Readers of WW4 REPORT will be aware that we hate David Irving's filthy crypto-Nazi guts. But we oppose his imprisonment, just as we did that of the vile Judith Miller. We wish the Europeans would realize that locking up these intellectual hoodlums just makes them look like martyrs and paradoxically vindicates them. And then, as in the case of Holocaust revisionist Robert Faurisson (who was just sacked from the University of Lyon, not even locked up), you get people like Noam Chomsky running to their defense in The Nation. And then the right (especially the Zionists and neocons) jump in, portraying the left as a hotbed of anti-Semitism. And then, worse still, the left itself gets all confused about the ethics of genocide and historical truth.

The first round of voting in Egypt's parliamentary elections--much hailed as evidence of a democratic opening--has brought a big surprise. Candidates of the officially outlawed Muslim Brotherhood won an unprecedented 34 of the 164 contested seats, totaling more than 20% of the vote. Nother nine seats went to an opposition front composed of the Nasserite al-Wafd and the Kefayah and al-Karamah parties. The remainder went to the long-ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Muhammad Habib said that "the result confirms that the Egyptian people stand behind the Muslim Brothers and sympathize with them and that they actually represent the strongest political and social group in Egypt." (Arabic News, Nov. 18)

This is the definition of chutzpah. Even after Memogate and Plamegate (or Nigergate or whatever they are calling it), Cheney thinks he will be believed in these outraged accusations against his accusers. This really is a textbook case of the Big Lie technique—and it is worth noting that the phrase, popularly attributed to the Nazis to describe their own propaganda, was actually first used by Hitler and Goebbels to discredit Allied and "Jewish" propaganda. So, at risk of violating Godwin's Law, we submit that this analogy is not spurious. From MSNB, Nov. 17:

Weeks after India and Pakistan agreed to open the Line of Control in Kashmir in the wake of the devastating earthquake, families divided by the de facto border remain frustrated that only relief workers have been allowed to cross—not local residents. Now, following weeks of pressure, Pakistani authorities have alloweds 83 residents from the Indian side of the line to cross over to meet with their kin in stricken villages. The case of some 100 residents seeking to cross from Pakistani to Indian controlled territory remains pending. (Reuters, Nov. 16)

Within hours of the announcement, four people were killed and 45 wounded when a car bomb exploded on a busy intersection in Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir. Al-Arifeen, claimed responsibility for the explosion in a telephone call to the Kashmir News Service. Police said that it was a front for the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba. (Pakistan Daily Times, Nov. 17)

Spain has joined Italy in launching an investigation of claims the CIA is operating a "rendition fleet" to transfer detainees to facilities in a secret gulag maintained in various host countries. From the AP, Nov. 15:

MADRID, Spain — The interior minister said Tuesday a judge is investigating alleged CIA use of a Spanish airport as part of a covert program for transporting suspected Islamic terrorists.

In today's headlines, up to 200 malnourished Iraqi detainees bearing signs of torture were found in a secret prison in the basement of a government building in Baghdad. The discovery came after US troops surrounded and took control of an Interior Ministry building in the Jadriya district of the capital on the night of Nov. 13.

When US troops arrived at the facility, officials there told them some 40 detainees were being held. As they searched the building they discovered at least 200, mostly Sunni Arabs and many in very poor health. The US foces had apparently been tipped off to the prison’s existence by relatives of those detained there.

A powerful blast outside KFC fast-food franchise killed three people and wounded at least 15 others in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi early Nov. 15. The Baluchistan National Army, a separatist guerilla group in restive southwestern Baluchistan Province, claimed responsibility for the attack. But Pakistani officials deny the existence of the group. "We did it to protest, and we did it to pressure the government for our rights," a guerilla spokesperson, identified as Chakar Azam, told the AP. Pakistani officials dismissed the claim.

Although it was only the attempt on a luxury cruise ship that made headlines, Somali pirates attacked five vessels last week, with shipping experts saying the operations were apparently directed from a mysterious "mother ship" prowling the busy Indian Ocean corridor.

Most vessels escaped, but one was commandeered, bringing to seven the number of vessels now being held captive along with their crews by pirates operating along Somalia's coastline, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

Rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles were fired at the US-owned Seabourn Spirit, carrying 150 western tourists, by gunmen in two small speedboats, but the ship's captain managed to change course and speed away. Thousands of merchant ships carrying oil and other critical coommodities pass the Somali coast to the Cape of Good Hope every year. (IOL, Nov. 12)