"200 explosive belts seized in Iraq," by Robert H. Reid for the Associated Press:
BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces seized 200 explosive belts along the Syrian border Wednesday, a police spokesman said, reinforcing Baghdad's claims that its western neighbor isn't doing enough to stop the flow of fighters and weapons to al-Qaida in Iraq.
The belts were found during a search of a truck that had crossed into Iraq from Syria at the Waleed border station, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.
"When the truck was searched, 200 explosives belts were found in it," the general said. He said the driver was detained but he would not give his name or nationality.
Iraqi and U.S. authorities have long complained that Syria is not doing enough to stem the flow of weapons, ammunition and foreign fighters into Iraq. Syria insists it is trying to stop the flow but that it is impossible to seal off the long desert border.
That would only begin to qualify as an excuse if all points along the border were equally used to cross over into Iraq. The jihadists and weapons don't materialize from thin air at the border; there are nearby towns, supply lines, and networks of people facilitating the transit that could be undermined, if the Syrians felt like it, which they don't.
But U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner told reporters that 60 to 80 foreign fighters enter Iraq "in any given month" — 70 percent of them through Syria. He said up to 90 percent of the suicide attacks in Iraq were carried out by "foreign-born al-Qaida terrorists."
Bergner did not offer detailed evidence to support the claim.
However, he cited the July 1 suicide attack that collapsed part of a major bridge across the Euphrates River north of Ramadi. A second bomber was supposed to have attacked the bridge but backed out and was captured, Bergner said.
The surviving attacker told interrogators he had been recruited by al-Qaida in his home country, flown to Syria and smuggled across the border to Ramadi, where he stayed for about 10 days before the attack.
Bergner would not give the would-be attacker's nationality, but other military officials said he was a Saudi. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.
Thank God for that! As suspected, because where are all these people coming from and dying from?
We got no thanks when we stopped that truck full of WMD's enough to kill over 20,000 people. When we first went in. It was on IT'S.. way to Lebanon!
We collected enough WMD's to fill up they said, 20,000 cargo ships, too!
Yeah they raised hell about "No WMDs" and then when we found them they were silent.
"Oh well! Never mind!"
Iraqi and U.S. authorities have long complained that Syria is not doing enough to stem the flow of weapons, ammunition and foreign fighters into Iraq. Syria insists it is trying to stop the flow but that it is impossible to seal off the long desert border.
Sounds just like our Southern Border to me.. How can we fault the Syrians for their lack to do what our very own Congress REFUSES to do?
We have to clean up our own act if we have any Right to demand the very same of others who aren't even in the same fight!
Iraqi and US authorities can complain all they want.. the US isn't doing their part on the US Border either.
Allahfanculo: Sounds just like our Southern Border to me.. How can we fault the Syrians for their lack to do what our very own Congress REFUSES to do?
My father used to tell me 'dont do as I do, do as I say'. We are at war, it should be a matter that we dont ask the Syrians to do better, we demand it.
I think there are similarities in your example, but they are two different things. The real scooby is that we should fault both the Syrians, and Congress at the same time. Why let either one of them off the hook? They are both so...deserving...
Robert, do you feel refuted?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tmh4cRxQv8
So, what price Lebanon then?
The regime in Syria, which is Alawite, depends for its support and continuing existence upon the fleeing Lebanese and Iraqi Christians and Sunni Muslims and Druze.
It is in the Syrian regime's best interests to continue to disrupt the stability of the surrounding countries for only then can its supporters outnumber its detractors.
Simple maths, really, so here goes - three to five years ago the ruling Alawites were 12% of the population and supported by the 12% of the population that were Christian and the 12% that were Druze. The Syrian Sunnis were divided in many different ways which gave the Alawites the upper hand. Isma'ili and Twelver Shi'a, always minority groups and always Alawite supporters have, since the Iraqi debacle, dramatically increased in number and now account for a further 14% of the Syrian population. The Chalcedonian Antiochian Orthodox, Armenian, Maronite, Chaldean, Melkite and Syriac Christians have added to the native الروم الارثوذكس, ar-Rūmu 'l-Urṯūḏuks to swell Christians from 12% of the population to 24%.
The non-Sunni population of Syria today - the non-Islam population today - is well over half of the current 21.7 million people in Syria. It is in the best interests of the Alawite President of Syria, His Excellency President Dr. Bashar al-Assad, to keep it that way since his power base does not rest amongst the Syrian Sunni but amongst the kuffar of today's Syria.
Perpetual unrest in the Middle East is in the best interest of Syria and its Alawite government. That is why the Syrian Government will always be contrarian.
Casus belli.
JR -- I'm not sure I understand this analysis. You're saying Syria is over half non-Muslim, yet the population there at least implicitly supports the predations of zealous Muslims upon the Lebanese, as well as acquiescing to Syrian-funded Islamic terror in other countries?
How can this be? Is this population slack and indifferent to their own traditions and their own interests, like the other Arabized, Islamicized dhimmis in the region? Is it because they simply don't care, because the bombs aren't going off in Damascus yet, and the dedicated Muslims are murdering and kidnapping elsewhere? Are they hoping to be eaten last? Or have I missed something?
Lemme see here....
Syria is known to be supported by Iran. But Syria also is implicated with the Al Qaeda in Lebabon. So we don't know where the vests are going. We do know where they came from. And have a pretty good idea they were financed by the mad mullahs and mad-jad Ahmadinejad.
Ah well, Assad will soon feel the full wrath and security of the UN over the Hariri assassination.
What? You say he'll just ignore it? Yeah, it is the UN we're talking about - the all talk all the time, no action anytime, corruption-r-us UN.
{O.O}
So Scots, facing mass casualties from terror, chose enhanced security? No. Enhanced dhimmism.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflicts/democracy_terror/scotland_islam
Where is the evidence that Muslims treat proferred inclusivity from majorities, as anything but an indulgence of their own aggressive and brutal social structures.
"Syria insists it is trying to stop the flow but that it is impossible to seal off the long desert border."
......sure, and Syria insisted they had nothing to do with assassinating Lebanons leaders.....I cannot recall on case of Syria capturing large numbers of weapons on their side of the border...on the other hand Israel has captured weapons traveling from Syria into Lebanon....The Americans have captured weapons traveling from Syria into Iraq....
...and from the not so distant past....the cause of the Lebanese leader Hariris assassination by the Syrians could be that Hariri had creditable proof the the missing Iraqi WMDs were in Syria and he knew where there were stored....It would also appear the Russians have something to protect in Syria, the Russians have been providing Syria with advanced missile systems and advanced weapons...The interesting thing about this is Russians in the past have insisted on cash payments for its weapons, but now give the weapons to Syrian on credit and good terms...you may remember Iraq did most of its WMD killing using Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi aircraft equipped with chemical sprayers. The primary Iraqi chemical weapons were VX nerve gas and mustard gas, a blistering agent, both obtained from Russia. and it was reported that Russian special forces teams moved weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq to Syria.
It is a record of fact that US forces have found hundreds of Artillery shells containing these WMDs, but the dhimmicrats and limpwristed anti war types have insisted these do not qualify as WMDS as "they are old manufacture"...It is precisely these "old manufacture weapons of mass destruction" that killed tens of thousands Iranians and many thousands of Kurds and other Iraqis that Sadaam felt threatened by...
When the US invaded Iraq satellite surveillance showed extensive large-vehicle traffic crossing the Syrian border prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Russian military forces were at the Bagdad airport being evacuated...
....Everyone seem to think Iran is a player in the Muslim assaults in Iraq....so too, is Syria, and it appears Syria has something to hide and protect....
Hey supercargo
Was this mass embrace the Muslim community a result of seeing the "massive" turnout at the Muslim protest against terrorism? Geeshhh
until Bush and his GOP are serious about fighting and scrw the PC this war in iraq will remain at a standstill. what they need to do is tell syrai that they ceast all activities and close their borders to
terrorists otherwise will face some very well placed bombings. its a slow bleed now, iran and its cohorts are bleeding off the US military and Bush needs to get serious.
...the world needs to get serious....
well lets see, now the Democrats want to talk to these peope, ie iranians and syrians, l guess Bush can send over Nancy Pelosi and sidekick Diane Sawyer from ABC GMA, you know all the wonderful things these gals said about Assad and how many gushes Diane Sawyer got from the monkey man from theran. l guess we should try talks again. Those veils on these gals just made them blend in so well! sarc/off.
"...Democrats want to talk to these peope, ie iranians and syrians..."
.....talking does not work.....
Should Pelosi go over there and have another little talk with square head?
Pelosi should go over there and become his B**** in a burka....
Supercargo, If you believe the link you posted then you my friend do not know the Scots. Believe me, the 60,000 muslims (mainly in Glasgow) were thanking that stinking rock they pray to that there were no casualties at the Airport. Do not confuse us with what you read that our politicians have said. Wee Alex and his pals are the real masters of tagguia (spelling?).After all we'e been listening to it for donkeys years. It would have taken the British Army to quell what would have followed.
I sure hope they were all clearly stamped:
RELIGION OF PEACE
In all of this discussion, I think we've forgotten one little axiom. Follow the money.
http://www.centralbanking.co.uk/newsmakers/archive/2003/may12.htm
A billion Dollars buys a lot of explosive vests. Especially if you make them in children's sizes. Assad the junior doesn't care about Sunni, Shia or Christian causes. His whole purpose is to stay in power. That's it. It's all there is. But he does have some masters. He absolutely needs the Iranians, for they supply his oil. Do you wonder why there's a shortage of gasoline in Teheran? Some of it has to go to Syria. Assad has Hizbollah traversing through Syria on their way to Lebanon, and he just hopes they don't decide to stop and stay in Damascus. Iran has given him his marching orders to attack Israel for the Golan Heights, and the clock ticks. If you do not think that the day comes that US troops will be fighting in Israel side-by-side IDF soldiers, then you're not paying attention.
Lastly, for interestinconundrum,
Son, if you have a point you're trying to make on something you consider very important, my advice is that a rap video is probably not the best vehicle. If you're intent was to try to defend the "virtue" of Islam, start with Qur'an 4:11, Qur'an 5:51, Qur'an 4:11 Qur'an 8:67 and Qur'an 2:191. Nothing you can say is going to change the facts found throughout Islam's holiest and most revered texts. Mohammad, your "prophet", was an illiterate, a pirate, a thief, an adulterer, a mass murderer, a rapist and a child molester. If what I say are lies, then the texts bear nothing but falsehoods. And by the way, most of the folks who hang out in here probably know more about what the texts of Islam really say than you do. So tread carefully...
Shalom,
Theosebes
@ Supercargo
I have to agree with Rookie on the point about the Scots. There were two petrol bomb attacks on Muslims within a week after the airport incident, one involved a car rammed in to a shop and the other one an attack on a mosque. There are people up here who are a bit 'testy'. Och aye!
The 'Men in suits' will waffle on and twitter all that political nonsense, that's what they do for a living but the headbangers on the streets are a different matter entirely. I certainly hope there are no more 'incidents' perpetrated by Muslims here 'cause it will be an eye opener if there is.
Allahfanculo: Sounds just like our Southern Border to me.. How can we fault the Syrians for their lack to do what our very own Congress REFUSES to do?
Syrians want Iraq to fail so they allow weapons/fighters to enter Iraq.
Our Congress are bought off by big business (via lobbyists that SHOULD be outlawed...campaign contributions, promises of future lucrative lobbyist jobs, vacations, etc.) so that they turn a blind eye to illegals (CHEAP LABOR) sneaking across the border.
So then our Congress are just as corrupt as some of the folks in the ME. Our forefathers would be turning in their graves at the corruption in Washington.
Theosebes-
Interestingconundrum was kidding.
You're giving him a bad rap.
I've complained about the way our intellegence agencies operate for a long time now. They seem to lack any real emigination in the way they fight terrorists. It's like they're trying to be civilised when fighting an uncivilised enemy.
In the second world war both British and American intellegence agencies had "dirty tricks" sections for the purpose of figuring out emanginative and unconvential ways of thwarting and killing the enemy.
These 200 explosive belts could have been seeded with booby-traped belts of our own, designed to detonate at some point after they came into the hands of the enemy.
If, despite all our wealth and brain power, we can't find people with the emagination, we should contract to the Israleis to provide us with the emagination. They've proven very creative in the use of dirty tricks.
Seizing 200 explosive belts is no big deal. There's plenty more where they came from. The trick is to let them go on their way, but with a little present for those who intend to use them.
If the Israeles wont't handle it, give it to a cub scout troop.
rational-
I've been emailing suggestions like this to:
presdient@whitehouse.gov
-for years.
You try. They don't seem to take mine to heart.
A student of psyops Bush is not.
I would have prefered to have read "200 suicide bombers were killed when thier bombs blew up prematurely while they were putting them on.The mosque caught fire and trapped it's imam inside,killing him as well."
Now thats good news!
profitsbeard,
I think the problem is that our intellengence agencies try to operate like corporations. They shuffle papers around, do accounting and listen in on phone chatter, but they lack the emagination to do much else. In the second world way, the U.S. government even contracted with the Mafia to do its dirty work in Italy. I'm in no way endorsing the Mafia, but if you're serious about fighting a war, you'd better be prepared to get down in the gutter with some very unsavory characters. Alter all, we made common cause with one of the biggest murderers in history, Joseph Stalin. He made the Mafia look like kids stuff.
But I don't think we have to go quite that far in fighting the terrorists in Iraq. We just have to be more creative in the way we kill our enemies. Our intellengence people have to quit thinking of themselves as just information gatherers, and start developing a little more killer instinct.
Those 200 explosive belts were an opportunity, but, unfortunately, no one seems to have realized that. It's my guess they're always missing oportunities like that. I'm not the brightest person in the world, but even I could think of some pretty dirty tricks to pull on the terrorists in Iraq.
And the 200 vests were of varying sizes, maybe?
Extra Large
Large
Medium
Small for the kids, who've watched the now dead mouse, Farfur, die on islamic tv. I cannot seem to capitalize the I in the word islam.
When it becomes The Religion Of Peace I will put the capital I back in.
Great posts above from all so dedicated to JW!
MK