Posts by Rich of Observationz
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Well, that motivated me to fill in and mail the form.
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They are hopeful
Indeed.
... evidence of targeting plans, names and addresses of al-Qaida members, Bin Laden’s correspondence and his directives …
I know most of you can't imagine doing anything without using the latest cool Apple(TM) applications to stylishly fluff everything up, but these people are both security conscious *and* consider 632 to be the peak year of mankind's development. It's highly likely that they would have done that stuff verbally and on chalkboards.
the key thing will be what it reveals about al-Qaida’s relationship with Pakistan
You think they wrote that stuff down? One good reason for living next door to the ISI is that they could just pop in for a meeting whenever they wanted. Why would they document stuff that would clearly create big problems if found?
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Well, I guess you’d be surprised at how much intelligence can be gained from even the deleted sectors of those hard drives.
You really think they model their organisation on the New Zealand Defence Force or the Jupiter Mining Corporation? That there’ll be files full of minutes and memos from the ammunition purchasing subcommittee and the honours and ceremonials secretariat?
The way they appear to work from informed accounts, backed up by public events, is that Bin Laden was a spiritual leader and had negligible contact with any active operators. People placing bombs and ambushing troops do so largely by their own devices – they don’t get any logistical or tactical support from a central organisation, largely because they don’t need it.
So there’ll be no paper trail on a computer – just the normal detritus of life. (Of course, the Americans will probably arrest and torture his greengrocer, on the grounds that “mangos” is clearly a code for “grenades”).
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They just need an Order in Council under CERA to cancel the census, right?
Various countries such as Germany and Switzerland have moved away from a census and used sampling and official records instead. I'd guess this would work well in NZ where the baseline exit and entry numbers would be pretty accurate.
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That could potentially make quite a big difference
Yeah, all they have to do is find the file called SecretListOfAllTheWorldsTerrorists.doc and go nail the bad guys. Easy.
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I'd commend this article by Gary Brecher. (via Eddies post on The Standard).
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could we stop trying to put Al Quaeda on a “my body count is bigger than yours” league table? Vile and callous.
How was I putting them on a league table? I was just pointing out facts and asking how, given their limited activity in the developed world, why they are considered a threat to the very integrity of the US and other states.
The US reaction to Muslim terrorism has involved hundreds of thousands of dead brown people, random kids and even Taliban victims being incarcerated and tortured and over a trillion dollars of wasted cash.
It's interesting to me at least how the US and its allies justify that response.
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Hard News: You know what ..., in reply to Russell Brown,
During the 1990's, the IRA (who had maybe 400 active fighters) conducted several attacks each week, with 2 or 3 a year outside Northern Ireland.
Lone right-wing nutter David Copeland killed three and injured 160 over the course of two weeks in 1999.
If "Al Qaeda" had the resources attributed to them, one would expect a similar level of activity. That they have not has to raise questions.
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Perhaps now the leader of a terrorist group with zero capability to mount attacks in the West (or no desire to - given that single nutters with no money manage to engage in murder and mayhem, it must be one or the other) is dead, the US can stop searching for imaginary terrerists and leave the Muslim world to sort out its own development.
I'm just grateful for having my attention drawn to these excellent stanzas by Major General James Millstone Jennings Abbot, after whom the town is named:
I remember the day when I first came here
And smelt the sweet Abbottabad airThe trees and ground covered with snow
Gave us indeed a brilliant showTo me the place seemed like a dream
And far ran a lonesome streamThe wind hissed as if welcoming us
The pine swayed creating a lot of fussAnd the tiny cuckoo sang it away
A song very melodious and gayI adored the place from the first sight
And was happy that my coming here was rightAnd eight good years here passed very soon
And we leave our perhaps on a sunny noon -
Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to BenWilson,
I'd suggest when discussing constitutional matters it’s important to differentiate between actions that require an act of parliament and actions that can be executed by a government without such an act.
The former, in the Westminster system, include nearly everything. (In the case of NZ, where we have a Clayton’s BORA, acts of parliament can do absolutely anything, including deposing the monarch and executing them or their progeny should they be so unwise as to set foot on our soil. The UK itself would be constrained from this and other extreme acts by the ECHR).