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Terrorism as a form of entertainment This week we're featuring images and movies from www.qassam.net, in honor of the ISP's attempt to block us from accessing the site. Today's 'episode' is The Road Bomb. It goes like this: first they bury a bomb in a road. Then they retreat to a nearby hillside with a video camera. When an Israel truck drives over the bomb, they blow it to pieces, killing the occupants, and capturing the whole thing on tape. The tape is broadcase on Arab television, and then is uploaded to their webside, so they can share it...

The first time Brent Scowcroft impinged on my consciousness was in December 1989, six months after the massacre of young Chinese patriots in Tiananmen Square. The particular way he impinged was by being photographed in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, smiling and raising a toast with Li Peng, one of the main organizers of the massacre. Like many others, I was shocked and baffled by this spectacle, and read with great interest the justifications for it offered by the Bush-41 administration. The principal justification was that it was "important to keep the lines open," and to "keep China...

(IsraelNN.com) Heavy exchanges of gunfire continue in Gaza at this hour. Early reports from the scene of the battle, mainly in the vicinity of N’vei Dekalim, indicated that an Israeli has been seriously injured. More details will be published as they become available.

AMMAN, Aug. 17, 2002 (QNA via COMTEX) -- Dr. Oasma Al Baz, political advisor to the Egyptian president, said Egypt will not allow passage through the Suez Canal of US ships headed to strike Iraq. In statements published here Saturday he added Egypt rejects any military operation against Iraq, its territorial unity, independence and safety of Iraqi people, adding any military attack on Iraq represents a vary dangerous step endangering the security of the region. Dr. Al Baz said the question of UN weapons inspectors is an issue which concerns the UN and the Security Council and not Washington and...

Iraq Mission Aborted President Bush Calls Off Operation to Take Out Al Qaeda Poison Gas Laboratory By John McWethy W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 19 — The CIA and the Pentagon began planning a covert operation into Northern Iraq to destroy what appeared to be a budding chemical weapons laboratory several years ago, but late last week, the president called it off, sources told ABCNEWS. U.S. forces had been monitoring a small group of al Qaeda operatives for weeks as they experimented with poison gas and deadly toxins — killing barnyard animals and...

IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD... IT IS TIME FOR ISLAM TO REPENT! By: Glenn R. Jackson Shortly after the September 11th attack Franklin Graham, son and successor to evangelist Billy Graham, came under intense criticism for calling Islam “a very evil and wicked religion.” Last week the Associated Press reported remarks by Franklin Graham that show he still holds some very un-Politically Correct views. The AP quotes Mr. Graham as saying “The silence of the (Islamic) clerics around the world is frightening to me.'' “How come they haven't come to this country, how come they haven't apologized to the American...

Saddam's Rap Sheet by Daniel Pipes and Jonathan Schanzer New York Post August 20, 2002 http://www.danielpipes.org/article/444 http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/55073.htm Consider the paradox: Almost every government agrees that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is an appalling monster and shudders at the prospect of his acquiring nuclear weapons. Yet those same governments are also furiously signaling their disapproval of an American-led military effort to depose him. That would be "risky adventurism," declares Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder; Saddam poses no immediate threat, and Washington lacks a justification to attack him. Most U.S. allies worldwide agree. But they are plain wrong. Saddam is an immediate menace, and...

Military says missile shot down helicopter in Chechnya KHANKALA. Aug 20 (Interfax) - Evidence has been found to confirm the theory that Monday's crash of a military helicopter in Chechnya, which killed more than 100 troops, was the result of a missile attack from the ground, a military source said on Tuesday. "An investigating group found the weapon of the crime, a Strela anti-aircraft missile launcher, which had been used," a source in the headquarters of the Combined Federal Forces in the North Caucasus told Interfax. Over 150 were aboard crashed helicopter in Chechnya - official source MOSCOW. Aug...

Iraq Lab Said Linked to al-Qaida CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) ? Arab terrorists linked to al-Qaida may have tested biological weapons at a small facility in northern Iraq known to American intelligence, a U.S. official said Monday. U.S. intelligence agencies had reason to suspect that the facility, in a part of northern Iraq not controlled by President Saddam Hussein's government, was a kind of laboratory for chemical and biological weapons activity that included testing on barnyard animals and at least one man, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ..

<p>WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has evidence that a Kurdish militant group with possible ties to al Qaeda has conducted crude chemical-weapons experiments in northern Iraq, a U.S. official said.</p> <p>The group, Ansar al Islam, allegedly has been producing ricin, a toxin that can easily be made from castor beans, at a camp in northeastern Iraq. Intelligence reports indicate that at least one man and some farm animals died after exposure to the poison, the official said.</p>

- To judge by the press, the world’s sagest and most influential foreign policy expert is a 77-year-old named Brent Scowcroft. Mr. Scowcroft’s argument against an American attack on Saddam Hussein was the lead opinion piece in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal. The New York Times made it its lead, front-page news article on Friday and Saturday and its lead editorial on Friday. The Times editorial called Mr. Scowcroft’s words “an extraordinary challenge to the Bush administration” and “the equivalent of a cannon shot across the White House lawn.” All of which makes it appropriate to ask just who is Brent...

<p>August 19, 2002 -- TEL AVIV - An ex-treasurer of the Palestine Liberation Organization has accused Yasser Arafat of taking more than a half-billion dollars in international aid - and transferring it to his personal accounts.</p> <p>The shocking allegation comes on the heels of an Israeli intelligence report released last week that said Arafat had secretly amassed at least $1.3 billion in bank accounts in Europe, Arab countries, the Far East and the United States.</p>

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian guerrilla commander Abu Nidal, one of the world's most wanted men, was found dead from gunshot wounds in his Baghdad home, Palestinian sources said Monday. Reuters Photo A senior Palestinian official said Abu Nidal, 65, died under "mysterious conditions" and it was unclear whether he was killed or committed suicide. The account could not be independently verified. Abu Nidal, a sworn enemy of Yasser Arafat ( news - web sites) and any Palestinian leader who sought accommodation with Israel, led a dissident Palestinian militant organization high on Washington's list of groups it considered terrorist....

RIYADH (Reuters) - Several Saudi banks and Islamic charities named in a lawsuit by families of Sept. 11 victims vehemently denied Sunday any role in funding terrorism and blasted the case as an attempt to extort Saudi wealth abroad. The suit has sparked rare calls by commentators and newspapers in the kingdom to review traditionally strong Saudi-U.S. ties. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment officially. Offended that the lawsuit named members of the royal family, including Defense Minister Prince Sultan -- the third highest official in the kingdom -- many Saudis accused Washington of putting pressure on the Gulf Arab...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A 15-count, $1 trillion lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by more than 500 relatives of people who died in the September 11 attacks.</p> <p>Calling themselves Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, they are suing seven international banks; eight Islamic foundations, charities and their subsidiaries; individual terrorist financiers; the Saudi bin Laden Group; three Saudi princes; and the government of Sudan for allegedly bankrolling al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.</p>

Israeli forces operating Wednesday in the village of Tubas in the northern West Bank killed senior Hamas terrorist Nasser Jerrar, suspected of planning suicide attacks inside Israel including a major attack to bring down a multi-story building. The army was criticized for using a Palestinian teenager, apparently shot and killed by Jerrar, as a "human shield" in attempts to get Jerrar to surrender. Hamas vowed to avenge Jerrar's death. Based on intelligence gleaned during the interrogation of Hamas terrorists recently arrested by the IDF in Jenin, an elite counter-terrorist unit was sent to Tubas, northeast of Nablus, and troops surrounded...

For half a century, Saudi Arabia has been a key economic and strategic ally of the United States. As the kingdom’s wealth grew and the scale of its oil reserves became apparent, the links became ever more intense, culminating in the deployment of 500,000 American troops during the Gulf War. Since then, a once warm relationship has become ever more strained, as tensions within Saudi Arabia have grown, the Arab world’s anger with America has become intense and Washington’s suspicions of the country’s Islamic agenda have deepened. Almost a year after the September attacks, perpetrated largely by Saudi citizens, relations...

Pat Oliphant on target. When are we going to take care of our Saudi problem?

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has personal assets estimated at a value of $1.3 billion, IDF Intelligence Chief Major General Aharon Ze'evi (Farakash) said Tuesday. Speaking Tuesday before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Ze'evi said that Arafat is isolated and criticism of the long-time Palestinian leader is growing - both within Palestinian society and Arafat's own Fatah movement. He said dissatisfaction with Arafat is being expressed in mass demonstrations in Gaza, Jenin and Tubas; newspapers; as well as a phenomenon of smashing photographs of Arafat. Even close associates of the Palestinian leader are distancing themselves, and some are...

S. Arabia affirms solidness of historical ties with US -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Xinhuanet 2002-08-13 02:46:56 ¡¡¡¡KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Saudi Arabia on Monday affirmedthe solidness of its historical relations with the United States and vowed to develop the ties to the best of mutual interests between the two allies, Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported. ¡¡¡¡Saudi acting Minister of Information Madani Bin Abdul-Qadir Alaqi made the remarks in a press statement after a cabinet meetingchaired by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz. ¡¡¡¡Alaqi noted in the statement that the cabinet was briefed on a briefing prepared by a Pentagon consultative...