RSSViolence in Uzbekistan (Part III)
The violence continues in Uzbekistan as it spreads throughout neighboring towns.
The violence that has reportedly killed hundreds of protesters in eastern Uzbekistan appeared to be spreading to neighboring towns last night, raising fears that the volatile Central Asian state could erupt into a full-scale revolution.
One local official was reported by the Russian Interfax news agency to have been heavily beaten by rioters. The Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, claimed that troops had opened fire on protesters in Andijan only when they were advanced on.
Galima Bukharbaeva, a reporter with international monitoring group the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, who witnessed the killings, described a column of armoured personnel carriers firing indiscriminately and unprovoked at protesters.
Also in new clashes in Uzbekistan eight soldiers died near the Kyrgyzstan border.
According to the Associated Press, the eyewitnesses in Tefektosh said that a clash occurred between the armed people, and soldiers before dawn this morning, on May 15. The eyewitnesses reported that the armed people killed 8 soldiers and then run away to the Kyrgyz border.
More from the CNN on the eight soldiers killed and three Islamic militants died in a clash near the Kyrgyz border Sunday.
Residents’ accounts of the fighting in Tefektosh could not be independently confirmed, but blood stains were visible on the pavement, AP reported.
For more great coverage and video on the Uzbekistan violence go to the Gateway Pundit.
Wesley Clark “WHO”?
Just when you think some one’s 15 minutes of fame is up, they rear their ugly head. Who is it this time? Al Gore? John Kerry? Jimmy Carter? No, its Wesley Clark criticizing Donald Rumsfeld’s base closure list.
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark said Saturday that the Pentagon’s plan to close military bases around the country and reorganize troops will isolate the military from the American people and the rest of the world.
“We’re losing influence abroad when we bring those troops home, and we lose the interaction with America when we create these super bases,” Clark said in a speech to the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Association.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has proposed closing 33 major military installations in the United States and reorganizing hundreds of others. Tens of thousands of troops in Europe and East Asia are expected to come home.
Wait a minute, I thought Democrats wanted President Bush to bring US troops home? Isn’t this what Democrats have been screaming about during the Iraq war? Is it just the American troops in Iraq that have to come home, or the 1000′s of others around the world as well? That doesn’t seem too political does it? Maybe Clark isn’t a Democrat after all. He wants US troops to remain around the world. I do remember back in the NH Primaries when I had the opportunity to meet Wesley Clark face to face I asked him that very same question. “Are you really a Republican or an opportunist Democrat”? He answered a Democrat. However, during his short lived campaign, I could not begin to know what he truly represented. General Clark, you had your moment in the sun and it was as incoherent a moment in the spot light that may have ever been seen or heard.
More from Michael Moore’s Freedom Fighters
According to Michael Moore, one man’s terrorist mis another man’s freedom fighter.
“The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow—and they will win.”
– Michael Moore, 4/14/04
Let’s take a good look at what Michael Moore’s freedom fighters are doing today in Iraq.
The bodies of 34 men shot execution-style were found in three locations in less than 24 hours, police said Sunday, a day when drive-by shootings and homicide bombings killed at least eight Iraqis, including a senior Industry Ministry official and a top Shiite cleric.
Insurgents launched more brazen attacks Sunday in a seemingly endless campaign apparently aimed at enflaming sectarian tensions, destabilizing Iraq’s new government and forcing U.S.-led troops out of the country.
With democratic elections having taken place and Iraq on the way to a democracy that best fits their needs, how is it that these vicious insurgents would be called “freedom fighters” and would have the best interest of the Iraqi people at hand?
Public Opinion Frozen on Judicial Nomination Battle
According to the Rasmusen poll, results on judicial nominees and the nuclear option are a bit surprising than what is being broadly reported.
57% of Americans say that “Senate rules should be changed so that a vote must be taken on every person the President nominates to become a judge.” That’s unchanged from two weeks ago.
The only change of more than a point or two in the data came when we asked about the threat of some Democrats to procedurally shut down the Senate if the filibuster rules are changed. Two weeks ago, 51% of Americans were opposed to that strategy. Opposition to Democrats’ retaliation has increased to 55% in the current survey.
Democrats around the country are divided on the strategy proposed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid–41% in Reid’s party support the threatened shutdown and 33% are opposed. That’s little changed over the past week.
Republicans oppose the shutdown strategy by a 10–to-1 margin. The GOP is more unified on this point than they were two weeks ago.Among those not affiliated with either major party, 48% now oppose the Democrats’ retaliation strategy, up from 43% two weeks ago.
Other survey findings show that 49% now believe that all of the President’s nominees should be guaranteed an up or down vote on the floor of the Senate.
One Person’s Opinion on Base Closure for The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (Part 1)
Friday 13, 2005 is a day that will live in infamy for the Maine/NH seacoast area. As word was announced that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was on the BRAC list of bases to be closed, many were “shocked, in disbelief as disappointment, anger and grim determination were among the emotions Portsmouth Naval Shipyard employees expressed during the yard’s Friday afternoon shift change“.
Jonathan Iverson told employees their Navy yard was one of the 33 bases included on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list.
Should Rumsfeld’s list remain unchanged, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard could close in two to six years.
When I heard the news of the shipyard’s closure being on the list I certainly could not say I was surprised. However, many that I had spoke to prior to the closure announcement seemed to be either in denial or in another world if they thought that only efficiency played a part in such decisions. Having friends and knowing others I was sad for them that they would be out of a job but then I thought to myself. I do not remember any protests or media crusades to save mine and thousands of others jobs when WANG and then IBM were downsized in the 80′s & 90′s. Where was the outrage locally in the seacoast community when Tyco employee either lost their jobs or were given in option to transfer to New Jersey?
Unfortunately this is a part of employment life in the 21st century. Those of us in the private sector have had to deal with it and either forced to find another job in our field, retrain ourselves to other positions or follow the employment to other regions of the country. This also is the task in front of those at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
About 20 dignitaries from two states gathered at Kittery Town Hall on Friday morning for a formal press conference reacting to the news that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is on the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list.
Standing before a backdrop of yellow and black “Save Our Shipyard” signs, speaker after speaker took to the podium and demanded to know how this could have happened and what they are going to do about it.
Many of us have already faced this reality. The idea that one can live in the same area and maintain the same job at the same location is insane. That is the only problem I seem to have with the reaction of those that work at the shipyard. Yes, I think its a tough blow that was given to them, but all of us have faces it in the past and did not have the backing of the MSM to do our bidding to save our jobs. I do wish them the best in accomplishing the task of saving their jobs and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but every one of those 4000 employees must realize it is primarily their responsibility to do so and no one else’s.
More to come …
