The Hasselhoffian Recursion
Go ahead. Check it out. You'll never be the same again.
Hat tip to Jonah at The Corner.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
CAPITALISM ALIVE AND KICKING IN POLAND (1/2)
Ok ladies and jerks, around New Year’s Day we spent a week in Poland to visit my wife’s family in the City of Wroclaw, Poland’s fourth largest (pop. Some 634,000). The distance from our doorsteps to my mother-in-law’s apartment is some 1,100 km if you take the E 40, and thus you could do it in a day if you got up early, ate while driving and didn’t pee too often; however, having a little kid with us and generally not wanting to be in a hurry when driving through beautiful central Germany, we always do it in two days – until now, since in Weimar we had some car trouble causing us a delay of another day, making a ride which started on a Monday end on a Wednesday. But I digress.
Btw, Weimar. Now, Weimar may well be Germany’s small cultural Mecca par excellence, in historical terms at least. Indeed, the famous poets Goethe, Schiller and Herder lived here, as well as the composers Bach and Liszt. Quite a few Weimarer Gebaude are recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage buildings. If you intend to visit it soon, 2005 is the year since the city commemorates the 200th year since Schiller deceased. I suppose though that for those who heard a bell ring at the mention of the name, they rather connected it with Germany’s ill-fated and short-lived bourgeois democracy during the Interbellum’s first half. If so, that assumption was also correct. The statue of Goethe and Schiller stands right in front of the Weimar Republic’s Parliamentary Building (if you clicked on the previous link, Goethe is the chap on the left).
Hmmm, when I first saw that building, I couldn’t help but wonder that the Weimar Republic was probably doomed from the start. Germans are a Proud People and like Decorum, Gravitas and Grandezza. Now, the Parliament looks more suited to serve as Luxembourgs Town Hall or something – though of a sound architectural design, much too modest imho for an 80million nation and leading industrial power.
Anyway, thanks to Herr Lutz Wagner from Autohaus Glinicke we were able to pursue our journey and left Weimar on Wednesday at around 11 o’clock. Some 30 kloms further, along the E40, we passed by the City of Jena, see pic below.
I mention Jena because despite its size (it counts some 103,000 inhabitants) it’s a rather important educational and industrial center. Its role as the former is emphasized by the presence of the famous Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (some 20,000 students) and the Fachhochschule. But that’s not all, in addition there are the:
• Hans-Knöll-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung e.V.,
• Institut für Molekulare Biotechnologie e.V.
• Institut für Physikalische Hochtechnologie e.V.,
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik Jena,
• Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Wirtschaftssystemen,
• Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Ökologie und
• Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie
As you can see Jena is no place for Hollywood celebs. As an industrial center, Jena distinguishes itself through renowned companies like Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH (I’m sure you heard of their famous binoculars) and the pharmaceutical giant Jenapharm GmbH & Co, but there are many more.
From Jena it was still a ride of some 300 kloms to the Polish/German border, which we crossed easily, Poland now being an EU member. It was a tremendous relief not having to wait in a long queue before suspicious-looking guards allow you to proceed. Wroclaw itself, some 150 kloms inside Poland, was reached by 6pm on Wednesday evening, by which time it was already dark. It would have been even later had we not been able to use the almost refurbished E40, which until at least Easter of this year was composed of ancient concrete slabs varying 2-3cm in height at the junctions, making a ride at even only 80kloms an hour a butt-numbing experience. As we reached Wroclaws outskirts, the dark of the highway was replaced by the white-yellow glare of thousands of sodium lamps with an array of freshly erected supermarkets bathing in it: TESCO, Auchan (French equivalent of Wal-Mart), Makro, Le Roy Merlin, Media Markt, IKEA etc…
Now, since I did not have the means to photograph this scenery you will excuse a little cheating from me, since the pic I provide to illustrate the industrial building activity is one I took last April – hence the green grass and blossoming flowers. It shows one of many newly erected industrial buildings housing small and medium-sized companies around Wroclaw, in this case Tektura:
I did a Google for "Tektura" + "Wroclaw" and lo and behold, there we got their site: it appeared to be the Polish daughter of German packaging specialist Tektura!
Excerpt from their fine site:
Two Martin inline-machines with up to three printing units, two Bobst flatbed diecutters with up to five printing units and two Bobst six-corner folder-gluers are installed there. Of course all machines are state-of-the-art. So there we are also able to provide our customers with a broad bandwidth of packaging. With a production capacity of about 60 million square metres per year we are among Poland's biggest packaging producers. The whole plant has been configured and equipped in accordance to the latest technological findings. So we can be sure of having set a new standard in the corrugated board industry.
Oh yeah, see that car in front of the sign? That’s MFBB’s Audi!
Now, before I elaborate on our days in Wroclaw a few words on the country itself: Poland is officially a Republic, with a population slightly less than 39 million (July 2004 estimate) and a surface of 312,685 sq kloms, making it almost the size of New Mexico. Head of State is President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Prime Minister is Marek Belka. That last name may ring a bell to Iraq News crunchers, since Mr. Belka was CPA Financial Director under Paul Bremer the previous year. Like the US, Poland has a bicameral system with a 100 strong Senate and a 460-strong House of Representatives called the Sejm. Check out their neat site.
As you may all have heard, the communist government under General Jaruzelski was challenged in 1980 by the emergence of the free Labor Union Solidarnosc under Lech Walesa. A decadelong bumpy ride including a brief stint of Martial Law, imprisonment of key Solidarnosc members, government-ordered murder (anyone remember Father Popieluszko?) saw communist rule finally break down by 1990. Since then Poland has undergone an economical shock therapy which transformed its economy since then in one of the most robust of the former Eastern European countries.
However, over the past years things didn’t look that bright anymore: the Poles just emerge from a four year reign under Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Naturally, being a former communist he and his government screwed things up royally and currently Poland suffers from high unemployment and low GDP growth. Btw, Poland’s GDP is some 427 billion US$ (2004 estimate). With abovementioned population of 39 million that yields a GDP per capita of 11,100 US$. Millers main credit is guiding Poland into the EU, although of course he also deserves praise, along with president Kwasniewski, for Polands valoured contribution as a member of the Coalition of the Willing, with an important role in Iraq. Helpful in this respect was also the fact that Poland is a NATO member in 1999.
(to be continued)
(old Polish Air Force MiG21 from some Aero Klub near the border)
MFBB
Ok ladies and jerks, around New Year’s Day we spent a week in Poland to visit my wife’s family in the City of Wroclaw, Poland’s fourth largest (pop. Some 634,000). The distance from our doorsteps to my mother-in-law’s apartment is some 1,100 km if you take the E 40, and thus you could do it in a day if you got up early, ate while driving and didn’t pee too often; however, having a little kid with us and generally not wanting to be in a hurry when driving through beautiful central Germany, we always do it in two days – until now, since in Weimar we had some car trouble causing us a delay of another day, making a ride which started on a Monday end on a Wednesday. But I digress.
Btw, Weimar. Now, Weimar may well be Germany’s small cultural Mecca par excellence, in historical terms at least. Indeed, the famous poets Goethe, Schiller and Herder lived here, as well as the composers Bach and Liszt. Quite a few Weimarer Gebaude are recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage buildings. If you intend to visit it soon, 2005 is the year since the city commemorates the 200th year since Schiller deceased. I suppose though that for those who heard a bell ring at the mention of the name, they rather connected it with Germany’s ill-fated and short-lived bourgeois democracy during the Interbellum’s first half. If so, that assumption was also correct. The statue of Goethe and Schiller stands right in front of the Weimar Republic’s Parliamentary Building (if you clicked on the previous link, Goethe is the chap on the left).
Hmmm, when I first saw that building, I couldn’t help but wonder that the Weimar Republic was probably doomed from the start. Germans are a Proud People and like Decorum, Gravitas and Grandezza. Now, the Parliament looks more suited to serve as Luxembourgs Town Hall or something – though of a sound architectural design, much too modest imho for an 80million nation and leading industrial power.
Anyway, thanks to Herr Lutz Wagner from Autohaus Glinicke we were able to pursue our journey and left Weimar on Wednesday at around 11 o’clock. Some 30 kloms further, along the E40, we passed by the City of Jena, see pic below.
I mention Jena because despite its size (it counts some 103,000 inhabitants) it’s a rather important educational and industrial center. Its role as the former is emphasized by the presence of the famous Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (some 20,000 students) and the Fachhochschule. But that’s not all, in addition there are the:
• Hans-Knöll-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung e.V.,
• Institut für Molekulare Biotechnologie e.V.
• Institut für Physikalische Hochtechnologie e.V.,
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Optik und Feinmechanik Jena,
• Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung von Wirtschaftssystemen,
• Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Ökologie und
• Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie
As you can see Jena is no place for Hollywood celebs. As an industrial center, Jena distinguishes itself through renowned companies like Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH (I’m sure you heard of their famous binoculars) and the pharmaceutical giant Jenapharm GmbH & Co, but there are many more.
From Jena it was still a ride of some 300 kloms to the Polish/German border, which we crossed easily, Poland now being an EU member. It was a tremendous relief not having to wait in a long queue before suspicious-looking guards allow you to proceed. Wroclaw itself, some 150 kloms inside Poland, was reached by 6pm on Wednesday evening, by which time it was already dark. It would have been even later had we not been able to use the almost refurbished E40, which until at least Easter of this year was composed of ancient concrete slabs varying 2-3cm in height at the junctions, making a ride at even only 80kloms an hour a butt-numbing experience. As we reached Wroclaws outskirts, the dark of the highway was replaced by the white-yellow glare of thousands of sodium lamps with an array of freshly erected supermarkets bathing in it: TESCO, Auchan (French equivalent of Wal-Mart), Makro, Le Roy Merlin, Media Markt, IKEA etc…
Now, since I did not have the means to photograph this scenery you will excuse a little cheating from me, since the pic I provide to illustrate the industrial building activity is one I took last April – hence the green grass and blossoming flowers. It shows one of many newly erected industrial buildings housing small and medium-sized companies around Wroclaw, in this case Tektura:
I did a Google for "Tektura" + "Wroclaw" and lo and behold, there we got their site: it appeared to be the Polish daughter of German packaging specialist Tektura!
Excerpt from their fine site:
Two Martin inline-machines with up to three printing units, two Bobst flatbed diecutters with up to five printing units and two Bobst six-corner folder-gluers are installed there. Of course all machines are state-of-the-art. So there we are also able to provide our customers with a broad bandwidth of packaging. With a production capacity of about 60 million square metres per year we are among Poland's biggest packaging producers. The whole plant has been configured and equipped in accordance to the latest technological findings. So we can be sure of having set a new standard in the corrugated board industry.
Oh yeah, see that car in front of the sign? That’s MFBB’s Audi!
Now, before I elaborate on our days in Wroclaw a few words on the country itself: Poland is officially a Republic, with a population slightly less than 39 million (July 2004 estimate) and a surface of 312,685 sq kloms, making it almost the size of New Mexico. Head of State is President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Prime Minister is Marek Belka. That last name may ring a bell to Iraq News crunchers, since Mr. Belka was CPA Financial Director under Paul Bremer the previous year. Like the US, Poland has a bicameral system with a 100 strong Senate and a 460-strong House of Representatives called the Sejm. Check out their neat site.
As you may all have heard, the communist government under General Jaruzelski was challenged in 1980 by the emergence of the free Labor Union Solidarnosc under Lech Walesa. A decadelong bumpy ride including a brief stint of Martial Law, imprisonment of key Solidarnosc members, government-ordered murder (anyone remember Father Popieluszko?) saw communist rule finally break down by 1990. Since then Poland has undergone an economical shock therapy which transformed its economy since then in one of the most robust of the former Eastern European countries.
However, over the past years things didn’t look that bright anymore: the Poles just emerge from a four year reign under Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Naturally, being a former communist he and his government screwed things up royally and currently Poland suffers from high unemployment and low GDP growth. Btw, Poland’s GDP is some 427 billion US$ (2004 estimate). With abovementioned population of 39 million that yields a GDP per capita of 11,100 US$. Millers main credit is guiding Poland into the EU, although of course he also deserves praise, along with president Kwasniewski, for Polands valoured contribution as a member of the Coalition of the Willing, with an important role in Iraq. Helpful in this respect was also the fact that Poland is a NATO member in 1999.
(to be continued)
(old Polish Air Force MiG21 from some Aero Klub near the border)
MFBB
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
MAYBE IT AIN'T THAT BAD AFTER ALL...
While Belgium unfortunately chose not to join the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" after OIF by providing troops for the peacekeeping effort in Iraq, at least a (small) contribution to the War on Terror has been made by, a.o., the deployment of some 630 troops to Afghanistan within the framework of NATO’s ISAF operation. ISAF stands for International Security Assistance Group and army contingents and/or airforce elements from various NATO countries, such as Canada, Germany, Romania, Norway and Portugal participate.
The Belgian contribution to ISAF consists mainly of:
a.) Guarding and securing Kabul International Airport (KAIA) – some 400 Army troops
b.) One Para Company as part of the so-called Battlegroup 3
In addition, a handful of soldiers have been detached to the German-led PRT for Kunduz. PRT, for Provincial Reconstruction Team, the concept being an Afghan government "antenna" of reconstruction teams protected by ISAF troops to remote Afghan areas, to restore a semblance of governmental control in areas hitherto considered the realm of warlords. Also, the Belgian Air Force provides one C 130 Hercules aircraft for air transport throughout Afghanistan.
Scene at Kabul international Airport (KAIA). The soldiers look rather bored.
Since I have only scant information regarding the KAIA detachment but plenty on Battlegroup 3, I’d like to focus on the latter.
The 550-strong Battlegroup 3, or BG3, is one of three battlegroups forming KMNB (Kabul Multinational Brigade). BG3 is thus battalion-sized and consists of three elements: a Norwegian company-sized (180 men) Kavaleri Eskadron drawn from 8th Division, equipped with Mercedes scout cars and tracked M113 and CV90 APCs (tracked Armoured Personnel Carriers). Then there are the Hungarians of the 1st company (170 troops) of the 34th Long Range Reconnaissance Group "Bercsenyi Laszlo", equipped with Mercedes scout cars and BTR 80A APCs. The third element of BG3 is the 200-strong reinforced 21st company of Belgiums First Para Battalion from Diest. Their mounts are Bombardier Iltis jeeps and Pandur wheeled APCS.
BG3’s staff is composed of 16 Norwegians, 16 Belgians and 2 Hungarians. Commander is the Norwegian Lt. Col. Odlo, who describes the Battle groups mission as follows:
"Battlegroup 3 is a highly professional unit which is available when needed to assist in providing security in Kabul and its surrounds for organizations working in the area."
Above, Pandur APC in action. The 21st Coy has 8 at its disposal, each armed with a .50 cal machinegun, plus two equipped for medevacs. Below, the soft-skinned Bombardier Iltis jeep on patrol in Kabul. I'd rather sit in a Pandur than in an Iltis of course. The Iltis jeeps are Canadian and the relatively strong Canadian contingent in Afghanistan has them too on their inventory. In January 2004 a Canadian soldier was killed by a mine blast while travelling in the light jeep (much lighter than a Humvee, anyway), sparking a row in Canada on whether it was appropriate to send troops into combat in such light vehicles.
BG3s main task is assisting the diverse Afghan security organs, like police and NSD (National Department of Security) to create a safer climate in and around Kabul, thereby making it clear that the government is now in charge of the situation and that not only is there no place anymore for the Taliban but neither for the warlords, who still consider each progress by the central government outside Kabul as an incursion in their fiefdom. As the Afghan National Army (ANA) still has only some 21,000 troops, ISAFS presence and high visibility is still necessary.
BG3’s soldiers carry out daily patrols, on foot as well as by road and during the day as well as the night. Each patrol has an interpreter with it and very often works with local police. Another main purpose, apart from thwarting attacks and instilling faith in the people by making it clear who’s boss, is to gather intelligence.
Battlegroup 3’s Base Camp is in the Canadian "Julian" Camp, some 20 kloms southwest of Kabul Airport.
This dude on duty on KAIA looks eerily like me. The gun he is holding is our home-made FNC assault rifle. Home-made, since from the FN (Fabrique Nationale) factory in Herstal, eastern Wallonia. Mind you, he's not serving with 21st company in BG3 so he's not a Para but an army guy. All Belgian uniforms you see in this photo have this strange camo, although the Paras have by now received new desert camo.
All pictures taken from the Belgian Armed Forces site.
MFBB
While Belgium unfortunately chose not to join the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" after OIF by providing troops for the peacekeeping effort in Iraq, at least a (small) contribution to the War on Terror has been made by, a.o., the deployment of some 630 troops to Afghanistan within the framework of NATO’s ISAF operation. ISAF stands for International Security Assistance Group and army contingents and/or airforce elements from various NATO countries, such as Canada, Germany, Romania, Norway and Portugal participate.
The Belgian contribution to ISAF consists mainly of:
a.) Guarding and securing Kabul International Airport (KAIA) – some 400 Army troops
b.) One Para Company as part of the so-called Battlegroup 3
In addition, a handful of soldiers have been detached to the German-led PRT for Kunduz. PRT, for Provincial Reconstruction Team, the concept being an Afghan government "antenna" of reconstruction teams protected by ISAF troops to remote Afghan areas, to restore a semblance of governmental control in areas hitherto considered the realm of warlords. Also, the Belgian Air Force provides one C 130 Hercules aircraft for air transport throughout Afghanistan.
Scene at Kabul international Airport (KAIA). The soldiers look rather bored.
Since I have only scant information regarding the KAIA detachment but plenty on Battlegroup 3, I’d like to focus on the latter.
The 550-strong Battlegroup 3, or BG3, is one of three battlegroups forming KMNB (Kabul Multinational Brigade). BG3 is thus battalion-sized and consists of three elements: a Norwegian company-sized (180 men) Kavaleri Eskadron drawn from 8th Division, equipped with Mercedes scout cars and tracked M113 and CV90 APCs (tracked Armoured Personnel Carriers). Then there are the Hungarians of the 1st company (170 troops) of the 34th Long Range Reconnaissance Group "Bercsenyi Laszlo", equipped with Mercedes scout cars and BTR 80A APCs. The third element of BG3 is the 200-strong reinforced 21st company of Belgiums First Para Battalion from Diest. Their mounts are Bombardier Iltis jeeps and Pandur wheeled APCS.
BG3’s staff is composed of 16 Norwegians, 16 Belgians and 2 Hungarians. Commander is the Norwegian Lt. Col. Odlo, who describes the Battle groups mission as follows:
"Battlegroup 3 is a highly professional unit which is available when needed to assist in providing security in Kabul and its surrounds for organizations working in the area."
Above, Pandur APC in action. The 21st Coy has 8 at its disposal, each armed with a .50 cal machinegun, plus two equipped for medevacs. Below, the soft-skinned Bombardier Iltis jeep on patrol in Kabul. I'd rather sit in a Pandur than in an Iltis of course. The Iltis jeeps are Canadian and the relatively strong Canadian contingent in Afghanistan has them too on their inventory. In January 2004 a Canadian soldier was killed by a mine blast while travelling in the light jeep (much lighter than a Humvee, anyway), sparking a row in Canada on whether it was appropriate to send troops into combat in such light vehicles.
BG3s main task is assisting the diverse Afghan security organs, like police and NSD (National Department of Security) to create a safer climate in and around Kabul, thereby making it clear that the government is now in charge of the situation and that not only is there no place anymore for the Taliban but neither for the warlords, who still consider each progress by the central government outside Kabul as an incursion in their fiefdom. As the Afghan National Army (ANA) still has only some 21,000 troops, ISAFS presence and high visibility is still necessary.
BG3’s soldiers carry out daily patrols, on foot as well as by road and during the day as well as the night. Each patrol has an interpreter with it and very often works with local police. Another main purpose, apart from thwarting attacks and instilling faith in the people by making it clear who’s boss, is to gather intelligence.
Battlegroup 3’s Base Camp is in the Canadian "Julian" Camp, some 20 kloms southwest of Kabul Airport.
This dude on duty on KAIA looks eerily like me. The gun he is holding is our home-made FNC assault rifle. Home-made, since from the FN (Fabrique Nationale) factory in Herstal, eastern Wallonia. Mind you, he's not serving with 21st company in BG3 so he's not a Para but an army guy. All Belgian uniforms you see in this photo have this strange camo, although the Paras have by now received new desert camo.
All pictures taken from the Belgian Armed Forces site.
MFBB
Sunday, January 09, 2005
THREE KILLERS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT
a.) Mark Steyn
Oh man, where the fuck did you learn to write??? You kill me!
...As for the most striking photograph of this disaster, it's by AFP's Jimin Lai. I haven't seen it in any of the papers, oddly enough. It shows a tsunami-devastated village in Galle on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka: a couple of rescuers are carrying away a body while, behind them, smack dab in the centre of the picture, a young man looks on. He's wearing an Osama bin Laden T-shirt.
I gave up worrying "Why do they hate us?" on the evening of September 11, 2001. But, if I were that Osodden bin Loser guy watching the infidels truck in water, food, medical supplies and emergency clothing for villagers whose jihad-chic T-shirt collection was washed out to sea, I might ask myself a more pertinent question: "Why do they like us?"
The path of the tsunamis tracked the arc of the Muslim world, from Sumatra to Somalia; the most devastated country is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and the most devastated part of that country is the one province living under the strictures of sharia. But, as usual, when disaster strikes it's the Great Satan and his various Little Satans who leap to respond. In the decade before September 11, the US military functioned, more or less exclusively, as a Muslim rapid reaction force – coming to the aid of Kuwaiti Muslims, Bosnian Muslims, Somali Muslims and Albanian Muslims. Since then, with the help of its Anglo-Australian allies, it's liberated 50 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
b.) Aleksander Lukashenko
Try to avoid this dude. Boss of Europes last dictatorship. Apart from Belgium, that is.
The US State Department has said it considers as credible allegations that the Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko or his close entourage are involved in the disappearance of up to 30 opposition figures.
The high-profile disappearances include some of President Lukashenko's key opponents: Yuri Zakharenko, the former Interior Minister; Viktor Gonchar, the former Chairman of Belarus's Central Electoral Commission; and Dmitri Zavadksi, who once worked as President Lukashenko's personal cameraman.
FYI, Belarus, or White Russia in English, is a former USSR Republic, population some ten million, capital Minsk. It borders on Poland in the West and Russia in the East. Lukashenko has been in power for over a decade. True, the fella got re-elected again in 2000. But the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (to you Americans it may seem a shadowy outfit, but in Europe it really has weight) said that the minimum requirements for free and fair elections had not been met. In 2003, from June to November no fewer than 4 major media outlets were closed. One year ago we were all witnesses of Georgia's popular revolt against Shevardnadzes unjust rule as the young and western-minded Saakashvili was elected. The past week we saw a comparable thing happen in Ukraine with Yuschschenkos victory. These events were dubbed the Rose and Orange revolts. This is how Lukashenko reacted to them:
Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko has insisted there will be no people's revolutions, whether "rose, orange or banana", in his country.
c.) Anke Vandermeersch
A picture tells more than a thousand words.
MFBB has noticed that a certain contributor to this blog seemed more than a little impressed by Mrs. Vandermeersch's, erm, charisma. That's why MFBB provides this fine Compatibility Test.
FYI, MFBB is the Proud Owner of an 80% result.
MFBB
a.) Mark Steyn
Oh man, where the fuck did you learn to write??? You kill me!
...As for the most striking photograph of this disaster, it's by AFP's Jimin Lai. I haven't seen it in any of the papers, oddly enough. It shows a tsunami-devastated village in Galle on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka: a couple of rescuers are carrying away a body while, behind them, smack dab in the centre of the picture, a young man looks on. He's wearing an Osama bin Laden T-shirt.
I gave up worrying "Why do they hate us?" on the evening of September 11, 2001. But, if I were that Osodden bin Loser guy watching the infidels truck in water, food, medical supplies and emergency clothing for villagers whose jihad-chic T-shirt collection was washed out to sea, I might ask myself a more pertinent question: "Why do they like us?"
The path of the tsunamis tracked the arc of the Muslim world, from Sumatra to Somalia; the most devastated country is the world's most populous Muslim nation, and the most devastated part of that country is the one province living under the strictures of sharia. But, as usual, when disaster strikes it's the Great Satan and his various Little Satans who leap to respond. In the decade before September 11, the US military functioned, more or less exclusively, as a Muslim rapid reaction force – coming to the aid of Kuwaiti Muslims, Bosnian Muslims, Somali Muslims and Albanian Muslims. Since then, with the help of its Anglo-Australian allies, it's liberated 50 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq.
b.) Aleksander Lukashenko
Try to avoid this dude. Boss of Europes last dictatorship. Apart from Belgium, that is.
The US State Department has said it considers as credible allegations that the Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko or his close entourage are involved in the disappearance of up to 30 opposition figures.
The high-profile disappearances include some of President Lukashenko's key opponents: Yuri Zakharenko, the former Interior Minister; Viktor Gonchar, the former Chairman of Belarus's Central Electoral Commission; and Dmitri Zavadksi, who once worked as President Lukashenko's personal cameraman.
FYI, Belarus, or White Russia in English, is a former USSR Republic, population some ten million, capital Minsk. It borders on Poland in the West and Russia in the East. Lukashenko has been in power for over a decade. True, the fella got re-elected again in 2000. But the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (to you Americans it may seem a shadowy outfit, but in Europe it really has weight) said that the minimum requirements for free and fair elections had not been met. In 2003, from June to November no fewer than 4 major media outlets were closed. One year ago we were all witnesses of Georgia's popular revolt against Shevardnadzes unjust rule as the young and western-minded Saakashvili was elected. The past week we saw a comparable thing happen in Ukraine with Yuschschenkos victory. These events were dubbed the Rose and Orange revolts. This is how Lukashenko reacted to them:
Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko has insisted there will be no people's revolutions, whether "rose, orange or banana", in his country.
c.) Anke Vandermeersch
A picture tells more than a thousand words.
MFBB has noticed that a certain contributor to this blog seemed more than a little impressed by Mrs. Vandermeersch's, erm, charisma. That's why MFBB provides this fine Compatibility Test.
FYI, MFBB is the Proud Owner of an 80% result.
MFBB
Friday, January 07, 2005
CLUELESS ABOUT SEIF
I don’t know if you have already heard of the fella, but I did back in 2003 already: the guy in question is Seif al-Islam, one of Gaddafi’s sons (he’s got another one who is football player in an Italian club). The guy’s comments struck me as unbelievable, since in the article – it was a CNN piece on Internet, can’t find it back and besides, the link will by now be expired – he literally begged for the west to be friends again and forget all that Lockerbie and Berlin stuff.
Anyway, my interest being aroused, I was on the lookout for some time and indeed, you could regularly find other articles in which Mr. al-Islam continued to come over as surprisingly pro-western. Here are just a few excerpts from an AP article (thanks to the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler):
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Wednesday Arab countries should support President Bush's campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East.
"Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people," said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. "The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from outside."
Seif denied reports that he is a candidate to succeed his father, who rules Libya with little tolerance of opposition.
"Many Arab countries are now following the policy of inheriting the leadership, but there are hundreds of Libyans who are better (suited) than I. " Seif said.
Seif even praised Israel, saying that unlike Arab countries, sons do not tend to succeed their fathers in power there.
"We don't put the appropriate person in the right place, but Israel is a democratic country," told the Al-Jazeera television station.
Gulp. We have all known Libya and what it stood for for twenty-five years, haven’t we? Now what is strange is that suddenly this guy comes out and Libya shows –surprise, surprise – an uncanny willingness to cooperate with the West in terms of WMD reduction and payback for the terrorist acts committed by blasting the Jumbo out of the air above Scotland or the French UTA flight over Niger or the Berlin disco. One would think this is more than a coincidence, and indeed, my Time Issue of the past week has a whole article "Libya’s New Face" on Seif al-Islam and his apparently successful attempts to coerce his dad back to sanity and to open the country again for western investors. Sounds promising, huh?
Well, it appears Michael Totten thinks otherwise: Where the Communist Manifesto meets the Koran.
Seif al-Islam: "'We don't have an opposition -- there is no opposition,' he said, asserting that there were 'just five people' seriously opposed to the current government and that all of them were in the United States."
So now I don't know anymore what to think. I have learned to know Michael Totten as a reliable source for over a year now (to the best of my knowledge, he's also being typed as a "liberal hawk"). And he had a marvellous series of photographs about a recent journey to Gaddafiland. It seems that we should not be fooled and that despite the windowdressing Libya is still a hardcore Commie dictatorship, albeit with a (much) lesser, if not nonexistent, Islamist element. Totten reports too about an ancient city, Ghadames, the "jewel of the Sahara", where allegedly all inhabitants where forced out to live in newly erected concrete barracks on the outskirts of town. Hardly a democratic move, methinks. And most of us have heard about the failed assassination attempt against Saudi royals by Libyan agents, as admitted by a fella named Mohamed Ismail, presumed Libyan intelligence officer, currently in jail in KSA.
One of the more annoying aspects of the Internet is that you get so flooded with information that in the long run you seem to ultimately get not much further than the types sticking to newspaper and TV. You read so much pro and contra that everything is liable to kaputtnuancing. In the case of Seif al-Islam, I'm really clueless. Is he really a person who will favour true democratic reforms in Libya and the Arab World? Or is he merely a smart marketeer intent on breaking the sanctions while trying to stick to the old ways and succeed his daddy in a couple of years? If anyone has thoughts, I'd be grateful.
MFBB
I don’t know if you have already heard of the fella, but I did back in 2003 already: the guy in question is Seif al-Islam, one of Gaddafi’s sons (he’s got another one who is football player in an Italian club). The guy’s comments struck me as unbelievable, since in the article – it was a CNN piece on Internet, can’t find it back and besides, the link will by now be expired – he literally begged for the west to be friends again and forget all that Lockerbie and Berlin stuff.
Anyway, my interest being aroused, I was on the lookout for some time and indeed, you could regularly find other articles in which Mr. al-Islam continued to come over as surprisingly pro-western. Here are just a few excerpts from an AP article (thanks to the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler):
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Wednesday Arab countries should support President Bush's campaign to promote democracy in the Middle East.
"Instead of shouting and criticizing the American initiative, you have to bring democracy to your countries, and then there will be no need to fear America or your people," said Seif al-Islam Gadhafi. "The Arabs should either change or change will be imposed on them from outside."
Seif denied reports that he is a candidate to succeed his father, who rules Libya with little tolerance of opposition.
"Many Arab countries are now following the policy of inheriting the leadership, but there are hundreds of Libyans who are better (suited) than I. " Seif said.
Seif even praised Israel, saying that unlike Arab countries, sons do not tend to succeed their fathers in power there.
"We don't put the appropriate person in the right place, but Israel is a democratic country," told the Al-Jazeera television station.
Gulp. We have all known Libya and what it stood for for twenty-five years, haven’t we? Now what is strange is that suddenly this guy comes out and Libya shows –surprise, surprise – an uncanny willingness to cooperate with the West in terms of WMD reduction and payback for the terrorist acts committed by blasting the Jumbo out of the air above Scotland or the French UTA flight over Niger or the Berlin disco. One would think this is more than a coincidence, and indeed, my Time Issue of the past week has a whole article "Libya’s New Face" on Seif al-Islam and his apparently successful attempts to coerce his dad back to sanity and to open the country again for western investors. Sounds promising, huh?
Well, it appears Michael Totten thinks otherwise: Where the Communist Manifesto meets the Koran.
Seif al-Islam: "'We don't have an opposition -- there is no opposition,' he said, asserting that there were 'just five people' seriously opposed to the current government and that all of them were in the United States."
So now I don't know anymore what to think. I have learned to know Michael Totten as a reliable source for over a year now (to the best of my knowledge, he's also being typed as a "liberal hawk"). And he had a marvellous series of photographs about a recent journey to Gaddafiland. It seems that we should not be fooled and that despite the windowdressing Libya is still a hardcore Commie dictatorship, albeit with a (much) lesser, if not nonexistent, Islamist element. Totten reports too about an ancient city, Ghadames, the "jewel of the Sahara", where allegedly all inhabitants where forced out to live in newly erected concrete barracks on the outskirts of town. Hardly a democratic move, methinks. And most of us have heard about the failed assassination attempt against Saudi royals by Libyan agents, as admitted by a fella named Mohamed Ismail, presumed Libyan intelligence officer, currently in jail in KSA.
One of the more annoying aspects of the Internet is that you get so flooded with information that in the long run you seem to ultimately get not much further than the types sticking to newspaper and TV. You read so much pro and contra that everything is liable to kaputtnuancing. In the case of Seif al-Islam, I'm really clueless. Is he really a person who will favour true democratic reforms in Libya and the Arab World? Or is he merely a smart marketeer intent on breaking the sanctions while trying to stick to the old ways and succeed his daddy in a couple of years? If anyone has thoughts, I'd be grateful.
MFBB
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Even though I really don't like cats (although they're not as bad as clowns or monkeys), I don't really condone this behavior. However, what is "federal animal cruelty"? Was this particular feline employed by Washington?
Call me silly, but I would assume the local boys have this one under control and the feds could be busy, um I don't know, breaking up terrorist cells perhaps?
Call me silly, but I would assume the local boys have this one under control and the feds could be busy, um I don't know, breaking up terrorist cells perhaps?
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
This U.N. toady needs a beatdown.
Read the whole thing for an extra special treat.
Hat tip to Drudge.
...adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."
Read the whole thing for an extra special treat.
Hat tip to Drudge.
Sunday, December 26, 2004
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE... SIXTY YEARS ON
A.) Introduction.
In December 1944 the Allied armies had recaptured most of Hitlers conquests in Western Europe. The frontline had advanced to pretty much the pre-war boundaries between Germany, France, and Belgium, with the exception of the Netherlands, where a skewed situation with an allied-held corridor pointing towards Arnhem had developed since the partly failed Market Garden Operation in September 1944. The main fighting took place in the northern and southern sectors of the front – mainly in the Aachen area by the US 1st Army under Hodges and in Alsace-Lorraine by the US 3rd Army under Patton.
Between the two of them lay a stretch of less than one hundred kilometres along the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg with Germany. Ever since US troops first ventured here in September this region had seen little fighting. In fact, so calm had duty in this area been that GI’s dubbed it the "Phoney Front" – because apart from the occasional potshots and a few mortar rounds the opposing sides lobbed at each other every now and then, combat activity could in now way be compared to, say, the bloodletting in the Huertgen Forest.
Covering this part of the front was the US VIII Corps under General Troy Middleton. With only four divisions his troops would have been considered dangerously outstretched… were it not that the Ardennes Forest behind his back did not necessitate a larger troop deployment…
But was that so? After all, the old Ardennes massif, with its rugged terrain and dense woods had been easily traversed by Hitlers panzers in May 1940. Had the German troops not had such a terrible beating in summer 1944 – not only in the West but also in the East, where the entire Army Group Center had been annihilated – and had there been no general mood among Allied troops that the end for the Germans was near, more cautious generals would have remembered 1940.
Hitler did. As early as September he embarked on plans to attack through the Ardennes again, and had the plans for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow, the 1940 conquest of Western Europe) brought to him again. All through the autumn, and despite his generals being aghast at the preparation of yet another offensive when the country was in dire need of adequate defenses, Hitler assembled three armies to be used in the undertaking, which had first gotten the codename Herbstnebel (Autumn Mist) and then Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), to suggest a purely defensive operation.
Why did Hitler think an attack was a sound idea? Partly it was his sense for self-aggrandization: he could simply not limit himself to purely defensive operations when he still had an armoured card to play out. One has to admit, though, that if the forces at his disposal had been even stronger (say, twice) the plan might have worked out "fine" – read, with devastating results to the Allies. Indeed, Allied operations in the northern sector had led to a large mass of Allied troops perched together between Arnhem in Holland and the old German city of Aachen (the Canadian 1st, Britsh 2nd, US 1st and US 9th Armies). The strong US 3rd Army was far to the south in Alsace Lorraine. By smashing his way through the weakly defended Ardennes and racing for the Belgian port of Antwerp, the Allies’ most important supply port in Europe, the four Allied armies would be cut off in a gigantic "bag" encompassing most of northern Belgium and southern Holland. As their lifeline would be cut off by the taking of Antwerp, very likely these forces would soon run out of ammo and supplies. Hitlers plan foresaw that the southern army of his thrust through the Ardennes would hold up Patton long enough for the rest of his troops to annihilate the entire northern sector of the Allies, moreover, these troops would also be attacked from the north by armoured counterattacks by General Students forces north of the Maas and Waal rivers. Surely, from a military point of view the whole plan had its merits. There was one caveat: the German forces, comparatively strong as they were for that stage in the war, were still hopelessly understrength for such an undertaking. Hitler was over-ambitious and deluded himself as to the capabilities of his troops.
German losses throughout summer and autumn had been atrocious. Between June and November 1944 the total of casualties on all fronts had been a staggering 1,400,000. Entire armies had been lost both in the East and the West, and divisions had limped away from the battlefield as mere shadows of their former self. For instance, the famous 2nd Wiener Panzerdivison under Von Luettwitz had arrived in September in the Eifel (the continuation of the Ardennes on German soil) with just three tanks left. The entire 2nd SS Panzer Corps, consisting of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg SS Panzer Divisions, had on September 17th, day of the airborne landings in the Netherlands, a combined strength of less than 10,000 troops, whereas a full-blown SS Panzer Divison counted almost 20,000.
Nevertheless, by scraping the bottom of the barrel, tapping the few hitherto untouched reservoirs of manpower including personnel from the cultural sector (even opera performers!) and a miraculously revived German war industry, Hitler was once more able not only to stabilise the Western front by the beginning of October, but also to carefully nurture behind the frontlines the attacking force which would, he hoped, repeat the success of 1940.
(German Heavy Tiger II tank, commonly referred to as Koenigstiger)
It is interesting to look at the composition of this attacking force, since regardless the evil nature of the Nazi regime one cannot help but be astonished at how the Germans were able to assemble so quickly so large a force of three armies with between them 21 divisions (ultimately 29), of which 10 were Panzer of Panzergrenadierdivisions. These armies were, from north to south, the 6th SS Panzer Army under Sepp Dietrich, the Fifth Panzer Army under Von Manteuffel and the 7th Army under Brandenberger. Of course, even as the front stabilised during October and bad weather hampered large-scale Allied operations, occasionally several divisions from this powerful array had still to be sent to plug a gap left and right, or to shore up a threatened sector. Since Hitler apparently preferred his precious SS divisions remain untouched (at least till the great day), Army divisions were chosen for this ungrateful job, resulting at them standing at the starting line with less than their full complement. E.g., the elite Army panzer training Division Panzerlehr and the 2nd Panzer Division counted on December 16th, the day when Wacht Am Rhein started, 60 and 88 tanks respectively, far below their SS counterparts' allotment. But not even trying to keep those last ones unscathed during October and November could reinstate them to their former status and the Nazi command had to resort to organizational tricks to get those divisions’ tank strengths to an acceptable level. In the case of 1st SS Panzer Division this was done by incorporating a panzer unit which was normally independent and not even intended to operate within a divisional frame. (a Heavy SS Tank battalion, the 501st). Still, when comparing both a typical Army Panzer division and a typical SS Panzer divison, one has to conclude that the latter had virtually twice the strength (armoured and otherwise) of the former. This perfectly illustrates the disrespect Hitler had for the regular army units as compared to his "personal" Waffen SS troops.
Even in their non-completed state, the three German armies had between them some 250,000 troops and close to 1,400 tanks and assault guns – thus, on a front line of a mere 80 kilometers almost as many armour as along the entire 1,600 kilometer or so of the Eastern Front!
Opposing them was the US VIII Corps under General Middleton, consisting of:
•the 14th Cavalry Group
•the 106th Infantry Division
•the 28th Infantry Division
•the 4th Infantry Division
All in all, basically not even four divisions "holding" a front line (20 kilometers per division) with very few tanks, and of whom 106th had just arrived, as green as can be, from the States and the 28th was recuperating after having been severely mauled in the ill-fated operation in the Huertgen Forest. When one also counts that the Germans obtained complete surprise, it is easy to see why the first days of the offensive were such a tremendous success for the Germans.
(map via Europeanmilitarytours)
The map shows the maximum penetration of German forces during the Ardennes Offensive - 130 kilometers for the 2nd Panzer Division, or just 6 kilometers from the Belgian town of Dinant along the Meuse river!
(To be continued)
MFBB
A.) Introduction.
In December 1944 the Allied armies had recaptured most of Hitlers conquests in Western Europe. The frontline had advanced to pretty much the pre-war boundaries between Germany, France, and Belgium, with the exception of the Netherlands, where a skewed situation with an allied-held corridor pointing towards Arnhem had developed since the partly failed Market Garden Operation in September 1944. The main fighting took place in the northern and southern sectors of the front – mainly in the Aachen area by the US 1st Army under Hodges and in Alsace-Lorraine by the US 3rd Army under Patton.
Between the two of them lay a stretch of less than one hundred kilometres along the borders of Belgium and Luxembourg with Germany. Ever since US troops first ventured here in September this region had seen little fighting. In fact, so calm had duty in this area been that GI’s dubbed it the "Phoney Front" – because apart from the occasional potshots and a few mortar rounds the opposing sides lobbed at each other every now and then, combat activity could in now way be compared to, say, the bloodletting in the Huertgen Forest.
Covering this part of the front was the US VIII Corps under General Troy Middleton. With only four divisions his troops would have been considered dangerously outstretched… were it not that the Ardennes Forest behind his back did not necessitate a larger troop deployment…
But was that so? After all, the old Ardennes massif, with its rugged terrain and dense woods had been easily traversed by Hitlers panzers in May 1940. Had the German troops not had such a terrible beating in summer 1944 – not only in the West but also in the East, where the entire Army Group Center had been annihilated – and had there been no general mood among Allied troops that the end for the Germans was near, more cautious generals would have remembered 1940.
Hitler did. As early as September he embarked on plans to attack through the Ardennes again, and had the plans for Fall Gelb (Case Yellow, the 1940 conquest of Western Europe) brought to him again. All through the autumn, and despite his generals being aghast at the preparation of yet another offensive when the country was in dire need of adequate defenses, Hitler assembled three armies to be used in the undertaking, which had first gotten the codename Herbstnebel (Autumn Mist) and then Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), to suggest a purely defensive operation.
Why did Hitler think an attack was a sound idea? Partly it was his sense for self-aggrandization: he could simply not limit himself to purely defensive operations when he still had an armoured card to play out. One has to admit, though, that if the forces at his disposal had been even stronger (say, twice) the plan might have worked out "fine" – read, with devastating results to the Allies. Indeed, Allied operations in the northern sector had led to a large mass of Allied troops perched together between Arnhem in Holland and the old German city of Aachen (the Canadian 1st, Britsh 2nd, US 1st and US 9th Armies). The strong US 3rd Army was far to the south in Alsace Lorraine. By smashing his way through the weakly defended Ardennes and racing for the Belgian port of Antwerp, the Allies’ most important supply port in Europe, the four Allied armies would be cut off in a gigantic "bag" encompassing most of northern Belgium and southern Holland. As their lifeline would be cut off by the taking of Antwerp, very likely these forces would soon run out of ammo and supplies. Hitlers plan foresaw that the southern army of his thrust through the Ardennes would hold up Patton long enough for the rest of his troops to annihilate the entire northern sector of the Allies, moreover, these troops would also be attacked from the north by armoured counterattacks by General Students forces north of the Maas and Waal rivers. Surely, from a military point of view the whole plan had its merits. There was one caveat: the German forces, comparatively strong as they were for that stage in the war, were still hopelessly understrength for such an undertaking. Hitler was over-ambitious and deluded himself as to the capabilities of his troops.
German losses throughout summer and autumn had been atrocious. Between June and November 1944 the total of casualties on all fronts had been a staggering 1,400,000. Entire armies had been lost both in the East and the West, and divisions had limped away from the battlefield as mere shadows of their former self. For instance, the famous 2nd Wiener Panzerdivison under Von Luettwitz had arrived in September in the Eifel (the continuation of the Ardennes on German soil) with just three tanks left. The entire 2nd SS Panzer Corps, consisting of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg SS Panzer Divisions, had on September 17th, day of the airborne landings in the Netherlands, a combined strength of less than 10,000 troops, whereas a full-blown SS Panzer Divison counted almost 20,000.
Nevertheless, by scraping the bottom of the barrel, tapping the few hitherto untouched reservoirs of manpower including personnel from the cultural sector (even opera performers!) and a miraculously revived German war industry, Hitler was once more able not only to stabilise the Western front by the beginning of October, but also to carefully nurture behind the frontlines the attacking force which would, he hoped, repeat the success of 1940.
(German Heavy Tiger II tank, commonly referred to as Koenigstiger)
It is interesting to look at the composition of this attacking force, since regardless the evil nature of the Nazi regime one cannot help but be astonished at how the Germans were able to assemble so quickly so large a force of three armies with between them 21 divisions (ultimately 29), of which 10 were Panzer of Panzergrenadierdivisions. These armies were, from north to south, the 6th SS Panzer Army under Sepp Dietrich, the Fifth Panzer Army under Von Manteuffel and the 7th Army under Brandenberger. Of course, even as the front stabilised during October and bad weather hampered large-scale Allied operations, occasionally several divisions from this powerful array had still to be sent to plug a gap left and right, or to shore up a threatened sector. Since Hitler apparently preferred his precious SS divisions remain untouched (at least till the great day), Army divisions were chosen for this ungrateful job, resulting at them standing at the starting line with less than their full complement. E.g., the elite Army panzer training Division Panzerlehr and the 2nd Panzer Division counted on December 16th, the day when Wacht Am Rhein started, 60 and 88 tanks respectively, far below their SS counterparts' allotment. But not even trying to keep those last ones unscathed during October and November could reinstate them to their former status and the Nazi command had to resort to organizational tricks to get those divisions’ tank strengths to an acceptable level. In the case of 1st SS Panzer Division this was done by incorporating a panzer unit which was normally independent and not even intended to operate within a divisional frame. (a Heavy SS Tank battalion, the 501st). Still, when comparing both a typical Army Panzer division and a typical SS Panzer divison, one has to conclude that the latter had virtually twice the strength (armoured and otherwise) of the former. This perfectly illustrates the disrespect Hitler had for the regular army units as compared to his "personal" Waffen SS troops.
Even in their non-completed state, the three German armies had between them some 250,000 troops and close to 1,400 tanks and assault guns – thus, on a front line of a mere 80 kilometers almost as many armour as along the entire 1,600 kilometer or so of the Eastern Front!
Opposing them was the US VIII Corps under General Middleton, consisting of:
•the 14th Cavalry Group
•the 106th Infantry Division
•the 28th Infantry Division
•the 4th Infantry Division
All in all, basically not even four divisions "holding" a front line (20 kilometers per division) with very few tanks, and of whom 106th had just arrived, as green as can be, from the States and the 28th was recuperating after having been severely mauled in the ill-fated operation in the Huertgen Forest. When one also counts that the Germans obtained complete surprise, it is easy to see why the first days of the offensive were such a tremendous success for the Germans.
(map via Europeanmilitarytours)
The map shows the maximum penetration of German forces during the Ardennes Offensive - 130 kilometers for the 2nd Panzer Division, or just 6 kilometers from the Belgian town of Dinant along the Meuse river!
(To be continued)
MFBB
Saturday, December 25, 2004
THE POSITION OF THE VLAAMS BLOK/VLAAMS BELANG ON THE HOLOCAUST
Friend of Downeast and regular reader Drazil posed the following question in the previous post’s comments section (which dealt with the transition of the Vlaams Blok to the Vlaams Belang):
Michael, someone on another site I frequent stated that the Vlaams Blok position on the Holocaust is that it did not happen. Can you clarify that for me?
Drazil 12.24.04 - 9:43 pm #
First of all, thank you very much for this question Drazil, since it allows me to shed some light on an argument which can be used to discredit my party.
The Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang is very clear on the Holocaust: IT DID HAPPEN. Moreover, leading Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang strongmen repeatedly express their support for the Belgian Jewish Community and the State of Israël. As you may or may not know, the Belgian port of Antwerp is also the world’s Diamond Center. This industry is mainly in the hands of the Jewish community in Antwerp, numbering some 20,000. More and more of them are acutely aware of the growing threat of radical Muslim extremists in Belgium and especially in Antwerp, homebase of the radical Muslim organization Arab European League, led by Lebanese firebrand and former Hizballah terrorist Dyab Abu Jahjah, who naturalized to Belgian through a phoney marriage with a girl from Bruges.
Whereas the relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities had been peaceful through the early nineties, the establishment of the AEL in Antwerp from the mid-nneties on soon led to frictions. By April 2002 things had gotten to the point where an attempt to destroy a synagogue with a molotovcocktail was made. The perpetrators were never caught, but the next day young AEL Muslims ventured on Antwerps streets burning Israeli flags and busting Jewish shopwindows in the diamond district. On April 8, 2002, the AEL demonstrated again, only this time round an effigy of Sharon was burnt. Savoury detail: the puppet was clad in the typical dresscode of the Chassidim, the Jewish community’s Ultra Orthodox segment (black robes, black hat, long beard, curls etc…)
Instances like these and others, e.g. the stabbing to near death of the Jewish Yeshida student Noah Schmal last summer by a gang of fifteen Moroccans and the murder on Moshe Yitzhak Na’eh some two months ago, have led to an increasing number of Jews leaning to, and also voting for, the Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang, which many have begun to see as the only political force standing between them and an increasingly radicalising Muslim community.
Because a picture tells more than a 1,000 words, as the cliché goes, I provide here a photo depicting Filip Dewinter, VB chairman in Antwerp, shaking hands with the well-known rabbi Pinchas Meyers. In the former you will recognize the man on the poster from yesterday's article. In addition, I can tell you that Dewinter has also held talks with Jewish former town official André Gantman, in which he distanced himself explicitly from each and any form of anti-Semitism.
The VB itself does the same, but I’m giving this example because Dewinter himself is really the face of the VB, not only in Antwerp but also in the rest of the country. Scroll down this site, and you will find plenty of evidence of extensive contacts between the VB and Jews in Antwerp. In addition, I might add that Dewinter has given interviews to Jewish newspaper Maariv supporting Israëls cause, and that Dewinter on March 23rd of this year, upon introducing Israeli author Avi Lipkin, a former spokesman of the Israeli army, to a VB audience, said that Israel is "the vanguard of the West in a feudal Middle East."
He’s not the only one though: Marc Joris, another well-known VB figure from Antwerp co-runs with female Jewish filmmaker Tami Lorjé the site Kristalhelder, a site providing background info on Israël from the point where MSM info on that country STOPS... Such is the vigor with which Mr. Joris, a Holocaust Denier as the PC cabal would want us to believe, has committed himself to the defence of Jews in Belgium, that he is affectionately known among the members of that community as Yachem Joris , meaning "Little Jew Joris".
In stark contrast with this clear token of the VB’s sympathy for the Jewish cause are the acts of two MPs of my erstwhile party, the VLD, which as you may know I left because it did not effectively oppose the introduction of an insane law granting to non-Belgians the right to vote in municipal elections. I’m referring to mssrs. Vincent Van Quickenborne and Jean-Pierre De Decker. Mr. Van Quickenborne, apparently strongly influenced by biased leftist reporting on the plight of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, visited this area and a.o. shook hands with Hamas leader Sheikh Masharawi and wished him success. Jean-Marie De Decker, accompanying him, compared the Israëli Army conduct in Gaza and on the West Bank with the Endloesung, i.e. the Nazi extermination of Jews in concentration camps. Mr. Van Quickenborne and Mr. De Decker only recently joined the VLD. Well, they came in... and I went out.
Now mind you, I understand where these allegations come from. Mr. Dewinter is friends with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French rightwing leader, notorious for his remark that the Holocaust, insofar as it actually took place, was but a footnote in history. Personally, I strongly distance myself from a figure like Le Pen, who in my opinion is just a socialist sharing with the Vlaams Blok the anti-immigrant platform.
Another aspect is that, as I said, the origins of the Vlaams Blok are a bit murky, since indeed, when it was formed back in 1977, it counted among its members not few who sypathized with the Flemish Waffen SS-volunteers who fought with the Nazis against Communist Russia. But elaborarting on this thread would lead us way too far. In case anyone is really interested, I will gladly provide some post on the topic. Suffice to say that Flemings, during the greater part of Belgium's existence, were secondrank citizens while the Walloon minority had most if not all of the political and economic power. It is not exaggerated to state that Flemings were the Shiites of Belgium, and Walloons its Sunnis. Throughout history, sad but true, Flemish activists sided twice with the German invaders who promised them greater independence and respect for Flemish heritage. During the last World War, this even culminated in the formation of a Flemish Grenadier Divison on the Waffen SS Roster, the 27th "Langemarck". To its credit I must say that there are no known atrocities committed by this unit nor its predecessors, and that many if not all of the raw recruits were spurred to fight alongside the Germans not only by their Flemish activist leaders, but also by the rabidly anti-communist Flemish Catholic Church. Many a priest exhorted young Flemish boys to go on a crusade against the godless communism. Sadly, the whole undertaking has discredited the heirs of the Flemish Cause to this day.
MFBB
Friend of Downeast and regular reader Drazil posed the following question in the previous post’s comments section (which dealt with the transition of the Vlaams Blok to the Vlaams Belang):
Michael, someone on another site I frequent stated that the Vlaams Blok position on the Holocaust is that it did not happen. Can you clarify that for me?
Drazil 12.24.04 - 9:43 pm #
First of all, thank you very much for this question Drazil, since it allows me to shed some light on an argument which can be used to discredit my party.
The Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang is very clear on the Holocaust: IT DID HAPPEN. Moreover, leading Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang strongmen repeatedly express their support for the Belgian Jewish Community and the State of Israël. As you may or may not know, the Belgian port of Antwerp is also the world’s Diamond Center. This industry is mainly in the hands of the Jewish community in Antwerp, numbering some 20,000. More and more of them are acutely aware of the growing threat of radical Muslim extremists in Belgium and especially in Antwerp, homebase of the radical Muslim organization Arab European League, led by Lebanese firebrand and former Hizballah terrorist Dyab Abu Jahjah, who naturalized to Belgian through a phoney marriage with a girl from Bruges.
Whereas the relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities had been peaceful through the early nineties, the establishment of the AEL in Antwerp from the mid-nneties on soon led to frictions. By April 2002 things had gotten to the point where an attempt to destroy a synagogue with a molotovcocktail was made. The perpetrators were never caught, but the next day young AEL Muslims ventured on Antwerps streets burning Israeli flags and busting Jewish shopwindows in the diamond district. On April 8, 2002, the AEL demonstrated again, only this time round an effigy of Sharon was burnt. Savoury detail: the puppet was clad in the typical dresscode of the Chassidim, the Jewish community’s Ultra Orthodox segment (black robes, black hat, long beard, curls etc…)
Instances like these and others, e.g. the stabbing to near death of the Jewish Yeshida student Noah Schmal last summer by a gang of fifteen Moroccans and the murder on Moshe Yitzhak Na’eh some two months ago, have led to an increasing number of Jews leaning to, and also voting for, the Vlaams Blok/Vlaams Belang, which many have begun to see as the only political force standing between them and an increasingly radicalising Muslim community.
Because a picture tells more than a 1,000 words, as the cliché goes, I provide here a photo depicting Filip Dewinter, VB chairman in Antwerp, shaking hands with the well-known rabbi Pinchas Meyers. In the former you will recognize the man on the poster from yesterday's article. In addition, I can tell you that Dewinter has also held talks with Jewish former town official André Gantman, in which he distanced himself explicitly from each and any form of anti-Semitism.
The VB itself does the same, but I’m giving this example because Dewinter himself is really the face of the VB, not only in Antwerp but also in the rest of the country. Scroll down this site, and you will find plenty of evidence of extensive contacts between the VB and Jews in Antwerp. In addition, I might add that Dewinter has given interviews to Jewish newspaper Maariv supporting Israëls cause, and that Dewinter on March 23rd of this year, upon introducing Israeli author Avi Lipkin, a former spokesman of the Israeli army, to a VB audience, said that Israel is "the vanguard of the West in a feudal Middle East."
He’s not the only one though: Marc Joris, another well-known VB figure from Antwerp co-runs with female Jewish filmmaker Tami Lorjé the site Kristalhelder, a site providing background info on Israël from the point where MSM info on that country STOPS... Such is the vigor with which Mr. Joris, a Holocaust Denier as the PC cabal would want us to believe, has committed himself to the defence of Jews in Belgium, that he is affectionately known among the members of that community as Yachem Joris , meaning "Little Jew Joris".
In stark contrast with this clear token of the VB’s sympathy for the Jewish cause are the acts of two MPs of my erstwhile party, the VLD, which as you may know I left because it did not effectively oppose the introduction of an insane law granting to non-Belgians the right to vote in municipal elections. I’m referring to mssrs. Vincent Van Quickenborne and Jean-Pierre De Decker. Mr. Van Quickenborne, apparently strongly influenced by biased leftist reporting on the plight of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, visited this area and a.o. shook hands with Hamas leader Sheikh Masharawi and wished him success. Jean-Marie De Decker, accompanying him, compared the Israëli Army conduct in Gaza and on the West Bank with the Endloesung, i.e. the Nazi extermination of Jews in concentration camps. Mr. Van Quickenborne and Mr. De Decker only recently joined the VLD. Well, they came in... and I went out.
Now mind you, I understand where these allegations come from. Mr. Dewinter is friends with Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French rightwing leader, notorious for his remark that the Holocaust, insofar as it actually took place, was but a footnote in history. Personally, I strongly distance myself from a figure like Le Pen, who in my opinion is just a socialist sharing with the Vlaams Blok the anti-immigrant platform.
Another aspect is that, as I said, the origins of the Vlaams Blok are a bit murky, since indeed, when it was formed back in 1977, it counted among its members not few who sypathized with the Flemish Waffen SS-volunteers who fought with the Nazis against Communist Russia. But elaborarting on this thread would lead us way too far. In case anyone is really interested, I will gladly provide some post on the topic. Suffice to say that Flemings, during the greater part of Belgium's existence, were secondrank citizens while the Walloon minority had most if not all of the political and economic power. It is not exaggerated to state that Flemings were the Shiites of Belgium, and Walloons its Sunnis. Throughout history, sad but true, Flemish activists sided twice with the German invaders who promised them greater independence and respect for Flemish heritage. During the last World War, this even culminated in the formation of a Flemish Grenadier Divison on the Waffen SS Roster, the 27th "Langemarck". To its credit I must say that there are no known atrocities committed by this unit nor its predecessors, and that many if not all of the raw recruits were spurred to fight alongside the Germans not only by their Flemish activist leaders, but also by the rabidly anti-communist Flemish Catholic Church. Many a priest exhorted young Flemish boys to go on a crusade against the godless communism. Sadly, the whole undertaking has discredited the heirs of the Flemish Cause to this day.
MFBB
Friday, December 24, 2004
THE VLAAMS BLOK IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE VLAAMS BELANG!!!
You may remember distant rumours back in spring telling of my party, the Vlaams Blok, or rather three supporting organizations, being labeled "racist" by a court in Ghent, the second most important Flemish city. Well, on November 9, 2004 this arrest was not only confirmed by Belgium's Supreme Court in Brussels but also extended to the whole of the party. On November 9, the Vlaams Blok was declared a racist organization and as such prone to disbandment, and its members to prosecution.
I was a bit surprised to find quite some Anglosphere sites offering thorough analysis brought in a lucid way on the matter. In fact, their commenting is so good I feel I can hardly do it better, so I will just refer you to Beautiful Atrocities - Soviet Socialist Republic of Belgium and Cordon Sanitaire by Jonathan Lockhart.
The Supreme Court ruled that VB pamphlets and other textual matter incited hatred directed towards the immigrant population in Belgium, mainly from Morocco, Turkey and Algeria. Now, while it is true that of the sixteen texts which were used as proof to support the verdict, one was indeed clearly outrageous (linking the behaviour of immigrant police officers to paedophilia), most offered matter-of-fact information, such as official stats dealing with crime rates and welfare expenditures. There was also a pamphlet including a testimony from a Turkish woman who worked for the Vlaams Blok (!) in which the often lamentable position of women in Islam was described. The Supreme Court did not even deny the basic tenet of this text (nor of several other ones) but instead labeled this text also as racist on the basis of its supposed intent!
Anyway, having been declared a racist organization and there being something like an Anti-Racism Act in Belgium (tailor-made and modified SIX TIMES over the past decade to meet the requirements needed to apply it to the Vlaams Blok), the party could be disbanded and not only its members but everyone cooperating with it could be prosecuted.
That is why the leadership of the Vlaams Blok decided to convene, on November 14, 2004, a congress on which the name of the party was officially changed to Vlaams Belang - Flemish Interest - and its party program reshuffled somewhat to not resemble too much the one of the now defunct Blok. With "reshuffled" I mean just "reshuffled". For while it is true that the origins of the Vlaams Blok are murky (the veterans did sympathize with those Flemings who joined Wehrmacht and Waffen SS to fight communist Russia in WWII; also its early programs breathed in-your-face xenophobia), anno 2004 the Blok had become a relatively modern, free-market oriented(not 100%, admitted) conservative party, and did not object to immigrants living and workig here on the condition that they integrate (learn the language, NOT forsake their identity) and abide by Belgian law.
Indeed, as Frank Vanhecke, Flemish MP and Vlaams Belang Chairman put it:
Though the Vlaams Blok was Belgium’s biggest party and occupied a third of the seats in the Flemish Parliament, we felt compelled to disband. According to the Belgian Anti-Racism Act every member or collaborator of the Vlaams Blok could be brought to court.
That was one month and a half ago. We are approaching year's end, and a Le Soir poll released this week shows the Vlaams Belang has gained even more support since the verdict. I hope that this trend continues and that more and more Flemings realize that not the Vlaams Belang is a threat to democracy - as the politically correct cabals would want us to believe - but the ever growing stranglehold of that typical European brand of Leftism establishing itself not only on the Parliamentary floors but also in unions, social security services, media channels, courts etc. with a force belying its actual popular support.
In the meantime, the Vlaams Belang is waging a propaganda offensive to get the new name to be known among the public. Here is one of their posters:
The lady, Anke Vandermeersch, is a former Miss Belgium (1991) and a lawyer. As you can see it's quite a hot chi... a rather attractive woman. MFBB denies strongly that this has anything to do with his leaving the VLD in favour of the VB earlier this year.
Merry Christmas to all!
MFBB
You may remember distant rumours back in spring telling of my party, the Vlaams Blok, or rather three supporting organizations, being labeled "racist" by a court in Ghent, the second most important Flemish city. Well, on November 9, 2004 this arrest was not only confirmed by Belgium's Supreme Court in Brussels but also extended to the whole of the party. On November 9, the Vlaams Blok was declared a racist organization and as such prone to disbandment, and its members to prosecution.
I was a bit surprised to find quite some Anglosphere sites offering thorough analysis brought in a lucid way on the matter. In fact, their commenting is so good I feel I can hardly do it better, so I will just refer you to Beautiful Atrocities - Soviet Socialist Republic of Belgium and Cordon Sanitaire by Jonathan Lockhart.
The Supreme Court ruled that VB pamphlets and other textual matter incited hatred directed towards the immigrant population in Belgium, mainly from Morocco, Turkey and Algeria. Now, while it is true that of the sixteen texts which were used as proof to support the verdict, one was indeed clearly outrageous (linking the behaviour of immigrant police officers to paedophilia), most offered matter-of-fact information, such as official stats dealing with crime rates and welfare expenditures. There was also a pamphlet including a testimony from a Turkish woman who worked for the Vlaams Blok (!) in which the often lamentable position of women in Islam was described. The Supreme Court did not even deny the basic tenet of this text (nor of several other ones) but instead labeled this text also as racist on the basis of its supposed intent!
Anyway, having been declared a racist organization and there being something like an Anti-Racism Act in Belgium (tailor-made and modified SIX TIMES over the past decade to meet the requirements needed to apply it to the Vlaams Blok), the party could be disbanded and not only its members but everyone cooperating with it could be prosecuted.
That is why the leadership of the Vlaams Blok decided to convene, on November 14, 2004, a congress on which the name of the party was officially changed to Vlaams Belang - Flemish Interest - and its party program reshuffled somewhat to not resemble too much the one of the now defunct Blok. With "reshuffled" I mean just "reshuffled". For while it is true that the origins of the Vlaams Blok are murky (the veterans did sympathize with those Flemings who joined Wehrmacht and Waffen SS to fight communist Russia in WWII; also its early programs breathed in-your-face xenophobia), anno 2004 the Blok had become a relatively modern, free-market oriented(not 100%, admitted) conservative party, and did not object to immigrants living and workig here on the condition that they integrate (learn the language, NOT forsake their identity) and abide by Belgian law.
Indeed, as Frank Vanhecke, Flemish MP and Vlaams Belang Chairman put it:
Though the Vlaams Blok was Belgium’s biggest party and occupied a third of the seats in the Flemish Parliament, we felt compelled to disband. According to the Belgian Anti-Racism Act every member or collaborator of the Vlaams Blok could be brought to court.
That was one month and a half ago. We are approaching year's end, and a Le Soir poll released this week shows the Vlaams Belang has gained even more support since the verdict. I hope that this trend continues and that more and more Flemings realize that not the Vlaams Belang is a threat to democracy - as the politically correct cabals would want us to believe - but the ever growing stranglehold of that typical European brand of Leftism establishing itself not only on the Parliamentary floors but also in unions, social security services, media channels, courts etc. with a force belying its actual popular support.
In the meantime, the Vlaams Belang is waging a propaganda offensive to get the new name to be known among the public. Here is one of their posters:
The lady, Anke Vandermeersch, is a former Miss Belgium (1991) and a lawyer. As you can see it's quite a hot chi... a rather attractive woman. MFBB denies strongly that this has anything to do with his leaving the VLD in favour of the VB earlier this year.
Merry Christmas to all!
MFBB
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Hmmmm... North Korea plans to test a missile, and the US just had a failed test of its missile defense system.
I propose that for our next test, we shoot down their missile when they go to test it. Maybe it could be a joint operation...
I propose that for our next test, we shoot down their missile when they go to test it. Maybe it could be a joint operation...
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
This is an interesting story as the nuclear reactor mentioned in the article is only about 75 miles away from us.
Hat tip: lgf.
Based on two informants inside the mullahs' inner circle, Mr. Weldon's source, whom he code-named "Ali," relayed allegations to the Pennsylvania lawmaker that an Iranian-backed terrorist cell is seeking to hijack Canadian airliners and crash them into an American reactor. The target of the operation was only identified by Ali as SEA, leading Mr. Weldon to predict it was the Seabrook reactor in New Hampshire, about 40 miles north of Boston. Ali told the congressman that the attack was first planned for between November 23 and December 3, 2003, but was postponed to take place after this year's presidential election.
Hat tip: lgf.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
"...IN DAMASCUS, THEY VOTED FOR GEORGE W. BUSH..."
Via Daniel Pipes I came across this curious piece, which is from the hand of a certain Tyler Golson, an American teacher in English, since six months working in Syria’s capital Damascus. It appeared in The Daily Star, a leading Lebanese newspaper.
Mr. Golson, a Democrat and like many of his political leanings blinded by irrational Bush-hatred, finds himself baffled as he finds out his pupils don’t share his views:
One afternoon I was explaining the passive tense of verbs, and I used an example that came to mind from American culture. I asked them if they knew who was nominated by the two main parties to run for president. "John Kerry was nominated by the Democratic Party, and George Bush was nominated by the Republicans," replied one of the brightest in the class, a veiled Muslim engineering student named Rahaf. "Very good," I said. "Now, who do you think will be elected?" "Bush," cried several of the students at once, smiling. Abandoning my lesson plan for the moment, but curious at this sudden display of interest in the election, I ventured: "Who do you want to win?" "Bush," said Rahaf, while a number of others nodded in solid agreement. I pressed them further for a few minutes, asking individual students why they liked Bush. The same ideas came up again and again: he is a strong leader, an honest man, and, most of all, a believer. Like the winning margin of American voters this year, these Middle Easterners related to Bush's sense of religious conviction and his confident steering of a nation and culture they admired.
I picked out his particular paragraph…
"But doesn't he scare you?" I asked finally, unable to contain my personal feelings and throwing the lesson plan out the window. "Because of Bush's ideas many people in my country think that all of you are terrorists." Rahaf and most of the others just shrugged. Maybe that was all true, they said, but he was still a good president.
…because it once again clearly shows how blinded those on the left are in their appreciation of how the right views the world. According to Mr. Golson, you out there, and me, and everyone else who supports Bush, have been led to believe by the Bush Administration that because it has branded the Syrian government as a terrorism-supporting entity, which it is, let's be clear about that, all Syrians are terrorists too. What a ludicrous idea! Yet the very casual way in which Mr. Golson vents it learns us a lot of the deadlock in the minds of many (the greater majority of?) Democrats. Oh well. As long as they prefer to being stuck in this asinine mindset they condemn themselves to losing elections time and again.
To his credit I have to admit Mr. Golson ends on a positive as well as rational note when he writes:
Having a truly even-handed and practical approach to peace in the Arab world means realizing that not everyone, and certainly not all of the elites in Arab society, sympathize with the anti-American movements taking place within their own ranks, and that these heartland Arabs could prove a valuable ally in future U.S.-Arab relations.
MFBB
Via Daniel Pipes I came across this curious piece, which is from the hand of a certain Tyler Golson, an American teacher in English, since six months working in Syria’s capital Damascus. It appeared in The Daily Star, a leading Lebanese newspaper.
Mr. Golson, a Democrat and like many of his political leanings blinded by irrational Bush-hatred, finds himself baffled as he finds out his pupils don’t share his views:
One afternoon I was explaining the passive tense of verbs, and I used an example that came to mind from American culture. I asked them if they knew who was nominated by the two main parties to run for president. "John Kerry was nominated by the Democratic Party, and George Bush was nominated by the Republicans," replied one of the brightest in the class, a veiled Muslim engineering student named Rahaf. "Very good," I said. "Now, who do you think will be elected?" "Bush," cried several of the students at once, smiling. Abandoning my lesson plan for the moment, but curious at this sudden display of interest in the election, I ventured: "Who do you want to win?" "Bush," said Rahaf, while a number of others nodded in solid agreement. I pressed them further for a few minutes, asking individual students why they liked Bush. The same ideas came up again and again: he is a strong leader, an honest man, and, most of all, a believer. Like the winning margin of American voters this year, these Middle Easterners related to Bush's sense of religious conviction and his confident steering of a nation and culture they admired.
I picked out his particular paragraph…
"But doesn't he scare you?" I asked finally, unable to contain my personal feelings and throwing the lesson plan out the window. "Because of Bush's ideas many people in my country think that all of you are terrorists." Rahaf and most of the others just shrugged. Maybe that was all true, they said, but he was still a good president.
…because it once again clearly shows how blinded those on the left are in their appreciation of how the right views the world. According to Mr. Golson, you out there, and me, and everyone else who supports Bush, have been led to believe by the Bush Administration that because it has branded the Syrian government as a terrorism-supporting entity, which it is, let's be clear about that, all Syrians are terrorists too. What a ludicrous idea! Yet the very casual way in which Mr. Golson vents it learns us a lot of the deadlock in the minds of many (the greater majority of?) Democrats. Oh well. As long as they prefer to being stuck in this asinine mindset they condemn themselves to losing elections time and again.
To his credit I have to admit Mr. Golson ends on a positive as well as rational note when he writes:
Having a truly even-handed and practical approach to peace in the Arab world means realizing that not everyone, and certainly not all of the elites in Arab society, sympathize with the anti-American movements taking place within their own ranks, and that these heartland Arabs could prove a valuable ally in future U.S.-Arab relations.
MFBB
Thursday, December 09, 2004
JACQUES DID IT AGAIN!
Just when you think good ole Jackie can't sink any further he baffles you again.
ZARAGOZA, Dec 7: French President Jacques Chirac and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero backed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday in the face of criticism over the UN oil-for-food scandal in Iraq.
"They both called Kofi Annan jointly to express their solidarity at a time when he is being unfairly attacked," a Spanish government spokesman told reporters. Zapatero and Chirac, in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza for a bilateral summit, discussed Annan's situation during a lunch and agreed to telephone him immediately, he said.
Mr Annan, winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, has come under scrutiny over the $64 billion oil-for-food programme for Iraq, administered by the UN and supervized by the 15-nation Security Council.
Annan's son Kojo worked in West Africa for a Swiss firm, Cotecna, which inspected goods under the programme and is under investigation. There is no evidence so far the younger Annan dealt with the Iraq programme. The French and Spanish position contrasts with that of US President George W. Bush's government. -Reuters
Sigh. If she wasn't there, I'd completely give up hope for the Fwench.
MFBB
Just when you think good ole Jackie can't sink any further he baffles you again.
ZARAGOZA, Dec 7: French President Jacques Chirac and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero backed UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday in the face of criticism over the UN oil-for-food scandal in Iraq.
"They both called Kofi Annan jointly to express their solidarity at a time when he is being unfairly attacked," a Spanish government spokesman told reporters. Zapatero and Chirac, in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza for a bilateral summit, discussed Annan's situation during a lunch and agreed to telephone him immediately, he said.
Mr Annan, winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, has come under scrutiny over the $64 billion oil-for-food programme for Iraq, administered by the UN and supervized by the 15-nation Security Council.
Annan's son Kojo worked in West Africa for a Swiss firm, Cotecna, which inspected goods under the programme and is under investigation. There is no evidence so far the younger Annan dealt with the Iraq programme. The French and Spanish position contrasts with that of US President George W. Bush's government. -Reuters
Sigh. If she wasn't there, I'd completely give up hope for the Fwench.
MFBB
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Thursday, December 02, 2004
I've added a link over to the right for the Friends of Iraq blogger Challenge which runs until December 15th. The idea is for blogs to raise as much money as possible for Spirit of America projects in Iraq and compete against other bloggers. The project I've selected is Friends of Democracy which you can read about here.
I just donated $50.00 for what I think is a very worthy cause and may really make a difference, no matter how small.
Clicking the "Friends of Iraq" graphic in the upper right hand corner of the page will take you to the Downeastblog donation page.
I just donated $50.00 for what I think is a very worthy cause and may really make a difference, no matter how small.
Clicking the "Friends of Iraq" graphic in the upper right hand corner of the page will take you to the Downeastblog donation page.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)