Category: War on Terror

Lynndie has been given a three year jail sentence and the Iraqis are furious.

IRAQIS have expressed fury over the three-year jail sentence for Lynndie England, the US soldier notorious for holding a naked inmate by a leash in Abu Ghraib prison, saying it exposed American hypocrisy.

They said the sentence would have been harsher had she been convicted of abusing Americans. At least according to the News.com report the Iraqi’s are furious but on closer perusal the report actually defines “ the Iraqis ‘ (which you are supposed to read as all Iraqi’s) as four locals. An opinion off the street in Baghdad makes a deceiving headline. All of the Iraqi nation has now been cut to four. Obviously the editor told the hack to get out on the streets and find four locals willing to say they are furious. That’ll do. The hack chose Akram Abdel Amir, a retired bus driver in Baghdad and labourer Muntasser Abdel Moneim for down to earth opinions with Munir Abdel Sahib, a university lecturer and Najaat al-Azawi, 55, a retired engineer for intellectual creditability.

“America should be ashamed of this sentence. This is the best evidence that Americans have double standards,” said Akram Abdel Amir, a retired bus driver in Baghdad.

It’s also the best evidence that the people writing the release have double standards.

“There are Iraqis in jail without any charge, just based on suspicion. But when it comes to Americans, the matter is totally different.”

True, there were, and maybe still are people in jail just based on suspicion but in some cases these suspicions become fact and there were some inmates implicated in blowing up woman and children. Which is obviously nowhere as serious as holding a naked inmate on a leash in Abu Ghraib prison. Fairly balanced reporting.

US soldier Lynndie England participated in humiliating prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison because she enjoyed it and had a sick sense of humour, a military prosecutor said today.

England’s lawyers have said she took part in the humiliation because of an overly compliant personality but Captain Graveline responded to that defence by showing a poster of her pointing derisively at an inmate’s genitals. “What soldier wouldn’t know that that’s illegal?” he said.

This one. Tacky, stupid, crass, brainless, dumb, foolish, half-witted, idiotic, ill-advised, imbecilic, inane, indiscreet, insensate, unintelligent, unthinking or witless…yes, but illegal?

England, who faces up to 11 years in prison if convicted on all seven counts, was also shown in posters holding a naked prisoner on a leash. In previous statements, she had said the poses were a joke.

11 years for a victimless joke. Lynndie is now the victim.

Major Mori has discovered a new defence for Hicks. He’s really a Pom.

“He told me he’d never felt very partisan about the Ashes and wouldn’t mind much if England took the series because his mum had never claimed Aussie nationality and still carried a UK passport,” Major Mori told The Observer.

Mori realizes this fact could delay justice further and exclaims;

“My jaw hit the floor. I asked him: ‘Do you realise that may mean you’re legally a Brit?’ We both knew that the implications of that could be stunning.”

I’m not sure that nationality will have much bearing on his defence but I’m happy to be stunned as well, so long as Hicks does his time in Britain and never darkens our door again. It’s a win-win for Aussie and the Poms should expect some penalty for having the temerity to take the ashes off us.

Australian forces in Afghanistan have emerged virtually unscathed from their first combat missions, announcing they had inflicted heavy losses on anti-Kabul forces who attacked them twice last week. Well done, guys.

Hicks defence team not ready for trial. How many years do they want?

Sir Edward Woodward, a former barrister, judge and head of spy agency ASIO, says in his new memoir that Australia was wrong to take part in the US-led coalition of the willing. Well he would, wouldn’t he. The judge has always been anti conservative and against the war for years. Two years ago the Age ran a piece by the good judge and today the Australian recycles his anti-bush/Howard/Iraq war opinions to help the old guy sell a book he’s written. I presume when the article starts with ‘Ex Judge’ I’m supposed to read his words and tremble. The man is so educated he must know more than me. His words are gospel. Well, I don’t tremble, I don’t think his words are gospel. I actually think his word indicates a lack of exposure to the world in general.

He said it was significant that “very few informed voices” had supported Mr Howard’s decision.

Other than those who voted him back in, that is. Maybe they weren’t informed of the judges opinions but they were informed.

With the media’s mindless and selective attack on Bush over Katrina, the terrorists seek to capitalize on the President’s bad polls by putting further pressure on the American public to call for the withdrawal of US troops and let the Iraq struggle back to the 12th century . A series of apparently co-ordinated car bombs and execution-style murders rocked Iraq yesterday, killing at least 142 people and wounding 227. In one of Iraq’s deadliest single bomb attacks, at least 114 people were killed and 162 injured when a suicide car bomb detonated amid a group of labourers in the Shi’ite district of Kadhimiya in Baghdad.

A witness said the car drove up into the square and the driver called out that he wanted to hire daily labourers. As a crowd gathered around the car, the driver set off his bomb.

How proud the terrorists must be – can’t you see them sittting back and drinking their coffee while discussing the successes of the day.

We’re winning…great day today…we killed 142 of our own people. The US media will report it ad nauseum and put further pressure on Bush to withdraw.

Mongrels. So are the Terrorists.

SENTENCED to death for his role in the embassy bombing in Jakarta last year, the terrorist known as Rois had an unrepentant message for Australia.

“All of you will receive heavier punishment than what you have done to me,” he said, smiling, as he was led away by armed police.

We might pay, you will be dead. UPDATE: Second bomber handed death sentence. Reader PQ (see comments) is right, of course. There is a long way to go before the sentence is applied. The Indonesians may well reduce the penalty on appeal but at least the courts have shown they are prepared to be tough on terrorism with the initial sentence.

News.com report a senior Islamic leader in NSW has accused John Howard of trying to oppress Muslims and said new counter-terrorism laws would achieve the aims of terrorists by proxy. In an angry speech to a summit designed to condemn terrorism and promote harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims Islamic Council of NSW acting chairman Ali Roude does neither;

“If John Howard gets his way, we will not be able to talk about it. We will be tagged and monitored and maybe interned,” he said. “I hate to see someone who is not a Muslim scared of me.”

Then tell them how you dispise the actions of some of your extremist bretheren and they might calm down. You can’t blame any westerners for being wary of a religious group that are providing the world with 100% of it’s terrorists from among it’s adherents. While Simon Kearney or John Kerin describe Ali’s speach as angry and designed to condemn terrorism and promote harmony between moslems and non-moslems they then go on to report his condemnation of our reaction to terrorism. I don’t think he has either condemned terrorism or promoted harmony.

The summit, controversially held in Sydney on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks in the US, condemned terrorism without qualification, saying terrorists were not Muslims.

Saying terrorists are not Muslims is not condemning terrorism without qualification at all – it’s simply denial and what do Simon Kearney or John Kerin see as controversial? The fact that the conference was held in Sydney or that it was held on September 11. I just don’t get their point. I see the location as irrelevent and the timing as opportune. While Ali says terrorists aren’t Muslims, a representative of an extremist Muslim group, Al-Qaeda, threatens Melbourne

The masked man warned that the attackers would show no compassion. “Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne,” he said. “We love peace, but peace on our terms.”

I can sort of understand the no passion thing about Melbourne but I don’t like it that we are on their radar again. Over at Evil Pundit a debate rages over wearing of the Hijab by muslem woman. I see a woman wearing hijab and I see subjugation – whether she is aware of it or not. Readers at EP compare wearing the hijab with wearing the christian cross and therebye show their confusion. One act is covering up lest men succumb to lust and is enforced in many families. The christian cross is worn as a statement and in my experience is done so by choice and never by direction. By the same token I don’t think outlawing wearing the hijab is the way to go either. I would think that time and education will see it’s demise. There are, I’m sure, many young moslem woman who wear the hijab or scarves or clothes that completely cover their form for perceived modesty reasons. Education will change their perception of modesty. I might have thought the first bikini wearing woman as exciting but now hardly ever get distracted by the scenery yet my great-grandfather could well have been driven to uncontrolled lust by the sight of a pretty turned ankle. Perceptions change and people assimilate after generational change.

The Irish Republican Army were terrorists who murdered people and there was nothing heroic about their struggle, Prime Minister John Howard said today. The IRA yesterday announced its militants had been instructed to abandon their weapons, “end the armed campaign” and pursue their aims through the political process, from 4pm (0100 AEST on Friday). I’ll believe them when they add….and all our weapons will be dumped centrally and destroyed publically.