Foreign Affairs
Source: Jerusalem Post (AP)
Published: 12/18/01 Author: Sameer N. Yacoub
Posted on 12/18/01 6:07 AM Pacific by truthandlife
Saddam called for Arab unity and warned the United States and Israel are using the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington as a pretext to destroy Arabs.
"America is encourging the Zionist entity to kill the Arabs," he said in a call to Arab governments and people carried by the Iraqi News Agency. "The United States and the Zionist entity have one common goal, that is to destroy and humiliate the Arab nation."
"Our position will be better if we are to hold an emergency summit ... in order to exclusively discuss the aggression toward the Palestinians," he was quoted as saying.
The 22-nation Arab League, based in Cairo, Egypt, has held several meetings in the past 14 months to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Though there is broad support for the Palestinian cause and condemnation of Israel, little coordinated action has resulted.
"Let the meeting place be the honorable Kaaba," Saddam said, referring to the cubic stone structure in the Grand Mosque at the holy city of Mecca. He also said such a meeting could be held in "any Arab capital whose selection secures the presence of all us."
Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The kingdom allowed US troops to use Saudi territory to fight Iraqi forces in the 1991 Gulf War that ousted the Iraqis from Kuwait. In the years since, US planes frequently have flown from Saudi bases to patrol Iraqi skies and bomb targets in southern Iraq.
Saudi Arabia, custodian of the holiest shrines in Islam, allows Iraqis into the country only to participate in the annual Muslim pilgrimage, the hajj.
Recently, a 2002 World Cup soccer qualifying match between Iraq and Saudi Arabia was played in nearby Bahrain because the kingdom would not permit the Iraqi team into the country.
Saddam said all differences should be set aside to address the Israeli-Palestinian problem.
"We should only remember the causes and the reasons for our unity in this difficult crisis," he said. "We should try to forget or postpone all that may lead to our division."
In related news, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice assured Israelis yesterday that America is Israel's best friend and it will continue its war against terror wherever necessary, although not necessarily by the same means as in Afghanistan.
The US priority is hunting down the Qaida network, but did not rule out actions against Iraq, Rice said.
1 posted on 12/18/01 6:07 AM Pacific by
truthandlife
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To: truthandlife
"We should only remember the causes and the reasons for our unity in this difficult crisis," he said. "We should try to forget or postpone all that may lead to our division."
Anyone still not believing that this current fight we are in is not motivated
by and directed towards a religious extreme, aka fundamental Islam, has to be
blind.
2 posted on 12/18/01 6:32 AM Pacific by
TheBlueMax
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To: truthandlife
And what would the exact coordinates of that meeting be...?
3 posted on 12/18/01 6:48 AM Pacific by
kezekiel
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To: truthandlife
A summit in Mecca,eh. Very cagey. Only muslims are allowed in Mecca. Get set
for an anti-western pep rally of Hollywood proportions, people.
4 posted on 12/18/01 6:53 AM Pacific by
Copperhead61
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To: TheBlueMax
An emergency meeting in Mecca? What is Saddam trying to do,start a Jihad?
5 posted on 12/18/01 8:45 AM Pacific by
usual suspect
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To: TheBlueMax
An emergency meeting in Mecca? What is Saddam trying to do,start a Jihad?
6 posted on 12/18/01 8:45 AM Pacific by
usual suspect
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To: usual suspect; sabertooth; ppaul; jeremiah jr;
NOTE: You may want to save this
post to your computer if you hope to read this reponse again because it will
most likely be removed by the moderators in short order (see below for
why).
An emergency meeting in Mecca? What is Saddam trying to do,start a Jihad?
YES!
NOTE: Iraq television, is, of course, part of the official, tightly- controlled government media.
Tribal Chieftain Recites Poem for Saddam on September 11 Events
Baghdad Republic of Iraq Television in Arabic 03 Dec 01[Text of poem recited in the presence of President Saddam Husayn by Shaykh Ali Bin Shallal, head of the al-Sharji tribes, at a meeting with tribal chieftains from Basra and Maysan Governates]
[FBIS Translated Text]
We love you as much as a bird loves its nest when it rains. Your gold is pure, the gold of others is copper whose engravings are false.
But fatigue and injustice are over. They remain engraved letters. You triumphed over injustice; you will not be blamed should you beat them.
You are fastened with a bullet-belt for the one fooled by his troops. You are the guard, you are the guard, Saddam, and we are the watchful eyes.
Just order us to proceed and repel the attacks, just order us to proceed and repel the attacks [line chanted repeatedly by the audience].
From inside America, how five planes flew.
Such a mishap never happened in the past!
And nothing similar will happen.
Six thousand infidels died.
Bin Ladin did not do it; the luck of the president [Saddam] did it.
(emphasis added)
[Description of Source: Official television station of the Iraqi Government]
NOTE: Five planes might imply that the American Airlines Flight 587 crash in the Rockaway, Queens neighborhood was not an accident.
hypocrite n : a person who professes beliefs and opinions that they do not hold.
The First Amendment states the following:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
This article is being posted by Spirit Of Truth. I was banned from the forum last week and had three years of writings removed without warning, without explanation and with no way of redressing the situation.
I'm guessing that the reason I was booted from Free Republic is because I was too "loud" about the articles I've been posting and have on my homepage concerning what I believe is Saddam's Revenge that is unfolding in the context of a reversal from Dow 10,000 in the stock market. As I see it, our Republic has fallen from God's grace and we are being misled into our own destruction. The upset of America's misled expectations, in the form of a surprise world war, is what is going to precipitate a "Grand Supercycle crash" predicted by long wave patterns in history (follow that link to the last article I posted on FR after which I was booted).
While I apologize if I was too aggressive in bringing attention to my posts and my concerns for our Republic, I don't believe complete removal from this forum was in order. If I had simply received some sort of warning I would have been happy to curb my postings as requested.
Of course, the problem was more with the content of my views than with how I presented them. Many here don't buy into to my arguments and would prefer not to read them. Of course, they don't have to if they don't want to. Apparently, the moderators of this Forum and JimRob have decided that no one is to read what I'm warning you all about in this forum regardless of what you may think.
The following message was emailed via the forum's email system to various Freepers. My account was subsequently completely shut down so I could not even email other members.
When I created a new user ID ("Free Republic or not") and posted a similar message to the one below directed to JimRob in a recent post of his concerning freedom of speech and the Bill Of Rights, my response was deleted and the new account shutdown.
I have been booted from the Free Republic forum. Three years of my postings have been removed.
What's left of my work is available at my personal web site:
http://www.spiritoftruth.org/
My last posts which apparently got me in trouble are at:
http://www.spiritoftruth.org/unfreerepublic.htm
BTW, this email can be sent because the one thing I can still do is reply to emails....but that is it. I can't even send new emails in the forum.
In the "Who We Are" section of Free Republic, Jim Robinson writes:
It is not necessary for everyone to hold the same views to be members of Free Republic, however, many of us do share many of the following as common beliefs and goals:
* The preservation and complete restoration of our Constitution and Bill of Rights with special emphasis on the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth amendments and, of course, our right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness -- free of government intervention.
The First Amendment states the following:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
One of the key elements of the first amendment is that the government will not abridge freedom of speech.
Mr. Robinson, or at least some individuals working on his behalf, don't seem to be serious about this and, in fact, are being hypocritical as of late.
I was banned from the forum, had THREE YEARS of writings removed, and all this without warning and without explanation! Furthermore, there is no redress with the forum's 'governance' available for my greivance of having my freedom of speech wiped out. They just shut you down and that's it....there's nothing you can do.
How is this consistent with preserving freedom of speech?
How is this consistent with an organization that purportedly believes in the accountability of those who govern?
I've been a Freeper with a different point of view than many....so what? I'm not a disruptor and I present my views in all honesty as I believe them to be true. My posts are not designed for and are not meant to intrude upon or cause difficulties for others. I've simply been seeking to enlighten some in the forum of my views and concerns, particularly with regard to the threat of an approaching Arab/Russian all-out war against Israel and America as I believe is forewarned about in Biblical Prophecy. What's more, I think I can state that, while some of my posts were relatively unpopular, a good bit more were highly informative and most welcomed by a large number of Freepers. In other words, I've been an active and valuable contributor to the Free Republic forum most of the time, although sometimes I may have pushed the envelope....but so what?!
If anyone was not interested in my posts, they could ignore them. If they wanted to debate my ideas, I'd engage them in lively discussion. If someone wanted to be removed from my ping list, I'd immediately remove them. If a moderator had a problem with a post or a topic choice, I'd do whatever they asked and/or abide by their alterations.
I don't see where I was so out of line that the "powers that be" in this forum would wholly remove three years of my work from Free Republic and ban me from further posting without warning, without explanation and without redress.
Now you and others have to sit there and wonder whether or not defending me, or other "outcasts" like myself, will get you booted from the forum. You have to tip toe about what items you choose to post, what Freepers you choose to ping and what topics you choose to post in. You have to fear that the governing elite at Free Republic will just switch you off, send you to the cyber gulag for not touting the party line!
Is this freedom or this dictatorship?
Is Free Republic what it claims to be or is this forum becoming some sort of hypocritical lie?
While there are rules and guidelines that should be established and judiciously enforced for the site to run smoothly, the Free Republic forum should clearly seek to operate in manner similar to a representative democracy rather than operating like something akin to a totalitarian state.
It is true that the Free Republic forum was started by Jim Robinson and his associates and they have the legal right to run it as they wish. However, it strikes me that this simple political forum has evolved into something greater than the originators intended, much like the American Republic.
I believe the Free Republic forum truly belongs to the Freepers that comprise it and give it a life unto itself. Accordingly, Freepers should have more of a say in how the forum is run and should have rights accorded to them such that no governing elite can simply censor them, completely remove and ban them from the forum, without warning, explanation and redress...
7 posted on 12/18/01 8:57 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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To: suffering4righteousness
interesting news.
8 posted on 12/18/01 9:09 AM Pacific by
Centurion2000
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To: Centurion2000
As has been most of what I've been posting. Apparently the moderators of this forum don't think what I'm posting is worthwhile however....even to the point for making every effort to shut me up here.
Want to read something interesting?
Check out the following article I had posted here back in November (has since been deleted):
LAURIE MYLROIE TOLD
FBI TO ARREST TERNTON, NEW JERSEY IRAQI-AMERICAN BIOTERROR SUSPECT YEARS
AGO
9 posted on 12/18/01 9:18 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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To: Centurion2000
Again....you'll most likely need to save this thread to
your computer if you wish to see the information I'm posting again because
they'll probably shut me down and remove my posts again in short
order...
10 posted on 12/18/01 9:23 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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To: kezekiel
And what would the exact coordinates of that meeting be...?
11 posted on 12/18/01 9:23 AM Pacific by
Yehuda
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To: truthandlife
NYT:
U.S. Again Placing Focus on Ousting Hussein
12 posted on 12/18/01 9:28 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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To: t-shirt
Ping...
See Iraqi poem above...
13 posted on 12/18/01 10:26 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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To: davea; american in israel; betty jo;
BETTER ARTICLE:
BBC:
Saddam urges Palestine summit
14 posted on 12/18/01 10:39 AM Pacific by
suffering4righteousness
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