Drumbeat For Action Against Syria's Assad Grows Louder

The ongoing civil war in Syria has led to more than 100,000 dead, more than 2 million refugees situated in grim camps in Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and the entire region is in turmoil, especially after the latest reports indicating that chemical weapons of some kind were used against civilian populations in a Damascus suburb.

It's the latest in a string of scattered incidents involving chemical weapons in the civil war that have pushed the US, France, and others to warn that they may seek military action against Bashar Assad's regime for their violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia, along with China, continues working their stalling tactics at the UN as Assad continues his brutal crackdown against rebel forces, meaning that there's little chance of an immediate military response to the chemical weapons attack that may have killed anywhere from 130 to 1,300 people.

The British are putting forth a UN resolution at the Security Council, but Assad isn't going to stop fighting his enemies on the basis of a UN resolution. Efforts by UN inspectors to figure out what actually happened were hampered by a delay in getting access to the site, coming under sniper fire, and the fact that Assad's forces had laid siege to the area with conventional artillery for days before the inspectors could get on the ground there.

With the drumbeat of war growing louder, and the possibility that airstrikes may commence tomorrow, the Jerusalem Post is warning that the Israeli homefront is not prepared for an unconventional conflict - referring to chemical weapons. There’s also reports indicating that if the UN/NATO/US hit Assad targets in Syria, that Syria would retaliate against Israel. Some Israelis aren’t sure that Assad would or wouldn’t attack.

It doesn’t matter that Israel has Iron Dome, Patriot and other missile defense systems available to it; Syria going after Israel if hit by airstrikes would open up a can of worms not seen since the 1991 Gulf War. Back then, Israel withstood the brunt of dozens of scud launches that slammed into Israel without retaliation, but would Israel do the same once again?

I’m not so sure. There are reasons that Assad wouldn’t want to enlarge the fight to include Israel out of practical reasons - if his military can barely scratch out a stalemate against rebel forces, it would suffer badly in a fight against the IDF. And Israel may well respond not only with airstrikes of its own, but could send in its Sayeret Matkal and other special forces to go after specific targets - missions that it might not have considered unless Israel was directly attacked. That’s not to say that Israel hasn’t gone after Syrian targets of opportunity before - the airstrike against the nuclear facility a few years back shows that they’ll act preemptively and with force if necessary.

But there are also reasons Assad would go after Israel - make a muddled mess and further complicate things for the rebels and the West - since affiliations/backing for various groups arrayed against Assad have different motivations and sometimes run counter to each other.

Still, airstrikes will hurt Assad, but they’ll end up having unpredictable outcomes not only for Israel, but for Lebanon, which is where Syria still exerts influence and where Assad’s proxies in Hizbullah continue to hold sway. Hizbullah is a wildcard in this, and they could again make a mess of Lebanon, to say nothing of Northern Israel.

If there’s a callup of Israeli forces, it may also be out of a concern that Hizbullah may well be planning to take the pressure off Assad by launching attacks against Israel to take media pressure off Assad and put the spotlight again on Israel.

Aleppo Under Siege As Assad's Forces Attack From Air and Golan Heights DMZ

Israel is contacting the United Nations over an incursion by more than 500 Syrian soldiers into the DMZ between Israel and Syria in the process of attacking rebel targets near the demarcation line.

Following the incident, in which 500 soldiers and 50 vehicles crossed into the demilitarized zone, Israel filed a formal complaint to the UN secretary general and to the president of the UN's Security Council, warning that the event may have serious ramifications.

Concern in Israel, in light of the situation in Syria, especially over Assad's chemical weapons stockpile and land-to-land missiles, is growing every day. In a meeting on Sunday afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consulted the heads of Israel's security establishment, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and other senior cabinet members.

"We are monitoring the events in Syria closely and are prepared for any development to come," Netanyahu said in his opening statement.

At the same time, rebel forces are claiming that Bashar al-Assad's forces have dispersed chemical weapons to airports along Syria's borders as a threat against foreign countries from interfering in the brutal crackdown against the rebels. However, we need to keep in mind distances we're talking about here. The threat is that he's going to disperse and deploy them against foreign targets.

Damascus is 45 miles from the Golan Heights DMZ.

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are only around 120 miles beyond that.

The distances are so small that the threat is the same regardless of where Assad is putting those weapons if he's going to use them against Israel via aircraft or long range missiles. Artillery delivering such weapons would have a shorter range, but that's something that the Israelis would see via their listening posts on Mt. Hermon. Israel would see something was afoot, though the reaction time would be less the closer to the border.

Dispersing the weapons means that the chances that they could fall into the wrong hands increases (terrorists or those who may have no idea what they're doing) increases. But since Assad is expanding its air campaign against the rebels, it's not beyond the possibility that despite his claims to the contrary, he could be preparing to use them against the rebel forces.

If Assad thought that trying to provoke Israel into engaging in a firefight would help his cause, he's seriously misguided since Syrians would see and respond that he's trying to bluff his way out of his predicament by blaming Israel (something he's done for far too long). And the last thing he wants to do is split his forces between going after the rebel forces and any kind of conflict with Israel and its technological superiority. He would unwittingly be playing right into the hands of rebel forces who lack the capability to neutralize the Syrian air force. If Assad brings Israel into the conflict, it would neutralize his air force, which is one of the few things holding the rebel forces at bay.

Recent reports indicate that Assad's now using fighter jets in addition to helicopter gunships. Until now, Assad's forces have used helicopters and artillery for long range attacks against the rebel forces.

Assad's forces have increasingly relied upon their air force to attack rebel forces, which is also about the only way Assad's loyalists can stay ahead of the rebels, who have managed to carry off spectacular advances in holding territory as well as attacks killing the highest echelon of Assad's security establishment.

Government helicopter gunships attacked Aleppo, the Local Coordination Committees, a network of on-the-ground activists, told NBC News. The Associated Press reported that warplanes circled in the air around the city, while the British Broadcasting Corp., citing one of its reporters near the area, said that fighter jets had bombed eastern parts of Aleppo.
With sequential rebel attacks on the country's two largest cities and a bombing that wiped out some of his top security advisors, President Bashar Assad reshuffled his top security posts, dismissing one general and appointing a national security council chief to replace the one killed in the recent attack.

Syria's rebels, outmanned and outgunned by the regime's professional army, have mounted a surprising pair of offensives over the last 10 days against the country's two major cities — Damascus and Aleppo. Even as the government appears to have snuffed out most of the rebel pockets in the capital, the rebels appear to be fight fiercely in the commercial hub of Aleppo in the north.

The government has instituted tight restrictions on outside news outlets working in Syria, making it difficult to verify many reports from inside the country.

Fighting spreads in Aleppo
The battle in Aleppo has spread from neighborhoods in the northeast and southwest of the city to previously untouched areas like Firdous in the south and Arkoub closer to the center, local activists and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

This is the fourth day of heavy fighting in Aleppo, which also includes a prison uprising that was brutally put down. There's also evidence that Assad's forces are using Iranian-made UAVs in spotting targets.

Assad Claims Referendum Will Ease Crisis; Brutal Crackdown Continues

Bashar al-Assad has done this before. He's gone before the microphone to claim that he's a reformer and that he's in the process of reforming the Syrian political system. Today, he's claiming that a new constitution is ready for a referendum that would allow expanded access to the political system and that ends the Ba'athist control over the country.

President Bashar al-Assad set a February 26 date for the vote on a draft constitution, hailed by the his government as an important reform initiative. But analysts and demonstrators sloughed off the effort as "window dressing" and the latest in a series of superficial measures undertaken to mollify his critics over the last 11 months.

Members of a committee tasked with drafting the document "reiterated their keenness on a constitution that allows ... public freedoms and political plurality in a way to lay the foundation for a new stage that will enrich Syria's cultural history," the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Former Syrian lawmaker George Jabbour said "clause 8 of the new draft of the constitution is the essential point" of the document. It "allows a multi-party system as opposed to the Baath party being the leading party of the society and the state as stipulated in the current constitution." The Baath party rules Syria.

That's a laugh, considering that his brutal crackdown continues and the death and misery his loyalists are inflicting on civilians is growing with each passing day.

Rebel forces claim to have repulsed attacks in some areas, though Assad's forces are continuing their assaults against Homs, Hama, and even Damascus suburbs. At the same time, France is continuing to lead diplomatic efforts to isolate Syria and to take more concrete actions against the Assad regime at the United Nations along with the Arab League. They're circulating an amended draft resolution at the Security Council while the Arab League is moving ahead with a non-binding measure in the General Assembly. Russia and China continue to back Syria's ongoing actions by and through their veto on the Security Council.

Complicating matters further is reports that defectors keep coming forward with stories of brutality, and some are even claiming that Assad's forces are using chemical weapons to improve their chances of pacifying cities such as Hama and Homs. That's a possibility, but thus far we haven't seen photos or video of any victims who have succumbed to such weapons.

We know what use of chemical weapons looks like and what it can do to victims who are ill-prepared to deal with chemical weapons and nerve agents. Mustard gas and VX or GB all do tremendous damage to the nervous system and respiratory systems. Indeed, when Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons during the Anfal campaign to eliminate opposition, photos were taken of the victims.

Still, the US and others are watching known Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles and locations for activity, although that is generally in terms of preventing proliferation of such weapons and man-launched anti-aircraft weapons. If such weapons were being used against civilian populations, the US eyes-in-the-skies would likely see unusual activity at monitored sites though there is the possibility that Syria's military has undisclosed locations from which it can draw such weapons.

UPDATE:
If the claims by defecting soldiers that chemical weapons are indeed being used, then the pressure for the United Nations to act increases significantly because Assad would then be in violation of the Geneva Conventions, The Rome Statute (establishing the ICC and provides for crimes against humanity and war crimes), Chemical Weapons Conventions although Syria is not a signatory to the CWC.

US Passes Milestone In Destroying Chemical Weapons, But Challenges Remain

Yesterday, reports announced that the US Army had destroyed one of its largest stockpiles of chemical weapons at the Deseret Chemical Facility in Tooele, Utah. More than $3 billion had been spent dismantling and destroying the chemical weapons, the munitions, and storage facilities holding the weapons in Tooele.

The end of a 15-year project came anti-climactically yesterday afternoon — a worker, wearing coveralls and a gas mask, laid thick mats on top of 23 mustard gas mortars as they came out of an incinerator, stopping any errant gasses from escaping while they cooled.

And just like that, the mission of Deseret Chemical Depot was, for all intents and purposes, over.

The last of more than 1 million munitions was incinerated to the standards of the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international treaty that set a deadline of April 29 of this year for all chemical weapons stockpiles to be destroyed. Since its establishment in 1942, DCD has undergone various stages of destroying the stockpile, but this latest, most earnest effort began in 1996 when the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, or TOCDF, was constructed in anticipation and fulfillment of the 1997 treaty.

“Reaching this milestone is surely a credit to the five generations of dedicated workers, the support of the community and the resolve of our nation to destroy these weapons,” said Col. Mark Pomeroy, commander of DCD.

DCD was originally named Deseret Chemical Warfare Depot upon its 1942 selection as a chemical depot. In 1962, the site was realigned under Tooele Army Depot and named the Tooele Army Depot South Area, a designation that stuck until the installation was renamed Deseret Chemical Depot in 1996. In 1979, while still under Tooele Army Depot, the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System, or CAMDS, began operations. The disposal techniques demonstrated at CAMDS are now in use at other chemical depots, but CAMDS itself will be decontaminated, dismantled and disposed of now that the mission is complete.

The destruction of the 13,616 tons of chemical agent have required workers to make more than 24,000 chemical deliveries from storage areas of the installation to disposal and demolition facilities — all of which were conducted safely. Ted Ryba, site project manager for TOCDF, said making all operations at DCD as safe as possible was a chief goal for the project.

“Safety has been a priority for the TOCDF team since the beginning,” he said. “Safety of our workers, the surrounding community and the environment.”

The schedule for destroying the different types of chemical agents in the original stockpile is one example of the group’s focus on safety, he said. The nerve agents GB and VX were destroyed first, making the remainder of the stockpile far less of a threat.

Yet, that still leaves 10% of the declared US stockpile remaining.

Smaller stockpiles of chemical weapons are scattered at several other sites around the country, and while international treaties required the destruction by the end of April 2012, the US will miss the deadline. The US military believes that it might take until 2021 before it can declare itself to have destroyed all of its chemical weapons, munitions, precursor chemicals, and related items.

Part of the reason is the difficulty in building a facility to safely dismantle the chemical weapons, some of which date back to World War I and are in an extremely fragile state.

The US has been destroying and dismantling its chemical weapons inventory since 1986, when a pilot plant was built at Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to decommission and destroy chemical weapons. That facility shut down in 2000 after destroying 6.6% of the US stockpile.

The facilities have to deal with a wide range of chemical weapons, munitions, and containment conditions, which makes the disposal and decontamination process all the more complex. One such location with chemical weapons awaiting destruction is Pueblo, Colorado, where the military will neutralize and biotreat the weapons to destroy the Pueblo chemical weapons stockpile. The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP), is currently under construction near the storage site.

The US isn't alone. Russia, whose stockpiles were far larger than the American weapons caches, has nearly 50% of its weapons yet to be destroyed. They're in a far more precarious state as well, and would likely need decades to complete the decommissioning and destruction of the weapons.

Libya was supposed to have destroyed all of its declared weapons, but technical problems and the civil war that led to the regime of Mumar Khadafi being toppled derailed the effort. Monitors have since returned to Libya and found that Khadafi had undeclared stockpiles of weapons, which will have to be secured and dismantled as well. As with the US, Libya will have to submit a plan and timetable for dismantling the weapons.

Turkish Military Using Chemical Weapons On Kurds?

The German paper Der Spiegel is reporting that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against the Kurdish group PKK in an incident dating back to September 2009.

German experts have confirmed the authenticity of photographs that purport to show PKK fighters killed by chemical weapons. The evidence puts increasing pressure on the Turkish government, which has long been suspected of using such weapons against Kurdish rebels. German politicians are demanding an investigation.

It would be difficult to exceed the horror shown in the photos, which feature burned, maimed and scorched body parts. The victims are scarcely even recognizable as human beings. Turkish-Kurdish human rights activists believe the people in the photos are eight members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) underground movement, who are thought to have been killed in September 2009.

In March, the activists gave the photos to a German human rights delegation comprised of Turkey experts, journalists and politicians from the far-left Left Party, as SPIEGEL reported at the end of July. Now Hans Baumann, a German expert on photo forgeries has confirmed the authenticity of the photos, and a forensics report released by the Hamburg University Hospital has backed the initial suspicion, saying that it is highly probable that the eight Kurds died "due to the use of chemical substances."

Did the Turkish army in fact use chemical weapons and, by doing so, violate the Chemical Weapons Convention it had ratified?

The Turkish military refuses to comment on the issue, although Turkish human rights groups have been demanding answers. This is the same Turkish government that demands that the world hold Israel accountable for Israel's sovereign right to defend itself against terrorists and those who support terrorists by attempting to run through Israel's blockade of Gaza.

This is the same Turkish government that doesn't think that human rights laws apply to themselves. It's a continuing saga of doublespeak and double talk.

Afghan Girls Again Targeted With Chemical Weapon Attack

Terrorists have again targeted girls seeking an education in Afghanistan with some kind of gas agent that sent dozens to the hospital with breathing problems.

About 50 Afghan schoolgirls became ill and were taken to hospital after a suspected gas poisoning in their school in southwestern Afghanistan, officials said on Saturday, the latest in a spate of similar incidents.

The teenage girls fell ill and some became unconscious after smelling gas at their school in Ghazni, a two-hour drive south of the capital, Kabul, said senior provincial police official Nawroz Ali Mahmoodzada.

"It is again the same kind of attack to discourage girls from attending schools," Nawroz Ali Mahmoodzada told Reuters.
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"It is very disturbing. We have not yet found any clues to say where this substance is from or who is behind it," he said.

Safiullah, a doctor in Ghazni's central hospital, said most of the girls were treated and discharged. Others were still under medical care, he said. Mahmoodzada said none had died.

Saturday's incident followed a similar pattern to other attacks at girls' schools involving an airborne substance which officials say could be poisonous gas.

The Taliban refuse to let girls get educated, and efforts to dissuade such education have included intimidation, numerous gas attacks, and even arson.

Despite the repeated attacks, the Afghan girls keep going to school. There is hope yet that these girls can get an education and help improve the social and economic situation in the country.

Iraqis Execute Chemical Ali For Crimes Against Humanity

Good riddance to bad rubbish. Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is much better known as Chemical Ali, was one of Saddam Hussein's top henchmen and was convicted of using chemical weapons and crimes against humanity during the Anfal campaign. The Anfal campaign involved the systematic attack against dozens of Kurdish villages and resulted in the murder of thousands of Kurds in Halabja. In fact, the total number killed in Chemical Ali's campaign ranges from a low of 100,000 to 150,000 with a similar number of widows and orphans.

In fact, Chemical Ali was executed after a fifth death sentence was handed down. His barbarism has been well documented, but it bears repeating:

Ali Hassan received five death sentences for genocide, crimes against humanity (specifically willful killing, forced disappearances and extermination), and war crimes (intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population). He was also sentenced to multiple prison terms ranging from seven years to life for other inhumane acts.[18] As his sentences have been upheld, under Iraqi law, sentence is to be carried out by hanging, subject to the convictions being upheld following an automatic appeal, and he was to be executed in the following 30 days along with two others - Sultan Hashem Ahmed, military commander of the Anfal campaign; and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, deputy general commander of the Iraqi armed force, assistant chief of staff for military operations, and former Republican Guard commander. The executions, however, were postponed to 16 October, because of the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan.[19] He was supposed to be executed 16 October 2007, but was delayed when Iraqi President Jalal Talabani expressed opposition to the sentences and refused to sign the execution orders.[20] He then entered into a legal row with Nouri al-Maliki, and as a result the Americans refused to hand any of the condemned prisoners over until the issue was resolved.

In the same year his sister-in-law and her daughter were killed by unknown men in Tikrit. In February 2008 an anonymous informant has stated that Ali Hassan al-Majid's execution has finally been approved by President Talabani and the two Vice-Presidents: this was the final hurdle in the way of the execution.[21]

On 2 December 2008, Chemical Ali was once again sentenced to death, but this time for playing a role in killing between 20,000 and 100,000 Shi'ite Muslims during the revolt in southern Iraq that followed the 1991 Persian Gulf War.[22]

On 2 March 2009, al-Majid was sentenced to death for the third time, this for the assassination of Grand-Ayatollah Mohammad al-Sadr in 1999.[23]

The Iraqi Cabinet put pressure on the Presidential council on 17 March 2009 for Al-Majid's "execution".[24]

The situation was similar on Sunday 17th January 2010 prior to 9am (GMT); a fourth death penalty was issued against him in response to his acts of genocide against Kurds in the 1980s. Additionally he was also convicted of killing Shia Muslims in 1991 and 1999. Along -side him in the trial was former defence minister Sultan Hashem, also found guilty by The Iraqi High Tribunal for the Halabja attack sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. The execution was carried out on 25 January 2010.[2]

Syria's Chemical Weapons Problem and Ours

Jane's Defense Weekly, a highly respected military affairs center, has reported that Syria is furiously working to build a chemical weapons plant. As per the Jane's report:

Satellite images from several commercial sources gathered from 2005 to 2008 have shed light on activity at the chemical weapons facility identified as Al Safir in northwest Syria. Imagery obtained by DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite indicates that the site contains not only a number of the defining features of a chemical weapons facility, but that significant levels of construction have taken place at the facility's production plant and adjacent missile base.

Image: A newly constructed possible missile loading building at the adjacent missile support facility.

View Larger Map

That's a map of the general location in question and is believed to be a command and control facility and the missile testing grounds. The chemical weapons facility is just to the northwest. This is an area Syria uses to test its Scud missiles, so the development of chemical weapons facilities next door brings ominous signs. Syria is believed to have three locations dedicated to developing chemical weapons, including near Damascus, Hama, and Safira (the facility in question).

That comes just a day after Syria's Bashar Assad stated that he wanted President Obama to consider doing business with Syria and to let go of its ties to Israel in the name of peace. The AP phrases this as Assad seeking better relations with the US, including reposting an ambassador and full diplomatic relations, but ignores that Assad wants the US to hang Israel out to dry. What exactly does the US get out of this? US Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) was in Syria to hear the latest spewage from Assad, and I doubt he asked any tough questions about Syria's support for Hamas and Hizbullah, including the provision of comfortable residences in Damascus where Hamas and Hizbullah thugs can sip tea and take visitors such as Iranian officials to discuss their war aims against Israel and the West, or the longtime support for the insurgency in Iraq that resulted in dead Americans.

Where's the mutual respect? There isn't any. Syria sees the incoming administration as weak and one that can be bullied and engage in appeasement rather than stand for freedom, liberty, and standing against those regimes that perpetuate terrorism.

Syria may want people to believe that he's a moderate state and open to negotiation, but the fact is that he supports and condones Islamic terrorism and jihad, and such support may lead to his own downfall as the Islamists grow tired of his inability to seal the deal.

Our problem is that the Obama administration looks like they're going to engage in appeasement rather than stand firm against these regimes, and the dictators are rushing to press forward with their agendas, including expanding their chemical weapons and missile development programs. They're busy testing Obama, and he isn't even in office six months.

Why The Delay?

There are numerous reports today that people working at the UN discovered vials of phosgene gas while cleaning the offices of UNMOVIC. The workers, members of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, were wrapping up operations in their offices, when they came across a number of vials, which turned out to be phosgene suspended in oil.

Phosgene is a choking agent and is properly considered a chemical weapon, not a nerve agent as the ABC News story reported. That's a minor quibble that should have been corrected pre-publication with a quick Google search or simply perusing the FAS.org website for details.

However, it is troubling that the media reports, based on UN press releases, suggest that UNMOVIC discovered these items on August 24, and the UN didn't identify the items until yesterday:

"On Friday 24th August 2007 in archiving UNSCOM files, UNMOVI staff discovered two small plastic packages with metal and glass containers (ranging in size from small vials to tubes the length of a pen) with unknown liquid substances. The archives are located at the UNMOVIC headquarters, 866 East 48th Street, 3rd and 6th floors.

"An initial investigation has revealed that these items were recovered from a former Iraqi chemical weapons facility, al Muthamma, by UNSCOM inspectors in 1996.

"It was only on 29 August, however, that the inspection report containing an inventory of the items was recovered. The inventory shows that one of the items may contain phosgene (COCL2) suspended in oil -- an old generation chemical warfare agent. The inventory also indicated that the other package contains Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) reference standards in sealed glass tubes. These standards are used to calibrate chemical analytical equipment.

"UNMOVIC has confirmed that normally such items would have been transported directly to appropriately equipped laboratories for analysis and not sent to UNSCOM/ UNMOVIC headquarters in New York. In the past, UNSCOM chemical samples were sent via military transport directly to Edgewood labs."

Why was there a delay in informing federal, city, and state officials? The UN says that no one was in any danger (unless the vials were dropped), and no evacuations were required. That's comforting.

UPDATE:
The vials were there since 1996 - 11 years.

Al Qaeda's Chemical Weapons Campaign

These aren't the kind of chemical weapons that the West was most worried about when the 2003 invasion of Iraq took place, but the use of very common and easily accessible chemicals that, when inhaled, cause suffocation, burns, and death. The latest attack using chlorine gas killed 15. Bill Roggio has more:

“The attack began at 6:33 a.m. with mortar fire, followed by two truck bombs and small arms fire. Iraqi Police identified the first suicide attacker and fired on the truck, causing it to detonate before reaching the compound,” according to the Multinational Forces West press release. “Iraqi Army soldiers spotted the second suicide truck approaching the gate and engaged it with small arms fire, causing it to also detonate near the entrance of the compound.”

Fifteen Iraqi soldiers, police and U.S. advisers stationed at the government center were injured in the blast, while “numerous Iraqi Soldiers and Policemen are being treated for symptoms such as labored breathing, nausea, skin irritation and vomiting that are synonymous with chlorine inhalation.”

This is the sixth successful chlorine gas suicide attack in Anbar province this year. Two other trucks laden with explosives and chlorine gas were seized in Ramadi, one just last evening. It is possible last evening's captured chlorine bomb was to be used in a coordinated attack, as al Qaeda conducted a near simultaneous chlorine attack in Ramadi, Fallujah and Amiriya on March 17.

The terrorists are using chlorine as a way to expand the effects of their bombing and the results are that such attacks are proving to be far more deadly and injurious than if they simply used just explosives.

It is a worrisome trend, and the jihadis don't seem to have a problem using chemical weapons on other Muslims - who happen to be the vast majority of those injured or killed in these incidents. The terrorists are using the chemical weapons as part of an offensive against the local government in an attempt to roll back the gains made by coalition forces and the Iraqi government in the area since last year.

So, how does the US and Iraqi forces stop these attacks? Interdicting the source of the gas may be the best manner, but many chemical and industrial processes require chlorine, so it is a huge job. Going after the terrorists is the other way, but it is just as difficult. In the meantime, US forces are being told to carry around their chemical weapons gear just in case of an attack so that they do not suffer the effects of chlorine gas inhalation.

Senate Democrat Fecklessness Continues

The Democrats continue their efforts to undermine the war effort in Iraq by micromanaging every aspect. They think that this is the path to victory? Can any of these luminaries point to a single military victory that was possible by the politicians in the rear dictating strategies or limiting manpower?

Senate officials said Thursday that the proposal now being drafted would be a new turn in their attempts to force the White House to halt its troop buildup in Baghdad. They described it as more substantive than the nonbinding resolution of opposition to the increase that stalled in the Senate last Saturday.

The officials would speak only if not identified because the central proposal was still being drafted and needs to be presented to all Senate Democrats when they return from a weeklong recess next Tuesday.

They said the proposal was intended to essentially overturn the 2002 resolution granting Mr. Bush the authority to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and limit the military to combating Al Qaeda in Iraq, keeping Iraq from becoming a haven for terrorists and training Iraqi forces. The proposal’s goal, officials said, would be to allow combat forces not engaged in those duties to be removed from Iraq next year.

The chief authors are Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The plan is to try to attach the proposal to an antiterrorism bill the Senate expects to begin considering Tuesday.

Biden is running for President so this has to be seen in the context of trying to outfox his competition. Problem is, all the Democrats are pushing even further to the left to gain a domestic political advantage, leaving the troops and national security out to dry.

The Democrats in Congress are proposing a losing strategy - both in terms of what it will do to US interests around the world, and to the long term national security.

Not a single Senator who supports this nonsense can defend it on grounds of national security. Not a single one. How does limiting the President's capabilities as commander in chief improve national security? How does limiting the military's capabilities to send reinforcements as it deems necessary to complete its mission improve chances for victory? It does not.

Yet, Democrat after leftist Democrat will claim that bringing the troops home is their top priority and so is restoring America's image abroad. Sorry, neither of those actually improves national security. Cutting and running undermines our image abroad and gives a cheap victory to the likes of al Qaeda who have stated all along that they will prevail simply by outlasting the short attention span theater that is the US polity. Allies will be more hesitant to engage in long range military operations, even when their national security is at stake because they will fear having the rug pulled out from under them.

Bringing the troops home before the job is done will only pave the way to even greater human rights atrocities.

It is always curious how the left will claim that the US should do more to stop the carnage in Darfur or other hellholes around the world, and yet ignore the hellish nightmare that Saddam Hussein inflicted on the region and was put to an end with the US invasion. Are not the hundreds of thousands killed by Saddam during his murderous reign the same as the hundreds of thousands killed in Darfur or Rwanda or Congo? The human rights abuses were there - well documented and available for all the world to note. Iraq used chemical weapons in its ethnic cleansing and genocidal Anfal campaign, yet that doesn't require military intervention?

Yes, there is still carnage going on in Iraq - some of it by the Ba'athist remnants, some by al Qaeda, and some by Shi'a insurgents and with the support of Iran and Syria. Leaving now will only create the fertile grounds for yet another killing field that will make Cambodia seem like a walk in the park. Denying al Qaeda the ability to maintain safe harbor in Iraq should be a priority, and yet withdrawing US troops would undermine that capability.

That is the future that the Democrats have in store should their efforts come to fruition.

UPDATE:
Others posting on the Democrats and their careless and relentless disregard for the Constitution and undermining the war effort for purely partisan political gain: Macranger, Decision 08, Sister Toldjah, Rick Moran, and Wizbang.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, 123beta, Adam's Blog, basil's blog, Shadowscope, Cao's Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Phastidio.net, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The Uncooperative Blogger ®, stikNstein... has no mercy, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Passing Shots

Mugabe in Zimbabwe is continuing to act like dictators always do: he basically tells Zimbabweans to eat cake while he and his minions party like it's 1999. Oh, and did I mention that he's taking a cut from everyone's wages to pay for his party?

Police in Zimbabwe imposed a three-month ban on political rallies and demonstrations across large parts of Harare today as Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, celebrated his 83rd birthday.

The blanket ban, announced in state-controlled newspapers, came as supporters of the hardline President prepared a lavish cake-and-fizzy-drinks birthday party in the central city of Gweru, to be held on Saturday to mark…

The party has been deducting money from civil servants’ wages and bullying near-bankrupt businesses for donations to raise the 300 million Zimbabwean dollars (about £30,000 at real exchange rates) to pay for the celebration on Saturday. In attendance will be the 21st of February Movement, an organisation of children established with the sole purpose of gathering on this day each year to pay homage.

Iraqi insurgents detonated the third bomb attached to a chlorine gas canister in recent weeks. They're trying to cause a mass casualty incident with a chemical weapon. The insurgents are trying to escalate the violence to a level beyond the carnage that they already have been able to inflict with conventional weapons alone. Where are the Muslims calling for an end to this carnage? After all, the insurgents are targeting other Muslims. The silence is deafening.

Somalia will get a contingent of African Union troops, which will be followed by UN peacekeepers in the near future. All the same, the threat posed by the Islamists remains.

Don Surber thinks that the Brits may show the way to win in Iraq. The handover of Basra means that the British task in Southern Iraq may be coming to a close. This means that they've accomplished what they set out to do. Considering that the level of violence there was never anywhere close to the violence in the Baghdad/Anbar region, the Brits were able to focus on other aspects of rebuilding besides security. The situation facing US forces in and around Baghdad and Anbar is far more complicated than what the Brits have dealt with. This isn't to minimize what the Brits did, but puts it into context.

Tom Maguire has more on the Libby trial now that the case has gone to the jury to deliberate.

This is just horrific - an honor killing in the UK.

Reaction Pours In On Saddam's Death

A new dawn rises over Baghdad and it is the first one in recent Iraqi history where Saddam Hussein was not alive to see it. His hanging was justice delayed for the hundreds of thousands of people harmed by his actions - murder, rape, ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes including the use of chemical weapons, and support for terrorism around the world.

Thus far, there is no curfew in Baghdad.

Ed Morrissey live blogged the event.

Hundreds of Iraqis protested the death in Saddam's home town of Tikrit, but compare that to the celebrations elsewhere in Iraq and around the world. Indeed, the majority of people recognize that Saddam was a tyrant who not only ruined Iraq but caused such grief and misery for millions through his actions.

The next issue will be the disposition of the body. The Tikritis are calling for his body to be turned over to his family. The US and Iraqis appear leaning towards burying him in a secret location.

The Vancouver Sun headlines that the Butcher of Baghdad is dead. The Guardian says that witnesses thought that Saddam was a broken man. Newsweek notes that he was afraid. That compares with other reports saying that he was defiant until the end. People are going to see what they want to see in all this.

World leaders and selected experts weighed in:

US PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH:

Bringing Saddam Hussein to justice will not end the violence in Iraq, but it is an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself.

FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTRY:

France, which advocates like all its European partners the universal abolition of the death penalty, takes note of Saddam Hussein's execution.

That decision belongs to the Iraqi people and to the Iraqi sovereign authorities.

France calls on to all Iraqis to look forward and to work for reconciliation and national unity.

More than ever the aim must be a return to the full sovereignty and stability of Iraq.

AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER:

The people of Iraq now know that their brutal dictator will never come back to lead them.

While many will continue to grieve over their personal loss under his rule, his death marks an important step in consigning his tyrannical regime to the judgment of history and pursuing a process of reconciliation now and in the future.

US DEMOCRATIC SENATOR JOSEPH BIDEN, INCOMING CHAIR OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE:

Iraq has closed one of the darkest chapters in its history and rid the world of a tyrant.

Every effort was made to afford Saddam the judicial rights he denied to the 148 innocent victims of Dujail and to hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis during his brutal reign.

I hope that the families of his many victims can now begin the healing process.

BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY MARGARET BECKETT:

I welcome the fact that Saddam Hussein has been tried by an Iraqi court for at least some of the appalling crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.

He has now been held to account.

RICHARD DICKER, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:

The test of a government's commitment to human rights is measured by the way it treats its worst offenders ... History will judge the deeply flawed Dujail trial and this execution harshly.

LARRY COX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA:

The rushed execution of Saddam Hussein is simply wrong. It signifies justice denied for countless victims who endured unspeakable suffering during his regime, and now have been denied their right to see justice served.

TOMOHIKO TANIGUCHI, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY OF JAPAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY:

We have acknowledged that the judgment has been made according to due process and pay respect to the legal procedures that the Iraqi government has taken.

That said, what is most important in our view is to make this sentence not a new source of conflict but of reconciliation between the Iraqi people.

INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRANAB MUKHERJEE:

We had already expressed the hope that the execution would not be carried out.

We are disappointed that it has been.

We hope that this unfortunate event will not affect the process of reconciliation, restoration of peace and normalcy in Iraq.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR CHARLES LIPSON:

This will be a public accounting for the crimes that he and his regime undertook systematically over many years, but sadly it won't do much, I think, to set Iraq on a path to stability.

The nature of the internal divisions are too deep. Saddam's execution won't be able to set right the problems that we allowed to take root.

SETH JONES, POLITICAL SCIENTIST/TERRORISM EXPERT:

This means very little in the long run for the level of violence over there.

I expect this will trigger some revenge killings.

But the insurgency has been caused by so many factors I don't think this will have any meaningful impact over the long term.

LIAQAT BALUCH, A LEADER OF PAKISTAN'S SIX-PARTY OPPOSITION ALLIANCE OF CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS PARTIES:

This will further increase hatred of America. No one liked or supported Saddam Hussein here but the way he was tried was improper and unjust.

Saddam was a bad guy and he had to be tried for his crimes but not that way.

America is trying to divide Iraq on sectarian lines. U.S. forces are brutally killing civilians there.

BRAZIL FOREIGN MINISTRY:

(Brazil) does not believe carrying out this sentence will contribute to bringing peace to Iraq.

The Boston Globe thinks that this plants the seeds of future strife.

The Washington Post combines Saddam's death with a car bombing in Kufa that killed 30+.

The last moments of Saddam were captured on video.

So what were Saddam's last words? His lawyers released his last written statement, but his final words before his execution were:

Palestine is Arab

To the end, Saddam sided with terrorism. And the Palestinians played to form as well - mourning his death because Saddam tossed money at the Palestinian suicide bombers.

JammieWearingFool has a good roundup of reactions as does Pajamas Media. Memeorandum has a monster wrapup on reactions.

Ed Driscoll notes Drudge's unusual use of two sirens relaying the story.

Others blogging and noting media reaction: Webloggin, Florida Masochist (who wont be watching the execution), Clarity and Resolve, Dr Sanity (who notes the cheering in heaven), Sensible Mom, Hot Air, QandO and Michelle Malkin.

Technorati: saddam hussein, saddam's death, iraq, kurds, dujail, shiites, bush, capital punishment, justice.

What's the Rush?

The New York Times thinks that there's a rush to execute Saddam Hussein - carrying out the sentence handed down by the Iraqi tribunal that determined he was guilty of murdering 148 people at Dujail.

It's been about three years since Saddam was captured by US forces. Saddam has not only faced a trial for crimes committed while he was the thug-in-charge in Iraq, but had an appeal heard (and denied). That's a legal process he denied his victims.

The real question is whether justice is delayed or denied by executing Saddam before the other trials for his crimes and whether the political considerations of waiting before the largest of the trials - the Anfal campaign trial - is brought to a close before carrying out the death sentence.

The Times writes:

What really mattered was whether an Iraq freed from his death grip could hold him accountable in a way that nurtured hope for a better future. A carefully conducted, scrupulously fair trial could have helped undo some of the damage inflicted by his rule. It could have set a precedent for the rule of law in a country scarred by decades of arbitrary vindictiveness. It could have fostered a new national unity in an Iraq long manipulated through its religious and ethnic divisions.

The Times seems to have quite a different take on what the criminal justice system is supposed to do. It is not about nurturing hope. It is about meting out justice and protecting society against those who have brought harm against it.

Yet, there may be good reason to delay the execution that has nothing to do with support or opposition to the death penalty.

It has to do with the enormity of the crimes that still remain to be heard.

Among the crimes awaiting or currently on the docket are the slaughter of more than 100,000 Kurds in the Anfal campaign. That bloody campaign included the use of chemical weapons, ethnic cleansing, and mass murder. There is good reason to delay the sentencing until after that trial is brought to conclusion.

There are good reasons to see that justice is carried out for the hundreds of thousands of Kurds who suffered at the hands of Saddam and his minions and this trial is potentially more significant than the trial just concluded due to the sheer number of people killed and affected by the Anfal campaign. The political dimensions of seeing that hundreds of thousands of Kurds are able to gain some measure of closure on that grisly chapter of their history should not be overlooked. It needs to be balanced with the operation of justice in the Dujail case.

Indeed, the US experience in dealing with crimes across multiple jurisdictions offers some guidance on what the Iraqi justice system should do. Consider the Beltway Sniper case, where the charges against John Allen Muhammad and Lee Malvo were brought in Virginia and Maryland for their murder spree around the Beltway.

The pair were first tried and convicted of murder in Virginia (where Muhammad now faces the death penalty and Malvo faces life in prison) but the pair were then extradited to Maryland where they were tried for their crimes in Maryland. The two will then be returned to Virginia for the carrying out of the sentences.

The Iraqi justice system could follow this model, by permitting the delay of the execution until after the Anfal trial is completed.

Yet, the Times is clearly siding with the likes of Ramsey Clark and others who think that the procedural difficulties were such that Saddam was not tried fairly. I disagree. Saddam was provided not only the opportunity to defend himself, but at times was able to use the trial as a podium from which to launch into tirades against the court, the US, and the Iraqi government that replaced his tyrannical rule. The tribunal operated under difficult circumstances, including assassinations and ongoing threats of physical violence, but managed to produce a just result.

It Shines for All thinks that Saddam should be sending thank you cards to the Times.

In the meantime, he remains in US custody. Saddam would have to be transferred to Iraqi custody in order for the sentence to be carried out.

Others commenting: Ed Morrissey and bRight and Early.

UPDATE:
An Iraqi judge has called for Saddam to be executed tomorrow. Saddam's lawyers say that he's been transferred to Iraqi custody, which is the final step before Saddam heads to the gallows.

UPDATE:
Dead at dawn? The execution is supposed to take place at 6AM Baghdad time or 10:00PM EST. Meanwhile, there is a report indicating that Saddam may be trying to get the US to block his execution. Good luck with that one.

Hussein's lawyers filed documents Friday afternoon asking for an emergency restraining order aimed at stopping the U.S. government from relinquishing custody of the condemned former Iraqi leader to Iraqi officials, a spokeswoman for a federal court in Washington D.C. said.

The documents were being processed and were not immediately made public. The Justice Department had not yet responded to the request.

A similar request by the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, was denied Thursday and is under appeal. Al-Bandar also faces execution. The Justice Department argued in that case that U.S. courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with the judicial process of another country.

Al-Bandar argued that his trial violated his rights under the U.S. Constitution but Justice countered that foreigners being tried in foreign courts are not protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Technorati: saddam hussein, iraq, kurds, dujail, shiites, bush, capital punishment, justice.

Saddam Takes "Credit" For Gassing Iranians...

... but denies that he gave the order to gas Kurds and Shi'ites inside Iraq:

Saddam Hussein said on Monday he would take responsibility "with honor" for any attacks on Iran using conventional or chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 war but he took issue with charges he ordered attacks on Iraqis.

The former president and six others are on trial for the Anfal -- Spoils of War -- military campaign against ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq in the 1980s in which prosecutors say up to 180,000 people were killed in gas attacks and mass executions.

"In relation to Iran, if any military or civil official claims that Saddam gave orders to use either conventional or special ammunition, which as explained is chemical, I will take responsibility with honor," Saddam told the court.

But he added: "I will discuss any act committed against our people and any Iraqi citizen, whether Arab or Kurdish. I don't accept any insult to my principles or to me personally."

Lawyers for Saddam, who faces the charge of genocide, have argued that Anfal was a legitimate military operation against Kurdish militias who sided with Iran in the war.

Even if Anfal was a legitimate military operation against Kurdish militias, the use of chemical weapons violated the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Iraq became a party to the Convention in 1931. Saddam and the Iraqi military utilized the euphemism "special munitions" to describe the use of chemical weapons, and there is documentation showing that the use of chemical weapons was thoroughly discussed with Saddam's knowledge:

The first document was a 1987 memo from Iraq's military intelligence seeking permission from the president's office to use mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin against Kurds.

A second document said in reply that Saddam had ordered military intelligence to study the possibility of a "sudden strike" using such weapons against Iranian and Kurdish forces.

An internal memo written by military intelligence confirmed it had received approval from the president's office for a strike using "special ammunition" and emphasized that no strike would be launched without first informing the president.

Among several more documents was one from the Army Chief of Staff reporting that an airstrike with special ammunition killed 31 Kurdish fighters and "communist agents" near Dohuk.

UNfulfilling

US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has submitted his letter of resignation to President Bush effective when his recess appointment expires. President Bush accepted the resignation. That's a big loss since Bolton has done more to advance the US interests in the UN than recent US ambassadors to the UN.

The ambassador position is not meant to advance the UN position in the US, but vice versa. Bolton understood this, and this meant tackling the issues of rampant corruption in the Secretariat and pushing for action on Darfur and other human rights crises. It meant standing up for the rights of our allies, including Israel that came under constant attack from Islamic terrorist groups, and the UN General Assembly instead sought to limit Israel's response. Bolton tried to deal with Darfur, and ran into roadblocks in the form of China and Russia. The same thing happened on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, which continues to proceed at full speed.

Secretary General Kofi Annan has avoided dealing with Darfur at all costs, refusing to acknowledge that yet another genocide occurred on his watch either as head of the peacekeeping operations or as Secretary General (that would make at least three by my count - Rwanda, Congo, and Darfur). Yet, he goes out of the way to claim that the situation in Iraq now is worse than at any time when Saddam Hussein was in power. Now, that's quite a stretch considering that Saddam is currently standing trial for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes relating to the 1987-1988 Anfal campaign where at least 180,000 Iraqis were slaughtered and Saddam employed chemical weapons.

Thankfully, Kofi's term will end soon enough. His last public appearance at the helm is set for December 19. It can't come a moment too soon. The world needs a serious break from Kofi's brand of human rights and peacekeeping. So do the millions of victims of the violence - including widespread confirmed cases of sexual harassment, rape, and prostitution that are all in violation of UN protocols. It also doesn't address the UNSCAM/Oil for Food scandal that siphoned billions of dollars from humanitarian aid that was meant for the Iraqis and instead ended up lining the pockets of some of those closest to Kofi including his son Kojo.

UPDATE:
As should be expected, quite a bit of blogging on the subject is going on today. Among those providing commentary and analysis - many of whom are discouraged by the Administration losing another casualty to the November elections: Macranger, Michelle Malkin, Texas Rainmaker, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Outside the Beltway.

The GOP simply didn't have the votes or the willpower to fight for Bolton's reappointment during the lame duck session, let alone in the new session in January when the GOP assumes minority party status in both the House and Senate.

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs was devastated by the news. She agrees that this was a huge loss for the US.

Stop the ACLU has a huge roundup of reaction.

Gateway Pundit knows who is benefiting the most from this: "Iran, Syria, Cubazuela, Sudan, Hezbollah, Libya, etc." Agreed. Dictators, tyrants, and thugs are going to benefit the most from the loss of a voice of reason and sanity at the UN.

UPDATE:
Still more reaction from the blogosphere on the Bolton resignation and who might replace him. George Mitchell's name keeps coming up in various discussions, and he'd probably sail through confirmation as he is a former Senator who's respected on both sides of the aisle. Rick Moran says we could do worse. Tis' true. We could. Harriet Miers is available of course.

Others blogging: memeorandum has a huge roundup of reaction from both sides of the 'sphere. Dan Riehl expresses his disgust at weak-willed GOPers and Democrats.

Poliblogger and American Mind wonders what is the big deal with Bolton's resignation. I think Bolton was very good at providing sound bites of the President's position far better than most everyone else in the Administration. He was a better spokesperson for the President that the President himself.

It's true that the writing was on the wall, but it still is a shock to many who thought that the Administration and GOP might go to bat for Bolton in one last gasp before the end of the lame duck session. That wasn't going to happen.

Of course, the resignation overshadows lots of UN related news - like North Korea being at the center of a reinsurance scam that has netted the cash strapped nation millions of dollars - where every dollar counts (whether they've counterfeited it or not). More importantly, the commentary by Kofi on the state of affairs in Iraq, which he believes is far worse than at any time when Saddam was in charge. As noted above, Kofi never saw a genocide that he couldn't ignore and Iraq is no exception. Inconvenient facts are ignored. Period. It would get in the way of his anti-US, anti-interventionist position that threatens so much of the world because failed states are terrorist-incubators that threaten regional stability (Middle East, South Asia, Africa), can inflict billions in damage around the world, and threaten with genocide all those who stand in the way.

Verdict's In: Saddam Gets Death

As I noted yesterday, there's no tree branch or street lamp high enough to hang Saddam for all of his crimes, let alone the ones for which he was convicted earlier today.

He was convicted of crimes against humanity for killing 148 Shi'ites. Two codefendants were also convicted of the crime. Nothing could change the fact that as of today, Saddam is a condemned man.

Now, he's not going to be hanged immediately. There are going to be appeals. There are also going to be additional war crimes/crimes against humanity cases against him. Specifically, Saddam needs to be tried for his ordering the Anfal campaign in which he used chemical weapons to deadly effect killing thousands of Kurds.

Shi'ites are cheering the verdict, but Sunnis are not so happy. That's as expected. Despite the clampdown on Baghdad, there was scattered violence and Shi'ites were celebrating by firing off their rockets.

CBS Morning News is doing its best this morning to smear the verdict and the process of the trial. Citing Amnesty International and Ramsey Clark is not going to cut it with me. Clark has not met a dictator he couldn't coddle. His anti-American views are in stark contrast to the millions of Iraqis who were wronged by Saddam. Amnesty International has politicized its views to such an extent that they're distorted on the issue of eliminating dictators who murdered hundreds of thousands of people, instead finding fault with those who depose such tyrants.

Pajamas Media has a roundup.

Others blogging this historic act: Stop the ACLU, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, and Gateway Pundit.

UPDATE:
As I noted in the initial posting, the media is spewing its own opinions about the trial and its legitimacy, but avoiding the facts and circumstances of the charges and evidence thereof. Patterico also notes the media carrying water for Saddam - ah, the joys of media bias.

Wait for it. The Political Pit Bull is expecting a whole bunch of "that's nice, but..." coming from the left as the verdict filters down through the masses.

Still others blogging: bRight and Early, Wizbang, Scared Monkeys, Jo's Cafe.

UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin has a big roundup. She points out the charging documents, and a day-by-day outline of the trial. The Anfal trial is ongoing.

Iraq the Model has the pulse of the streets of Baghdad.

Via PJ Media:

Saddam execution will not be delayed for new trials: Post-verdict court press conference by the Iraqi High Tribunal spokesman:

— The district attorney will not appeal the not guilty verdict for one of the defendants and will support his release for lack of evidence against him. I want to make clear what took place today

— Ramsay Clark submitted a memorandum to the court that were insulting to the court and the Iraqi people and so the court has decided to vacate him from the court and will complain about him to the American Bar Association for his statements regarding the Iraqi judicial system.

— Regarding the life and death sentences, an automatic appeals process will take place within 30 days starting tommorow and they can submit memorandums and motions to dismiss following proper procedures. And the court executive committee will examine and either confirm the ruling or overturning the ruling. If they are upheld, the executions will move ahead.

Well, we've always known that Clark was a disgrace, this is simply icing on the cake.

UPDATE:
So what does the UN think of all this? The UN is criticizing the sentence. Bastards. The Secretariat - and Kofi Annan - looked the other way as they were enriched from Saddam's OFF program contributions (aka bribes and corruption). And they have the audacity to criticize the Iraqis' enforcement of the rule of law? The UN HRC avoided the discussion of the hundreds of thousands killed by Saddam over the years, instead trying to focus on the damage done by sanctions.

They don't want to see Saddam hanged. And it speaks volumes.

The HRC hopes he isn't hanged, but will abide by the decision of the Iraqi people. Like the UN has any choice in the matter?

UPDATE:
Patterico takes the LAT to task on yet another op-ed piece masquerading as a news piece. Keep mocking the modicum of justice meted out by the Iraqi court for all the vile acts committed by Saddam Hussein over the past three decades. Media outlets simply do not care that they lace their news stories with their opinions. It is pervasive and it does no one any favors. To their credit, thus far the NYT and WaPo have kept the editorializing to a minimum within the basic news stories though I expect that the analyitical pieces will be forthcoming, so expect that to change as well.

UPDATE:
The EU doesn't want to see Saddam hanged either. Now, there's a strong current of opposition to the death penalty in Europe, and even the Vatican has come out opposing the death penalty in this instance. However, I think they're wrong. If there's ever a case where the death penalty is appropriate, this is the one.

UPDATE:
President Bush delivers his statement on the verdict:

THE PRESIDENT: Today, Saddam Hussein was convicted and sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal for the massacres committed by his regime in the town of Dujayl. Saddam Hussein's trial is a milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law -- it's a major achievement for Iraq's young democracy and its constitutional government.

During Saddam Hussein's trial, the court received evidence from 130 witnesses. The man who once struck fear in the hearts of Iraqis had to listen to free Iraqis recount the acts of torture and murder that he ordered against their families and against them. Today, the victims of this regime have received a measure of the justice which many thought would never come.

Saddam Hussein will have an automatic right to appeal his sentence; he will continue to receive the due process and the legal rights that he denied the Iraqi people. Iraq has a lot of work ahead as it builds its society that delivers equal justice and protects all its citizens. Yet history will record today's judgment as an important achievement on the path to a free and just and unified society.

The United States is proud to stand with the Iraqi people. We will continue to support Iraq's unity government as it works to bring peace to its great country. We appreciate the determination and bravery of the Iraqi security forces, who are stepping forward to defend their free nation. And we give our thanks to the men and women of America's Armed Forces, who have sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom in Iraq -- and they've sacrificed for the security of the United States. Without their courage and skill, today's verdict would not have happened. On behalf of the American people, I thank every American who wears the uniform, I thank their families -- and I thank them for their service and continued sacrifice.

Thank you very much.

Technorati: saddam hussein, iraq, war+crimes, bush, anfal, marsh arabs.

The Mystery of the Cory Lidle Plane Crash

Investigators are trying to piece together what happened to the plane that crashed into an Upper East Side building and that carried NY Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor.

The NYT has a good interactive graphic showing the flight path and the last minutes of the plane.

It is not known who was at the controls at the time of the crash, but this incident is sure to renew questions about how and where general aviation planes can fly in the NYC Metro area. This particlar area is especially busy as it skirts along the edge of the LGA approach and helicopters are often in the area covering traffic along the Harlem River/FDR Drive corridor.

Mayor Bloomberg seems to dismiss the idea that such small planes would be used by terrorists because of the relatively small amount of damage they can inflict, but I'm not quite convinced of that - a small plane packed with a couple hundred pounds of explosives or a chemical or biological agent could cause a tremendous amount of harm.

All that said, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those involved in what appears to be a tragic accident.

UPDATE:
CNN and other outlets are revealing the name of the instructor who died with Lidle on the plane. His name is Tyler Stanger.

New York police today identified the flight instructor who died in the plane crash with baseball pitcher Cory Lidle as Tyler Stanger. National Transportation Safety Board members investigating the crash say Lidle's pilot log book, a propeller and the engine have been found.

Finding key parts of the plane will help investigators figure out whether the plane suffered from a mechanical failure of some sort causing the crash.

Now, here's a suggestion that might improve future aircraft safety. Require all aircraft, not just the passenger jets, to carry flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders. Not only will that help investigators determine the causes of such crashes, but will help improve safety among the general aviation industry. It's an issue worth looking into.

For some additional perspective, take a gander at the monthly totals for accidents at the NTSB site - both fatal and nonfatal, and you'll notice that there are quite a few accidents, but not as many as happen on our roads. Accidents occur fairly regularly, but this particular incident happened to get people's attention because it occurred over the very densely populated NYC Metro area. The crash into a building is spectacular, but no less fatal than a collision with trees or other objects in the heartland.

UPDATE:
It didn't take long. Politicians are calling for a review of the flight paths in the NYC metro area.

Under current rules, small aircraft can fly without filing a flight plan along two low-altitude corridors over the East River and Hudson River at lower than 1,100 feet without air traffic control contact. Many lawmakers want that changed.


"The idea that a plane or helicopter can fly 100 or 200 feet over a building in Manhattan took many New Yorkers by surprise and as a matter of common sense it needs to be changed," said U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, calling for a permanent no-fly zone over Manhattan for small planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates aviation safety, said in a statement it would review with federal and local authorities its flight rules for New York City.

Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said preliminary evidence showed the SR20's engine was operating when it hit the building.

Investigators also said radar showed the plane flying north at 112 mph before entering a looping left turn at 700 feet to head back down the East River. The pilots would have needed FAA permission to continue northward into LaGuardia airport air space. The plane dropped to 500 feet midway through the turn, about a quarter-mile from impact.

Some politicans have differing ideas over the safety of the corridor on the East River and restricting flying in the NYC metro area:

Gov. George Pataki said Thursday that the Federal Aviation Administration "needs to take a much tougher line" about private, or general aviation, flights over the city.

However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a recreational pilot with decades of experience, said he believes the skies are safe under the current rules.

"We have very few accidents for an awful lot of traffic," he said. "Every time you have an automobile accident, you're not going to go and close the streets or prohibit people from driving."

Aviation officials have downplayed the potential threat posed by light aircraft, but FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown said in a written statement Thursday that the agency would review its guidelines for general aviation and flight restrictions as a result of the Lidle crash.

And an aviation industry representative said Wednesday's crash demonstrates that small private planes have little potential as terrorist weapons.

"Yesterday's accident caused no structural damage to the building struck," said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Small planes "are simply incapable of causing the kind of catastrophic damage that terrorists usually seek."

And there was a time when no one thought it possible that someone would fly jumbo jets into buildings to cause their collapse. Dancy ought to know better than to assume that terrorists would not try to exploit weaknesses in whatever capacity they could. Loading a plane full of explosives and/or chemical or biological agents could have the potential to wreak havoc just as surely as a jumbo jet.

A thorough review should be conducted, and improved flight guidelines should be implemented, including the idea of limiting those who are eligible to fly into the immediate vicinity of New York City to those who have over a certain amount of flying time. States already restrict drivers under a certain age from driving without another older driver in the vehicle and limits them to certain times of day (New York comes to mind). The same can and should be considered here.

Technorati: plane crash, nyc, ues, upper east side, bloomberg, belaire, cory lidle, tyler stanger, new york.

Saddam Hussein and the Associated Press

Among the hundreds of thousands of documents that were recovered from Iraq comes this one that has the makings of interesting dinner conversation at the offices of the Associated Press:

We were informed from one of our sources (the degree of trust in him is good) who works in the American Associated Press Agency [emphasis added] that the agency broadcasted to through computer to its branches worldwide the following:

1. The new agency for inspecting the Iraqi weapons (UNMOVIC) started on 11/7/2000 a training program for 4 weeks which includes historical, legal, administrative, and political subjects that are related to the weapons inspection in Iraq.

2. The training include lectures about the ballistic missiles and the biological and chemical weapons and the import and export of weapons in addition to a session in security arrangements prepared by the American government.

3. Hans Blix who head the new team mentioned that he will send a smaller team to Iraq in late August 2000 and the inspections operations will focus on choosing the locations that was under the control of the UNSCOM committee

4. The agency adds that Iraq prevented the old committee from returning to Iraq and that high Iraq officials said they will not accept new inspectors from the new committee but some other left the possibility of negotiations open.

5. The agency ends its article by saying that the sanctions against Iraq will not be lifted unless Iraq cooperate with the new inspectors and after it is decided that Iraq is free from weapons of mass destructions.

Please review and benefit with regards

Signature

15

M. SH.

24/7/2000

It is curious phrasing, and it does suggest that the Iraqis penetrated the AP. Who was this source at the AP? Was it a reporter? An editor? The next question is whether the AP reporting on Iraq was altered by this individual to provide a more positive spin on the Iraqi actions, and a corresponding negative spin on the US actions.

UPDATE:
Mark Tapscott also wonders about the identity of the person who was providing this information. He demands an investigation. I'd suggest the independent kind, since AP's customers deserve as much. I'm not just talking about the end-users but the newspapers, media outlets, and other reporters who use AP both as a source and distribution point. Ed Driscoll notes that Saddam was simply hedging his bets and had already made deals with CNN and Reuters has cozy relationship with various terror groups.

Also blogging: The Political Pit Bull.

Revisiting Qana

The indefatigable zombie, crusher of media memes, appears to have uncovered evidence that brings into question the Qana incident - not the 2006 variety, but the incident in 1996 that eerily parallels what happened earlier this month.

Back in 1996, the blogosphere was in its infancy and the ability to debunk these issues on the fly were quite limited. Now, the power of the Internet and high speed connnections lets folks download and distribute audio and video so that they examine the evidence in tandem with the written articles of the incident. As zombie writes at LGF:

The Ambulance Hoax is connected to the Qana bombing, and they are both exact parallels of the exact same thing that happened in the exact same places exactly ten years earlier.

In 1996, there was "an ambulance bombed by Israelis."

A week later, there was the first "Qana massacre."

In 2006, there was "an ambulance bombed by Israelis."

A week later, there was the second "Qana massacre."

We now know the second ambulance attack was a fake, and the second Qana attack was at least partly fake.

Were they copycats of the first incidents? Yes. But now I have video of the 1996 "ambulance attack." And can you guess? Yup! It's TOTALLY FAKE. And now I'm beginning to think that the first Qana massacre must have been fake too! But we didn't have the blogosphere back then to debunk it!

Now, the videos aren't nearly as high quality as the 2006 video, but the actions of those in the videos suggests that something might be afoot. Was the carnage exaggerated or even staged? It is certainly possible.

Zombie goes on to wonder how long this has been going on. I'd have to say for decades, but there's been no way to debunk memes before they get firmly implanted in the media and in the Islamic world where these lies are propagated and distributed.

The Palestinians and indeed others in the Middle East have been doing these very sorts of things for quite some time. Witness Adnan Hajj and his photo editing of photos. Witness Hizbullah intimidating and pressuring journalists who were operating in South Lebanon. Witness the Gaza beach incident, which Palestinians claimed a family at a beach outing were killed by Israeli artillery but those Palestinian casualties appear to have been inflicted by Palestinian terrorists. Also note that the Palestinians have repeatedly claimed that the Israelis have used mysterious chemical weapons to kill people, and yet a closer examination of these claims reveals that no such weapons were used at all.