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iraq is helping to radicalise and draw some young muslims into violence, says jean-louis bruguiere, a top french terrorism investigator.
fuck. enough about politics for the day; it's too damn depressing. i must cut some firewood.
fuck. enough about politics for the day; it's too damn depressing. i must cut some firewood.
i, for one, don't welcome
Oct. 7th, 2005 03:59our new internet broadcasting company, al qaeda.
apparently the production is quite "professional", complete with logo, marquees, subtitles, and that little box in the upper right corner to show pictures relevant to the news being read.
*boggle*. though why i am boggling, i don't know. it makes sense, but it just seems surreal at the same time.
the "voice of the caliphate" is apparently right up there with certain christian and jewish twerps in having gotten direct notice from the divine about hurricane katrina being retribution -- except terrorist-tv is more flowery: the hurricane was a soldier of god fighting those bad, bad homosexuals. *gnrg*. just once it would be nice if their god were to smite these idiots. *smite*smite*smite*. if i were god, there would be some mighty smiting, believe you me. forgiving is all good and well, but first: smiting.
more detail on terrorist-tv in german; couldn't find an english equivalent at the time of writing this. the article has pictures. i am guessing al qaeda does not pick its newscasters by their looks, since looks are irrelevant if you're in full ninja outfit.
apparently the production is quite "professional", complete with logo, marquees, subtitles, and that little box in the upper right corner to show pictures relevant to the news being read.
*boggle*. though why i am boggling, i don't know. it makes sense, but it just seems surreal at the same time.
the "voice of the caliphate" is apparently right up there with certain christian and jewish twerps in having gotten direct notice from the divine about hurricane katrina being retribution -- except terrorist-tv is more flowery: the hurricane was a soldier of god fighting those bad, bad homosexuals. *gnrg*. just once it would be nice if their god were to smite these idiots. *smite*smite*smite*. if i were god, there would be some mighty smiting, believe you me. forgiving is all good and well, but first: smiting.
more detail on terrorist-tv in german; couldn't find an english equivalent at the time of writing this. the article has pictures. i am guessing al qaeda does not pick its newscasters by their looks, since looks are irrelevant if you're in full ninja outfit.
remember jean charles de menezes, the brasilian electrician who was shot in london on july 22nd, because he was mistaken for a terrorist? i wasn't terribly comfortable with the idea of cops going around shooting suspects, but some of the arguments i read were pretty persuasive (especially those by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
karentraviss), and i thought that yeah, in the heat of the moment, when you have just a few seconds time to decide, and if you don't shoot, many people might die in another explosion, that it was a justifiable mistake. still, my personal opinion remained that i am deeply uncomfortable with "shoot to kill" policies; i would really rather get blown up by a terrorist than have cops shoot innocent people -- to my mind the responsibility here doesn't get blurred at all; the terrorist is at fault, not the cops. i don't like the climate such a policy creates, but i realise that lots of people disagree with me about rather wanting to be blown up than see other innocents killed, and that they'd happily blame the cops if they didn't shoot an actual terrorist. i empathise with those who have to make the decisions in the field.
i'm curious what karen has to say now. as it turns out, not a whole lot was true about what we were told at the time. mr menezes was not
- identified as one of the bombers by somebody on his surveillance team
- running from the police after being told to stop
- jumping over a turnstile to escape from the cops into the subway
- dressed in a suspiciously thick, padded (inappropriate for the weather) jacket
- dangling wires from underneath said jacket
documents from the investigation have been leaked to ITV. mr menezes wasn't running away from the police. he did in fact not know that he had been followed. he entered the station properly, through the ticket barrier. he picked up a newspaper. he broke out in a run after that, yes, but not in response to police orders, no, to catch the incoming train. and he was quietly seated on that train when the cops yelled at him. he wasn't alone; members of the surveillance team were on that train with him. and what's more, he was immediately restrained by a member of his surveillance team when the cops burst on the scene. then the 8 shots were fired.
that's ... no. that's no longer justifiable at all. i don't want the police to protect me in this manner.
karentraviss), and i thought that yeah, in the heat of the moment, when you have just a few seconds time to decide, and if you don't shoot, many people might die in another explosion, that it was a justifiable mistake. still, my personal opinion remained that i am deeply uncomfortable with "shoot to kill" policies; i would really rather get blown up by a terrorist than have cops shoot innocent people -- to my mind the responsibility here doesn't get blurred at all; the terrorist is at fault, not the cops. i don't like the climate such a policy creates, but i realise that lots of people disagree with me about rather wanting to be blown up than see other innocents killed, and that they'd happily blame the cops if they didn't shoot an actual terrorist. i empathise with those who have to make the decisions in the field.i'm curious what karen has to say now. as it turns out, not a whole lot was true about what we were told at the time. mr menezes was not
- identified as one of the bombers by somebody on his surveillance team
- running from the police after being told to stop
- jumping over a turnstile to escape from the cops into the subway
- dressed in a suspiciously thick, padded (inappropriate for the weather) jacket
- dangling wires from underneath said jacket
documents from the investigation have been leaked to ITV. mr menezes wasn't running away from the police. he did in fact not know that he had been followed. he entered the station properly, through the ticket barrier. he picked up a newspaper. he broke out in a run after that, yes, but not in response to police orders, no, to catch the incoming train. and he was quietly seated on that train when the cops yelled at him. he wasn't alone; members of the surveillance team were on that train with him. and what's more, he was immediately restrained by a member of his surveillance team when the cops burst on the scene. then the 8 shots were fired.
that's ... no. that's no longer justifiable at all. i don't want the police to protect me in this manner.
excellent news
Jul. 28th, 2005 12:48The IRA has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means.
i'm sure there will be people who don't know how to stop, so it's not like we've seen the final act of violence. but i think this is significant, and i am hopeful.
i'm sure there will be people who don't know how to stop, so it's not like we've seen the final act of violence. but i think this is significant, and i am hopeful.
