Nothing tommorow

I will probably not post until Sunday or Monday as I'm out of town tommorow and pretty busy all weekend. I'm sorry to those of you who are waiting for those Olympic updates, click the links on the left and you'll get all the help you need.

Day 7

As earlier reported by me, the Canadians in pairs rowing were disqualified. Today the decsion was upheld. For more on that story CBC.ca/olympics. Now for you're daily Olympic medal count. Tonight it's just the overall medal count and things have moved around a little: USA, China, Russia. Australia falls to 4th and Canada wins a silver to make their total count of two and placing them in a 9-way tie for 17th.
And what games wouldn't be complete without a little judge contoversy. Now, I'll admit I'm a little biased, I think the Canadian should have won the fight. Today, a Canadian boxer was eliminated by a South Korean boxer. I watched the fight and in my opinion, the fight was very tilted, the Canadain landed more punches than were scored and the South Korean scored for no reason at all. In fact it seemed like if the Canadian scored the South Korean scored no matter what he through back. I'm sorry, I'm sick of judges who favor competitors. There is only one solution, complete impartiality. No judge can be from a country that is competing in the games, whether they are judging the actual event or handing out judging assignments. But that's one persons opinion.

Night Falls on Day 6

Here is your Day 6 medal count (HURRAY)! Right like you care, but still you came to the pager here it is. The order based on gold medals is: USA, China, Russia. Believe it or not, it actually matches the overall standings as well. That is day 6 for ya!

continued

The Washington Post is reporting that Al-Jazeera is getting support from certain muslim groups in Canada, who say the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commision) shouldn't censor the channel. As my mom said, "They didn't come here for freedom, they came here to take over." Again, I implore all Canadians to write the CRTC and request that Al-Jazeera be taken off the air in Canada, and that Fox News be added. Thank you.

Developing story

Developing story out of Canada: Canadian-muslims are complaining because the CRTC is censoring Al-Jezeera in Canada. Please see Fox News and Canada, a story I wrote earlier about the fact that Al-Jezeera is being allowed in Canada...more on the way...

National Post

So I was hoping to do analysis of this peice but I have resigned myself to just posting the link and story. National Post is where the story is and I'll have it posted here as well.

'A lot' of Canadians in al-Qaeda track between words
Toronto, Vancouver men at terror training camp, Khadr says

Stewart Bell
National Post

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

"A lot" of Canadians trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and some still live freely in Canada, Abdurahman Khadr testified at a court hearing at which he revealed chilling new details about Canadian terror suspects and his father's ties to Osama bin Laden's training camps.

Mr. Khadr, a 21-year-old Toronto man who underwent weapons and explosives training at four camps in Afghanistan, said in testimony made public yesterday that he had given CIA agents the names of several Canadians who trained at camps such as Khalden.

"I know a lot of people that are living in the West and are living in Canada, and that live their everyday life now and are not under arrest or anything, that have been to Khalden," Mr. Khadr testified at a July 13 hearing in Montreal.

"I had a lot of friends that were Canadians that came to Afghanistan and went to training," Mr. Khadr said. "Some of them are dead now and some of them are back in Canada and some of them are under arrest."

His contention that graduates of the Afghan camps are living normal lives in Canada comes as U.S. officials are concerned that al-Qaeda might try to use Canada as a staging ground for a terrorist strike some time before November's presidential election.

Mr. Khadr testified the training camps did not instruct recruits to "go after America," but provided basic weapons training for Muslims, whom he said are obliged to prepare to defend Islamic countries from attack. But it is now widely known the camps were run by al-Qaeda and taught recruits how to attack Western targets.

Among the Canadians who attended the camps were Amer and Ahmad El-Maati of Toronto, a Vancouver man he knew as Amer, who was killed in a 1998 U.S. missile strike, and a Canadian named Idriss, who was arrested for plotting to blow up an embassy in Azerbaijan, Mr. Khadr testified.

He also testified he met Mahmoud Jaballah in Peshawar, Pakistan. Mr. Jaballah is an Egyptian being detained by Canadian authorities following his arrest in Toronto. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) alleges he is a member of the Al Jihad terrorist group. His lawyers argued at a hearing yesterday that he should not be deported to Egypt because he would face torture there. (See story Page A6)

Mr. Khadr's testimony, which fills 176 pages, lends support to accusations by CSIS that Mr. Khadr's father, the late Ahmed Khadr, was a central figure in Canada's Sunni Islamic extremist network until he was killed last year during a shootout with Pakistani security forces.

Known in Afghanistan as al-Kanadi, or the Canadian, his father's house is depicted in the testimony as a hub of Canadian jihad activity. Canadians travelling to Afghanistan to train with al-Qaeda would often pass through the Khadr family home, Abdurahman said.

"We regularly got information if there was any Canadians. In a lot of cases, these Canadians would stay at our house before they would go to Afghanistan. Otherwise, if they didn't stay in our house, then we would know that there is a Canadian coming, you know, to go to Afghanistan and he is going to Khalden or he is going to the [Khalden camp] guesthouse."

The Khadr family raised as much as $70,000 during annual fundraising visits to Canada, he added. The money, raised mostly at mosques, was for Health and Education Projects International, a non-profit organization run by Ahmed Khadr.

Abdurahman said he did not know where the money went but said he had no evidence it financed terrorist training camps. He did admit, however, that his father was close friends with three men who ran al-Qaeda's training camps, including Abu Zubaydah.

He also admitted the Khadr charity had sent supplies to Khalden camp. "I was in Khalden and there was a container of clothes and medicine that came from Canada. And later I saw medicine from the same container and clothes in the camp, in the training camp."

The testimony is the latest chapter in the saga of the Khadrs, a Canadian Muslim family that lived in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1985 to 2001. Although the family long denied any ties to terrorism, the Khadrs now admit their close association to bin Laden and his top aides.

Ahmed Khadr first went to the region as a representative of the Ottawa-based humanitarian group Human Concern International. He became a friend of bin Laden and together they helped finance the fight against the Soviets in the 1980s.

He was later arrested for his alleged role in the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, but he was released after several months. Abdurahman testified the release came after Jean Chretien, then the prime minister, "used his influence on Benazir Bhutto," then the prime minister of Pakistan.

Later, the Khadrs moved into bin Laden's compound in Jalalabad and became what Abdurahman described as an al-Qaeda family.

In November, 2001, Abdurahman was captured by Northern Alliance rebels and handed over to British and American intelligence agents. He claims he co-operated with the CIA and was sent to Guantanamo Bay and Bosnia to spy for the Americans.

His brother Omar was arrested in July, 2002, and remains at Guantanamo. Abdurahman said in his testimony that Omar, accused of killing a U.S. soldier, had confessed at first but then stopped talking.

"My brother Omar co-operated with the FBI and he was ready; they were being ready to release him and then he was in his cellblock and people saw that he was being ready to be released so they told him: 'Oh, you told everything. You are going to Hell. So if you don't change, you are going to Hell.' So the next time he went to interrogation, he denied everything, so they took away everything from him and he is still there now."

His father was killed and his youngest brother, Karim, was injured in a shootout in Pakistan in October, 2003. His mother, Maha Elsamnah, returned to Canada with Karim in the spring, raising an outcry among Canadians who wanted the family barred from the country.

Abdurahman made his comments while testifying as a defence witness in the case of Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan arrested in Montreal after CSIS alleged he was an al-Qaeda sleeper agent. Mr. Khadr testified that while he knew many of the Canadians who trained in Afghanistan, he had never seen Mr. Charkaoui.

Government lawyers tried to discredit him, noting he had changed his story several times. They also emphasized he had not recognize the names of such other Canadian terrorist suspects as Mohammed Marzouk, Abousofian Abdelrazik, Samir Ezzine and Abdallah Ouzghar.

He admits to lying in the past but said that two days after giving a false account of his activities at a news conference in Toronto, he told his lawyer, Rocco Galati, he was actually a CIA informer. He insists he is telling the truth now and just wants to live a normal life in Canada.

He is also suing the Canadian government for a passport, which the government refuses to issue because of his family's al-Qaeda links.

Night falls on day 5

Time for you daily medal count, based on the gold medal system here is the order: China, USA, Japan. Daily medal count based on total: USA, China, Australia. Canada still with only one bronze sits in 38th (again, based on gold medal system).

In other Olympic news the Canadians have been "disqualified" from the pairs rowing competition. CBC.com/olympics reports that the Canadians went out of their lane in the qualifying round, supposed, causing the South African team to mis-row causing a stall just before the finish line. The Canadians admit they went out of their lane however, they contest they did not cause the South Africans to mis-row. For more info on the story click the above link. I, of course, will keep you aprised of all details in this case.

Ian Thorpe (AUS), Michael Phelps and Paul Hamm (both USA) all medaled today. All details are also availible at the above link. More to come including that story I promised from the National Post last night.

Canadian Story

I am working on a story out of the National Post in Canada, I will get it up as soon as possible but it may take till tommorow.

Day 4

Day 4 is done! The medal counts have changed. Using the same process I have explained already (based on total number of gold medals won), the top three are: China, USA, Australia. If we were counting total medals the order is: USA, China, Australia. Canada has dropped a few spots in the standings with still only having one bronze medal. They sit in a 6-way tie for 36th (yes, that means that 41 countries have won medals already). CBC results has the complete list of the medal count.

Phelps v. Thorpe

High expectations are the name of the game at the Olympics. But do we often set the bar too high? Take Michael Phelps, the 19-year old swimmer from Baltimore and Ian Thorpe the 21-year old from Sydney, Australia. Two very, very talented swimmers. Michael Phelps is simply known as Michael Phelps. Ian Thorpe is known as the Thorpedo. You tell me, who do you think is going to win a race? Ok, granted there really isn't much of a nickname you can come up with when using Michael Phelps, still who would you rather cheer for. Phelps and Thorpe didn't race each other the first day and they both managed to win their respective races. The first time they met, they and their teams were both defeated by the South Africans. The next time they met it was Thorpe on top. Today was race day again. It was the 4X200m freestyle relay, and after losing the last time around, the Aussies and the Americans weren't about to be beat again. Today it was a battle for 3rd, as it was a near garuntee that either the Aussies or Americans that would take the gold and likely silver. True to form the Americans and Aussies made it a battle, the Americans sending Phelps out first to get a lead over the Aussies. The aussies sent a different strategy, they waited to send the power till the end. Phelps kept a sizable lead on the Aussies in the first leg. As the race wore on it really did become a battle for thrid. The Americans sent all they could at the Aussies and when the Thorpedo hit the water, the race was on. The winners, the Americans. However, Phelps dream of beating the Mark Spitz record.

I suppose now is a good time to pause and talk a bit about Mark Spitz. An American swimmer, who competed in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, set 7 world records in 7 different races winning 7 gold medals. Everyone said the Phelps was the new Spitz.

Now it's clear, Michael Phelps will not win 7 gold medals. The most he can take is 5. Of course he and Thorpe will come out with a medal in every race they are in but it's a matter of color. As Americans cheer on Phelps and get mad at Thorpe. I'm torn...

Let's talk about the Canadians. They can't seem to win a race, they can't even seem to qualify for the final (with a couple of exceptions). I live in the United States, however, I still don't know who to cheer for. Maybe you can help me out. Should I cheer for my failing native Canada? Or should I cheer for my current residence country, the winning America? Or maybe I should cheer for the Aussies, who for the most part I just like the color? Before giving your opinion, I'm only talking about in the pool. And also if you don't care at all about the olympics I want to know that as well and why you don't care. More to come...maybe

As night falls on Day 3

Olympics, day 3 is done. Day 4 starts bright and early tommorow morning USA/Canada time. Canada while they haven't been doing to poorly also has not been doing that great. The Canadians have one medal so far. It came today in syncronized diving. From the 10m platform Emilie Heymans and Blythe Hartley performed extremely well and captured the bronze, although they did drop a spot at the end. In the medal count Canada sits in a 7-way tie for 31st. The United States sits 4th, based on a majority of gold medals. What do I mean by that? By a strict medal count, the United States is tied for 2nd along with Australia, they both have 13 medals. But Japan has 2 more golds than the US, therefore, Japan is placed higher even though they have half the medals that the Americans have. For more information about the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad check out CBC.ca or for you Americans NBC.com.