Archive for November, 2007:
Shocker: EU/Iran Nuke Talks Stall
Well knock me over with a straw…
LONDON - An 18-month attempt to persuade Iran to halt uranium enrichment collapsed Friday after a senior EU envoy failed to dent Iran’s resolve to expand the technology, despite the threat of new U.N. sanctions.
Really? You don’t say. I really thought they’d compromise this time. /sarcasm
And Iran is really concerned about those new sanctions.
“What did they achieve?” he asked about the two sets of sanctions already in place “Nothing. In fact, we made the greatest technology headway and breakthroughs in that specific period of time.”
What’s he talking about? The fact that despite the continuous sanctions and negotiations, Iran continues chugging along down the road.
He was alluding to advances in enrichment technology — Iran has set up and is running 3,000 enriching machines, or centrifuges, in the space of a year. That’s 10 times the amount it had when the Security Council passed its first set of sanctions in December 2006.
Oh, and all of those who think we should sit down with Iran?
U.S. criticism of Iran goes beyond the nuclear issue, with Washington alluding that Tehran foments terrorism in the region, but Jalili was dismissive of the “noise by the Americans,” adding: “We don’t pay much attention to them.”
Yeah, can’t wait to sit down for negotiations with these people.
Ace’s Krakatoa writes:
In other news, Michael Moore announces his 18 minutes of intense dialogue with “four rotisserie chickens, two racks of Applebee’s baby back ribs and a gallon of egg nog” ended “rather well”. Reports that he later turned down a waffer-thin mint have yet to be substantiated.
Suspect Arrested
The suspect, Leeland Eisenberg, has been taken into custody by S.W.A.T.. He is in cuffs and has been placed into the back of a vehicle.
He was due in court today with his wife for divorce hearings.
Update: Bomb squad has apparently moved in on the device.
Still Hostages Inside?; 2 Still Inside?; Another Woman Freed
UPDATE: It’s 6:14 PM EST and both Fox and WMUR say another hostage, this time a young man, has been released.
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UPDATE: Carl Cameron says a woman was just escorted out of Clinton’s headquarters by law enforcement and placed in a SWAT vehicle.
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Two hostages were released at about 3 p.m. WCVB in Boston reported that there were still two hostages remaining.
At a news conference, Rochester Police Capt. Paul Callaghan refused to release any details on the number of hostages, whether any hostages remained, the identity of the hostages or the identity of the hostage-taker. Police said there have been no injuries but described it as a “fluid situation.” “This is a hostage situation,” Callaghan said. “We’re confident we have the resources available to end this safely.”
Carles Cameron on Fox News says it’s possible there are two more, as well.
No injuries have been reported.
Reports and people familiar with the family say Stanley has been going through a divorce, has been drinking for hours, believes a bug has been placed in his head by the govt..
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The local police department is currently giving a press conference on the situation. He said “This is a hostage situation”. He “will not confirm how many hostages are (sounds like inside)”. He won’t say how many, if any, hostages are left inside.
This may not be over yet…Again, details sketchy thus far.
Hostages Taken at Hillary NH Headquarters; Bomb Claimed; ALL Released?
FNC is speaking to a young man who says he knows the son of the hostage taker. The suspect’s name is apparently “Troy Stanley”. Stanley’s son has apparently told police the “explosive” was actually highway flares.
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The man has a history of mental illness.
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Fox News’ Carl Cameron says he’s hearing reports that both hostages have been released. CNN:
Two people held hostage at Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, have been freed, CNN affiliate WMUR said Friday.
Neither hostage was harmed, another affiliate, WCVB, reported on its Web site.
Indeed, WCVB:
The two campaign workers were released unharmed at about 3 p.m., according to a police officer. The hostage-taker remained inside the building. The man is a well-known local man with history of emotional issues, according to ABC News, who reported that the man told his son to watch the news.
So, basically, both hostages are believed to be released.
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UPDATE: WMUR says two hostages have been released, having been told so by Rochester police. Not clear if that means all are out, or if that’s two total. Very few details on that. No word on the hostage taker.
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UPDATE: Carl Cameron says S.W.A.T. had moved to directly in front of the headquarters building, talking through loud speakers.
It appears one woman may have been released.
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UPDATE: State bomb squad is on the scene. Live video from Fox News shows S.W.A.T. vehicles in the road, with officers traveling alongside them with shields and (apparently) guns drawn. They appear to be moving backwards down the road, however.
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Several sources report he wants to speak to Clinton.
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Edwards office in Rochester evacuated, too.
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MAJOR UPDATE: 2 campaign staffers are now reported to have been taken hostage. NBC6 reports:
Police said a man in his 40s, with salt-and-pepper hair, is in the building and has what appears to be an explosive device strapped to his body, TV station WMUR reported.
Witness Lettie Tzizik told the station that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the alleged hostage-taker.”A young woman with a 6-month or 8-mont-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, ‘You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape.”
Traffic has been rerouted and local schools have been locked down. Obama’s Manchester office has been evacuated for precaution, with Republicans emailing Fox expressing concern.
Fox News’ Carl Cameron is broadcasting live from his news truck on the way to the scene.
Sharpshooters have been placed on the roof of nearby buildings.
CNN reports Clinton has canceled a scheduled speech.
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WMUR & MSNBC now report that the man claims to have a bomb.
“A young woman with a 6-month or 8-mont-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, ‘You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape.”
A Clinton spokesman tells Fox that no one has been hurt yet.
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MSNBC is reporting, according to a poster over at Daily Kos, that it’s possibly a bomb threat. Indeed, WHDH reports that Downtown Rochester has been evacuated due to a bomb threat.
An armed man has taken people hostage at the Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, police said.
It was not clear how many hostages there were or what weapons the man has. Police have set up a command post near the office on 28 North Main St.
Praying everyone gets out of there safely.
The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Friday at 28 North Main St. in Rochester. Officials said that a man is holding people hostage at the office, but it is unclear how many people are being held.
The St. Elizabeth Seaton School and other surrounding buildings have been locked down.
Murtha, Er, “Clarifies” Remarks
How angry was Pelosi? Murtha’s felt the need to “clarify” his remarks.
Following a headline-grabbing uproar, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, moved swiftly Friday to clarify earlier remarks that seemed to suggest the Iraq surge policy was working.
The surge, he said in a statement, “has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government,’’ but so far the Iraqi government has “failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.”
“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable,” said the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee.
Good thing he got back to his talking points there. He could’ve done damage to Democratic chances in ‘08.
Democratic Aide: Murtha Comments Could Pose Problem for Us
Not that we didn’t know that already. Murtha is/was one of the staunchest anti-war, anti-surge Democrats. He denied, up and down, that the surge was working, even telling the Brookings Institute it was wrong. Now he says the surge is working. Unsurprisingly, that could be a problem for our friends on the Left.
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one of the leading anti-war voices in the House Democratic Caucus, is back from a trip to Iraq and he now says the “surge is working.” This could be a huge problem for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders, who are blocking approval of the full $200 billion being sought by President Bush for combat operations in Iraq in 2008.
Murtha’s latest comments are also a stark reversal from what he said earlier in the year…
But Pelosi, who is scheduled to speak to a Democratic National Committee event in Virginia on Friday, will surely face tough questions from reporters regarding Murtha’s statement on the surge.
“This could be a real headache for us,” said one top House Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Pelosi is going to be furious.”
Here’s one of the first comments on Politico’s entry:
Well, the surge may be working, but none of the political goals have been met, so we’re back to square one. Our men and women die, and the Iraqi Congress does absolutely nothing. Great. You have to be a serious simpleton to call that victory.
It went from “The surge isn’t working!” to “Despite what the troops on the ground and media sources are saying, the surge isn’t working!” to “Well, the surge may be working, but the Iraqi Congress hasn’t made enough political progress!”.
The lack of political progress isn’t something many people debate. It’s the same page Republicans are on. But the Iraqi Congress is relatively new. They just came out of decades of Saddam’s rule. Until recently, car bombs were going off all of the time, with the death toll steadily rising. I don’t think we can exactly expect it to be a well-oiled democracy machine. Our own Congress is over 200 years old and Washington is relatively safe for its members. Yet, it can’t manage to get higher than a 30% approval rating and has made almost no progress this year.
Via Glenn Reynolds.