More Iraq WMD news

“SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have finally been located.

Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States and its allies, because the containers with the strategic materials are not in Iraq.

Instead they are located in Lebanon's heavily-fortified Bekaa Valley, swarming with Iranian and Syrian forces, and Hizbullah and ex-Iraqi agents, Geostrategy-Direct.com will report in Wednesday's new weekly edition.

U.S. intelligence first identified a stream of tractor-trailer trucks moving from Iraq to Syria to Lebaon in January 2003. The significance of this sighting did not register on the CIA at the time.

U.S. intelligence sources believe the area contains extended-range Scud-based missiles and parts for chemical and biological warheads.

Mutually-lucrative Iraqi-Syrian arms transactions are nothing new. Firas Tlas, son of Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas, has been the key to Syria's rogue alliance with Iraq. He and Assad made hundreds of millions of dollars selling weapons, oil and drugs to and from Iraq, according to the May 13, 2003 edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.
The CIA now believes a multi-million dollar deal between Iraq and Syria provided for the hiding and safekeeping of Saddam's strategic weapons.

Not surprisingly, U.S. inquiries in Beirut and Syria are being met with little substantive response, U.S. officials said.”

“Also, we have discovered there is a gnome living just outside the fabric of the space-time continuum. His name is felix. He eats marshmallows that he makes from matter sucked in through black holes.

Just thought we all might want those facts too.”

“PS



:)”

“GREAT post Phaeddy! LOLOLOLLOL

BUT... all sides need to be heard from, we agree?”

“Absolutely.

:)”

“Thanks wanderer! What do I win?


"Want to make a bet that certain wingnuts won't make it through the first paragraph and start spouting off about the WMD's being found in the Bekaa Valley (or the bakow vally in one case) in the next few days?"
ViOLiN
01:51:24 PM
09/03/03

FIT TO PRINT?”

“I smell a fight.”

“In fact, a fight would sure take the edge of the boredom here at work on a Friday afternoon.

Hey Wanderer, you gonna let him call you a wingnut like that?!”

“Not implying that you are a wingnut. I just want my prize.”

“No no no, you directly implied he was the wingnut you predicted in your post.

...certain wingnuts won't make it through the first paragraph and start spouting off about the WMD's being found...

and then

Thanks wanderer! What do I win?


Get him, Wanderer.”

“I guess he is the wingnut the prophet spoke of.”

“And anyway, Violin, what do YOU know. There could be WMD in lebanon. Prove there's not!”

“AND.... Just in case you missed it the first three or four times, <GRIN>


THE NEW YORKER
THE TALK OF THE TOWN

THIS JUST IN DEPT.

FIT TO PRINT?
by Ben McGrath

Issue of 2003-09-08
Posted 2003-09-01

Aficionados of the Drudge Report may have noticed several striking
headlines recently linking to stories from the World Tribune, an enterprise
with a title as grand and ambitious as it is unfamiliar. One such story last
week began, “U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq’s weapons of mass
destruction have finally been located.” The apparent scoop—of stop-the-
presses significance—was unsigned, and billed as a “special to World
Tribune.com.” The Times, the Journal, and the Washington Post,
meanwhile, not only got beat but failed even to acknowledge the news in
the days that followed. What gives?

Not everyone ignored it: Rush Limbaugh, for instance. “There’s a piece
in the World Tribune today—one of the papers in the United Kingdom—
exactly as theorized on this program early on,” he said on his radio show.
“It’s unconfirmed, but it’s a story that many of the weapons of mass
destruction are at present buried in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon.” Fox
News, catering to a similar demographic, enlisted a military analyst that
evening to discuss potential ramifications—military intervention in
Lebanon?—on “The O’Reilly Factor.” According to the story, the weapons
were probably delivered to the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold, in
a caravan of tractor-trailers that was spotted leaving Iraq in January, two
months before the war began, as part of a multimillion- dollar storage
deal between Saddam Hussein and the Syrian government.

In fact, the World Tribune is not published in the United Kingdom, nor is
it, to be precise, a newspaper. It is a Web site produced, more or less
as a hobby, in Falls Church, Virginia, and is dedicated to the notion, as
its mission statement explains, that “there is a market for news of the
world and not just news of the weird.” (Nonetheless, the site includes a
prominent feature, Cosmic Tribune, with an extraterrestrial focus, and it
links to a Mafia journal called Gang Land News.) Its editor and
publisher, Robert Morton, is an assistant managing editor at the
Washington Times and a former “corporate editor” for News World
Communications, the Times’ owner and the publishing arm of the
Unification Church, led by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. (Morton and
his wife, Choon Boon, are themselves followers of the Reverend Moon.)
Among the World Tribune’s other recent half-ignored scoops are that Al
Qaeda claimed responsibility for last month’s blackout and that a North
Korean defector stressed, during a meeting in July with White House
officials, the need for a preëmptive military strike against Kim Jong Il.

Morton said last week via e-mail that he founded the site as an
experiment, back in 1998, while serving as a media fellow at Stanford’s
Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank. “I didn’t expect World
Tribune.com to last for more than a few months,” Morton wrote, but now,
despite having no dedicated staff (“Everyone involved with World
Tribune.com has a day job”), the site receives more than a million page
views per month. And, unlike the Washington Times, which has lost at
least a billion dollars in its twenty-one-year existence, World Tribune.com,
in concert with the subscription-driven weekly intelligence briefing
Geostrategy-Direct.com (a partner site), has paid for itself.

The secret of its success seems to involve well-placed informants (“Over
the years I have developed an informal, international network of sources
and writers I can trust,” Morton said) and an emphasis on immediacy.
Although Morton said, “We emphasize newspaper standards to counter
the half-baked, unfiltered content on some online sites,” World
Tribune.com more fairly qualifies as something between a newspaper
and a rumor-mongering blog. Call it “blews.” In this sense, it is part of a
loose network of mostly conservative sites—WorldNetDaily, Dr. Koontz’s
National Security Message Board, debka File (produced by a pair of
Jerusalem-based journalists thought to have moles in Israeli intelligence)
—whose dispatches sometimes serve as the journalistic equivalent of
trial balloons: a story may not be based on knowable facts, but it
nevertheless may occasionally turn out to be right. (Much of the time, of
course, it more closely resembles a Bat Boy update in the Weekly
World News.)

Take the Lebanon story. National-security buffs may have recalled
hearing similar reports as far back as late December (beginning with an
accusation from Ariel Sharon), and cropping up again in the spring (via
debka). The story never quite stuck, however, and as of the end of last
week no major newspaper had seen fit to tell it. Bill Gertz, the
Washington Times’ best-known reporter, is a columnist and contributing
editor for Geostrategy-Direct.com and a member of the World Tribune
advisory board. A few days after the Tribune’s Lebanon lead, Gertz
allowed that he, too, had been hearing the reports for months but hadn’t
written anything about it for the paper. “I’ve never been able to nail it
down myself,” he said. He would presumably have encountered similar
difficulties with the story, available at Cosmic Tribune, of the increase in
observed U.F.O. activity as Mars neared.”

“RATS!

scooped again!”

“Tilt, you and Violin are obviously the same guy. Quit trying to hide it.”

“Violin has already made up his mind, you can never confuse him with facts. The sole purpose for his presence here is to promote his idealogic viewpoint, not to debate, learn, or exchange perspectives. CERTAINLY, he contributes nothing whatsoever to the discussion of backpacking.

*Assuming" one subscribes to the belief that this is a BACKPACKING board, but we discuss all of the issues that we might discuss around the campfire, Violin STILL doesn't fit in. He NEVER discusses anything other than his left-leaning political philosophies. He is not here to EVER discuss backpacking, hiking, enjoying the spiritual connection to nature gained from being out there, or anything else that we may discuss. He is here ONLY to inflict his political beliefs upon the rest of us.

I personally believe he should either (A) Get a Life, and be able to talk about something other than politics once in a while, or, (B) take his political ramblings to another board dedicated to that crap.

Violin is closed-minded, pathetic example of a human being. He is what we all should try hard to avoid becoming.

Of course, that's just my opinion, based upon the facts as I see them.

So, Violin... when did you make your last backpacking-related post? Have you ever?”

“BWAH-HAHAhahahahahhaahaaa....

These Dopie Georgians are flummoxed beyond measure! My Joisey accent has gone completely undetected!”

“Civil War?
Military Intelligence?
Rap Music?
Republican Backpacker?
Jumbo Shrimp?”

“DAMN! Violin, he called you a non-backpacking, leftie, single-minded, non-thinker.

You gonna put up with that?”

“You're inhibiting him Phaeddy...He won't be able to understand "non-thinker", so how can he respond?”

“Good selection!”

“Airline Food?”

“I love the current crop of right wing fake news sites, makes the weekly world news look like newsweek”

“I never hear from Phaedy or Violin anymore.”

“Wanderer employs a typical right wing attack. In many ways it resembles the tactics used by many cults to deflect rational criticism. 1) He has a dogma to which one is forbidden to apply reason, 2) He personally attacks those who disagree with him (because the dogma can't be defended by more reasonable means), and, 3) He insists that the cult itself is the only trustworthy source of information about the cult.”

“By the way, I’d be willing to wager that I have more backpacking related posts here than you.”

“He'll "hear" that. The putz.

And Violin, you're trying to deflect attention from the fact you CAN'T prove there are no WMD in Syria... errr... Lebanon.”

“This seems like the perfect thread for this:

”

“errr... this:

”

“Here's how I ended my post...why don't you answer instead of attacking me?

"So, Violin... when did you make your last backpacking-related post? Have you ever?"”

“"Here's how I ended my post...why don't you answer instead of attacking me?

"So, Violin... when did you make your last backpacking-related post? Have you ever?""”

“Since you never seem to stay on task... Here is my request ONCE AGAIN.

"Here's how I ended my post...why don't you answer instead of attacking me?

"So, Violin... when did you make your last backpacking-related post? Have you ever?""”

“give him some time......he's looking......”

“I don't know wanderer. Why don't you search a few gear threads. I'm sure you'll find a few.

About the only posts I can remember you making involve personal attacks.

I thought Californians were supposed to be mellow. You're an uptight #&%!$.”

“He'll look forever, I honestly don't think he's ever contributed anything related to the outdoors here, all he'll find is his political diatribe.

I admire & respect different views when they've arived at based upon honest assessment of fact. In Violin's case that doesn't apply, since he refuses to consider any view other than his own. I can't debate him because he is too narrow-minded to have a debate with. What's sad is he doesn't seem to realize what a shallow and manipulated induvidual he is.”

“Drop a bomb on them (WMD) and claim one of their bombs detonated by accident. That'll be one hell of a light show.”

“"Since you never seem to stay on task... Here is my request ONCE AGAIN.
This is the way we ended our last exchange a couple months back, with me asking if you'd ever hiked, contributed to a hiking thread, etc. Then, as nowm you couldn't answer.

One more time Violin...

"Here's how I ended my post...why don't you answer instead of attacking me?

"So, Violin... when did you make your last backpacking-related post? Have you ever?"""”

“I didn't call Violin any names directly. I said I thought he was narrow minded, I said I thought he was manipulated, I said he never contributed positively to anything related to backpacking, which, I believe, is the basic nature of this board. My exact quote "Violin is closed-minded, pathetic example of a human being". This is fact... he is indeed cloised-minded.

But I never called him a name, personally, which he just did to me. I never said he was an $%#@hole for thinking the way he did, I suggested he was closed-minded and pathetic for thinking as he did. I ddn't say he was an "uptight #&%!$".


Three times I asked: "Here's how I ended my post...why don't you answer instead of attacking me?


What response do I get? A peresonal attack, not an answer.

That's Violin for you.”

“I still say you're an ass-hole.

Tell you what. Here are my three most recent 'backpacking related' posts that I can think of. You come up with three of your own more recent than mine and I'll never post here again. If not, you leave forever.



"A zero degree bag won't cut it as a winter bag in much of the northeast. I have a negative 10 degree WM bag and wished I'd gotten a negative 20 after experiencing -13 in the Adirondacks.

You can find discounts on any bag including WM so your $300 - 400 budget would get you what you want. The best bags are made by Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends. The WM bags named after North American mammals are cut large so they might seem a little heavy from the specks. The bags named after North American tribes are cut smaller.

Marmot bags are very good for mass produced equipment."
ViOLiN
12:19:51 PM
09/03/03


"I got a pair of Marmot PreCips with full side zips. They meet all your criteria. I can't fit my pants over my boots (that's right ladies)."
ViOLiN
02:36:31 PM
09/12/03


"Great report! Thanks for writing it.

The advantages of a hammock (setting up nearly anywhere) have me thinking. I really wonder if I could sleep on my back all night – I usually flop around a lot."
viOliN
07:39:09 AM
09/11/03”

“violin, shut yer dam piehole!”

“Not yer fight, strat. stay on the sideline where you belong.”

“Here ya' go Violin, let's see you stick to your word:



Both SD Cheapies & Marmot
"I have SD $29.00 pants and Marmot Precips, can't remember what I paid for Marmot Precips but a lot more than that. If I had it to do all over I'd only buy the Sierra Designs cheapies (REI's are a knock-off, same basic product). Like Walkindude I'd spend $$ for a jacket, but rainpants just aren't worth it IMHO. All depends upon your clothes list, of course, but save the $$ and weight & just take an extra pair of hiking pants."
wanderer
11:45:17 PM
09/12/03


How about this?
"We plan a "mini" BP trip in Desolation Wildeness Fri-Sat with an early return Sunday. (I'll take ownership of thes). Have lunch Sun. at Chevy's on the River, but everyone promises not to complain about how the backpackers may smell after their weekend..."
wanderer
07:30:00 PM
09/12/03


Mtn Steve, come down early
"Didn't you say something about never having been in Desolation Wilderness? If you can come in Fri, I'll take you up to some great scenery & get us off the trail in time to drink on Sunday!"
wanderer
04:34:10 PM
09/12/03”

“Your first one was posted after my challenge.”

“Your challenge was timed 11:43:46 PM. I was making my entry while you wre #&%!$in!, it's timed 11:45:17 PM. I can't type that fast.

BUT, I won't argue with you since it never does any good. If you want another post to replace that one, you can use this one:


Permit pickup is changing!
"I'll post the details later, but we won't be able to pick up permits for Desolation at the Camino Range Station any longer, I think after 9/15/03.

I see very few people in Desolation after Labor Day, esp. once you go in a couple miles.

I've been up to Island Lake from Wrights, very easy hike, actually took 11 & 12 yo scouts there for some of their first BP trips, very tame."
wanderer
10:18:37 AM
09/12/03”

“Wanderer, I disagree with Violin as much as the next right wing wacko, but I'd be disappointed if he didn't post any more on political threads. His posts help me keep sharp. I know with him my arguments need to be solid, and he's shot me down before when I didn't have references ready to back up what I'm saying. You both see each other as wrong, but hey, what the hell...it would be kind of hard to debate someone you agree with all the time.”

“Funny how the much-ballyhooed "Special to the World Tribune.Com" was never picked up by any reputable news service. It's been over two weeks, now....

Could it be because it was a Load?”

“First time I saw it on drudge I thought "That's a new one". Most of his stuff lately has been Washington Post links. I'd be interested to know if anyone called Rush on it. They probably wouldn't make it past the screeners.”

“Can you all lighten up a bit please? You can post political analysis without attacking each other.”

“What is the fun in that?”

“good point there Bacpac, this had made for some interesting morning reading while I have my coffee”