COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Marines Get Their Day in Court For '83 Attack in Lebanon


Iran Fined $2.65 Bln For '83 Attack On US Marines

9/8/2007 6:55:16 AM A US federal judge declared in a ruling on Friday that Iran must pay $2.65 billion to nearly 1,000 family members and a few survivors of the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 soldiers.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth described his ruling as the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country.

The militant group Hezbollah carried out the suicide bombing on October 23, 1983, which was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Later, in a 2003- ruling, Lamberth found that Iran was ‘legally responsible' for supporting Hezbollah with financial and logistical support to carry out the attack.

However, Iran has denied responsibility for the attack and did not even respond to the lawsuit
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5 comments:

  1. Time to move forward on collecting that judgement.

    What Iranian assets are there to sieze?

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  2. I hope we can count on the lawyers to figure your question out, Rat. They are usually pretty good at that sort of thing, at least. 'What can be attacked, will be attacked.'

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  3. ash made the point the other day, that negotiating with the radical mussulmen should be the way forward to world peace and prosperity.

    Here is what is happening in regards the Darfur situation. For four years the UN, AU & EU have been negotiating with Sudan. The results are not encouraging.

    At least 250,000 moderate muslims have been killed, 2.5 million displaced, by the actions of the radicals.

    The UN trying to move the ball forward, is still negotiating, the object of those negotiations, now, for the Sudanese proxies not to expand the genocide into Chad and the Central African Republic.

    The secretary-general, who has made peace in Darfur a priority, spent four days in Sudan _ including a brief visit to a camp for some of the millions forced to flee their homes. He then flew to Chad, which has been seriously affected by the spillover of the Darfur violence.

    During Ban's stopover in Chad, he discussed with President Idriss Deby a yearlong, 3,000-strong U.N.-mandated European Union mission to protect Sudanese refugees and other civilians in the affected parts of Chad and Central African Republic.

    The EU force's mandate would be to protect refugees, internally displaced people and civilians at risk in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

    The force planned for Chad and Central African Republic is in addition to a 26,000-strong African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur that is to replace a smaller, ineffectual mission of only African Union troops. Sudan on Thursday pledged "to facilitate the timely deployment" of the troops.


    Giving the Darfur area of Sudan up for lost. Another version of moving the goal posts.

    The Sudanese having signed the ICC Treaty still refuse to hand over its' citizens under indictment by that International Court.

    Obviously a situation that requires even more negotiations, as to redefine the Sudanese obligations under that Treaty.

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  4. Well I for one am duly impressed that 24 years after hezb'allah blew our Marines to bits in Lebanon we have gotten payback with a lawsuit.

    Nothing says "serious" like responding to a kinetic attack with paperwork.

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  5. A Medal of Honor awardee and Navy Seal veteran from Vietnam may wll be moving back to Nebraska ...

    The "other" Kerry.

    WASHINGTON (Associated Press) --Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a persistent Republican critic of the Iraq war, intends to announce on Monday he will not seek a third term, according to a Republican official.

    The official also said Hagel does not plan to run for the White House in 2008, despite earlier flirting with a candidacy.

    The 60-year-old senator arranged a news conference for Monday in Omaha, Neb., to make his formal announcement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting the event.

    The decision by Hagel is the latest in a string of setbacks for minority Republicans in the Senate, who must defend 22 of the 34 seats on the ballot next fall.


    Bet ya dollars to donouts there'd be some internet jingoist that'll question Bob Kerry's partriotism.

    Chickhawks, wannabe's and never beens.

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