23 September 2004

Almost as crazy as teachers

[source]

A terrorism response drill in Muskegon, Michigan featured an unusual enemy:

The exercise will simulate an attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled. Under the scenario, a bomb is placed on the bus and is detonated while the bus is traveling on Durham, causing the bus to land on its side and fill with smoke.

Homeschoolers spread the word, and the district apologized.

Well ya know, the kind of people who’d disrespect the government school system would obviously have no respect for any law, right?

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Iraqi PM Allawi's address to Congress

Today the foreign media have lost interest and left, but millions of dollars in economic aid and humanitarian assistance are now flowing into the cities. Ordinary citizens are once again free to live and worship at these places.

[…]

I know that some have speculated, even doubted, whether this date can be met. So let me be absolutely clear: Elections will occur in Iraq on time in January because Iraqis want elections on time.

[…]

They said we would miss January deadline to pass the interim constitution.

We proved them wrong.

They warned that there could be no successful handover of sovereignty by the end of June. We proved them wrong. A sovereign Iraqi government took over control two days early.

They doubted whether a national conference could be staged this August. We proved them wrong.

Despite intimidation and violence, over 1,400 citizens, a quarter of them women, from all regions and from every ethnic, religious and political grouping in Iraq, elected a national council.

And I pledge to you today, we’ll prove them wrong again over the elections.

Worth reading, The snipe at the media leaving and forgetting Iraq is worth it by itself.

Posted by orbital at 7:55 PM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

Network sizing

A good summary of various case studies on the size of terrorist networks. The most interesting conclusion is that groups of more than 80 or so members can’t remain well organized long term without the support of a state. That means that the conquest of Afghanistan and Iraq is very likely to have imposed a lot of hardship on the Caliphascists.

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