Somali Rebels Cut Off Thieves' Hands, Feet

(AP)  In a brazen show of power in Somalia's capital, Islamist rebels punished four men convicted of stealing cell phones and other items by cutting off a hand and a foot each before hundreds of onlookers who gathered for the bloody spectacle.

The punishments were the latest sign that insurgents wield the real power in the lawless African nation, where the embattled, Western-backed government is struggling to survive. Thursday's amputations were all the more audacious because they were carried out in Mogadishu, where the administration still has nominal control.

"The men were bleeding and crying when the man cut their hands and feet off with a long knife," said one witness, Liban Ali, among hundreds of people who gathered at a military camp in Mogadishu to watch the punishments. Another witness said a medical team was there to immediately treat the men.

The men were estimated to be between 18 and 25.

The Shariah court that carried out the sentences is run by al-Shabab, which is trying to topple Somalia's government and install a strict form of Islam. Hundreds of foreign fighters from countries including Pakistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are reinforcing the group's ranks.

The U.S. considers al-Shabab a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda, which al-Shabab denies. The group controls much of Somalia and its fighters operate openly in the capital.

The government appeared to have no authority to stop the punishments.

"All I can say for now is that it was a violation against human rights and a sentence carried out by criminals," Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamud said when asked to comment on the amputations.

Amnesty International condemned the punishments, saying they amount to torture and defy international law.

"The horrific nature of such acts that were carried out in front of a crowd adds further injustice," said Tawanda Hondora, the deputy director of Amnesty International's Africa program.

A strict interpretation of Islamic law calls for amputation for crimes of theft. Convicts in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria's Muslim north have received such sentences, although they are rare.

Somalis traditionally observe Sufi Islam, a relatively moderate form of worship. But in recent years, insurgents have begun to follow austere Wahabi Islam - rooted in Saudi Arabia and practiced by Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.

Wahabism is a component of jihadi Salafism, a doctrine that preaches spreading a strict interpretation of the Quran, the Islamic holy book, through violence.

Islamist fighters have controlled Somalia before. In 2006, the Council of Islamic Courts ruled much of southern Somalia and the capital for six months of relative calm. But critics likened the group to the Taliban, saying they terrified Somalis into submission with punishments such as stonings and public executions.

In early 2007, troops from neighboring Ethiopia helped the government drive out the Islamists, but they soon launched a bloody insurgency, which is continuing.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued, unabated.

A surge in violence in recent weeks, which diplomats said is a major push by the insurgents to force the government out of its Mogadishu strongholds, has killed about 225 people.

Last week, the national security minister and Mogadishu's police chief were among those killed.

The country's lawlessness has spread security fears around region and raised concerns that al Qaeda is trying to gain a foothold in the Horn of Africa. The anarchy has also allowed piracy to flourish off the country's coast.

Somali lawmakers pleaded this weekend for immediate international military intervention from countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti to help quash the insurgency.

But there was no indication reinforcements would be forthcoming. Kenya has said it will not send troops, while Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said he has not ruled out sending forces back into the country, but there were no plans to do so now. Ethiopia withdrew its troops in January after an unpopular, two-year presence.

The Washington Post, citing an anonymous U.S. official, reported Thursday that the United States has sent a shipment of weapons to the Somali government, suggesting the Obama administration wants to thwart an Islamist takeover.

The U.S. has avoided sustained military action in Somalia since it led a U.N. force that intervened in the early 1990s in an effort to fight famine. That mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including a battle in Mogadishu that killed 18 American soldiers.

Some 159,000 people have fled their homes since May 7, according to the U.N. refugee agency. The United Nations says an estimated 3.2 million Somalis - almost half the country's population - need food and other humanitarian aid.

[mcintoshlou]

WASHINGTON (AP) - A watchdog group alleged Wednesday that Sen. John Ensign violated the Senate's ethics rules by engaging in an affair with a campaign aide who was married to his administrative assistant, then terminating their employment.
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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also said Ensign, R-Nev., violated ethics and campaign finance rules by failing to report a severance payment to the woman as an in-kind contribution from his campaign or leadership political action committee.

Ensign acknowledged last week that he had a consensual affair with a campaign staffer from December 2007 through August 2008. The group followed through Wednesday on an earlier announcement that it would be filing a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee.

ADD THIS CRIMINAL TO THE LIST,

SANFORD, VITTER, CRAIG, DAVID DUKE, REPUBLICONS ARE ANTI AMERICAN SCUM

[Snerdguy]

The Islamists are making the same mistake made by the American justice system. Instead of making any effort to rehabilitate these men they crippled them. So, they are now a burden of society. They can not be as productive as they once were. The damage, both physically and mentally is irreversible.

Although they think they are scaring people into obedience, they are marking themselves for torture and punishment and uniting people against them. They may be the law for the moment. But it won't last.

[trapbreaking]

That is Muslim rehabilitation for you.

[mcintoshlou]

What will determine the success or failure of reform? Above all, the success of reform depends on successful cost control. We really, really don?t want to get into a position a few years from now where premiums are rising rapidly, many Americans are priced out of the insurance market despite government subsidies, and the cost of health care subsidies is a growing strain on the budget.

And that?s why the public plan is an important part of reform: it would help keep costs down through a combination of low overhead and bargaining power. That?s not an abstract hypothesis, it?s a conclusion based on solid experience. Currently, Medicare has much lower administrative costs than private insurance companies, while federal health care programs other than Medicare (which isn?t allowed to bargain over drug prices) pay much less for prescription drugs than non-federal buyers. There?s every reason to believe that a public option could achieve similar savings.

Indeed, the prospects for such savings are precisely what have the opponents of a public plan so terrified. Mr. Obama was right: if they really believed their own rhetoric about government waste and inefficiency, they wouldn?t be so worried that the public option would put private insurers out of business. Behind the boilerplate about big government, rationing and all that lies the real concern: fear that the public plan would succeed.

So Mr. Obama and Democrats in Congress have to hang tough ? no more gratuitous giveaways in the attempt to sound reasonable. And reform advocates have to keep up the pressure to stay on track. Yes, the perfect is the enemy of the good; but so is the not-good-enough-to-work. Health reform has to be done right.

INSURERS ARE THIEVES

[mcintoshlou]

I also have seen how the industry's practices -- especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations -- have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in -- are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category.

What I saw happening over the past few years was a steady movement away from the concept of insurance and toward "individual responsibility," a term used a lot by insurers and their ideological allies. This is playing out as a continuous shifting of the financial burden of health care costs away from insurers and employers and onto the backs of individuals. As a result, more and more sick people are not going to the doctor or picking up their prescriptions because of costs. If they are unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured, many people enrolled in these plans find themselves on the hook for such high medical bills that they are losing their homes to foreclosure or being forced into bankruptcy.

here is another group of ''americans'' that need to visit Somalia

[mcintoshlou]

ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, facing pressure to resign over an extramarital affair, said on Thursday he would repay state funds he used for an official trip to Argentina during which he met his mistress.

Sanford's move came as questions mounted whether he had used public funds to pursue a yearlong affair with the woman.

His admission of marital infidelity during a tearful news conference on Wednesday likely ended chances he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012.

maybe this guy needs a dose of this reality

[edward1975-2009]

Still see the idiots are still blaming Bush for all the woes of the world, all the while we have a President who wouldn't honor American soldiers, but had the time to apologize for American percieved arrogance, bow to a Saudi king, and denouncing the fact that this is a Christian nation. Obama will kiss anybodys butt as long as it isn't American. He's a joke and so is his administration.

[mcintoshlou]

You are a LIAR,
this is not a christian nation, Obama did not dishonor anyone, and the bush/cheney crime family is responsible for this because for the last eight years they ignored most of the worlds problems in favor of creating more wealth for big corporations and for themselves.

conservative are anti american fascists

[ToolMangler1]

GOD himself distanced religion from government with this ""Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:13-17; the same passage appears, slightly modified, in Matthew 22:15-22 and Luke 20:20-26)."

Obama was 100% correct in his statement.

[rhs648]

Nice form of punishment. Leave people crippled and disfigured for life. These Muslims are really out to impress the world. The sad thing is America and Europe are allowing their Muslim populations to increase at unprecedented rates. How long will it be before we are all forced to become Muslims?

[mcintoshlou]

yeah right, and the american christian , they keep people in the poor house for life, making them into nothing but mindless slaves for the amusement of the wealthy

[jwesel1]

and how exactly did America become a Christian state? After all the natives were not christians to start with.

[wtcmedic911]

that will slow down those "skinnys" Maybe they can do the same to the ones here that do the same crimes, i didnt see the thing officer....

[burneb]

Perhaps if you ever looked at liberal comments or articles, or listened to genuine liberal commentary, you would notice the plethora of liberal opinions against such barbaric treatments, regardless of who commits them. The point is that we want Americans and our government to behave better than Somali or Dafur thugs.

You are not likely to see what you ignore or refuse to acknowledge.

[mcintoshlou]

EXACTLY CORRECT,GREAT POST.

WHEN BUSH/CHENEY STARTED TO TORTURE PEOPLE WE BECAME THE TERRORISTS