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9299. robertjayb - 1/6/2009 10:33:30 PM Israeli shelling kills 42 at school...(Reuters)
GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli shelling killed more than 40 Palestinians Tuesday at a U.N. school where civilians had taken shelter, medical officials said, in carnage likely to boost international pressure on Israel to halt a Gaza offensive.
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According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip, at least 631 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,700 wounded since Israel began its offensive.
Ten Israelis, including three civilians hit by rocket fire, have been killed in the conflict. At least five rockets landed in Israel Tuesday, including one that hit the town of Gadera, 28 km (17 miles) from Tel Aviv. A three-month-old baby was hurt.
9300. vonKreedon - 1/8/2009 10:49:36 PM Can anyone identify the type of weapon being used in this image:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/05QtcaZe3O5A5
I've seen many instances of this on CNN, but I cannot figure out what it is. I'm hoping it's not cluster munitions. 9301. wabbit - 1/9/2009 1:17:18 AM It sure looks like a cluster bomb. 9302. vonKreedon - 1/9/2009 1:31:28 AM Not so much really. The cluster munition videos that I've seen don't show the white trail that are seen in the picture I linked and the CNN images I've watched. It sort of looks like White Phosphorus, but it seems more directed, the trails all immediately head down to the ground. And I can't figure out the purpose for air bursts of WP that far above the ground.
I've read, though I can't vouch for the veracity, that the Israelis started to produce their own cluster munitions because the ones they got from us had too high a dud ratio and because they weren't sure how long we'd keep supplying them. If so, perhaps their munitions emit a WP like trail? At any rate, I'm really curious and would like to get a positive ID on this munition. It's pretty distinctive. 9303. wabbit - 1/9/2009 2:44:07 AM I misspoke - cluster *munitions*, not cluster bombs, though bombs are shown in the linked video.
That is an interesting photo. Maybe WP is effective for producing smoke cover even from that height. There are a couple photos in these articles, none as striking as the one you found:
Israel fires artillery shells into Gaza
Israel rains fire on Gaza with phosphorus shells
No photos, but some description: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5470047.ece 9304. vonKreedon - 1/9/2009 5:15:19 AM An unconventional use of WP as it does not look to me that it is providing particularly good smoke cover, but it does seem to be starting a lot of little fires and would certainly drive anyone under it indoors in a hurry. Thanks for the research wabbit. 9305. alistairconnor - 1/28/2009 11:14:18 AM I note with approval that Obama's first interview with foreign media was with Al Arabiya (a Dubai-based network, which has come to rival Al Jazeera in its outreach and quality of journalism).
It's mostly platitudes, but it's a start. 9306. arkymalarky - 1/28/2009 4:07:27 PM I thought it was very important in laying the groundwork and setting the tone, not just for US interactions with the Muslim World and with Arabs and the ME, but with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. 9307. arkymalarky - 1/28/2009 4:11:20 PM And he shifted the focus and topics from the platitudes of freedom and democracy to the human condition of many Muslims, especially in Palestine, while asserting the US's strong support of Israel. 9308. wabbit - 2/12/2009 11:08:10 PM From the NYTimes:
…With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield.
The government says the real number is much lower. But the stories contain at least a grain of truth: jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai — once hailed as the economic superpower of the Middle East — looking like a ghost town…
I hope DubaiVol is ok.9309. arkymalarky - 2/13/2009 1:15:27 AM He posted not too long ago, maybe in the Cafe? 9310. alistairconnor - 2/16/2009 4:05:28 PM Those with a dark sense of humour will like this one :
Two submarines collided in the Atlantic, on about 2 February
A British sub, HMS Vanguard, armed with Trident nuclear missiles, and a French equivalent, Le Triomphant, went Bing!
A few dents, no casualties, apparently "nuclear safety" was not compromised.
The more I think about this news item, the more I like it. It demonstrates the efficacy of the two nations' independent nuclear deterrent, as I will demonstrate :
* They didn't know each other's trajectories : the two navies don't trust each other, therefore can't compromise each other. Excellent.
* They didn't pick each other up on sonar or radar. i.e. these tin cans are undetectable, and very difficult to take out by the Chinese, the Russians, or whoever.
Who says Europe's in decline, eh? 9311. alistairconnor - 2/17/2009 5:18:27 PM I spotted this analysis of the emerging shape of O's foreign policy :
A two-pronged Obama foreign policy approach is unfolding. The first prong, relating to the general tenor of foreign relations, involves a modern application of the “speak softly and carry a big stick” approach. The second prong, relating to the distribution of power within the administration, involves a centralization of foreign policy centering on a stronger and expanded National Security Council (NSC) and relies on special envoys for crisis areas, leaving the secretary of state to shape foreign perceptions rather than policy.
Rather unkind for Hillary RC. 9312. Wombat - 2/17/2009 5:59:47 PM Given Hilary's skills--or demonstrated lack thereof--in conducting delicate negotiations on contentious and complex issues, it seems like a pretty good division of labor.
The mystery continues to be why she accepted the post in the first place. Will she quit over a policy difference concerning, say Israel, so that she can try to run against him in 2012? 9313. alistairconnor - 2/17/2009 7:19:08 PM Well, it's a high profile, glamour job, she gets all the warm fuzzies for representing the Not Bush administration (though this will wear off after a year or so...) And she gets to acquire a massive amount of that Foreign Policy Experience that she claimed to already have. 9314. alistairconnor - 3/4/2009 5:47:52 PM My preferred alternative to vonKreedon's targeted assassination policy
Judges at the International Criminal Court ordered the arrest Wednesday of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity for a concerted government campaign against civilians.
He may live out his days peacefully in Sudan. Or not. Milosevic died in prison, which is not a bad outcome.
Is there a dissuasive effect? In the long term, I think so. On condition that justice is pursued objectively and tenaciously, and is seen to be done. 9315. vonKreedon - 3/4/2009 6:47:18 PM AC - I was just coming here to comment on the arrest order. Now, if the intent is to stop the ongoing crimes in the Sudan this order doesn't do squat. The only immediate impact is that Bashir can't leave Sudan. Big deal. So, does the US, or France if you prefer since the US is not as yet an ICC member, now have standing to attempt to insert a military team to arrest Bashir? Milosevic didn't end up in prison until there was regime change in Serbia, is the international community willing to allow crimes against humanity to continue in hopes that eventually the regime will be overthrown without outside help? 9316. alistairconnor - 3/4/2009 7:27:50 PM In any case, it's a necessary part of the arsenal, and the US's absence from the ICC is to its shame.
Respecting sovereignty and international legality carries a heavy price in terms of being powerless with respect to crimes against humanity. However, I suggest that the major nations need to render their foreign policy moral and transparent before they can have the moral legitimacy to intervene in sovereign nations. To put it mildly, few people outside the US were convinced of the good faith of the US in the humanitarian intervention in Iraq... To give another example, the Somali intervention was an example of how not to do it, there were no clear objectives or chance of a positive outcome.
This judgement puts pressure on Bashir to negotiate and to behave better in future. It also legitimizes those who would seek to overthrow him. All this may be rather irrelevant, as long as he has the support of the Chinese, who do not brook these niceties... 9317. magoseph - 3/4/2009 7:32:39 PM The mystery continues to be why she accepted the post in the first place. Will she quit over a policy difference concerning, say Israel, so that she can try to run against him in 2012?
I think that Hillary is too intelligent not to realize that her political future lies with Obama and the young voters.
9318. vonKreedon - 3/4/2009 7:48:14 PM This judgement puts pressure on Bashir to negotiate and to behave better in future. It also legitimizes those who would seek to overthrow him.
The first sentence is something I'm reading in the press, but I don't buy it. As you point out later, as long as the Chinese, as well as the African Union and Arab League, continue to support Bashir. Further, what evidence there is currently seems to point to an increase in the Bashir regime's internal strength rather than a decrease resulting from international pressure. So the ICC warrant certainly gives international legitimacy for those who want Sudanese regime change, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything to actually effect such change internally.
So, again I pose the question, what active steps, if any, do you support to put a swift stop to ongoing crimes against humanity?
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