. The Pierce County (WA) Legal Information Network Exchange is currently showing:

JESSE ADAM MACBETH
Pierce County Corrections Custody Status: In Custody
Jail Name: MACBETH, JESSE
Last Booking Number: 2006319064

In case anyone has forgotten, here are some of the articles we posted about the IVAW peacenik and pretend Ranger, Mr. Macbeth.

Here are the charges:

In typical fashion, he doesn’t sound any too peaceful.

(Thanks to Abnjm for the heads up.)

An editorial from the "paper of treason," the New York Times:

Dealing With Congressman Inc.

December 30, 2006

As the Democrats regain power in Congress next week they would be wise to look to one of their own — Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania — for ironic inspiration in enacting the ethics reforms they promised voters. Even in the minority, Mr. Murtha made himself a legend at mastering the same quid pro quo culture that Democrats denounced in running against the Republicans’ manipulations of Washington’s money trough. His deliverance of masses of pork to favored campaign donors and lobbyists has been laid bare in a report by The Washington Post, detailing the sort of classic money churn that helped drive the Republicans from power.

It began with Mr. Murtha’s securing $500,000 in federal start-up money for a nonprofit agency created by a staff member who eventually left to run the agency and, in turn, lobby his old boss. The nonprofit, with a goal of finding jobs for the disabled, soon became a magnet for Murtha-friendly lobbyists, contractors and other insiders. They became members of its board and raised money for the cause. In the process, they reaped millions in federal contracts with the congressman’s help. And, needless to say, they closed the loop with regular donations to Murtha campaign kitties.

This sort of mutual back-scratching was dubbed DeLay Inc. by critics denouncing Republicans for systematically flirting with corruption. Democrats in the new majority can expect much to be made of Murtha Inc. unless they enact firm, thorough ethics controls on their own behavior.

Congressman Murtha’s symbiotic prowess with defense contractors and power lobbyists was an open secret that drew no great attention until the incoming speaker, Nancy Pelosi, sought him as her majority leader. She was rebuffed by wiser colleagues. They must follow up that close call by striking at the heart of the easy-money culture that besmirches both sides of the aisle.

Note that The Times admits that Murtha’s corruption has been an "open secret." And yet they never bothered to report it when the information might have made a difference. Why is that?

Instead they waited until he has been safely re-elected and his leadership dreams have been thoroughly scotched.

Even so the Solons at the Times still waited to sneak this bit of moralizing out until absolutely slowest news period of the year, and under the cover of Saddam’s hanging.

Of course this is to balance their thousands of front page above the fold stories about Republican corruption.

That’s what is called "fairness" in our one party media.

From the DNC’s Al Jazeera:

Hajj ‘an opportunity for unity’

Iraqi pilgrims have said that the Hajj is an opportunity for unity, but conflict and division in their homeland hinders the possibility for lasting peace.

Shia and Sunni Muslims have walked shoulder to shoulder and shared the same tents on Mount Arafat, the site of a key ritual in the annual pilgrimage.

The execution of Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, has spread fears that the cycle of sectarian bloodshed that has torn the country apart will increase.

"Six million more Saddams will take his place," said one Iraqi pilgrim.

The news that Saddam had been executed on the morning of Eid al-Adha shocked many.

"Killing Saddam during the Hajj means they’re willing to provoke Sunnis to the highest degree," one pilgrim said.

Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Sheikh, the mufti (Islamic scholar) of Saudi Arabia, called for unity among the "Muslims of Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Afghanistan" – the foremost areas of intra-Muslim violence across the Islamic world.

"Your blood is as blessed as this blessed day," he said. "Return to your senses and settle your affairs. Rise above accusations."

The majority of Iraqis on the Hajj have tried to avoid talk of the turmoil back home during the religious journey.

"We’re here for our religion, not for politics," one elderly pilgrim said.

Sunni Arabs formed the backbone of Saddam’s regime and many believe that his trial and conviction were acts of vengeance by Shias who now dominate the government.

Yassin Subhi, an Iraqi Sunni Muslim, vowed that his prayers during the Hajj pilgrimage on Friday would be a sword to fight his country’s occupiers.

At the same time, a procession of his fellow Iraqis marched to a holy site, waving a Shia banner.

However, the pilgrimage may be one of the few religious events that Iraq’s Sunni and Shia celebrate together. Today, separation is an unavoidable in Iraq.

Sunni and Shia in Iraq are increasingly segregating, afraid to enter each other’s districts of Baghdad amid months of sectarian killings.

During the Hajj, at Mount Arafat, the two sects have come together, living in a single Iraqi section of the sprawling tent city where nearly three million pilgrims from around the world spent most of Friday in prayer and meditation.

The prayers at Mount Arafat are one of the main rites of the Hajj.

The desert plain is where the Prophet Muhammad gave his last sermon in AD 632, soon before his death, and he told his followers that God "frees more souls from hell" on the Day of Arafat than any other day.

Lest we forget, Saddam Hussein killed more Muslims than any other man in history.

It should also be noted that the Shiites and Sunnis do radically different things during Hajj. The Shiites, for instance, visit the local tombs of long dead famous Imams.

The Sunnis consider this idolatry and have regularly tried to obliterate the tombs. The two Islamic sects have butchered each other over this and other differences from the first days of Islam.

But like the rest of the media, Al Jazeera will lie about anything to advance their agenda.

Lifts from Al Iraqiya television:

It’s how I want to remember him.

From the DNC’s Associated Press:

Reyes says U.S. intelligence was ‘manipulated’

Yet incoming committee chairman wants to focus on future in Iraq, not past

Dec 29, 2006

WASHINGTON – Incoming House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes says he’d rather figure out how to stabilize Iraq and bring the troops home than get bogged down investigating what went wrong.

Despite that pledge, he does plan to revisit one bit of history: What he sees as the government’s improper classification of a letter he wrote during the congressional debate on the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

In the letter, he questioned the intelligence used to take the country to war and specifically the "epiphany in the intelligence community" that al-Qaida and the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein were linked, Reyes says. Based on the answers to questions he’d asked since Sept. 11, 2001, he said that assessment was "a complete turnaround" for U.S. analysts.

"We now know that the intelligence was cherry-picked and manipulated," Reyes said in a recent interview. "I thought it was real petty to get (the letter) classified."

Reyes is taking over the House Intelligence Committee at a pivotal time, as the Democrats try to shape the U.S. course on Iraq and Afghanistan, government surveillance programs and other national security questions. The retired Border Patrol agent hasn’t seen his party in control of the House since 1994…

Lest we forget, Mr. Reyes is the same Middle East maven who didn’t know that Al Qaeda members are of the Sunni persuasion.

It’s going to be a long two years.

From the DNC’s Al Jazeera:

Former rebel wins Aceh elections

A former Aceh separatist has won elections in the conflict- and disaster-stricken northern Indonesian province.

The electoral commission on Friday confirmed quick-count tallies made this month. Irwandi Yusuf won 38 per cent of the vote.

His closest rival, Ahmad Humam Hamid, took 16 per cent.

Irwandi, a leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), will assume the office of governor in February for a five-year term.

The elections on December 11, which also determined mayors and district chiefs, came just over a year after GAM and the Indonesian government signed a peace agreement.

The deal, precipitated by the Indian ocean tsunami in 2004 that claimed about 167,000 lives in Aceh, ended 29 years of fighting in which 15,000 people were killed.

Besides negotiating with Jakarta for GAM, Irwandi also worked in counter-intelligence and the military wing. He was in jail for treason when the tsunami hit…

Irwandi told Al Jazeera before the final results were revealed: "By 2010 we [would] have eradicated corruption and you won’t hear any more of it in Aceh. By year 2015, Aceh can be considered a prosperous piece of land, prosperous country, where justice and law is for everyone." …

Make that Sharia law for everyone.

You probably didn’t even know that there was a civil war going on in this part of Indonesia. But there is. Our one party media just hasn’t bothered to tell us much about it since it doesn’t fit their agenda.

Wikipedia explains:

Acehnese Civil War

The Acehnese Civil War was a civil war in Aceh, Indonesia, between the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the central government of Indonesia…

As the articles notes, a ceasefire was declared after the December 2004 Tsunami so that both sides could cash in on the aid. But it has been repeatedly violated.

And guess what is behind it?

There is a cultural and religious divide between Aceh and the rest of Indonesia as well. A more conservative form of Islam than is mainstream in most of Indonesia is widely practiced in Aceh. The broadly secular policies of Suharto’s New Order regime (1965-1998) were especially unpopular in Aceh, where many resented the central government’s policy of promoting a unified ‘Indonesian culture’.

What’s this? More "conservative" Muslims killing less "conservative" Muslims?

What a shock!

From a despondent Associated Press:

Duke D.A. Charged With Ethics Violations

Ethics Charges Against Duke Lacrosse Prosecutor Could Force Him Off Case, Legal Experts Say

By AARON BEARD

RALEIGH, N.C. – Ethics charges filed against the prosecutor at the center of the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case might constitute a conflict of interest that forces him off the case, legal experts said.

"It’s hard for me to imagine how he can be effective as an advocate, with either the court or a future jury, when he has ethics charges pending against him … concerning his conduct of this very same case," said Joseph Kennedy, a University of North Carolina law professor.

The North Carolina bar filed the ethics charges Thursday, accusing District Attorney Mike Nifong of violating four rules of professional conduct by making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes under suspicion.

Kennedy said Nifong should recuse himself, but added that the judge overseeing the case could order his removal from the case. The ethics charges carry penalties that range from admonishment to removal from the bar.

The bar said it opened a case against Nifong on March 30, a little more than two weeks after a 28-year-old woman hired to perform as a stripper at a lacrosse team party said she was gang-raped.

The ethics charges will be heard by the state’s Disciplinary Hearing Commission, made up of lawyers and non-lawyers, at a forum similar to a trial. A date for the hearing has not been set.

A Nifong assistant told reporters waiting outside his office Friday that he would not comment on the case. But in an October interview with The Associated Press, he said his only regret in handling the case was speaking so often to the media early in the investigation.

"Certainly what I was trying to do was to reassure the community, to encourage people with information to come forward," Nifong said. "And that was clearly not the effect."

The bar cited 41 quotations and eight paraphrased statements made to newspaper and TV reporters, saying many of them amounted to "improper commentary about the character, credibility and reputation of the accused."

Among them:

Referring to the lacrosse players as "a bunch of hooligans."

"I am convinced there was a rape, yes, sir."

"One would wonder why one needs an attorney if one was not charged and had not done anything wrong."

Nifong also is charged with breaking a rule against "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation." The bar said that when DNA testing failed to find any evidence a lacrosse player raped the accuser, Nifong told a reporter the players might have used condoms.

According to the bar, Nifong knew that assertion was misleading, because he had received a report from an emergency room nurse in which the accuser said her attackers did not use condoms…

It’s about time. At the very least Mr. Nifong should never practice law again.

But if there is any justice he should also serve some time for his crimes.

From "the paper of treason," the New York Times:

The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein

December 29, 2006

The important question was never really about whether Saddam Hussein was guilty of crimes against humanity. The public record is bulging with the lengthy litany of his vile and unforgivable atrocities: genocidal assaults against the Kurds; aggressive wars against Iran and Kuwait; use of internationally banned weapons like nerve gas; systematic torture of countless thousands of political prisoners.

What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions.

It could have, but it didn’t. After a flawed, politicized and divisive trial, Mr. Hussein was handed his sentence: death by hanging. This week, in a cursory 15-minute proceeding, an appeals court upheld that sentence and ordered that it be carried out posthaste. Most Iraqis are now so preoccupied with shielding their families from looming civil war that they seem to have little emotion left to spend on Mr. Hussein or, more important, on their own fading dreams of a new and better Iraq.

What might have been a watershed now seems another lost opportunity. After nearly four years of war and thousands of American and Iraqi deaths, it is ever harder to be sure whether anything fundamental has changed for the better in Iraq.

This week began with a story of British and Iraqi soldiers storming a police station that hid a secret dungeon in Basra. More than 100 men, many of them viciously tortured, were rescued from almost certain execution. It might have been a story from the final days of Baathist rule in March 2003, when British and American troops entered Basra believing they were liberating the subjugated Shiite south. But it was December 2006, and the wretched men being liberated were prisoners of the new Iraqi Shiite authorities.

Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either.

The Times is just concerned that there won’t be enough time to whip up the "Arab street" and get some more of our troops killed.

Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won’t either

Gosh what insight.

But maybe the Iraqis intend to execute Saddam because it is the right thing to do?

Of course concepts such as the rule of law and simple justice are foreign to the New York Times.

Excellent news from a bereaved NBC News:

Saddam to be hanged by Sunday

Ex-dictator’s execution expected to be carried out by start of Eid holiday

Dec 28, 2006

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, sentenced to death for his role in 148 killings in 1982, will have his sentence carried out by Sunday, NBC News reported Thursday. According to a U.S. military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, Saddam will be hanged before the start of the Eid religious holiday, which begins at sundown Saturday.

The hanging could take place as early as Friday, NBC’s Richard Engel reported.

The U.S. military received a formal request from the Iraqi government to transfer Saddam to Iraqi authorities, NBC reported on Thursday, which is one of the final steps required before his execution. His sentence, handed down last month, ordered that he be hanged within 30 days.

Earlier Thursday, Saddam’s chief lawyer implored world leaders to prevent the United States from handing over the ousted leader to Iraqi authorities for execution, saying the former dictator should enjoy protection from his enemies as a “prisoner of war.”

“According to the international conventions, it is forbidden to hand a prisoner of war to his adversary,” Saddam’s lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said in Amman, Jordan.

“I urge all the international and legal organizations, the United Nations secretary-general, the Arab League and all the leaders of the world to rapidly prevent the American administration from handing the president to the Iraqi authorities,” he told The Associated Press.

Saddam met with two of his half-brothers on Thursday and passed on personal messages to his family, a lawyer said.

Badie Aref, one of Saddam’s lawyers, said the rare meeting with maternal half-brothers Sabawi and Watban Ibrahim Hassanal-Tikriti, who are in U.S. custody, was at the request of the ousted Iraqi leader and took place inside his heavily guarded prison cell in Baghdad.

Aref said Saddam was in very high spirits and had sensed “something was happening relating to the sentence” when prison guards took away a small radio he had been given several months ago.

“He met Sabawi and Watban and gave them letters to his family in anticipation…. He is clearly unaware of the details of what is happening around him and prepared to give his life as a martyr to his country,” Aref told Reuters by telephone.

Aref said prison sources who told him of the family meeting said Saddam was aware of an appeals court decision to uphold his death sentence for crimes against humanity during his 24-year rule.

“He was in very high spirits and clearly readying himself,” Aref said during a visit to Dubai.

“He told them that he was happy he would meet his death at the hands of his enemies and be a martyr and not just languish in prison in oblivion.”…

We could learn a few things from Iraq’s court system.

From the Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald:

Sheehan, other protesters arrested near Bush ranch

Thursday, December 28, 2006

By Erin Quinn

Tribune-Herald staff writer

CRAWFORD — War protester Cindy Sheehan and several fellow peace activists were arrested this morning outside President Bush’s ranch where Bush is meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others on Iraq war policy.

Sheehan, arrested just after 11, said she and others were conducting a “peace surge” to address concerns that Bush may increase U.S. troop numbers in Iraq. The Bush administration is under mounting pressure to change its tactics in an increasingly unpopular conflict. Among the suggestions Bush is considering is a temporary surge in U.S. troops.

Just before she was arrested, Sheehan was sitting in the middle of the road near Bush’s 1,600-acre ranch. This morning’s protesters said they fully expected to be arrested for demonstrating near the ranch.

Protesters have been arrested before for violating a county ordinance that forbids camping out along the side of the road or blocking traffic, which Sheehan and some of her followers appeared to be doing this morning. One protester was lying in the middle of the road, apparently to symbolize the dead of the Iraq war.

Bush has been on a working vacation at his ranch since Tuesday. He and the first lady are due to return to Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Day.

Between two and three dozen protesters were outside the ranch this morning, many of them armed with signs and banners decrying the war and chanting “Arrest Bloody George.”

The woman will do anything to keep herself in the news.

But remember, Cindy Sheehan is on probation after her recent conviction for her disruptions at the United Nations:

Cindy Sheehan convicted of trespassing

12/12/2006

… Sheehan and three other women were acquitted on Monday of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration but were convicted of trespassing for leading a protest across the street from the United Nations. They had faced up to a year in jail if convicted of all counts.

A judge sentenced them to conditional discharge, which means they will not face any punishment as long as they do not get arrested in the next six months. The judge also ordered them to pay $95 in court surcharges…

So this arrest should guarantee Mother Sheehan some jail time in New York.

Or are America-haters always given a different set of rules?

The ghoulish Bob Woodward couldn’t even wait for Mr. Ford to be interred before cashing in on his death with yet another piece of disinformation.

From the DNC’s house organ, the Washington Post:

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger gives former President Gerald Ford the latest information on the situation in South Vietnam, during a meeting at the White House, April 29, 1975.

Ford Disagreed With Bush About Invading Iraq

By Bob Woodward
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 28, 2006; Page A01

Former president Gerald R. Ford said in an embargoed interview in July 2004 that the Iraq war was not justified. "I don’t think I would have gone to war," he said a little more than a year after President Bush launched the invasion advocated and carried out by prominent veterans of Ford’s own administration.

In a four-hour conversation at his house in Beaver Creek, Colo., Ford "very strongly" disagreed with the current president’s justifications for invading Iraq and said he would have pushed alternatives, such as sanctions, much more vigorously. In the tape-recorded interview, Ford was critical not only of Bush but also of Vice President Cheney — Ford’s White House chief of staff — and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who served as Ford’s chief of staff and then his Pentagon chief.

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I’ve never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

In a conversation that veered between the current realities of a war in the Middle East and the old complexities of the war in Vietnam whose bitter end he presided over as president, Ford took issue with the notion of the United States entering a conflict in service of the idea of spreading democracy.

"Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush’s assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what’s in our national interest." He added: "And I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

The Ford interview — and a subsequent lengthy conversation in 2005 — took place for a future book project, though he said his comments could be published at any time after his death. In the sessions, Ford fondly recalled his close working relationship with key Bush advisers Cheney and Rumsfeld while expressing concern about the policies they pursued in more recent years.

"He was an excellent chief of staff. First class," Ford said. "But I think Cheney has become much more pugnacious" as vice president. He said he agreed with former secretary of state Colin L. Powell’s assertion that Cheney developed a "fever" about the threat of terrorism and Iraq. "I think that’s probably true."

Describing his own preferred policy toward Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Ford said he would not have gone to war, based on the publicly available information at the time, and would have worked harder to find an alternative. "I don’t think, if I had been president, on the basis of the facts as I saw them publicly," he said, "I don’t think I would have ordered the Iraq war. I would have maximized our effort through sanctions, through restrictions, whatever, to find another answer." …

Note that despite the headlines and the spin given this piece, Ford is merely saying that the invasion of Iraq should not have been based solely upon the threat of Saddam having or developing weapons of mass destruction.

This is a position that Gerald Ford had iterated several times before in interviews, such as this one from a reporter for the New York Daily News from just seven months ago:

Last lunch with a legend

Speaks candidly about the WMDs and war in Iraq

BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK

Daily News Washington Bureau Chief Thomas M. DeFrank interviewed Gerald Ford more than three dozen times during the late President’s retirement years. He saw Ford in November at his California home and spent more than two hours with him May 11 [2007] for this, his final interview.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Cal. … Ford was a few weeks shy of his 93rd birthday as we chatted for about 45 minutes. He’d been visited by President Bush three weeks earlier and said he’d told Bush he supported the war in Iraq but that the 43rd President had erred by staking the invasion on weapons of mass destruction.

"Saddam Hussein was an evil person and there was justification to get rid of him," he observed, "but we shouldn’t have put the basis on weapons of mass destruction. That was a bad mistake. Where does [Bush] get his advice?" …

But Woodward wouldn’t be Woodward and the Post wouldn’t be the Post if they didn’t try to twist this non-story into a way to attack President Bush — and for a war they also had previously championed.

Moreover, as I am reminded by a brilliant reader:

President Bush didn’t base the Iraq invasion on WMDs. That was the liberals’ reason.

Bush and his administrative spokespeople concentrated on Saddam’s gassing of the Kurds, the rape rooms, Uday and Qusay, his funding of terrorists, his sheltering of terrorists, etc. — to the point that liberals were complaining that Bush was giving too many reasons for the war.

It’s maddening that our motives for going to war have been switched with liberals’ motives only since we haven’t found WMDs. That was their reason.

Absolutely.

And lest we forget, it was Bill Clinton and his cronies who pounded Saddam for his weapons of mass destruction, starting in 1998 when he needed a distraction from Monica.