Blogcritics

Newsbrief: BlogWorld, Pakistan and Rudy's Angel

Dave Nalle — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 21:13:05 EST

Blogging on my Treo on my way to BlogWorld I see Ron Paul on my plane and encounter some breaking news.
Liveblogging from BlogWorld ExpoBlogWorld is a first-ever conference which brings together all elements of the blogosphere for three days of unbridled back-slapping and self-promotion in Las Vegas. It's like YearlyKos but without the little red books and sandals and with a whole bunch of business types involved.I'm attending as part of the...

Newsbrief: Iraq Situation Report

Dave Nalle — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 20:51:20 EDT

With al Qaeda defeated and violence down 70% things look much better in Iraq except for the impending Turkish invasion.
The Surge and the Defeat of al Qaeda in IraqIn his latest message sent out as an audio statement through al Jazeera, Osama bin Laden essentially recognized the fact that al Qaeda in Iraq is no longer a functional force. Al Qaeda is regrouping its resources, largely outside of Iraq and looking for new ways to exert their influence. They managed to...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Newsbrief: Giuliani Surges, Terrorists Targeted, Hurricane Season's Slow Start

Dave Nalle — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:00:34 EDT

CBS News Poll Shows Giuliani Way AheadIn the latest CBS News poll former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani seems to have surged ahead of the other candidates, widening his lead on major challengers by much more than expected and doubling the percentage of the nearest challenger. The poll of likely Republican primary voters shows Giuliani with a 38% lead, followed by undeclared candidate Fred Thompson at 18%, Mitt Romney at 13% and John McCain at 12%. Popular speculation that Romney was developing momentum because of his victory in the Iowa Straw Poll seems to have been off the mark, and Giuliani has moved to a position where it may be his election to lose. Further polling suggests surprisingly strong support for Giuliani among conservative and religious groups despite his relatively socially liberal attitudes. With the earliest primaries having been moved up into January, candidates have less time than expected to catch Giuliani now that he has become the clear Republican front runner.For more see: CBS NewsIran's Revolutionary Guard to be Targeted as TerroristsThis week the administration is expanding the War on Terror to target new terrorist organizations, focusing on Iranian and Syrian backed groups like Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon, but more significantly, specifically designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. This allows the government to go after their fund raising apparatus and assets here in the United States and to try to cut off the money which they funnel to a variety of terrorist organizations in Lebanon and Palestine.Following the model of the Chinese Red Army, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has developed substantial international business interests and a powerful fund raising apparatus as well as an espionage network. They have units deployed in a variety of areas training and supporting terrorist and insurgent activity. Attacking their financial structure may be an effective way to reduce their effectiveness without challenging Iran's government directly.For more see: Washington Post, The AustralianTropical Storm Erin Heading for Gulf CoastAfter retracting embarrassing predictions of an above average hurricane season made earlier this year, the NOAA may be relived to be able to report that now that we are well into hurricane season the first few tropical depressions are managing to creep their way towards the United States. After earlier tropical depressions petered out in the Atlantic, tropical storm Erin is now in the Gulf of Mexico and headed for the Texas Gulf Coast. Winds are at a fairly modest 40 miles an hour as the storm is 250 miles from land, with a projected landfall somewhere south of Houston.A tropical storm watch was issued this morning for the southern Gulf Coast, but it is unlikely that Erin will turn into a major hurricane. The storm has already spun off some smaller storms which have done some minor damage, and the storm is likely to contribute to Texas' bizarre cool summer weather by breaking the first actual hot spell of the season after only a week of real summer-like temperatures. Thiings may get more exciting when (likely) hurricane Dean comes in behind Erin with much stronger winds.For more see: Click2Houston and NOAA.

Dave Nalle has been a magazine editor, freelance writer, capitol hill staffer, game designer and taught college history for many years. He is a Liberty Republican and former Libertarian. He now designs fonts for a living and lives with his family just outside Austin. You can find his writings on politics and culture at Republic of Dave, on conspiracy theories at IdiotWars and on design and fonts at The Scriptorium.

Newsbriefs: Gonzales, Rove, Man Eating Badgers and Victory in Iraq

Dave Nalle — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:45:49 EDT

Gonzales and Rove Called Before SenateSo the Senate called Alberto Gonzales down to answer questions about controversial attorney firings at the Justice Department. He was vague and seemed to be developing Alzheimers, and the Senators from both parties were far from satisfied with his answers. Now they apparently enjoyed his visit so much want him to come back and clarify contradictions between his recollections and information they were given by FBI DIrector Mueller and other sources. If he doesn't cooperate, several prominent Democrats have promised to indict him for perjury. Even more exciting, the Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed Karl Rove and one of his aides to come down and give their testimony on the attorney firings as well. Chairman Patrick Leahy has even suggested that a special prosecutor may be needed. This all makes for great media fodder, especially getting Rove to testify, but one has to wonder if the Democrats could be doing something better with their time. It seems uniquely pointless to continue to pursue this issue when even the worst Gonzales is being accused of doesn't violate any laws. Cries that this is a witch hunt are becoming more widespread on the right, because no matter how feckless and moronic Gonzales appears to be, it's quite clear that nothing the Senate comes up with will ever be able to trump the simple fact that attorneys in the Justice Department are hired and fired at will, and they can legally be fired for any reason, including the most blatantly political. He may be a bit of an embarassment in office, but perjury may be the only grounds they're going to be able to indict Gonzales on. But for now we can expect the bread and circuses to continue indefinitely.For more see the Washington Post article and a detailed report on CNN.Victory in Iraq!I bet you thought there's never any good news from Iraq. Well, this week Iraq showed that it does have at least one thing going for it by winning the Asian Cup with a low-scoring victory over Saudi Arabia. Celebrations broke out all over the country suggesting that Iraqis of every stripe may at least hold a love of football in common. The celebrations were only marred by a few more or less accidental deaths from the traditional celebratory gunfire, unlike the celebration for their semi-final victory which attracted two suicide bombers. Al Qaeda apparently figured out that bombing football celebrations could easily be interpreted as a pro-Saudi political statement. Prime Minister Maliki has promised $10,000 to each team member, which is a fraction of what the Saudi players would have gotten had they won, but still a nice incentive bonus. Now if only the Iraqi people could do to the Saudi-based al Qaeda terrorists what their football team did to the Saudi team, some progress might be made in Iraq.For more see reports at IraqSlogger.Giant Badgers in BasraI wouldn't normally pick up on a story I saw on The Daily Show but this one was so bizarre I had to do some followup. It seems that the city of Basra is under attack by giant, man-eating badgers. Hysterical reports suggest attacks by something rather like the Chupacabra, but eyewitness video demonstrates that the creatures roaming the streets of Basra at night are apparently the rare Iraqi Honey Badger, one of the largest and most aggressive members of the badger family, with five-inch long, razor sharp claws and as big as a medium-sized dog. Spurious claims about the badgers abound, including that they feed on human corpses (unlikely since Basra is one of the more peaceful areas in Iraq with no corpses in the streets), were imported as some sort of bioweapon by the British, have killed and eaten cows (they're not THAT big) and have attacked humans (never previously documented). What seems more likely is that something has driven them out of their normal feeding grounds, and like a lot of other predators they can probably find good sustenance picking through human garbage. Given all that they've had to suffer through, a plague of giant badgers does seem like one more problem Iraqis really don't deserve.For more on this story, check out this link from Fox News Australia. For a documentary video of the Honey Badger see YouTube.

SCOTUS Review: Less Free Speech for Students, More for Everyone Else

Dave Nalle — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:54:07 EDT

It's rulings time at the Supreme Court, and this week we got handed an interesting mixed bag of what appear to be fairly sound and even-handed rulings on a variety of issues, particularly having to do with free speech.The big headliner was the 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case, in which a public high-school student in Juneau, Alaska was suspended for 10 days for holding up a banner with the slogan in question at the running of the Olympic torch on a street by his school. The ruling declared that the student did not have the right to endorse drug use at a school sponsored event while acknowledging that the slogan was ambiguous and that the student's intent may merely have been humor or notoriety. The case had questionable gray areas, including the fact that the student in question was not on school property at the time, but the court clearly wanted to use this case to repeat the point made in previous rulings, that school students do not have unlimited free speech in the context of the educational environment.In a somewhat more controversial ruling, the court decided by a 5-4 vote that a suit brought by atheist and civil rights groups against administration officials over their faith-based charity initiative would not be allowed to proceed. The plaintiffs had argued that the administration's efforts to encourage religious charities to apply for federal grant money was a violation of the separation of church and state. The court ruling would seem to make sense, since the grants from the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives are available to both religious and non-religious groups, with the main criteria being their delivery of legitimate charitable services. However, the ruling was actually made on mostly procedural grounds, sidestepping the larger issue and ruling on the basis of the technicality that taxpayer groups have limited standing to sue over the use of money not part of the regular federal budget.The court also struck a blow against the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law by lifting restrictions on 'issue' ads placed by grassroots groups, including businesses and unions near the time of an election. The court resisted the urging of groups like the Cato Institute that it go further and strike down the entire law by reversing its 2003 ruling that the law as a whole was constitutional. With the 2008 election coming up this change in the campaign finance law should have a significant impact on the most hotly contested campaigns.In another significant ruling, the court determined that when there is a conflict between the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act the requirements of the Clean Water Act trump the needs of endangered species. While this has been described as a victory for developers over environmentalists, it is actually much more significant as an indicator of basic government philosophy. In this ruling the court is essentially saying that the needs of people are inherently superior to the needs of other species. The ruling also specifically counters a technique used by many radical environmental groups to delay and massively increase the cost of building projects by forcing multiple endangered species surveys on developers with little justification.Some are going to argue that these rulings show a general anti-rights, conservative trend in the court because of superficial facts like the plaintiffs in the campaign finance case being a pro-life group, but the fact is that even that ruling benefits everyone equally, because they didn't just lift the restriction for one type of group, they lifted it for everyone. Sure, some of these rulings could be bolder and more decisive, but so far even with the addition of Alito and Roberts the court certainly doesn't seem to be running amok. These were mostly pretty conservative decisions - in the sense of being not very different from past decisions - and were mostly made by a one vote margin and without any of the really outraged dissents we saw in the last session. It looks like the Supreme Court still works the way it is supposed to.

Newsbriefs: Longer Deployments, Terror Arrest in Ohio, Everybody Hates Mike Nifong

Dave Nalle — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:47:44 EDT

Pentagon Extends Tours of Duty to 15 MonthsOn Wednesday the Pentagon announced that it would be extending tours of duty for soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan from 12 months to 15 months. Longer tours of duty will reduce demand for more manpower, keep experienced personnel in the field longer, and reduce the need to use national guard and reserve forces, all of which should lead to higher levels of effectiveness. Although the reaction among the troops, who have been prepared for this move for some time, has been relatively positive, concerns have been raised that this will put more stress on families and businesses. Immediate objections were raised by prominent Democrats, dismayed to see another ratcheting up of the war effort in the face of their efforts to promote a withdrawal from Iraq. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commented, ''Extending the tours of all active-duty Army personnel is an unacceptable price for our troops and their families to pay." The new deployment plan addresses this by guaranteeing soldiers a year at home before they are redeployed and providing a $1000 a month bonus for any soldier deployed longer than 12 months. During the Vietnam War, tours of duty were a minimum of 18 months for soldiers who were draftees rather than volunteers. A three month increase in the length of tours of duty effectively provides the military with more than 100,000 additional deployable troops.Fox News, WTOC, Associated PressAl Qaeda Trainee Arrested in OhioOn Thursday a 43 year old Ohio man was indicted on charges of supporting and assisting terrorists in planning attacks in the United States and Germany. Christopher Paul is a US citizen who allegedly travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan to train with al Qaeda and was in contact with al Qaeda organizers and involved in training potential terrorists in various parts of the world during an 18 year career in terrorism beginning in the 1990s during which he was sometimes also known as Abdul Malek. Paul was the former roomate of confessed terrorist Lyman Faris who was involved in a plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge in 2003. Paul was found in possession of manuals on explosives and equipment used to forge documents so that potential terrorists could enter the United States, and most curiously a faxed list of the names and phone numbers of "key al-Qaeda leaders." Paul's indictment is on three counts related to plans to make attacks on tourist destinations in the United States and Europe.For more see: ABC News, Washington PostEverybody Hates Mike NifongIt's been overshadowed by Don Imus' comments on the Rutgers womens basketball team, but at the same time an even more dramatic story involving sports and with serious racial overtones is playing out in North Carolina. In the last few days we've seen the intense backlash resulting from the dropping of charges against three Duke Lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape. Anger over the incident where an unreliable witness was able to persuade a politically opportunistic prosecutor to pursue a meritless case has reached a fever pitch, with public ire directed at District Attorney Mike Nifong. Nifong was running for reelection when the rape accusation was made, and rode the media attention which it generated and the racial outrage over three white boys supposedly raping an exotic dancer of color to an election victory. The only catch was that no rape ever occured and the case was transparently meritless and would never have been pursued had it not benefitted Nifong's election campaign to have a high-profile, racially charged case in the news. The case dragged three innocent students names through the mud for a year. Now the chickens have come home to roost. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper stepped in to bring the case to a halt, calling Nifong a "rogue prosecutor". Now the media and legal attention are focused on Nifong's abuse of power. Nifong has publicly apologized and made numerous excuses, but the public is calling for his resignation and he faces a disbarrment hearing today and likely civil suits over his role in the case. Considerable anger is also being directed at campus groups and a group of 81 professors at Duke who supported the public vilification of the accused atheletes before the facts of the case were fully known. The final nail in Nifong's coffin is expected to be hammered in this Sunday when CBS' 60 Minutes looks at the scandal.For more see: Fox News, News and Observer

International Newsbrief: Sadrists on the March, Iran Producing Nuke Fuel, Black Eagle A "Great Success"

Dave Nalle — Mon, 9 Apr 2007 16:48:50 EDT

Sadr Followers March Peacefully in Najaf and KufaAfter Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr declared war on the United States and called for all out resistance to the occupation of Iraq over the weekend, tens of thousands of his supporters marched in peaceful demonstrations in Najaf and Kufa on Monday, calling for an immediate withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. Sadr himself remains in hiding, likely outside the country, and much of his militia is in dissarray as a result of recent successful coalition campaigns against Shiite militias in Baghdad and most recently Diwaniyah, but these marches show that Sadr still retains a great deal of popular support. Despite inflammatory slogans and the presence of some armed militiamen in the crowd, the marches were nonviolent. Representatives of Shiite groups have stressed that this protest is part of an effort to pressure the United States to withdraw without resorting to violence. A US spokesman commented that the protest march was a positive sign because a peaceful protest of this sort would have been impossible under Saddam Hussein. Col. Steven Boylan commented "this is the right to assemble, the right to free speech... this is progress."For more see: The Christian Science Monitor, CNNIran Begins Industrial Scale Production of Nuclear FuelIgnoring international criticism and sanctions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday that Iran had reached a point in its nuclear program where it was capable of producing nuclear fuel on an industrial scale sufficient to supply an operating reactor, a vital step towards producing fuel of a high enough quality to manufacture nuclear weapons. Iran now has at least 3000 centrifuges in operation producing nuclear fuel, a goal which they set when they began their nuclear development program. President Admedinejad stressed that their intentions for the use of their nuclear fuel are entirely peaceful and that their intention is not to manufacture weapons. Actual production of weapons grade fuel will require considerably more centrifuges or an operational reactor, but Iran's technological infrastructure is such that rapid advancement to that state is quite feasible. This announcement was met with concern and condemnation from representatives of the United Nations and concerned nations around the world.For more see: The Brisbane Times, ForbesOperation Black Eagle Showing "Great Success"Following on the success of heightened operations to bring peace and order to Baghdad, the Iraqi Army and Coalition forces are now in their third day of fighting to subdue militia groups in the city of Diwaniyah. The assault is being spearheaded by the Iraqi 8th Army whose commander commented "So far, we have achieved great success fighting the terrorists." Successes include the discovery of large caches of weapons and several factories which had been manufaturing IEDs. Diwaniyah has been a center or Shiite militia violence and has been particularly plagued by fighting between rival Shiite militia groups loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr and Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim. Remnants of Sadr's hard-pressed Mahdi Army driven out of other areas have taken refuge in Diwaniyah. The pacification of Diwaniyah is the second phase in ongoing efforts to bring peace to central Iraq and follows the same techniques used successfully in Baghdad, including house-to-house searches, numerous checkpoints to control the flow of traffic, and the use of overwhelming military force on pockets of resistence.For more see: PressZoom, BlackAnthem, Tuscaloosa News

Newsbrief: Fundraising Follies, SCOTUS Rulings Season, Hostage Crisis Continues

Dave Nalle — Tue, 3 Apr 2007 02:33:23 EDT

Clinton and Romney Lead in the Fundraising FolliesDespite the fact that they have two of the highest 'unacceptable' ratings among candidates in their respective parties, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have turned in fundraising reports showing extraordinarily high totals both compared to prior years' primary campaigns at this point and compared to their competitors. Clinton has raised a whopping $26 million so far and Romney isn't far behind with $23 million. These figures are triple the records set in previous campaign years, promising that this will be the most expensive election in American history. $4.2 million of Clinton's war chest came from online contributions and she has an additional $10 million carried over from her Senatorial campaign.Other candidates lag behind, but are still exceeding amounts raised in prior elections. In second for the Democrats is John Edwards with $14 million and Rudy Giuliani is runner-up for the GOP with $15 million. John McCain and Barack Obama have not yet released their figures. Romney raised $6.5 million of his total at a single fundraiser in Boston last month and provided another $3.5 million of his own money. Giuliani is coming on strong. Almost all of his money was raised in March alone, plus he's been endorsed by billionaire business guru Steve Forbes and is bringing Forbes into his campaign as an adviser and fundraiser.Also making the Republican contest more interesting is the growing speculation that actor, lawyer and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson may enter the race as a Reagan-like candidate with universal appeal. Thompson is a moderate, pro-military Republican who is basically politically indistinguishable from Giuliani but doesn't have the same vulnerability on personal issues.For more see The Boston Herald, Breitbart and Bloomberg.The Supreme Court is Handing Down RulingsWith the Supreme Court in session, we're starting to get the first rulings and there's bound to be something to irritate everyone.One of the rulings released today clarifies the responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act to regulate the carbon dioxide emissions of vehicles. It addresses concerns raised in a suit filed against the EPA by a number of environmental groups and 12 states led by California and Massachusetts demanding that clean air standards be enforced more rigorously on the federal level. The court's ruling basically says that the EPA is obligated to enforce the Clean Air Act itself rather than leaving enforcement mainly up to the discretion of the states. This is a victory for environmental interests, but increasingly irrelevant because automakers have already largely met or exceeded the standards set by the act. It would, however, make future environmental standards much more enforcable. Another ruling issued today rejects an argument from Duke Energy that older coal power plants should be exempted from emissions restrictions.In another ruling, the court rejected an appeal on behalf of prisoners held at the military's Guantanamo Bay facility. The prisoners had claimed the right to be tried in regular courts and under U.S. law and to have their cases reviewed under the principle of Habeas Corpus. The ruling rejects their claims and upholds the Military Commissions Act and the provisions of the Geneva Conventions under which the prisonsers are currently held under military authority. Regardless of the very slow progress being made on actually trying and resolving the status of the prisoners, the court affirms that military justice is the appropriate way to deal with prisoners taken in the course of a war. This is being heralded as a vindication of administration policy by the White House.Other rulings released today include one requiring publicly funded schools to equalize sports programs for male and female students, and one protecting the patent for the anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor against infringement by generic competitors.For more see The San Francisco Chronicle, The Houston Chronicle and CNN.Iran Hostage Crisis Continues to EscalateWhile claiming that all of the British hostages taken a week ago have now 'confessed' to trespassing in Iranian waters, and also parading them on TV, the government of Iran is now suggesting that their fate will be resolved by international diplomacy rather than a show trial, if the British government will admit that the sailors intentionally violated Iranian territorial waters. This despite considerable civil unrest in Tehran with several bombings and an attack by a mob on the British Embassy. The mob was chanting slogans demanding that the hostages be tried in Iranian courts. At the same time statements were released by foreign ministers and heads of state from virtually every major Western nation promising 'appropriate action' against Iran, likely in the form of further and more serious sanctions. Continuing her efforts to become the spokesperson for the radical left, Rosie O'Donnell suggested that the hostages were deliberately ordered into Iranian waters to provoke a war.For more see The Daily Express, The Brisbane Times and The National Ledger.

International Newsbrief: Finding the 'Good' Insurgents, Tamil Airforce Strikes, Iran Questioning Brit Sailors

Dave Nalle — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:37:21 EDT

Iraqis and US Talk Peace with 'Reconcilable Insurgents'Departing US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said at a news conference in Iraq today that the Iraqi government and US military personnel have opened up negotiations with select groups of insurgents to combine efforts against al Qaeda and other foreign forces operating in Iraq. Previously troublesome tribal leaders and some Sunni militia groups have shown a willingness to cooperate with the government and direct their efforts against what is seen as a common enemy.Khalilzad stressed that a line was being drawn between 'reconcilable' insurgents whose primary interest is local and political and the true terrorists whose target is regional chaos and the overthrow of the government. By offering the hand of friendship and a greater political role to the more reasonable insurgents, the government and US forces hope to use their contacts in the insurgent community to increase effectiveness in hunting down the most troublesome groups.Negotiations and cooperation began in the middle of last year and have included some of the larger politically motivated insurgent groups like the Islamic Army of Iraq and the 1920 Revolution Brigades. Winning some insurgents over to the side of the government has been aided by the increasing hostility of al Qaeda towards all other groups in Iraq and their recent declaration of war on uncooperative Sunnis as well as Shiites.In his remarks Khalilzad also made note of the successes of recent strategy changes by US Forces in Iraq and the increasing effectiveness of Iraqi police, including substantial reductions in terror attacks nationwide and especially in Baghdad.For more see: USA Today, LA Times.Tamil Tigers Bomb Government Air BaseOn Sunday night a Zlin Z143 fighter/bomber attacked and bombed a government airbase in Sri Lanka, culminating a years-long effort by Tamil rebels to establish their own air force. Three people were killed in the raid and it caused the closure of Columbo's international airport.The aircraft is one of several which have been built or are being built from parts smuggled in with aid shipments in the aftermath of the 2005 tsunami. While the planes are small and unlikely to be able to outfight government warplanes or do anywhere near as much damage, they are enough to threaten commercial aviation and raise the stakes in the 20-year long Sri Lankan civil war.This attack sends a very clear message. When the rebels get their own air force, maybe it's time to start negotiating and give them the regional independence they've been fighting for.For more see: Al Jazeera, Radio Australia.Iran Questions British Sailors While UK and Iraq Demand ReleaseThe impasse between Iran and Great Britain over the seizure of 15 British sailors and marines last week continues, as the Iranian military questions the prisoners and the government of Iraq joins the British government in demanding their immediate release.Throughout this incident the British have claimed that the sailors were seized illegally in Iraqi waters while searching for smugglers. Iran has maintainted that they were arrested legitimately for trespassing in Iranian territorial waters. The conflict of these claims likely arises from the fact that the sailors were captured in the Shatt al-Arab, an inlet off of the Persian Gulf which both Iraq and Iran have historically claimed possession of.The British sailors and marines have been sent to Tehran for further questioning, and likely for use as media propaganda props as was done with sailors seized back in 2004.Meanwhile the UN Security Council agreed on Saturday to strengthen sanctions against Iran over their refusal to halt nuclear development and Iran announced that they would no longer cooperate with IAEA inspectors.As tensions rise over issues involving Iran, it seems relevant to note that wars have been started over incidents far less outrageous than this seizure of 15 British sailors.For more see: CNN, Times Online

Newsbriefs: KSM Tells All, Sanctions for Iran, Senate Rejects Iraq Pullout

Dave Nalle — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:19:46 EDT

KSM Takes the CreditAccording to a written and oral testimony provided to a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed takes responsibility for far more al Qaeda activity than he was previously credited with, including more than 30 major acts of terrorism only a few of which he was known to be associated with in advance of the confession. These include the 1993 World Trade Center bombing which first brought him to international attention, the attack on the USS Cole and a number of failed plans, such as the attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II, and a plot to attack Wall Street.The confession paints a picture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's role as the hands-on supervisor of widespread terror cells and as the director of As-Sahab, the media and propaganda wing of al Qaeda. Some of his claims may be exaggerated or even disinformation, but enough of what he admitted to fits with what is known about his activities from other sources to make it fairly convincing. Not everything he admitted to is entirely flattering, as far more of his plans failed than succeeded, usually because of his overly complex and flashy style. His ambition and desire for publicity led him to go for the dramatic over the practical, leading to the failure of many plans because they were unrealistically ambitious.KSM's most interesting claim is that he was "responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A-Z." The attack certainly fits his flamboyant style and is similar to another plan he is known to have proposed after the original World Trade Center bombing. He also took credit for oversight of biological and chemical weapons development and deployment, including having contact with Jose Padilla, the 'dirty bomb' terrorist, as well as claiming to have personally beheaded kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl.Some skepticism has been voiced about the confessions because it is known that KSM was subjected to 'waterboarding' during the course of his interrogation. Al Qaeda are also encouraged to lie and fabricate information during interrogation. Concerns are to some degree offset by the fact that much of what he confessed to can be confirmed by outside sources. Experts believe that the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may have resulted in a significant decrease in al Qaeda activity and effectiveness. For more information see National Post, USA Today and StratforMajor Powers Approve Iran SanctionsThis week the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany agreed to impose sanctions against Iran. The sanctions include freezing the assets of 28 companies and individuals associated with Iran's nuclear program and an embargo on arms exports to Iran. The sanctions are expected to be voted on next week.This marks a significant change of course for the major European nations who have been reluctant to be directly involved in the problems in the region. Reluctant participants like Russia and Germany were brought on board by the relatively moderate nature of the sanctions. A review of the need for stronger sanctions is planned for 60 days after these sanctions are imposed.Iranian President Ahmadinejad responded by declaring the UNSC to have 'no legitimacy' and then requesting an opportunity to speak before the UN prior to any final vote on the sanctions by the full security council next week. Iran's response to previous sanctions passed in December was to react aggessively with hostile rhetoric and an expansion of their nuclear research and missile development programs.At a rally in Tehran on Thursday Ahmadinejad said "These threats won't have one iota of effect on the strong will of the Iranian nation...You cannot force the Iranian nation to retreat."For more see The Irish Examiner and The Houston ChronicleSenate Rejects Iraq Pullout PlanWith the situation in Iraq improving dramatically in response to recent changes in strategy and deployment of additional troops in Baghdad, the Senate voted to reject a Democrat sponsored bill to set a timetable for a pullout from Iraq by the Spring of 2008.This proposal had passed the House, but was defeated by a narrow margin in the Senate as a small number of Democrats voted with Republicans against the bill. At the same time the House Appropriations Committee passed a new emergency war funding bill which also sets a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq which is full of specific goalposts and would lead to a pullout by the end of next year. This bill is expected to run into more problems and a threatened presidential veto. It basically attempts to trade off funding the President has requested for agreement to a scheduled withdrawal. It also includes almost $30 billion of earmark spending above the President's requests, largely directed at home district projects of powerful Democrats.These bills have also been accompanied by a variety of non-binding resolutions from both political parties in the House and Senate declaring support for the troops and promising not to leave them without financial support, and expressing the intent of the Congress to encourage a timely resolution of US involvement in Iraq.For more see ABC News and The International Herald Tribune