This is no surprise. Arafat supported Saddam during the first Gulf War, and now Fatah has dispatched suicide/homocide bombers to attack our boys. We should never forget these treacherous acts when it is time to set up a Palestinian state. _______________________________ http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1049012182807 More Palestinian suicide bombers on way to Iraq -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KHALED ABU TOAMEH Mar. 31, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide attack in Netanya, has become the second Palestinian group to dispatch its members for suicide missions against American and British soldiers in Iraq. Fatah, the mainstream faction of the PLO, announced over the weekend that many of its members have already arrived in Iraq. One of the group's commanders in Lebanon, Col. Munir Maqdah, a former officer in Yasser Arafat's elite Force 17 presidential guard, said more Palestinians are expected to travel to Iraq shortly. On Sunday, Islamic Jihad announced that it had sent a first wave of suicide bombers to Baghdad. "Al-Kuds Brigades brings to our people and nation the good news of the arrival of its first martyrdom [attackers] in the heart of Baghdad," said a statement issued in Beirut. "This is to fulfill the holy duty of defending Arab and Muslim land." Iraq earlier this month took foreign journalists to a training camp east of Baghdad to show off about 40 of what it said were Arab volunteers. The men bore all the hallmarks of Muslim militants. Most wore beards, chanted slogans glorifying holy war, voiced deep hatred for America, and said they would seek martyrdom on the battlefield. Wearing uniforms and keffiyehs, they prayed together, listened to a rousing sermon on jihad, and chanted slogans vowing death for America and Israel. They said they came from Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip marking Land Day turned into huge rallies in support of Saddam Hussein. Thousands marched in Ramallah, Hebron, and Nablus, chanting slogans against the US, UK, and Israel and calling on Saddam to launch Scud missiles at Tel Aviv. The protests, which were otherwise peaceful, came as senior Palestinian Authority officials downplayed optimistic expectations based on US statements. "We have indications and information that there are circles within the US administration who want, in liaison with Israel, to introduce amendments to the road map in accordance with Israeli remarks," said Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo. Such amendments would "undermine" the whole road map peace plan, he told Al-Kuds. Minister of Local Government Saeb Erekat said that US President George W. Bush's and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's statements concerning the presentation of the road map are just "pain relieving." The two met at Camp David three days ago and promised that the road map plan would be presented to the parties in coming days. Erekat said that postponing the road map because of the war in Iraq is a violation of agreements with the Quartet the US, UN, EU, and Russia. "Right after the road map was first presented to both Israel and the Palestinians, we accepted it, but Israel rejected it, refused to implement it, and is still escalating its aggression against the Palestinian people," Erekat told United Press International. He called on the Quartet to promptly implement the road map. "The road map has been delayed six times in four months, which allowed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to put the Palestinians in a fait accompli and execute his settlement plans," he said.
If Arafat is sending people to fight for Saddam, and it looks like he is, that should be considered an act of war. The appropriate response is regime change. Since we are a little busy, I suggest giving that assignment to a nearby ally.
The fact is that when you are dealing with extremists, it is like fighting a street gang. If you take on one, you take on all. This doesn't make it not worth doing. In fact, it will make us deal with threats that we have been all too willing to ignore until now.
I totally agree. Many in this country have decided to support the Palestinian cause for any number of illogical reasons. Most in America who support the Arabs do so because of Arab disinformation. The P.L.O. is a enemy combatant now, in my opinion. Americans need to inform themselves about the true nature of the majority of Palestinians, and adjust their political views accordingly.
I think it has more to do with America than Muslim land. Would these SOBs do anything if it wasn't an arab country that was being attacked or if the attacker wasn't American? What would their reaction be if it somehow India wanted to attack Pakistan or something (no validity here...just an example). Would these idiots go and die for the pakistanis? I doubt it. Their jihad is a bunch of bullcrap.
Sometimes you really have to feel sorry for the ordinary Palestinian Arabs (although they don't deserve the pity), they are on the wrong side of every conflict. Their society has nothing on what the Isrealis have. The discrepancy in weaponary is the least important. It amazes me how a society or a people can learn nothing from fifty years of defeat.
The theory I kept hearing before the war was the Arab world respects a winner, so maybe this will all settle down in a few months after the coalition of the willing wins. http://www.wnyc.org/onthemedia/ I heard on "On the Media", an analysis of the media, natch, was that the reaction on the *Arab* street was akin to a reawakening of Pan-Arab nationalism like that inspired by Nasser and not just the result of authoritarian regimes giving their folks something to complain about as with previous issues with the United States or Israel. It's not just Palestinians with a death wish, coming to fight against us. Heard Israeli military folks on the radio saying the main thing the US could learn from Israel's urban fighting in the occupied territories was to use heavy duty bulldozers to crush houses to create fields of fire. We really can't mimic their use of attack helicopters he said, cause the Palestinians he said didn't have the weapons the Iraqis' have at their disposal. (Some folks think On The Media isn't critical enough but I think someone pointed out the indymedia org web site before.)
There's all sorts of potential for manipulation of news from both sides. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030330-034724-7264r.htm I bet that when Al Jazeera covers the death mentioned later in the article, they'll only mention the part about the Marines killing the baby to inflame sentiment.
Why the hell didn't any suicide bomber show up in Serbia when milosovic was committing genocide on a Muslim population? Where was the uproar, or the credit for the US when it took action, arguably against our own national interests? Funny, we can put our soldiers' lives at risks to protect a Muslim population to protect them from genocide, and get no recognition. We then attack a ruthless regime which has killed 100's of thousands of it's own Muslims, and strive to avoid civilian deaths, yet it seems like the entire Muslim world (at least their media) claim the we are committing genocide. I guess you're gonna believe what you want to. That's really screwed-up. I just saw a special today on one of the discovery channels on saddam's rise to power. Unbelievably ruthless. The man has no idealogy other than to keep himself in power at all costs, including the murder of family members. A nuclear scientist in charge of their energy program was told to head-up their weapons program. He explained he had no background in weapons. They tortured him for 22 days and he was imprisoned for 10 years. He also planned on delivering a nuke to Kuwait by way of a flatbed truck, and another to Haifa Israel on a ship. The world will be a better place w/o saddam and his sons.
I bet if we started crucifying Fedayeen outside of Baghdad it would send a positive message to the Iraqi people. Everyone loves a good old fashioned crucifixion.
Because the muslims were scared ****less of the serbs. The Serbs had absolutely no qualms with slaughtering entire towns with little provocation. I think the muslims had a pretty good idea of what would have happened if they would have started suicide bombing the serbs. The serbs were barbaric, but their results were undeniable.
It would be nice to get all the suicide bombers in one place, preferably a place with a big target on it.
Talking about crucifiction. I know I'll be crucified for this, but if we leave aside the simplistic we are good and they are evil, why is it considered highly ethical for one side to use volunteer bomber pilots that try to kill Iraqi soldiers. This side tries to get various countries to send other bombers. On the other hand if volunteer suicide bombers from other countries go to Iraq to bomb US military forces engaged in a war against Iraqi forces it is considered to be the ultimate in inhumane degradation and immorality? Is it that one bomber sits in a plane? or tries to avoid blowing himself up? Is it simply beause one volunteered for a formal army?, the other for a less formal group?
You are asking why it is wrong for Palestinian suicide bombers to kill U.S. troops? I don't know what to say to Americans like you anymore, so I won't even try. I am just glad there aren't many people in our country like you.
Us crazy conservative think the Palestinians going over and blowing up Americans is wrong because we have been brainwashed by the Zionist controlled media of course. Come on, glynch. Which side would you expect most Americans (read: people unlike you and MacBeth) to support?
I'm not sure if anybody really cares to try to understand Arab thought-processes better, but I saw this in the official US Military handbook for Iraq. While it probably seems a little bit generalzed and is probably sterotypical, if you take it in context it would seem to provide a basic starting point for understanding general "Arab" thought processes from a basic western viewpoint...
Ottomaton, you've just described a medieval mindset. ACcurate, I'd say... Look people, this is a good thing. The Palestinians sending their trash over to help Saddam, I mean. This will simply give us an opportunity to kill several hundred people that need a good killing, instead of having them blowing up cafes and elementary school buses in Israel. Now I know that some of you would rather that they just continued their work in Israel, but I for one will be glad to have them gathered in an area where multiple GPS coordinates are being programmed into JDAMs around the clock...
Well, if you're going to drag me into it, I think that what glynch was saying was not which side should an American support in a war, but why is the use of bombs on one side viewed as standard military practice, while on the other, merely because it is the other, or becuase they don't have planes to use, it is seen as 'evil'? Mybe actually addrsss his question rather than, again, dismissing him because his disagreement with you is consistent...if you don't like his stance, debate it on the issues or ignore it. refman, treeman, sino and many others are at least as consicitent in their position as glynch, why do you not dismiss them? Because the position they are consistent with agrees with your own?
