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 Friday, September 29, 2006 Swearing Jay Nordlinger of National Review online http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWFjNDIzMjNjMWI3MGRhZjAxNjgwZTY2ZTI3NTk2NTE=picked up on my mention, in my Spectator piece on the World Trade Center movie, of hearing my father swear the first time. It was August 1979 and he was at his drawing board in the attic when I went upstairs to tell him what I had heard on the radio. I was 13 years old. My mother hardly ever swears either, though it was around this time that I recall her telling our cat Tom to "piss off". I am afraid that I am not really in the non-cursing category. My wife blames it on my having spent too much time in the Navy. Swearing is much less acceptable in the United States than in UK and I am doing my best to reform my bad habits. In the US, when trying to achieve anything in a frustrating situation, resorting to swearing invariably means that the shutters come straight down (unlike in Israel where it is necessary to lose your temper every time you want to get a result). It often means that you have lost all sense of balance and reason, or that is certainly the impression you give. And Jay is right - if you don't swear very often then you maximise the impact when you do. #posted by Toby @ 4:14 AM Friday, September 15, 2006 Bill Clinton Interview  My piece on the interview http://www.tobyharnden.com/us_archive_2006.htm#16sep06 is running in this week's Spectator. It's already been picked up by the New York Times, London Times, Guardian and Mirror, which is gratifying. Thanks to Stephen Voss www.stephenvoss.com for this photograph of me intently scribbling down Clinton's every word. So what was Bill like in the flesh? Well, I have seen a few politicians close up in my time and no one comes close to Clinton - he's a natural, to borrow the title of Joe Klein's insightful book about him. After speaking for 12 minutes - a perfect blend of rallying the Democratic troops, sticking it to the Republicans, flattering the candidate (Mike Beebe, running for Arkansas governor) and self-justification - he spent nearly an hour just soaking up the love from his people. He took time to talk to anyone who wanted to talk to him (including me!) and created a little one-on-one zone with each interlocutor. Most politicians would have been irked at a cheeky British reporter turning up like that and peppering him with questions about the Labour leadership, Hillary and Iraq. But Clinton was supremely good-humoured. He answered everything pretty much directly and eloquently - he had clearly thought about the future after Blair (which I go into in the Spectator piece). At the end of the event I shook his hand (picture posted below) and he did what everyone says he does - looked me in the eye, asked my name, joked about a Brit being in Arkansas. He would not let go of my hand (I'd say he held the grip for 40-50 seconds - I was becoming uncomfortable because I needed to write down what he was saying). It is impossible not to be affected by that kind of schmoozing, which is why he is the ultimate retail politician. George W. Bush is also very good in small crowds - he too takes the time, builds connections with individuals and comes across as altogether more likeable, relaxed and quick-witted than he does in formal setting such as Oval Office addresses. I spent about 45 minutes with him on his campaign plane in July 2000 and found he certainly had a winning way with people. He is more understated than Clinton who has such an aura, force of personality and kind of verbose intelligence about him that it is almost overwhelming. #posted by Toby @ 3:39 PM Thursday, September 14, 2006 Iraqi Insurgent Darwin Awards Back in February last year, I wrote a piece for the Spectator about Lt Col Jim Stockmoe, a divisional intelligence office based in Tikrit, compiling a list of Darwin award nominations for hapless (and mostly dead) insurgents. http://www.tobyharnden.com/iraq_jan_march_2005.htm#05feb05 Col Stockmoe has just been promoted to full-bird colonel and is studying at the US War College. True to his word, he has supplied me with the final list of nominations: Iraqi Insurgent Darwin Awards During TF Danger's operations in Iraq in 2004-05, the following incidents were reported. While most of the insurgents in Iraq were lethal and tenacious, these particular insurgents made some egregious errors. The incidents occurred as stated, although the details such as names, dates, and units have been sanitized. Unfortunately several images were lost which showed the extent of the Darwin recipients' idiocy. - Jim Stockmoe/Former TF Danger G2 Unlucky #13 A patrol from the Qoria Iraqi Police was engaged by small arms fire in Kirkuk causing no damages or injuries. The passenger of a red Opal had exited a vehicle, engaged the patrol with a 9mm pistol, and then the driver fled in the vehicle leaving the passenger who was detained by the Iraqi Police. - ----------------------------- Darwin Award #12 A 32 year old Arab detainee attempted suicide at a Forward Operating Base detention facility by hanging himself with a scarf. When the guards took the scarf, he ran into the concertina wire. Medics treated his wounds. ------------------------- Darwin Award #11 Near Abayach in Diyala Province a US combat patrol en route to Forward Operating Base Warhorse spotted a suspicious vehicle sitting lower than normal near a checkpoint. The patrol searched the vehicle discovering 540 Million Dinars (about $500K), two AK47s with full magazines, documents and three identification cards that did not match the two occupants of the vehicle. The personnel were detained and taken to Forward Operating Base Gabe for questioning. Both individuals and the confiscated items were later turned over to the Iraqi Police. -------------------------- Darwin Award #10 Baghdad: A US Task Force reported the driver of a black Hyundai Galloper turbo wagon jumped out of his vehicle and ran away. The Iraqi Police and Iraqi Army searched the vehicle and found it was a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). Inside the vehicle were 19 x 122mm rounds, 3 x 105mm artillery rounds, 2 x detonators, a plunger switch and push button, 4 x 100 Lb. bags of TNT, 2 x aircraft bombs (OFAB 100 Kg. bomb and a US Mark-82 500lb guided bomb). Apparently the individual hit a pothole with the overloaded VBIED and broke the axle under the weight of the munitions. ------------------------ Darwin Award #9 In Baghdad Zone 26 three insurgents were setting up a mortar position. Two of the insurgents were firing the mortar (a bare tube with no legs or base plate). One insurgent was holding the tube while the second loaded the mortar round. Well, it exploded taking two of them out at the knees. It seems the mortar rounds and the tube were hidden and transported inside the engine compartment of the car, resulting in a hot mortar round cooking off in a hot mortar tube. The third insurgent ran to a neighboring house to get help placing his two brothers remains in the car in order to escape before coalition forces arrived. The Iraqi resident at the house brought his brothers to the scene and proceeded to beat the third uninjured insurgent severely. The Iraqi Army arrived on scene to provide additional security. A US unit arrived and detained the one living insurgent and proceeded to tactically question him. He admitted that he had Madhi Militia associations or contacts and that insurgents use the Baghdad aerostat as an aiming point for mortar fires (in this case, the aerostat could not be seen from the firing point). ----------------------------------------------- Darwin Award #8 A Federal Protection Service Agent reported that he heard an explosion outside his house. He went to investigate and found the body parts of an insurgent extremist outside his front gate. The extremist had an AK-47, explosives and a bicycle in his possession. His IED employment skills were apparently lacking. As he tried to emplace the IED in front of the FPS officer's house, well let's just say it didn't go as planned. The local police chief reported that the extremist was from a nearby village and notorious drunkard, working as a blacksmith in a welding shop in Muqdadiyah. --------------------------------- Darwin Award #7 The Iraqi Army reported an IED explosion on MSR TAMPA that killed two Iraqis in an automobile. The Iraqi Police and explosive ordnance personnel investigated and determined the two were emplacing an IED consisting of a 155 round, based on their blood found on the outside of the car. --------------------------- Darwin Award #6 Counterfeiters detained at a FOB with $360,000: 3 x Iraqis came to a forward operating base inquiring about detainees they claimed were their brothers. The detainees inquired about were injured the night before after attacking coalition forces in Bayji, and were then arrested at the Bayji hospital. Civil affairs soldiers told the 3 x Iraqis at the gate to come back on a specified date. The 3 x Iraqis came back on the agreed date and were detained as part of a counterfeiting ring funding activities in Fallujah. After detaining the 3 x men, the US Task Force searched their car and found $360,000 USD. ------------------------------ Darwin Award #5 A US Task Force in conjunction with Iraqi Army forces conducted a cordon and search against two unit high level targets. During the search, they detained 4 x individuals, and seized 4 x AKs, an SKS sniper rifle, a .22 rifle, 16 x magazines, 1000+ x rounds of ammunition, insurgent propaganda, and most significantly, a half disassembled mortar round. During the operation, the mother of one of the targets described how he died recently when his car blew up with him in it. The victim was a suspected IED maker. ---------------------------------- Darwin Award #4 A US Task Force reported they heard 2 x explosions, a minute later observing 3 x explosions next to a transportation convoy. After nearby IED detonations and receiving small arms fire a dispatched patrol observed the IED was command detonated, and looked to be daisy chained. There was a spool of wire left on the ground. They followed it out to the field and it led to an insurgent in a truck. The local was detained and a swipe test turned out positive for 3 x kinds of explosives. --------------------------------------- Darwin Award #3 An insurgent was riding his bike with an IED on it when it detonated blowing him and the bike up near Riyadh, causing no damage or injuries to coalition forces. The intended target was a nearby oil pipeline. Wonder if he was wearing a helmet? -------------------------------------- Darwin Award #2 A suicide bomber approached an Iraqi Army guard and began to make threats, telling him that he was wearing a suicide vest. The Iraqi soldier shot the individual, killing him and wounding his accomplice in the vehicle. While inspecting the vehicle they found 5 x 155mm artillery rounds. The wounded individual was taken to the hospital under guard. ------------------------------- Darwin Award #1 A homemade multiple rocket launcher launch in Baghdad resulted in the detonation of the nine tube launcher and 17 rockets after the launch arm collapsed and subsequently fired a rocket into the vehicle destroying it and killing two insurgents inside. #posted by Toby @ 1:43 PM Saturday, September 09, 2006 Meeting Bill Clinton  Just returned from Little Rock, Arkansas, where I met Bill Clinton - first piece on this to be published in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph. Picture by Stephen Voss, who worked with me on the story www.stephenvoss.com. #posted by Toby @ 1:00 AM Wednesday, September 06, 2006 Gerry Adams and Hamas Irish republicans should not underestimate the damage Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president and reputed IRA Army Council member, has done to their cause in the United States by going ahead with his "peace mission" to the occupied Palestinian territories. News of the visit was a Sunday Telegraph exclusive at the weekend (full article, as written, below). Somewhat surprisingly, the Israelis allowed him into the country. Perhaps they judged that there would be no damage because his contribution to the debate on the Middle East would be nothing more than the vapid musings and disingenuous comparisons between Northern Ireland and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that he has indeed trotted out. I have it on very good authority that Mitchell Reiss, the Bush administration's special envoy to Northern Ireland, is spitting blood that Mr Adams is talking to Hamas. Reiss, like his predecessor Richard Haass, another moderate Republican, happens to be Jewish. He lobbied Irish-American supporters of Sinn Fein on Capitol Hill in advance in a vain effort to get the Sinn Fein leader to re-think. Those supporters are, almost to a man, staunch backers of Israel. Clearly embarrassed, their silence on the issue has been deafening. In 2001, Mr Adams went to talk to Fidel Castro in Cuba. Two years earlier, IRA members were caught helping train Farc narco-terrorists in Colombia. Asked today what he would say to Hamas, Mr Adams offered: "The advice I would give (to Hamas) is the same to all the factions: stop all conflict, talk, respect each other's mandates and try to move forward. Whatever the difficulties of any solution there is a way to sort it out." Before we all hold hands and start singing kumbaya along with Mr Adams, perhaps we should remember that the IRA's links to Palestinian and other extremist groups in the Middle East are deep and long-standing. This is why insurgents in Iraq now kill British soldiers with infra-red activated bombs that are very similar to devices first used against British soldiers and the RUC in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s. The technology was used by Hezbollah and then honed in Iran, which backs and assists Shia insurgent groups in southern Iraq. Hamas, despite its electoral victory in January, still supports suicide bombings against civilians in Israel and is viewed in Washington as an opponent in the war on terror. The European Union also classifies it as a terrorist organisation, though it seems this may change if Hamas forms a Palestinian unity government with Fatah. Even leaving aside the issue of the morality of publicly meeting Hamas (thereby helping legitmise its actions), by going out of his way to associate with America's enemies Mr Adams displays that his primary interest is in playing at being an international statesman and showboating for domestic electoral gain. Rolling up his sleeves to deal with the policing issue or helping reinstate the assembly in Northern Ireland is a much lower priority - as is cultivating the US government or showing sensitivity to the congressional figures (Republicans and Democrats) who have supported him through thick and thin. The Sunday Telegraph - 3rd September 2006 US anger as Adams presses ahead with visit to Palestinian terror group By Toby Harnden in Washington GERRY ADAMS, the Sinn Fein president, is planning to travel to the occupied Palestinian territories to hold talks with Hamas this week despite a furious protest from the United States, which is determined to isolate the terrorist group. The visit is a major political risk for Mr Adams because many of his Irish-American allies on Capitol Hill are also staunch backers of Israel. Congressmen Peter King of New York and Chris Smith of New Jersey, normally vocal in their support, both declined to discuss the issue with The Sunday Telegraph. But the trip could give Sinn Fein an electoral boost in the Irish Republic, where pro-Palestinian sentiment runs high. Mr Adams is likely to argue that he is promoting peace and to capitalise on the European Union's announcement on Friday that Hamas could become a "credible partner" in negotiations. A US diplomat confirmed the meeting with Hamas had been arranged although a State Department spokesman would not make official comment. Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist, has carried out a campaign of suicide bombing against the Jewish state and continues to hold Cpl Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, captive after kidnapping him in June. It is listed as a terrorist group by the EU and US. Mr Adams intends to fly to Tel Aviv today(Mon) on his Irish passport and to enter Israel as a tourist. He has requested audiences with President Mahmoud Abbas, Yasser Arafat's moderate successor as Palestinian president, and Ismail Haniya, a Hamas leader who was elected Palestinian prime minister in January. Western diplomats said that Mitchell Reiss, President George W. Bush's Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, had told Mr Adams that the Bush administration strongly disapproved of the Hamas meeting and made it "crystal clear" it would set back Sinn Fein's attempts to resume raising funds in the US. Sinn Fein has been effectively banned from fundraising in America since last year following the involvement of IRA members in the murder of Robert McCartney in a Belfast bar and the pounds26.5 million Northern Bank robbery. Since then, the party's leaders have been issued only tourist visas to the US and denied work visas. They have lobbied, with British government support, for this sanction to be lifted. Western diplomats said their case for fundraising had been "deeply damaged" by the overture to Hamas. It was unclear last night whether Mr Adams would be allowed into Gaza, where Hamas has its headquarters, or the West Bank. Access to the occupied Palestinian territories is tightly controlled by Israeli forces. Israeli officials would not even guarantee that Mr Adams would be allowed through Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. Israel refuses to hold talks with any politicians who meet Hamas. "Our position regarding contact with Hamas is clear," said an Israeli official. "We cannot see how any good can come of this visit." In March, Mr Adams was detained at a New York airport and questioned after his name appeared on a terrorist watch list. There have been longstanding connections between the IRA and extremist Palestinian groups. MI5 believes that Mr Adams remains a member of the IRA's ruling Army Council. Western and Israeli intelligence officials assess that the IRA and Hezbollah have swapped bomb technology, most notably over the development of passive infra-red to trigger bombs, a technique now used by Iranian-backed insurgents in Iraq. Mr Reiss was said by one US-based source close to Northern Ireland negotiations to be "livid" about the Hamas visit. "The American view is that Adams is a hypocrite for refusing to move on the policing issue in Northern Ireland or to rejoin the assembly there while at the same time trying to pose as a peacemaker with terrorists from Hamas," said the source Hamas is currently negotiating with the Fatah party, which recognises Israel, to form a unity government in the Palestinian territories. Some British officials have expressed hopes that Hamas could embrace the political process in the same way Sinn Fein did in the 1990s. American officials have become increasingly frustrated with the Irish republican movement after the IRA engaged in training Farc narco-terrorists in Colombia seven years ago and Mr Adams visited Cuba to meet Fidel Castro in 2001. Sinn Fein's opposition to American planes refueling at Shannon airport en route to Iraq further alienated the Bush administration. In March, Mr Adams publicly criticised Mr Reiss. "I don't have high regards for Mitchell Reiss's input into this process," he said. "If it is he who is advising the president, it's very very bad advice." Mr Adams's decision to meet Hamas will leave relations between Sinn Fein and the White House at their lowest ebb since President Bill Clinton ignored British protests to grant the Sinn Fein president his first US visa in 1994. #posted by Toby @ 9:49 PM |
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