"Wednesday, 20 November, 2002, 18:29 GMT In pictures: Desert firepower Just miles from Kuwait's border with Iraq, American combat troops have been taking part in live-fire exercises, putting battle tanks and attack helicopters through their paces as Washington keeps up its warnings to Saddam Hussein. Patriot missiles are once again preparing to defend US forces and their allies from Iraqi rocket attack."

658 Also posted to: warBlog . At: 11:31:39 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: BBC: Desert firepower

""One of my jobs is to be provocative," he said. "Seriously, to provoke people into - to force decisions, and to make sure it's clear in everybody's mind where we're headed." . Did he ever explain what he was doing? "Of course not," he said. "I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation." ."

So this is how democracy works. Sounds like he's a nutter, throwing wild remarks with no background, cognisance nor intellect. Everybody says he's of little brain.

657 Also posted to: warBlog . At: 11:01:54 PM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: IHT: Bush sets a course of 'confident action'

"al Qaeda's followers in the Saudi are becoming increasingly brazen. Of late, they have been seen in the streets of Riyadh in armed gangs...

And so it starts. Over the past few months everybody has been predicting that these unpopular kings, emirs, family dictators ships would be under attack from internal strife. And so it starts.

Saudi and Yemeni officers serving in the Qatari army had led a coup against the liberal emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Gulf sources also reported that US special forces troops, some in civilian clothes, had helped the emir subdue the revolt...

I haven't seen this reported anywhere, not even via al Jazeera channels so suspect it only rumour. But where there's smoke... And even so, the rumour has a smell of plausibility in it.

[al Jazeera] brings the Palestinian Intifada live into Arab living rooms which has the potential of triggering stormy demonstrations from Morocco to the Gulf, causing unrest in Cairo and Saudi cities...

It's certainly a powerful tool. If the CIA could start to feed it the correct stuff... There seems to be only one voice of freedom coming out of the area, one station, imagne if there were many.

[On al Jazeera] the Egyptian fundamentalist sheikh Yousef Qaradawi on one of its most popular programs 'The Sharia (Muslim ritual law) and Life' a two-hour show broadcast every Sunday. Qaradawi's message is regarded as the most blatant exposure enjoyed by Bin Laden's fundamentalist Wahhabi brand of Islam on any Arab platform. Qaradawi openly calls for a global jihad against the morally bankrupt, degenerate and corrupt West, which is moreover accused of waging a crusade against Islam. "

I'm sure the Muslim world needs, desires more information. We need to educate, inform, hope that we can show more. I hope they're open minded and we can do it without mass loss of life on both sides, but I fear the pandora's box is open. And there's every chance that I too, may die.

656 Also posted to: warBlog . At: 12:45:39 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: DEBKAfile - Al Jazeera is Pulled into Saudi Royal Squabble

"The huge amount of material which has now been gathered by the counter-terrorist services across Europe has also pointed to strong links between al-Qaeda and the Algerian terrorist groups the GIA (Armed Islamic Group) and the GSPC (Salafist Group for Call and Combat)."

655 Also posted to: warBlog . At: 12:17:05 AM  . .
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Other title(s) for this story: Times: Al-Qaeda cells spread across Europe