From Michael Totten's blog...I thought this tale represented a tiny, tiny light of hope in the darkness that has enveloped the Middle East, and is spreading West:
Seeing Israel and Palestine for myself as they really are makes me slightly more hopeful than I was before I got there. The standard narrative of the conflict is a cartoon. Upon closer inspection, it’s a lot more complicated. And it’s a lot more interesting, too.
The Druze serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. And the Druze are as Arab as anyone else in the region. The biggest problem the Israeli government has with Druze members of the IDF is not that they are not loyal. The biggest problem is that they are consistently the most roguish and brutal toward Palestinians. They speak Arabic as their first language. Palestinians say they are traitors.
Bedouin also serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. T he skills they learn as desert wanderers make them the perfect trackers.
Don’t assume the only reason Bedouin work with the Israelis is because they are loyal to the state they happen to live in, as may (or may not) be the case with the Druze. The tight relationship between Israeli Jews and Bedouin Arabs crosses international borders.
Lisa told me the Bedouin in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula speak Hebrew.
“Why?” I said. “Did they learn it during the occupation?” Israel seized the Sinai from Egypt during the Six Day War in 1967 and gave it back when Anwar Sadat agreed to a peace treaty.
“No,” she said. “They wanted to learn Hebrew so they can talk to us when we go down and visit.”
“When you go down there and visit?” I did not know what she was talking about.
“Last year 200,000 Israelis visited the Bedouin during Passover," she said.
“Two hundred thousand,” I said. “On just one day?”
“You didn’t know about this?” she said.
“No,” I said. Before I went to the Middle East I had no idea Israeli Jews had any kind of genuinely friendly relations with Arabs in any country except right-wing Lebanese Maronites. And a significant number of Maronites say they aren't even Arabs at all.
“The Bedouin roll our joints for us,” she said. “They sell us hashish. Israeli women like to go topless.”
“You go topless in front of the Bedouin?” I said. “Isn’t that offensive?” Bedouin are arguably the most conservative people in the entire Middle East.
“It doesn’t bother them,” she said. “ They understand that our cultures are different. They don’t impose their values on us. And I never once saw a Bedouin man with wandering eyes.”
It made sense once I thought about it. Bedouin may be Egyptian Arabs, but they are completely isolated from Hosni Mubarak’s deranged state-run media. They could not care less about the politics of the so-called Arab-Israeli conflict. No one ever told them they are supposed to hate Jews. When politics can be pitched over the side, Israeli Jews and at least some Arab Muslims have a natural affinity for one another and they get along great.
“They are our brothers,” she said.
I like that..without someone (in this case, vicious Arab states) teaching Muslims to hate Jews; these longtime neighbors congregate in business and commerce.
But dictatorships rarely deal in friendships and truths; which brings me to a second view of the region, an absolutely pessemistic one which underlines the cultural divide between East and West. At The Gates of Vienna, they analzye commentary From The Autonomist blog; we get this:
Muslims... have developed, to an amazing extent, the ability to deceive. And it is that ability that confounds their environmental competitors (you and me) the most. These types of organisms -- “lie-in-wait” predators -- must know the full range of behaviors of the organisms they wish to defeat, so as to position themselves correctly for the strike. They are not necessarily strong or powerful, so they must know what frightens, arouses, lures, relaxes, and weakens that which they intend to destroy. For the Muslim, the idea is to exploit our greatest vulnerability -- PC thinking.
They hone these deceptive traits by practicing on themselves, first and foremost, by perfecting the art that most Westerners would call “lying.” But to them it’s not really lying. To them, lying is simply the most effective means at their disposal for saving face, being clever, getting ahead, and trying to appear superior. Remember, deception is the Muslim’s most developed trait; their secret weapon. Its constant exercise is not a matter of shame, it’s a matter of pride.
…in the Middle East, there is no such thing as an Agreement. Whether a verbal commitment or a look straight in the eye or firm handshake or even a written contract, these things here are worth next to nothing. Rather than organizing or finalizing anything, these acts merely serve as a continuation of the struggle by one party to screw the other party more than they plan on getting screwed themselves. Accomplishing a given task, taking pride in one’s work, achieving competence, and even basic concepts of economic gain through mutual trade, take a far back seat to the massive satisfaction gained by getting something more out of someone else then they get from you.
This gets a little rough, but I will reprint nevertheless:
Let’s take a quiz:
Q: Why are there no democracies in the Muslim Middle East?
A: Democracies are based on the possibility of mutually held Agreements between people. Democracy is unsustainable in cultures where lying is acceptable and constant.
Q: Why is every Muslim Middle Eastern country characterized by either rigid oppression or chaotic violence?
A: The coercive use of violence is the only way to ensure Muslims in the Middle East will live up to any obligations, including basic social order and function. Middle East countries where chaos currently reigns, like Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan, are merely examples of what Muslims are like without coercion.
So which model is the talisman that calls the future for the Arab/Muslim world? The Bedouin, cheerfully working with their Israeli neghbors for fun and profit; or the decieving Arab, where satisfaction can only be attained by utter control and victory.
Hope? Or no hope at all?
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Iran: Planning for Regional Conflict
Seems like Iranian plans of a massive counterstrike after a Western attack on their nuclear facilities are coming into focus...first, from Little Green Footballs:
According to Iran, the latest military plan includes:
1- A missile strike directly targeting the US bases in the Persian Gulf and Iraq , as soon as nuclear installations are hit.
2- Suicide operations in a number of Arab and Muslim countries against US embassies and missions and US military bases and economic and oil installations related to US and British companies. The campaign might also target the economic and military installations of countries allied with the United States .
3- Launch attacks by the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi fighters loyal to Iran against US and British forces in Iraq , from border regions in central and southern Iraq .
4- Hezbollah to launch hundreds of rockets against military and economic targets in Israel .
It matches exactly what Michael Totten is seeing on the Lebanon-Israel border:
Iran has moved into South Lebanon. Intelligence agents are helping Hezbollah construct watch towers fitted with one-way bullet-proof windows right next to Israeli army positions. Here's what one officer said:
This is now Iran's front line with Israel. The Iranians are using Hizbollah to spy on us so that they can collect information for future attacks. And there is very little we can do about it.
More powerful weapons, including missiles with a range of 30 miles, are also being brought in.
Seems as if Iran has got the world in between a rock and a hard place - if they build nukes, a regime of Islamic hardcases will be free to control the entirety of the Middle East. If we prevent them from building nukes, they will throw the globe into the East vs. West World War that they believe will unveil the "hidden Iman" that will lead them to global domination and glory.
But if you are liberal, this is all the more reason to furiously stick your head deeper into the sand - like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
The White House holds a dangerously simplistic view of Iran as a target in its war on terror. Bush has shown no interest in friendly engagement, the most promising way to promote change in a country with a restless, young population.
"Friendly engagement"? With who, the guy who promises to wipe Israel off the map and is openly builing nuclear weapons with every intention to use them?
Methinks it is the editorial board of the PI that "holds a dangerously simplistic view of Iran"...
According to Iran, the latest military plan includes:
1- A missile strike directly targeting the US bases in the Persian Gulf and Iraq , as soon as nuclear installations are hit.
2- Suicide operations in a number of Arab and Muslim countries against US embassies and missions and US military bases and economic and oil installations related to US and British companies. The campaign might also target the economic and military installations of countries allied with the United States .
3- Launch attacks by the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi fighters loyal to Iran against US and British forces in Iraq , from border regions in central and southern Iraq .
4- Hezbollah to launch hundreds of rockets against military and economic targets in Israel .
It matches exactly what Michael Totten is seeing on the Lebanon-Israel border:
Iran has moved into South Lebanon. Intelligence agents are helping Hezbollah construct watch towers fitted with one-way bullet-proof windows right next to Israeli army positions. Here's what one officer said:
This is now Iran's front line with Israel. The Iranians are using Hizbollah to spy on us so that they can collect information for future attacks. And there is very little we can do about it.
More powerful weapons, including missiles with a range of 30 miles, are also being brought in.
Seems as if Iran has got the world in between a rock and a hard place - if they build nukes, a regime of Islamic hardcases will be free to control the entirety of the Middle East. If we prevent them from building nukes, they will throw the globe into the East vs. West World War that they believe will unveil the "hidden Iman" that will lead them to global domination and glory.
But if you are liberal, this is all the more reason to furiously stick your head deeper into the sand - like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
The White House holds a dangerously simplistic view of Iran as a target in its war on terror. Bush has shown no interest in friendly engagement, the most promising way to promote change in a country with a restless, young population.
"Friendly engagement"? With who, the guy who promises to wipe Israel off the map and is openly builing nuclear weapons with every intention to use them?
Methinks it is the editorial board of the PI that "holds a dangerously simplistic view of Iran"...
AP Hypes Anti-War Rally
If there really was a serious anti-war sentiment in America, it wouldn't need the AP to hype non-events like the one they so breathlessly anticipate here:
A day after the military announced that April was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in
Iraq this year, thousands of anti-war demonstrators converged on lower Manhattan on Saturday to call for an immediate withdrawal of troops from that country.
The deadliest month in a four month old year brings us 67 casualities - a few day's worth back in the Vietnam War; but notice how that comparison disappears in the media when it becomes inconvienent?
Organizers said they expected the marchers would include the Rev. Jesse Jackson' film director Jonathan Demme and Cindy Sheehan, the vocal war opponent whose 24-year-old son was killed in Iraq.
I cannot even begin to think of three less significant people - a faded race-baiter, a psycho mom, and a Hollywood director? Honestly, who gives a sh*t about this bunch of C-list rabble? Participating in this march is the only way for these attention-starved losers to gather a crowd around them...
"The Bush administration hopes to defuse pressure at home and in Iraq to end its occupation by bringing a portion of the troops home (maybe)," organizer Leslie Cagan said in a statement. "But withdrawing some troops is completely unacceptable."
I agree, Leslie! Troop withdrawal at the current time is unacceptable!
And here is a little perspective on our "deadliest month":
The Defense Department said Friday that at least 67 U.S. troops have died in Iraq in April.
Although that figure is well below some of the bloodiest months of the Iraq conflict, it is a sharp increase over March, when 31 American service members were killed. January's death toll was 62 and February's was 55. In December, 68 Americans died.
So, to recap:
January - 62 soldiers perished
February - 55 Americans die
April - 67 serviceman die in combat
Wait! That is five more than January!! Oh my gosh, it is the "deadliest month of the year!!"
May God protect our servicemen overseas, not just from the jihadi animals, but from a media that acts as a bullhorn for terrorist propoganda.
And may I remind you what percentage a "few thousand" people is in a city of over 8 million (documented) residents? There were just as many people watching the BASE jumper get nabbed at the Empire State building, or on line in Times Square to get half-price Broadway tickets, or milling around Penn Station, as there are in this much-hyped "rally".
Truth: There is no real anti-war movement in America (except in the MSM newsrooms, and among the hardcore Democratic, Vietnam-era lefties) because most citizens realize exactly what is at stake here.
Good for them.
A day after the military announced that April was the deadliest month for U.S. forces in
Iraq this year, thousands of anti-war demonstrators converged on lower Manhattan on Saturday to call for an immediate withdrawal of troops from that country.
The deadliest month in a four month old year brings us 67 casualities - a few day's worth back in the Vietnam War; but notice how that comparison disappears in the media when it becomes inconvienent?
Organizers said they expected the marchers would include the Rev. Jesse Jackson' film director Jonathan Demme and Cindy Sheehan, the vocal war opponent whose 24-year-old son was killed in Iraq.
I cannot even begin to think of three less significant people - a faded race-baiter, a psycho mom, and a Hollywood director? Honestly, who gives a sh*t about this bunch of C-list rabble? Participating in this march is the only way for these attention-starved losers to gather a crowd around them...
"The Bush administration hopes to defuse pressure at home and in Iraq to end its occupation by bringing a portion of the troops home (maybe)," organizer Leslie Cagan said in a statement. "But withdrawing some troops is completely unacceptable."
I agree, Leslie! Troop withdrawal at the current time is unacceptable!
And here is a little perspective on our "deadliest month":
The Defense Department said Friday that at least 67 U.S. troops have died in Iraq in April.
Although that figure is well below some of the bloodiest months of the Iraq conflict, it is a sharp increase over March, when 31 American service members were killed. January's death toll was 62 and February's was 55. In December, 68 Americans died.
So, to recap:
January - 62 soldiers perished
February - 55 Americans die
April - 67 serviceman die in combat
Wait! That is five more than January!! Oh my gosh, it is the "deadliest month of the year!!"
May God protect our servicemen overseas, not just from the jihadi animals, but from a media that acts as a bullhorn for terrorist propoganda.
And may I remind you what percentage a "few thousand" people is in a city of over 8 million (documented) residents? There were just as many people watching the BASE jumper get nabbed at the Empire State building, or on line in Times Square to get half-price Broadway tickets, or milling around Penn Station, as there are in this much-hyped "rally".
Truth: There is no real anti-war movement in America (except in the MSM newsrooms, and among the hardcore Democratic, Vietnam-era lefties) because most citizens realize exactly what is at stake here.
Good for them.
This is the best "anti war" photo the AP could dig up..." Two anti-war demonstrators wear orange jump suits and President Bush and Vice President Cheney masks during a protest against the war in Iraq at the University of Minnesota Friday, April 28, 2006 in Minneapolis. Scores of high school students skipped school to join the college students in the protest as rain fell."
Pathetic!
Friday, April 28, 2006
"Not Recommended"?
A confusing review of Flight 93 from Jack Matthews in today's New York Daily News. He gives the movie 3 1/2 stars; and begins thusly:
If a movie had to be made about the Newark-to-San Francisco flight that crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to retake it from 9/11 hijackers, British writer-director Paul Greengrass did it as well as it could possibly be done.
It is a docudrama done with great sensitivity, and with unerring judgment in the writing and in the depiction of the passengers and hijackers. The diciest part of this project was having to imagine - i.e, fictionalize - the final, horrifying minutes inside Flight 93.
But after prasing the script, direction, and cinematography, we get an odd conclusion:
But you can certainly question the point of making a movie that - when it ends at the moment of 93's impact - leaves us with the same sickening mix of loss and anger we felt at the time.
I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone, but if the families of the victims take something positive from it, as their cooperation with Greengrass suggests they do, that's justification enough.
I'm a little at a loss here - was Mr. Matthews hoping for some kind of an uplifting ending to an event that started what will almost certainly become the Third World War? Or did he fail to see, perhaps, the most inspiring element was in fact the event itself - a group of strangers, knowing with absolute certainty they were about to die, fought together to save the structure of the United States government, and thousands of innocent lives along with it.
Any type of add-on "happy ending" would no doubt have seemed spurious in the context of these world-changing events. Can't our faithful reviewer accept that, and take deeper meaning out of the real-life drama that unfolded on that dreadful day?
Personally, I believe that United 93 is the event that defines the American people - a people who do not wait for orders, but act out of responsibility and duty when they, their families, or their nation is threatened. There were no worries among the passengers of Flight 93 about violating the civil rights of the hijackers, or understanding their root causes....they only understood what needed to be done, acted upon it, and died for it.
Which leads me to the most annoying line in the above review -" I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone". Well, I am sorry if you think it is still "too soon"; or do not see the need for highlighting the historic bravery that took place on that horrific day. But I can think of plenty of people to recommend it to; this is only a short list:
- all of those overseas who believe that Americans are weak
-foreign nations who need a little lesson in understanding what American values are
-every 9/11 conspiracy nutjob who believes Zionist NeoCons were at the controls that day...
-and every person who seems to forget why we are fighting a war on terror, and who we are fighting against
Mr. Matthews, I seriously believe you should re-think your conclusion...
If a movie had to be made about the Newark-to-San Francisco flight that crashed in Pennsylvania when passengers tried to retake it from 9/11 hijackers, British writer-director Paul Greengrass did it as well as it could possibly be done.
It is a docudrama done with great sensitivity, and with unerring judgment in the writing and in the depiction of the passengers and hijackers. The diciest part of this project was having to imagine - i.e, fictionalize - the final, horrifying minutes inside Flight 93.
But after prasing the script, direction, and cinematography, we get an odd conclusion:
But you can certainly question the point of making a movie that - when it ends at the moment of 93's impact - leaves us with the same sickening mix of loss and anger we felt at the time.
I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone, but if the families of the victims take something positive from it, as their cooperation with Greengrass suggests they do, that's justification enough.
I'm a little at a loss here - was Mr. Matthews hoping for some kind of an uplifting ending to an event that started what will almost certainly become the Third World War? Or did he fail to see, perhaps, the most inspiring element was in fact the event itself - a group of strangers, knowing with absolute certainty they were about to die, fought together to save the structure of the United States government, and thousands of innocent lives along with it.
Any type of add-on "happy ending" would no doubt have seemed spurious in the context of these world-changing events. Can't our faithful reviewer accept that, and take deeper meaning out of the real-life drama that unfolded on that dreadful day?
Personally, I believe that United 93 is the event that defines the American people - a people who do not wait for orders, but act out of responsibility and duty when they, their families, or their nation is threatened. There were no worries among the passengers of Flight 93 about violating the civil rights of the hijackers, or understanding their root causes....they only understood what needed to be done, acted upon it, and died for it.
Which leads me to the most annoying line in the above review -" I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone". Well, I am sorry if you think it is still "too soon"; or do not see the need for highlighting the historic bravery that took place on that horrific day. But I can think of plenty of people to recommend it to; this is only a short list:
- all of those overseas who believe that Americans are weak
-foreign nations who need a little lesson in understanding what American values are
-every 9/11 conspiracy nutjob who believes Zionist NeoCons were at the controls that day...
-and every person who seems to forget why we are fighting a war on terror, and who we are fighting against
Mr. Matthews, I seriously believe you should re-think your conclusion...
Thursday, April 27, 2006
State of Florida outlaws ..Bullying?
Classic example of elected officials convinced there is a legislative solution for any of the world's problems...you see, if they would only just pass a law against it:
TALLAHASSEE - A controversial anti-bullying bill has been changed to appease opponents who want school districts to include protections for gay students.
State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, agreed to allow school districts to list categories of frequently targeted bullying victims when the districts draft their policies.
The move comes after pressure from gay-rights groups such as Equality Florida and from state Rep. Ken Gottlieb, a Miramar Democrat, who argued that categories are necessary to protect all victims and punish bullies.
School districts that fail to create bullying rules would risk losing state money.
Gottlieb has tried for years to pass an anti-bullying bill that banned harassment based on sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity and other factors frequently targeted by bullies.
The bill also outlines ways for students and teachers to report bullying anonymously, and it prohibits using computers or other technology to harass students.
Wow! Great idea! Maybe we ought to just outlaw terrorism; that's stop the jihadis from flying planes into our buildings!
Or maybe we should make guns illegal, so nobody would ever use one to commit a crime! Wait, I think that's been tried...
And what does "prohibits using computers or other technology to harass students" mean, by the way? If a student uses the word "terrorist" in his/her blog, can a Muslim student claim "a threating atmosphere" and thus claim bullying under the" ethnicity catagory?" Just asking...
And what kind of sick people want a world without Nelson Muntz, Jimbo Jones, and Kearny anyway?
TALLAHASSEE - A controversial anti-bullying bill has been changed to appease opponents who want school districts to include protections for gay students.
State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, agreed to allow school districts to list categories of frequently targeted bullying victims when the districts draft their policies.
The move comes after pressure from gay-rights groups such as Equality Florida and from state Rep. Ken Gottlieb, a Miramar Democrat, who argued that categories are necessary to protect all victims and punish bullies.
School districts that fail to create bullying rules would risk losing state money.
Gottlieb has tried for years to pass an anti-bullying bill that banned harassment based on sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity and other factors frequently targeted by bullies.
The bill also outlines ways for students and teachers to report bullying anonymously, and it prohibits using computers or other technology to harass students.
Wow! Great idea! Maybe we ought to just outlaw terrorism; that's stop the jihadis from flying planes into our buildings!
Or maybe we should make guns illegal, so nobody would ever use one to commit a crime! Wait, I think that's been tried...
And what does "prohibits using computers or other technology to harass students" mean, by the way? If a student uses the word "terrorist" in his/her blog, can a Muslim student claim "a threating atmosphere" and thus claim bullying under the" ethnicity catagory?" Just asking...
And what kind of sick people want a world without Nelson Muntz, Jimbo Jones, and Kearny anyway?
"Immigration Rallies Backfiring"...
...is the name of the link on the MSN homepage; although once clicked, the title is Minutemen Gain Mainstream Appeal. Shocking to see anything less than negative by a MSM outlet on the Minutemen; this is actually an evenhanded approach:
Minuteman organizers say this spring’s marches have proved to be an unexpected recruitment tool for Americans who feel uneasy about the burgeoning immigration movement but may have considered the organization a pack of gun-toting vigilantes.
"We’re not trying to be more mainstream — mainstream has found us,” said Stephen Eichler, the group’s executive director. “They’re saying, ’These guys actually have teeth, they don’t all chew tobacco, they don’t all have a gun rack in the back of their truck.’ They’re saying, ‘They believe what I believe,’ and they’re joining us"
The Minuteman Project first gained attention last year when Orange County resident and former tax accountant Jim Gilchrist helped lead its first 30-day patrol of the border in Arizona. The group has added mainstream political tools, including a network of local chapters and e-mail lobbying campaigns.
In December, Gilchrist, a former Republican, ran as a third-party candidate in a special House election in Orange County, Calif., finished a respectable third with 25 percent of the vote.
Since this spring’s huge pro-immigrant rallies, 300 people nationwide have applied to start local chapters, according to Eichler. The group’s goal is 500 chapters by December and a membership of 1 million within 1 1/2 years, Eichler said.
Eichler claimed the organization’s membership has climbed to more than 200,000.
That number seems a bit high; nevertheless, here is a grassroots organization that has quickly gained a mainstream following, despite the media's desperate attempts to paint them as red-state radicals.
The Minutemen movement will be a force to reckon with in the 2006 Congressional elections; will the Republicans get back to the "right" on this issue, or will they be cowed by editorial writers and leftist Democrats (like my miserable Senator, Menendez (D-NJ), a Corzine appointee and fully in his pocket) who claim "inaliable rights" for people who are, by definition, criminals?
Let's do this right: Seal the borders, allow for a certain amount of immigration; and allow those presently here to become citizens if they learn the language, pay taxes, and keep their noses clean...
And let me take this opportunity to run some of my favorite photos- these are observers, sent by the ACLU to watch the Minutemen, lest they infringe upon the "rights" of illegal aliens...note what activity these upstanding liberals are engaged in:
Minuteman organizers say this spring’s marches have proved to be an unexpected recruitment tool for Americans who feel uneasy about the burgeoning immigration movement but may have considered the organization a pack of gun-toting vigilantes.
"We’re not trying to be more mainstream — mainstream has found us,” said Stephen Eichler, the group’s executive director. “They’re saying, ’These guys actually have teeth, they don’t all chew tobacco, they don’t all have a gun rack in the back of their truck.’ They’re saying, ‘They believe what I believe,’ and they’re joining us"
The Minuteman Project first gained attention last year when Orange County resident and former tax accountant Jim Gilchrist helped lead its first 30-day patrol of the border in Arizona. The group has added mainstream political tools, including a network of local chapters and e-mail lobbying campaigns.
In December, Gilchrist, a former Republican, ran as a third-party candidate in a special House election in Orange County, Calif., finished a respectable third with 25 percent of the vote.
Since this spring’s huge pro-immigrant rallies, 300 people nationwide have applied to start local chapters, according to Eichler. The group’s goal is 500 chapters by December and a membership of 1 million within 1 1/2 years, Eichler said.
Eichler claimed the organization’s membership has climbed to more than 200,000.
That number seems a bit high; nevertheless, here is a grassroots organization that has quickly gained a mainstream following, despite the media's desperate attempts to paint them as red-state radicals.
The Minutemen movement will be a force to reckon with in the 2006 Congressional elections; will the Republicans get back to the "right" on this issue, or will they be cowed by editorial writers and leftist Democrats (like my miserable Senator, Menendez (D-NJ), a Corzine appointee and fully in his pocket) who claim "inaliable rights" for people who are, by definition, criminals?
Let's do this right: Seal the borders, allow for a certain amount of immigration; and allow those presently here to become citizens if they learn the language, pay taxes, and keep their noses clean...
And let me take this opportunity to run some of my favorite photos- these are observers, sent by the ACLU to watch the Minutemen, lest they infringe upon the "rights" of illegal aliens...note what activity these upstanding liberals are engaged in:
What about a person's right not to get sick or intoxicated from the ACLU's secondhand marijuana smoke? Classic liberal disregard for laws they don't like...but of course, it is OK to harass the Minutemen when they haven't even committed a crime...
The ACLU's time, as well as that of Senator Menendez, may be coming to a close. The Minutemen represent a frustration in America with politicians unable to handle the most basic job of government - national security- without resorting to partisan squabbles, politicking, and vain posturing. The ones who figure out how to make this work are the ones whom will win come this November.
President Bush - if you do not have the guts to lead on this issue, than kindly keep quiet, step aside, and let your Congressional members of Congress get the job done for us...
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Report from Brussels
On Saturday, we reported on the brutal murder of young Joe Van Holsbeeck on a crowded Brussels train platform, allegedly by "North African youths". Turns out that the perpetrators were actually Polish immigrants; one of whom was captured, the other still remains at large.
Although some have glorified in calling me a racist, I will quickly point out that I did not assume they were Muslims; that fact was actually put out by the Belgian authorities:
On 13 April, one day after the murder of 17 year old Joe Van Holsbeeck, the office of the public prosecutor issued a statement saying the murderers were two “North African youths.”
Since their is quite a difference in appearance between North Africans and Eastern Europeans, I am at a loss to explain how the prosecuter made such a statement. And since this murder happened at a crowded train station; how was it that the physical description of the killers was so far off? I cannot even begin to figure that one out...
Nevertheless, the bulk of my post did not focus on the Muslim aspect of the murder; it was more based on the utter degredation that European society is undergoing, and how hamstrung police officers have become in a PC-ruled society. Certain ugly facts remain intact-
-no one on the train platform lifted a finger to help Joe or detain his murderers
-after the slaying, the police were questioning the victim's actions:
"Immediately after the assassination the police inquired whether Joe had made any “racist remarks” whilst been mugged... "
-and finally, Joe's parents did not bury him in accordance with his religious traditions because they feared being accused of "excluding" immigrants.
And it gets uglier - the Chief Justice of this warped nation absolves the state and blames the citizenry for not helping out -
"The police cannot be present everywhere. Security is a collective responsibility. As citizens we are all partially responsible for the security of other citizens.”
Watch that word "collective", gentlemen - you are giving the game away!
And if security is indeed a "collective" pursuit; why not allow law-abiding Belgians them to arm themselves? Again, from Saturday's post:
It is illegal to carry arms in Belgium, where even a pepper spray is considered to be an illegal weapon....Governor Denys retorted: “I am the Governor of East Flanders, not of Texas. […] I do not want to live in such a society [where citizens are allowed to possess arms].”
And a quick retort from the Brussels Journal:
In a country where it is illegal to bear arms, including protective ‘arms’ such as a pepperspray, people wonder how they should protect themselves and others against armed criminals if the state, which now acknowledges that it cannot be present everywhere [not even in Brussels Central Station during rush hour], abandons them and tells them that the security of fellow citizens is their responsibility.
And what is the effect of the "mistaken identity" issue on the dialogue?
...the announcement that Joe Van Holsbeeck’s murderers are not North African but Polish immigrants has led to reproaches of racism against everyone (including this website) who during these past days has warned about the problem posed by violent gangs of youths of a particular ethnicity. While until yesterday it looked as if a taboo would finally be addressed, it is now far more likely that the taboo will be suppressed and the situation will fester on.
That taboo will continued to be addressed here. Although my use of the alleged Muslim identity of the aggressors and the use of the word "dhimmi" was not appropriate in this case; I'd reckon that it will apply somewhere in Europe in the next, oh, I don't know, fifteen minutes?
The most important lesson for America is that the multicultural model of Europe is a complete failure. Assimilation, not the differentation between races and religions, is what keeps the fabric of society unrendered. The liberal race-baiters and oppression artists are trying to lead us off the cliff that Europe is currently tumbling over.
Remember Joe Van Holsbeeck!
Although some have glorified in calling me a racist, I will quickly point out that I did not assume they were Muslims; that fact was actually put out by the Belgian authorities:
On 13 April, one day after the murder of 17 year old Joe Van Holsbeeck, the office of the public prosecutor issued a statement saying the murderers were two “North African youths.”
Since their is quite a difference in appearance between North Africans and Eastern Europeans, I am at a loss to explain how the prosecuter made such a statement. And since this murder happened at a crowded train station; how was it that the physical description of the killers was so far off? I cannot even begin to figure that one out...
Nevertheless, the bulk of my post did not focus on the Muslim aspect of the murder; it was more based on the utter degredation that European society is undergoing, and how hamstrung police officers have become in a PC-ruled society. Certain ugly facts remain intact-
-no one on the train platform lifted a finger to help Joe or detain his murderers
-after the slaying, the police were questioning the victim's actions:
"Immediately after the assassination the police inquired whether Joe had made any “racist remarks” whilst been mugged... "
-and finally, Joe's parents did not bury him in accordance with his religious traditions because they feared being accused of "excluding" immigrants.
And it gets uglier - the Chief Justice of this warped nation absolves the state and blames the citizenry for not helping out -
"The police cannot be present everywhere. Security is a collective responsibility. As citizens we are all partially responsible for the security of other citizens.”
Watch that word "collective", gentlemen - you are giving the game away!
And if security is indeed a "collective" pursuit; why not allow law-abiding Belgians them to arm themselves? Again, from Saturday's post:
It is illegal to carry arms in Belgium, where even a pepper spray is considered to be an illegal weapon....Governor Denys retorted: “I am the Governor of East Flanders, not of Texas. […] I do not want to live in such a society [where citizens are allowed to possess arms].”
And a quick retort from the Brussels Journal:
In a country where it is illegal to bear arms, including protective ‘arms’ such as a pepperspray, people wonder how they should protect themselves and others against armed criminals if the state, which now acknowledges that it cannot be present everywhere [not even in Brussels Central Station during rush hour], abandons them and tells them that the security of fellow citizens is their responsibility.
And what is the effect of the "mistaken identity" issue on the dialogue?
...the announcement that Joe Van Holsbeeck’s murderers are not North African but Polish immigrants has led to reproaches of racism against everyone (including this website) who during these past days has warned about the problem posed by violent gangs of youths of a particular ethnicity. While until yesterday it looked as if a taboo would finally be addressed, it is now far more likely that the taboo will be suppressed and the situation will fester on.
That taboo will continued to be addressed here. Although my use of the alleged Muslim identity of the aggressors and the use of the word "dhimmi" was not appropriate in this case; I'd reckon that it will apply somewhere in Europe in the next, oh, I don't know, fifteen minutes?
The most important lesson for America is that the multicultural model of Europe is a complete failure. Assimilation, not the differentation between races and religions, is what keeps the fabric of society unrendered. The liberal race-baiters and oppression artists are trying to lead us off the cliff that Europe is currently tumbling over.
Remember Joe Van Holsbeeck!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Jon Corzine's Attorney General Fights FOR Criminals !
New Jersey sinks deeper into the swamp; with Governor Corzine's leftist deputies dragging us down...first, a little backround on his hand-picked appointment to Attorney General; slammed thru a Democratic-controlled State Senate:
Zulima Farber became attorney general following a 25-10 vote, while the Senate unanimously approved Susan Bass Levin as Department of Community Affairs commissioner.
Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, wanted more hearings on Farber's role representing the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in a lawsuit and other issues. He criticized Farber for objecting to using deadly force to protect one's home and mandatory sentencing. He also ripped Farber's response to her driving record — which includes 13 speeding tickets, three license suspensions and a bench warrant for failing to pay a fine.
Farber apologized to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week for her embarrassing driving record, which she said probably "requires psychoanalysis" to explain. She at one point thanked Corzine "for giving me a job with a driver."
So what happens when you give the state's highest law office to someone with who was actually a wanted women, with more than a dozen speeding tickets, multiple license suspensions, and a penchant for seeing the criminals as victims? This:
New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber participated in an illegal immigrant protest rally in Newark’s Lincoln Park yesterday afternoon. Addressing the crowd in Spanish and in English she said:
"All people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, to live in safe, clean and affordable housing and to walk down the street without being afraid, Farber said. "I understand your struggle...".
Enlighten New Jersey follows with commentary:
Farber, as Jersey’s top law enforcement officer, is supposed to enforce the law and protect citizens and legal residents from law breakers. Clearly the Attorney General does not understand the struggle and the challenge of being a taxpayer in New Jersey, preferring to aid and abet illegal behavior than to prosecute it.
New Jersey’s 300,000+ illegal aliens cost state taxpayers a minimum of $300 million to $400 million per year for public services. Taxpayers have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Instead, we are treated with derision and contempt. How many laws must an illegal immigrant break before Zulima Farber considers it criminal? Entering and remaining in the country illegally, using forged documents to work, fraudulently receiving government funds, services, and goods, tax evasion and on and on.
What a signal to send to the illegal aliens in the U.S. – New Jersey’s Attorney General welcomes you with open arms and a promise of affordable housing.
And all of this is paid for on the backs of the middle class in New Jersey, whom suffer through the highest property taxes in the nation in order to pay for Farber's army of New Jersey illegals...
Jersey is teetering on the verge of collapse; that in itself is a very dangerous thing. But imagine the results should the Democratic party choose to implement these policies on a national scale. Remember - once Senator, now Governer, Corzine is one of their shining lights; and a very wealthy one at that...
Zulima Farber became attorney general following a 25-10 vote, while the Senate unanimously approved Susan Bass Levin as Department of Community Affairs commissioner.
Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, wanted more hearings on Farber's role representing the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in a lawsuit and other issues. He criticized Farber for objecting to using deadly force to protect one's home and mandatory sentencing. He also ripped Farber's response to her driving record — which includes 13 speeding tickets, three license suspensions and a bench warrant for failing to pay a fine.
Farber apologized to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week for her embarrassing driving record, which she said probably "requires psychoanalysis" to explain. She at one point thanked Corzine "for giving me a job with a driver."
So what happens when you give the state's highest law office to someone with who was actually a wanted women, with more than a dozen speeding tickets, multiple license suspensions, and a penchant for seeing the criminals as victims? This:
New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber participated in an illegal immigrant protest rally in Newark’s Lincoln Park yesterday afternoon. Addressing the crowd in Spanish and in English she said:
"All people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, to live in safe, clean and affordable housing and to walk down the street without being afraid, Farber said. "I understand your struggle...".
Enlighten New Jersey follows with commentary:
Farber, as Jersey’s top law enforcement officer, is supposed to enforce the law and protect citizens and legal residents from law breakers. Clearly the Attorney General does not understand the struggle and the challenge of being a taxpayer in New Jersey, preferring to aid and abet illegal behavior than to prosecute it.
New Jersey’s 300,000+ illegal aliens cost state taxpayers a minimum of $300 million to $400 million per year for public services. Taxpayers have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Instead, we are treated with derision and contempt. How many laws must an illegal immigrant break before Zulima Farber considers it criminal? Entering and remaining in the country illegally, using forged documents to work, fraudulently receiving government funds, services, and goods, tax evasion and on and on.
What a signal to send to the illegal aliens in the U.S. – New Jersey’s Attorney General welcomes you with open arms and a promise of affordable housing.
And all of this is paid for on the backs of the middle class in New Jersey, whom suffer through the highest property taxes in the nation in order to pay for Farber's army of New Jersey illegals...
Jersey is teetering on the verge of collapse; that in itself is a very dangerous thing. But imagine the results should the Democratic party choose to implement these policies on a national scale. Remember - once Senator, now Governer, Corzine is one of their shining lights; and a very wealthy one at that...
Monday, April 24, 2006
Terror in Egypt
Hmmm...how long until someone figures out a way to blame this on the Jews, or the American presence in Iraq:
CAIRO, Egypt - Three nearly simultaneous bombings hit the Egyptian beach resort popular with foreigners Monday at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60...
...The bombers struck the Sinai seaside town of Dahab in the early evening along a crowded promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. Authorities said 18 of the dead were Egyptian and that a Russian and a Swiss were also killed.
The explosions hit the central part of the city at 7:15 p.m. when the streets were jammed with tourists going for walks, shopping or looking for a restaurant or bar for evening festivities by the tranquil waters of the Gulf of Aqaba....
Seems like holding hands with Hamas didn't help the Russians; nor did funnelling terrorist money give any protection to the Swiss.
The Egyptian government has said the militants who carried out the bombings were locals without international connections, but other security agencies have said they suspect al-Qaida.
In Washington, a U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said it was unclear who was behind Monday's attack.
Officials there have not ruled out the possibility that al-Qaida may be involved, but have no evidence showing that is the case, the official said. Nor do they have any evidence that bin Laden's tape was linked to the attack.
It is hard to call it an al-Qaeda "style" attack; as many terror groups now use the simultaneous explosives routine. The big question is; did Osama's tape release yesterday have anything to do with the timing/location of the attack? After all, he did claim all Westerners were fair game; and the Sinai, alas, has proven very easy to infiltrate in the past.
Me - well, I do not believe in coincidence.
It becomes all the more urgent to find and kill Osama bin Ladin; for even if he is only a spiritual leader, incapable of carrying out attacks by himself, it appears likely that others await his cues.
Secondly, the fact is that al-Jazeera has become nothing more than a terrorist propoganda and communications outlet. Their selective release of tapes, whether those of Osama's, or al-Zaquari's, or various hostage beheadings, is timed and selected only to inflame the passions of war in the Middle East. It is not OK, whether in the name of free speech or ratings, to help elongate a war that has already killed thousands.
Al-Jazeera, too, must be "knocked off " the air. You gonna cry "free speech"? Ask the families of the dead hostages, and the relatives of the tourists slaughtered while on holiday in the grand Sinai, how they feel...
UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long - from Little Green Footballs:
Retired General Salah al-Din Salim, an Egyptian researcher at the Strategic Studies Institute in Cairo, said that it could not be ruled out that the Israeli Mossad was involved in the terror attack in Dahab.
“The Mossad’s ability to penetrate the Bedouins in Sinai is known,” Salim said in an interview with al-Jazeera
Ah, there's that helpful TV network again....
CAIRO, Egypt - Three nearly simultaneous bombings hit the Egyptian beach resort popular with foreigners Monday at the height of the tourist season, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60...
...The bombers struck the Sinai seaside town of Dahab in the early evening along a crowded promenade of shops, restaurants and bars. Authorities said 18 of the dead were Egyptian and that a Russian and a Swiss were also killed.
The explosions hit the central part of the city at 7:15 p.m. when the streets were jammed with tourists going for walks, shopping or looking for a restaurant or bar for evening festivities by the tranquil waters of the Gulf of Aqaba....
Seems like holding hands with Hamas didn't help the Russians; nor did funnelling terrorist money give any protection to the Swiss.
The Egyptian government has said the militants who carried out the bombings were locals without international connections, but other security agencies have said they suspect al-Qaida.
In Washington, a U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in compliance with office policy, said it was unclear who was behind Monday's attack.
Officials there have not ruled out the possibility that al-Qaida may be involved, but have no evidence showing that is the case, the official said. Nor do they have any evidence that bin Laden's tape was linked to the attack.
It is hard to call it an al-Qaeda "style" attack; as many terror groups now use the simultaneous explosives routine. The big question is; did Osama's tape release yesterday have anything to do with the timing/location of the attack? After all, he did claim all Westerners were fair game; and the Sinai, alas, has proven very easy to infiltrate in the past.
Me - well, I do not believe in coincidence.
It becomes all the more urgent to find and kill Osama bin Ladin; for even if he is only a spiritual leader, incapable of carrying out attacks by himself, it appears likely that others await his cues.
Secondly, the fact is that al-Jazeera has become nothing more than a terrorist propoganda and communications outlet. Their selective release of tapes, whether those of Osama's, or al-Zaquari's, or various hostage beheadings, is timed and selected only to inflame the passions of war in the Middle East. It is not OK, whether in the name of free speech or ratings, to help elongate a war that has already killed thousands.
Al-Jazeera, too, must be "knocked off " the air. You gonna cry "free speech"? Ask the families of the dead hostages, and the relatives of the tourists slaughtered while on holiday in the grand Sinai, how they feel...
UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long - from Little Green Footballs:
Retired General Salah al-Din Salim, an Egyptian researcher at the Strategic Studies Institute in Cairo, said that it could not be ruled out that the Israeli Mossad was involved in the terror attack in Dahab.
“The Mossad’s ability to penetrate the Bedouins in Sinai is known,” Salim said in an interview with al-Jazeera
Ah, there's that helpful TV network again....
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Voice From The Cave!
Osama is back (on audiotape); and he's making a lot of things clear in his Spring 2006 release:
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said the West's shunning of the Hamas-led Palestinian government showed it was waging a "Crusader-Zionist war" on Muslims, according to an audiotape attributed to him and aired on Sunday.
People in the West share responsibility for their countries' "war against Islam," said the speaker, who sounded like bin Laden, on the tape broadcast on Al Jazeera television.
The Saudi-born militant said the Darfur crisis in western Sudan and Western efforts to isolate the Palestinian government since Hamas won January elections were part of this campaign
Well, his terminology is meant to inflame Islamists, but he is essentially correct - radical Islam is at war with the West, but it is a war they have started, long before (but not recognized clearly until) September 11th.
By claiming the "people" of the West share responsibility, he is offering an endorsement of the slaughter of civilians by terrorist factions. Again, there is a grain of truth here - Americans chose George Bush to be their leader in no small part because he has vowed to fight Islamic terror; the Palestinians selected Hamas because they have vowed to kill Jews. The obvious difference is that while Americans never target civilians, Islamists (like Hamas) deliberately attempt to kill the weakest and most defenseless part of a society. If that is the way the Islamists want to fight it, fine; but let me never hear another word from a Muslim country (or a Western peace faction) about the death of civilians in this battle. You gonna dish it out, better be ready to take it, ladies...
And for those fans of muliticulturalism, note that Osama is supporting the murderous animals of Hamas and the murderous animals of Sudan's Islamic janjaweed (who began a campaign of murder, rape and plunder that drove more than 2 million villagers into squalid camps in Darfur and in neighboring Chad.). Still think all cultures are equal? Still think we need to "listen" and understand" more?
Another unsurprising note: He's a big fan of the "cartoon jihad":
Bin Laden also called for boycotting the United States and European countries over the controversial cartoons lampooning Islam's Prophet Mohammad first published by a Danish newspaper.
"Bin Laden urged in his tape that solidarity for the Prophet ... should continue by widening the boycott to include the United States and European nations that supported Denmark," Al Jazeera said.
"He also demanded that those who offended the Prophet ... be hand over for trial to al Qaeda," it said.
Well, he's been reading the papers; and he probably knows that the continued threat of violence will keep the Western media in line. Not that some dark age clown in flowing robes spouting apocalyptical nonsense into a child's tape recorder from inside of a cave scares me, but it does throw a quiver into the Washington Post...note their use of language:
Osama bin Laden issued ominous new threats in an audiotape broadcast Sunday...
The voice on the tape sounded strong and resembled that on previous recordings attributed to bin Laden...
The United Nations has described the [Sudan]conflict as the world's gravest humanitarian crisis. The United States has described it as genocide...
Note how the dhimmis at the WaPost still stick to the UN's craven definition of the slaughter; while ascribing the word genocide only to the United States, although many other Western nations have used it as well. Even the Reuters story linked above makes the distinction between good and evil here...the bearded one knows well that the MSM is the first to tremble, quail, and surrender...so thanks for supporting al-Qaeda, Comedy Central!
This tape should open the eyes of those whom cling to the belief that there is no clash of civilizations. If September 11th and all the subsequent attacks were not a wake up call, the confirmation of this war by Osama bin Ladin, the leader of the Islamofascist movement, should end all doubts. If one denies we are at war now, one can only be see as actively aiding and abetting our enemies.
I'll finish with Deroy Murdock's commentary of the upcoming film United 93 , and why it is so important today:
Almost daily, al Qaeda in Iraq blasts Iraqis, Americans, and others through ceaseless acts of stunning viciousness.
United 93 arrives just in time. As we bicker over Donald Rumsfeld’s job security by day and obsess over American Idol by night, writer-director Paul Greengrass offers a harrowing reminder of what’s in play on Earth today.
"That final image haunts me — a physical struggle for the controls of a gasoline-fueled 21st-Century flying machine between a band of suicidal religious fanatics and a group of innocents drawn from amongst us all,” [director Paul] Greengrass said. “It’s really, in a way, the struggle for our world today".
Indeed. And if we do not wake up to it, we will certainly be killed by it.
UPDATE: The Washington Post story has been rewritten since this AM; still full of awe for the enemy - here's the only quote they managed to dredge up all day:
"They still have not been captured. They are still issuing threats. The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan. It's amazing."
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said the West's shunning of the Hamas-led Palestinian government showed it was waging a "Crusader-Zionist war" on Muslims, according to an audiotape attributed to him and aired on Sunday.
People in the West share responsibility for their countries' "war against Islam," said the speaker, who sounded like bin Laden, on the tape broadcast on Al Jazeera television.
The Saudi-born militant said the Darfur crisis in western Sudan and Western efforts to isolate the Palestinian government since Hamas won January elections were part of this campaign
Well, his terminology is meant to inflame Islamists, but he is essentially correct - radical Islam is at war with the West, but it is a war they have started, long before (but not recognized clearly until) September 11th.
By claiming the "people" of the West share responsibility, he is offering an endorsement of the slaughter of civilians by terrorist factions. Again, there is a grain of truth here - Americans chose George Bush to be their leader in no small part because he has vowed to fight Islamic terror; the Palestinians selected Hamas because they have vowed to kill Jews. The obvious difference is that while Americans never target civilians, Islamists (like Hamas) deliberately attempt to kill the weakest and most defenseless part of a society. If that is the way the Islamists want to fight it, fine; but let me never hear another word from a Muslim country (or a Western peace faction) about the death of civilians in this battle. You gonna dish it out, better be ready to take it, ladies...
And for those fans of muliticulturalism, note that Osama is supporting the murderous animals of Hamas and the murderous animals of Sudan's Islamic janjaweed (who began a campaign of murder, rape and plunder that drove more than 2 million villagers into squalid camps in Darfur and in neighboring Chad.). Still think all cultures are equal? Still think we need to "listen" and understand" more?
Another unsurprising note: He's a big fan of the "cartoon jihad":
Bin Laden also called for boycotting the United States and European countries over the controversial cartoons lampooning Islam's Prophet Mohammad first published by a Danish newspaper.
"Bin Laden urged in his tape that solidarity for the Prophet ... should continue by widening the boycott to include the United States and European nations that supported Denmark," Al Jazeera said.
"He also demanded that those who offended the Prophet ... be hand over for trial to al Qaeda," it said.
Well, he's been reading the papers; and he probably knows that the continued threat of violence will keep the Western media in line. Not that some dark age clown in flowing robes spouting apocalyptical nonsense into a child's tape recorder from inside of a cave scares me, but it does throw a quiver into the Washington Post...note their use of language:
Osama bin Laden issued ominous new threats in an audiotape broadcast Sunday...
The voice on the tape sounded strong and resembled that on previous recordings attributed to bin Laden...
The United Nations has described the [Sudan]conflict as the world's gravest humanitarian crisis. The United States has described it as genocide...
Note how the dhimmis at the WaPost still stick to the UN's craven definition of the slaughter; while ascribing the word genocide only to the United States, although many other Western nations have used it as well. Even the Reuters story linked above makes the distinction between good and evil here...the bearded one knows well that the MSM is the first to tremble, quail, and surrender...so thanks for supporting al-Qaeda, Comedy Central!
This tape should open the eyes of those whom cling to the belief that there is no clash of civilizations. If September 11th and all the subsequent attacks were not a wake up call, the confirmation of this war by Osama bin Ladin, the leader of the Islamofascist movement, should end all doubts. If one denies we are at war now, one can only be see as actively aiding and abetting our enemies.
I'll finish with Deroy Murdock's commentary of the upcoming film United 93 , and why it is so important today:
Almost daily, al Qaeda in Iraq blasts Iraqis, Americans, and others through ceaseless acts of stunning viciousness.
United 93 arrives just in time. As we bicker over Donald Rumsfeld’s job security by day and obsess over American Idol by night, writer-director Paul Greengrass offers a harrowing reminder of what’s in play on Earth today.
"That final image haunts me — a physical struggle for the controls of a gasoline-fueled 21st-Century flying machine between a band of suicidal religious fanatics and a group of innocents drawn from amongst us all,” [director Paul] Greengrass said. “It’s really, in a way, the struggle for our world today".
Indeed. And if we do not wake up to it, we will certainly be killed by it.
UPDATE: The Washington Post story has been rewritten since this AM; still full of awe for the enemy - here's the only quote they managed to dredge up all day:
"They still have not been captured. They are still issuing threats. The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan. It's amazing."
Saturday, April 22, 2006
The New Europe
This is a disturbing story I picked up from the Brussels Journal; I am going to excerpt and comment from a few different posts:
Last Wednesday Joe Van Holsbeeck, 17 years of age, was murdered in Brussels Central Station. He was stabbed five times in the heart by North African youths. They demanded that he give them his MP3 player. When Joe refused he was savagely murdered. The atrocity happened during the evening rush hour on a crowded platform. Though there were hundreds of people on the platform, no-one interfered - perhaps because many people do not notice what is happening around them on a crowded, noisy and busy platform where passengers are rushing to catch their trains.
Sorry, I see that as an excuse for the timid European behavior that always takes place in face of a physical threat. Compare with the actions of a few Americans today:
A man who claimed to have a bomb aboard a United Airlines flight was subdued by fellow passengers as the California-bound plane was diverted to Denver International Airport, airport officials said.
...not to mention the actions taken by US citizens on Flight 93 on 9/11. I have taken some flack for saying this, but I will again - if that plane was filled with peoples from virtually any other nation, it would have been flown into yet another target, killing thousands more innocents, instead of forced to ditch in a central Pennsylvania valley...
Anyway, back to poor Mr. Holsbeeck, who should have known that as a good dhimmi, when Muslims ask for something that is your property, you should hand it over. Betrayed once by his countrymen, who watched in silent fear as he was butchered in public, he was betrayed again by the police:
Immediately after the assassination the police inquired whether Joe had made any “racist remarks” whilst been mugged...
- and finally, he was betrayed in death by his PC parents, who opted out of a traditional funeral service in deference to Muslims:
Joe’s parents opted for a memorial service instead of the traditional funeral Mass. The parish priest of the Catholic St. Elisabeth Church of the Brussels borough of Haren told Belgian radio this morning that the parents wanted to ensure that “immigrants would not feel excluded at the funeral service.” The priest did not hand out the Holy Eucharist to the mourners, but the immigrant neighbours of the Van Holsbeeck family distributed home baked bread. This, the priest explained, was “a sign of fraternity” between Belgians and immigrants.
What a sorry state of affairs exists in Brussels; the home and heartland of the European Union. Alas, it is a perfect reflection of all that is horribly wrong with this psuedo super-state. This case is either right out of Kafka or Orwell...here are some more clips from this story:
Belgian citizens realize, however, that the murder has nothing to do with “indifference in Belgian society,” but everything with a group of North African youths terrorizing Brussels and the “indifference” of the authorities to eradicate this scourge...
....the Belgian police, when confronted with criminal immigrants, all too often “look the other way in order to avoid being accused of racism.”
....The authorities are worried that more and more Belgians are arming themselves because they feel they are no longer adequately protected by the police. It is illegal to carry arms in Belgium, where even a pepper spray is considered to be an illegal weapon....Governor Denys retorted: “I am the Governor of East Flanders, not of Texas. […] I do not want to live in such a society [where citizens are allowed to possess arms].”
He'd rather live in a society where people die when they do not act quickly enough to satisfy their new Muslim masters. Governor, seems like the Belgians may disagree with you...
Try to politicize policing? The above is the result.
Like it? Move to Europe!
Update: Hail, friends of Misha! Take a look around the shop! If you are interested, dug up a little history on the slanted reporting coming from ABC's Jerusalem Bureau - around the middle of this post here...
Treason!
Didn't we used to call someone whom leaked government strategies during wartime a traitor? Now, of course, the media hails them as "whistleblowers" ; unless they are blowing the whistle on Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson - then we have a security breach! From the Washington Post:
The CIA fired a long-serving intelligence officer for sharing classified information with The Washington Post and other news organizations, officials said yesterday, as the agency continued an aggressive internal search for anyone who may have discussed intelligence with the news media.
CIA officials said the career intelligence officer failed more than one polygraph test and acknowledged unauthorized contacts with reporters. The "officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence, including operational information" with journalists, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
The CIA did not reveal the identity of the employee, who was dismissed Thursday, but NBC News reported last night she is Mary McCarthy...
....The CIA's statement did not name the reporters it believes were involved, but several intelligence officials said The Post's Dana Priest was among them. This week, Priest won the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting for articles about the agency, including one that revealed the existence of secret, CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.
What would really be a travesty is if this McCarthy women escapes with simply a job loss. In many countries she would be have already been executed; I would settle for a simple trial to find out her thought process - did she spill the beans because she thought the administration was "wrong"? - and to use the legal process as an avenue to find other "leakers" whom feel that their disgreements with their boss allows them the latitude to damage national security.
The unveiling of the "secret renditions" caused major friction with allied governments (even those whom had allowed it, but assumed, rightly, that a secret was a secret) and curtailed one of our strategies in the war on terror. Turns out, like so many other media "scandals", that the U.S. did nothing wrong here. From the Boston Globe, no friend of the Bush administration:
EU official: No evidence of illegal CIA action - BRUSSELS -- Investigations into reports that US agents shipped prisoners through European airports to secret detention centers have produced no evidence of illegal CIA activities, the European Union's antiterrorism coordinator said yesterday.
The investigations also have not turned up any proof of secret renditions of terror suspects on EU territory, Gijs de Vries told a European Parliament committee investigating the allegations.
Think of the lives you may have cost with your overblown rhetoric, Dana Priest, while you spit-shine your undeserved Pulitzer prize. A pox on you and the committee for glorifying treason, while gleefully demonizing America...
More in-depth info at Gateway Pundit
The Strata-Sphere reports that Senators Jay Rockefeller and Dick Durbin may be asked to take polygraph tests to determine their role in intelligence leaks...methinks damaging national security for partisan gain may prove to be a bit more interesting to the public mind than the outing of Valerie Plame...
The CIA fired a long-serving intelligence officer for sharing classified information with The Washington Post and other news organizations, officials said yesterday, as the agency continued an aggressive internal search for anyone who may have discussed intelligence with the news media.
CIA officials said the career intelligence officer failed more than one polygraph test and acknowledged unauthorized contacts with reporters. The "officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence, including operational information" with journalists, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
The CIA did not reveal the identity of the employee, who was dismissed Thursday, but NBC News reported last night she is Mary McCarthy...
....The CIA's statement did not name the reporters it believes were involved, but several intelligence officials said The Post's Dana Priest was among them. This week, Priest won the Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting for articles about the agency, including one that revealed the existence of secret, CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.
What would really be a travesty is if this McCarthy women escapes with simply a job loss. In many countries she would be have already been executed; I would settle for a simple trial to find out her thought process - did she spill the beans because she thought the administration was "wrong"? - and to use the legal process as an avenue to find other "leakers" whom feel that their disgreements with their boss allows them the latitude to damage national security.
The unveiling of the "secret renditions" caused major friction with allied governments (even those whom had allowed it, but assumed, rightly, that a secret was a secret) and curtailed one of our strategies in the war on terror. Turns out, like so many other media "scandals", that the U.S. did nothing wrong here. From the Boston Globe, no friend of the Bush administration:
EU official: No evidence of illegal CIA action - BRUSSELS -- Investigations into reports that US agents shipped prisoners through European airports to secret detention centers have produced no evidence of illegal CIA activities, the European Union's antiterrorism coordinator said yesterday.
The investigations also have not turned up any proof of secret renditions of terror suspects on EU territory, Gijs de Vries told a European Parliament committee investigating the allegations.
Think of the lives you may have cost with your overblown rhetoric, Dana Priest, while you spit-shine your undeserved Pulitzer prize. A pox on you and the committee for glorifying treason, while gleefully demonizing America...
More in-depth info at Gateway Pundit
The Strata-Sphere reports that Senators Jay Rockefeller and Dick Durbin may be asked to take polygraph tests to determine their role in intelligence leaks...methinks damaging national security for partisan gain may prove to be a bit more interesting to the public mind than the outing of Valerie Plame...
Friday, April 21, 2006
Hamas: "Lunatics Running the Asylum"; and "ABC Loves Terror!"
The Hamas-led Palestinian government yesterday named a wanted terrorist - high on Israel's hit list - to head a new security force recruited from the ranks of fellow killers.
Jamal Abu Samhadana was named No. 2 man in the Palestinian Interior Ministry and commander of the "special executive" armed force, officials said.
Samhadana, military chief of the terrorist Popular Resistance Committees, is behind many of the homemade rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the past year.
The terrorist leader is a chief suspect in the roadside bomb attack that killed three private American security officers in Gaza three years ago.
He is believed to be responsible for other coldblooded attacks that targeted innocent families, including the slaying of Israeli settler Tatli Hatuel and her four daughters in the Gaza Strip in May 2004.
Jamal Abu Samhadana was named No. 2 man in the Palestinian Interior Ministry and commander of the "special executive" armed force, officials said.
Samhadana, military chief of the terrorist Popular Resistance Committees, is behind many of the homemade rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the past year.
The terrorist leader is a chief suspect in the roadside bomb attack that killed three private American security officers in Gaza three years ago.
He is believed to be responsible for other coldblooded attacks that targeted innocent families, including the slaying of Israeli settler Tatli Hatuel and her four daughters in the Gaza Strip in May 2004.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said Seyam's new security branch would be answerable only to him.
"This force is going to include the elite of our sons from the freedom fighters and the holy warriors and the best men we have," he said.
"It's going to include members of all the resistance branches."
That's all in today's New York Post...meanwhile, ABC News is already making excuses for Hamas' soon-to-be-commited atrocities:
Lack of Funds and Support May Force Hamas to Return to Violent Ways
And see how they admire Hamas' suicide bombing response while deriding Israel's:
Hamas leaders defended the attack as a justified response to Israeli "aggression" against the Palestinians.
Hamas's response was in line with its refusal to give up its right to violence. Hamas leaders see it as an essential bargaining chip in future negotiations, one that it believes Abbas and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gave up too quickly and received nothing in return.
In response to the suicide bombing, Israel said is would expel five Hamas government members who live in East Jerusalem and would be considered "illegal aliens" if they refused to obey. This is widely believed to be a lengthy and ineffective procedure.
Now, some out-and-out Israel bashing by the racists at ABC:
For the last three weeks the IDF has fired about 4000 shells into Gaza in attempts to stop a handful of militants from firing the Qassams (homemade rockets that are mostly inaccurate) into Israel. (The last Israeli to be killed by a Qassam was in August 2005).
IDF shelling and other 'operations' have resulted in 30 Palestinian deaths, not including six children who were also killed. About 130 other Palestinians have been injured.
ABC reporter (and Jerusalem bureau chief ) Wilf Dinnick, a former CBC and CTV guy, has a long history of this type of terrorist-loving reporting:
Palestinians voted for Miriam Farahat because she's made astonishing sacrifices in her quest to destroy Israel. Farahat has sent three of her six sons on suicide missions. That's why her supporters call her Um Nidal, the 'Mother of the Struggle.'
Wilfie Cheers While Jews Die!
Or read this one by Wilf: Israel's Sonic Booms Terrifying Gaza Children (Video here)
Here he tells the Palestinians that Gaza isn't enough!
Note his presence here on the board of an anti-American "human rights group" (see "Toronto Committee")!
More shilling for Hamas here;
and some left-wing political donations here.
How dare ABC tout themselves as anything less than a full-throated, pro-Palestinian propaganda outlet?
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The Wind Stolen From Jersey's Sails
Anne Applebaum, in the Washington Post, speaks to the hypocrisy of the environmental left when it comes to wind power - she quotes an "anti-wind" (no joke) group called Stop Ill Wind:
...it is "an environmental plunderer, with its hirelings and parasites using a few truths and the politics of wishful thinking to frame a house of lies." Far from being clean and green, "corporate wind is yet another extraction industry relying on false promises," a "poster child for irresponsible development."
...the traditional environmental movement.. .has produced a handful of untraditional splinter groups that are trying to stop them.
They may succeed. Already, activists and real estate developers have stalled projects across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York...
Anne leaves out New Jersey's shameful contribution to this selfish energy tantrum - first, we learn:
...four different companies are eyeing the state with hopes of building wind-powered electrical plants on New Jersey's soil and in its coastal waters...
....Meanwhile, two other companies are studying New Jersey's windiest location - its ocean waters - in hopes of erecting the country's first off-shore wind farm. One proposal calls for 335 windmills to be built in the ocean several miles off Cape May. Others could spring up offshore of Asbury Park or Great Egg Harbor...
Hmmm, business investment in environmentally sound energy projects? Sounds like every state's wet dream, but not in New Jersey. Here, our political functionaries decided to...kill it:
Coastal communities are familiar with the possibility of wind turbines appearing on the horizon as the wind energy industry gets stronger in America. Acting Governor of New Jersey Richard Codey [a Democrat, strangely not mentioned here -ed.] has decided to approach the possibility with caution, however.
He signed an executive order that enforces a 15-month funding and permitting freeze on all offshore, wind energy developments, and creates a Blue Ribbon Panel to study the costs and benefits of such developments. "Today's action ensures that no offshore wind turbine facilities will be constructed for the next 15 months off New Jersey's shore," Codey said. "The Blue Ribbon Panel will take this time to study the appropriateness of offshore wind turbines facilities.
A "Blue Ribbon Panel" is as much an order to kill as a knowing nod from Tony Soprano.
You want proof? The above article is dated December 2004...15 months ago.
And nary a sighting of a windmill anywhere....
UPDATE April 22nd: From The New York Post, an Earth Day article entitled "Green Fraud":
And then there's the Kennedy family.
Patriarch Ted, for instance, loves to hates coal and oil, but his affection for "clean energy" certainly stops at the water's edge.
The senator tried mightily to kill the Cape Wind Project - an enormous wind-to-energy project off the Nantucket coastline - because, as ur-environmentalist and Vanity Fair coverboy Robert Kennedy once explained, its line of windmills would have spoiled one of the Kennedy family's favorite spots to sail.
To say nothing of Kennedy-compound property values on Cape Cod.
Green for thee, but not for me?
Happy Earth Day.
Amazing - A middle class family in New Jersey who dares to purchase an SUV for their transportation needs should prepare themselves to be demonized for being anti-Earth; while the rich and the influential jigger the political system to protect their visual vistas, while clothing themselves in garments of "enviornmental concern".
Again, note the political affiliation of the enviro-hypocrites...notice a pattern yet?
UPDATE 4/27: Instapundit "weighs" in on Kennedy..."
...it is "an environmental plunderer, with its hirelings and parasites using a few truths and the politics of wishful thinking to frame a house of lies." Far from being clean and green, "corporate wind is yet another extraction industry relying on false promises," a "poster child for irresponsible development."
...the traditional environmental movement.. .has produced a handful of untraditional splinter groups that are trying to stop them.
They may succeed. Already, activists and real estate developers have stalled projects across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York...
Anne leaves out New Jersey's shameful contribution to this selfish energy tantrum - first, we learn:
...four different companies are eyeing the state with hopes of building wind-powered electrical plants on New Jersey's soil and in its coastal waters...
....Meanwhile, two other companies are studying New Jersey's windiest location - its ocean waters - in hopes of erecting the country's first off-shore wind farm. One proposal calls for 335 windmills to be built in the ocean several miles off Cape May. Others could spring up offshore of Asbury Park or Great Egg Harbor...
Hmmm, business investment in environmentally sound energy projects? Sounds like every state's wet dream, but not in New Jersey. Here, our political functionaries decided to...kill it:
Coastal communities are familiar with the possibility of wind turbines appearing on the horizon as the wind energy industry gets stronger in America. Acting Governor of New Jersey Richard Codey [a Democrat, strangely not mentioned here -ed.] has decided to approach the possibility with caution, however.
He signed an executive order that enforces a 15-month funding and permitting freeze on all offshore, wind energy developments, and creates a Blue Ribbon Panel to study the costs and benefits of such developments. "Today's action ensures that no offshore wind turbine facilities will be constructed for the next 15 months off New Jersey's shore," Codey said. "The Blue Ribbon Panel will take this time to study the appropriateness of offshore wind turbines facilities.
A "Blue Ribbon Panel" is as much an order to kill as a knowing nod from Tony Soprano.
You want proof? The above article is dated December 2004...15 months ago.
And nary a sighting of a windmill anywhere....
UPDATE April 22nd: From The New York Post, an Earth Day article entitled "Green Fraud":
And then there's the Kennedy family.
Patriarch Ted, for instance, loves to hates coal and oil, but his affection for "clean energy" certainly stops at the water's edge.
The senator tried mightily to kill the Cape Wind Project - an enormous wind-to-energy project off the Nantucket coastline - because, as ur-environmentalist and Vanity Fair coverboy Robert Kennedy once explained, its line of windmills would have spoiled one of the Kennedy family's favorite spots to sail.
To say nothing of Kennedy-compound property values on Cape Cod.
Green for thee, but not for me?
Happy Earth Day.
Amazing - A middle class family in New Jersey who dares to purchase an SUV for their transportation needs should prepare themselves to be demonized for being anti-Earth; while the rich and the influential jigger the political system to protect their visual vistas, while clothing themselves in garments of "enviornmental concern".
Again, note the political affiliation of the enviro-hypocrites...notice a pattern yet?
UPDATE 4/27: Instapundit "weighs" in on Kennedy..."
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
But...But...It's A Religion of Peace!!!
Meryl Yourish talks about suicide bombers, and their filthy tools of death:
The bombs that terrorists use are among the most evil weapons ever invented. The explosives are bad enough, but palestinians have chosen to add metal pieces to the bombs to increase their deadliness, and to deliberately wound as many Israelis as possible.
Once the vest is detonated, the explosion resembles an omnidirectional shotgun blast. The most dangerous and the most widely used shrapnel are steel ball bearings 3-7 mm in diameter. Other shrapnel material can be anything of suitable size and hardness, most often nails, screws, nuts, and thick wire. Shrapnel is responsible for about 90% of all casualties caused by this kind of device.
Shrapnel is what killed Phillip Balhasan, who stayed alive long enough to realize his children had survived, and to hug them tightly before he collapsed.
But even this is not enough for the terrorists. They also soak the shrapnel in rat poison, because it causes hemorrhaging — victims may bleed to death before they can get to the hospital.
Remember all of this, when you hear the world tell Israel to “use restraint” in responding to this attack.
Remember all of this, when Israel is the nation that is demonized by the blind, hateful people who wear checked kaffiyehs at anti-war protests, and call Israel an “apartheid state” for building a separation barrier — to keep out the monsters who would use bombs like I have just described.
Hey commentors: When you support the Palestinians, these are the types of animals you are rooting for. Be careful whom you lie down with!
Not enough? Well, how about those brave insurgents in Baghdad? They know that any person with an solid education would reject their hateful beliefs and actions out-of-hand, so what do they do?
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Separate groups of gunmen entered two primary schools in Baghdad on Wednesday and beheaded two teachers in front of their students, the Ministry of State for National Security said.
"Two terrorist groups beheaded two teachers in front of their students in the Amna and Shaheed Hamdi primary schools in Shaab district in Baghdad," a ministry statement said.
A ministry official said he believed the attacks were aimed at: "intimidating pupils and disrupting learning."
Whoops, someone at Reuters slipped...wasn't the "root cause" behind the slaughter of school teachers the "illegal American occupation"?
The bombs that terrorists use are among the most evil weapons ever invented. The explosives are bad enough, but palestinians have chosen to add metal pieces to the bombs to increase their deadliness, and to deliberately wound as many Israelis as possible.
Once the vest is detonated, the explosion resembles an omnidirectional shotgun blast. The most dangerous and the most widely used shrapnel are steel ball bearings 3-7 mm in diameter. Other shrapnel material can be anything of suitable size and hardness, most often nails, screws, nuts, and thick wire. Shrapnel is responsible for about 90% of all casualties caused by this kind of device.
Shrapnel is what killed Phillip Balhasan, who stayed alive long enough to realize his children had survived, and to hug them tightly before he collapsed.
But even this is not enough for the terrorists. They also soak the shrapnel in rat poison, because it causes hemorrhaging — victims may bleed to death before they can get to the hospital.
Remember all of this, when you hear the world tell Israel to “use restraint” in responding to this attack.
Remember all of this, when Israel is the nation that is demonized by the blind, hateful people who wear checked kaffiyehs at anti-war protests, and call Israel an “apartheid state” for building a separation barrier — to keep out the monsters who would use bombs like I have just described.
Hey commentors: When you support the Palestinians, these are the types of animals you are rooting for. Be careful whom you lie down with!
Not enough? Well, how about those brave insurgents in Baghdad? They know that any person with an solid education would reject their hateful beliefs and actions out-of-hand, so what do they do?
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Separate groups of gunmen entered two primary schools in Baghdad on Wednesday and beheaded two teachers in front of their students, the Ministry of State for National Security said.
"Two terrorist groups beheaded two teachers in front of their students in the Amna and Shaheed Hamdi primary schools in Shaab district in Baghdad," a ministry statement said.
A ministry official said he believed the attacks were aimed at: "intimidating pupils and disrupting learning."
Whoops, someone at Reuters slipped...wasn't the "root cause" behind the slaughter of school teachers the "illegal American occupation"?
Some worthwhile reading:
The bittersweet yet mysterious cartoon blog Muhammad and Me has announced, in a one-line post, that it will 'terminate" at the end of the month. I do not know if past entries will be kept up as archives, but I recommend a visit just in case.
Tim Blair lists all of the terrorists attacks against Israel since its so-called "truce" with Hamas just over a year ago. It is quite a list...
And speaking of Hamas, Little Green Footballs links to an AP article that refers numerous times to Hamas' arm-smuggling wing as "activists". Just like the SS was simply the "activist" branch of the Nazi party!
Annika trashes the climate zealots at Time magazine, and offers perspective...
The bittersweet yet mysterious cartoon blog Muhammad and Me has announced, in a one-line post, that it will 'terminate" at the end of the month. I do not know if past entries will be kept up as archives, but I recommend a visit just in case.
Tim Blair lists all of the terrorists attacks against Israel since its so-called "truce" with Hamas just over a year ago. It is quite a list...
And speaking of Hamas, Little Green Footballs links to an AP article that refers numerous times to Hamas' arm-smuggling wing as "activists". Just like the SS was simply the "activist" branch of the Nazi party!
Annika trashes the climate zealots at Time magazine, and offers perspective...
Still not afraid of a nuclear-armed Iran? Fausta will give you pause, all right.
Augean Stables dissects the moral ineptitude of the Boston Globe editorial board as they continue to urge Israel to commit suicide.
Finally, Gateway Pundit smashes once and for all the sick lies of Cindy (*spit*) Sheehan, hero of the Democratic party.
Within, he tells the poignant tale of the return of Marine 2nd Lt. James Cathey; and the honor accorded him on his final journey.
The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."
Compare and contrast with the foul Sheehan, who has still refused to put a burial marker on her son's grave...remember well, Cindy:
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse." - John Stuart Mill
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Getting "Tough" With Iran!
From Amir Tehari:
'UNHELPFUL": So British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described Iran's announcement that it has now joined "the nuclear club." Straw's French and German colleagues did no better. One saw Iran's provocative move as "regrettable" the other preferred "disappointing." The European trio was echoing earlier comments from Washington that had chosen "unacceptable."
Well, as the late Raymond Aaron liked to say, when you say that something is "unacceptable," you have already accepted it as a reality. As for "unhelpful," that adjective is normally used in conjugal disputes when the aggrieved spouse wishes to say something without causing further aggravation.
Any thought that such moaning might make the mullahs shake in their sandals, let alone abandon their strategic quest for a nuclear surge capacity, would be naive to say the least...
And at least one person understands what needs to be said:
'UNHELPFUL": So British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described Iran's announcement that it has now joined "the nuclear club." Straw's French and German colleagues did no better. One saw Iran's provocative move as "regrettable" the other preferred "disappointing." The European trio was echoing earlier comments from Washington that had chosen "unacceptable."
Well, as the late Raymond Aaron liked to say, when you say that something is "unacceptable," you have already accepted it as a reality. As for "unhelpful," that adjective is normally used in conjugal disputes when the aggrieved spouse wishes to say something without causing further aggravation.
Any thought that such moaning might make the mullahs shake in their sandals, let alone abandon their strategic quest for a nuclear surge capacity, would be naive to say the least...
And at least one person understands what needs to be said:
Bush won't rule out nuclear strike on Iran
This will cause the left to pull their hair out, but imagine Iran's reaction if Bush stated his refusal in any case to use nukes...do anyone save for the most deluded (and maybe Jimmy Carter) really, really think it would give the Mad Mullahs a moment's pause to reflect on their actions?
Better to be clear with them from the outset...
Two For Tonight -
"The era of the state church has been replaced by an age in which the state itself is the church. European progressives still don't get this: they think the idea of a religion telling you how to live your life is primitive, but the government regulating every aspect of it is somehow advanced and enlightened."
-Mark Steyn
"Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business...frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite." —Ronald Reagan
-Mark Steyn
"Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business...frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite." —Ronald Reagan
Monday, April 17, 2006
Hamas, defined...
...quite nicely by U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, after the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that took the lives of nine civilians and wounded over 60 others:
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the bombing showed the "true nature" of a Hamas government.
"They would rather encourage 16-year-olds to go out, strap explosives to them and go out and try to kill other 16-year-olds, other innocent civilians. That's the kind of government that you're dealing with," McCormack said.
And here is the difference between the Israelis and the animals that comprise Hamas:
Late on Monday, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a metal workshop in Gaza City, causing no casualties, witnesses said. The Israeli military has carried out similar attacks in the past against workshops suspected of making parts for rockets launched by militants against southern Israel.
Hamas lures a teenager into blowing up civilians and a resturaunt during a holiday. Israel, despite its anger, does not kill Palestinians in retribution; perhaps knowing the misguided nature of the perpetrator, they blow up an empty factory instead.
Compare that to Hamas' vicious rhetoric after the bombing:
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the Tel Aviv bombing "a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people."
"Our people are in a state of self-defense and they have every right to use all means to defend themselves," he said.
Ther is no meeting halfway here between these terrorists (and the people whom freely elected them) and the Israelis. Israel has but one option - finish the wall, limit the number of Arabs allowed in, and respond harshly to any and all attacks. Maybe, after a generation of Palestinians bang their heads against that cement wall, will they realize that perhaps peaceful dialogue is the best way for their people to move forward. I expect even then, they will find the Jews ready to talk, and to welcome them.
In the meantime, they have earned the misery which they find themselves in - no pity will be found at this IP address....
For the strong of stomach, pictures from Hamas' "self-defense" here.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the bombing showed the "true nature" of a Hamas government.
"They would rather encourage 16-year-olds to go out, strap explosives to them and go out and try to kill other 16-year-olds, other innocent civilians. That's the kind of government that you're dealing with," McCormack said.
And here is the difference between the Israelis and the animals that comprise Hamas:
Late on Monday, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile into a metal workshop in Gaza City, causing no casualties, witnesses said. The Israeli military has carried out similar attacks in the past against workshops suspected of making parts for rockets launched by militants against southern Israel.
Hamas lures a teenager into blowing up civilians and a resturaunt during a holiday. Israel, despite its anger, does not kill Palestinians in retribution; perhaps knowing the misguided nature of the perpetrator, they blow up an empty factory instead.
Compare that to Hamas' vicious rhetoric after the bombing:
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the Tel Aviv bombing "a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes against our people."
"Our people are in a state of self-defense and they have every right to use all means to defend themselves," he said.
Ther is no meeting halfway here between these terrorists (and the people whom freely elected them) and the Israelis. Israel has but one option - finish the wall, limit the number of Arabs allowed in, and respond harshly to any and all attacks. Maybe, after a generation of Palestinians bang their heads against that cement wall, will they realize that perhaps peaceful dialogue is the best way for their people to move forward. I expect even then, they will find the Jews ready to talk, and to welcome them.
In the meantime, they have earned the misery which they find themselves in - no pity will be found at this IP address....
For the strong of stomach, pictures from Hamas' "self-defense" here.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Iranian Crisis - Sunday Update
Iran plans for, perhaps hopes for, war with the United States:
Iran has formed 40,000 suicide bombers into battalions ready to strike at American and British targets if its nuclear sites are attacked, officials in Tehran claim.
The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a military parade, dressed in olive-green uniforms with explosive packs around their waists and detonators held high.
The suicide battalions were revealed as Iran issued a shocking military warning to the United States yesterday.
"You can start a war, but it won't be you who finishes it," said Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.
"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters at a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.
At the same gathering on Friday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that Israel was heading towards "annihilation."
A report leaked in February confirms that President Bush is preparing to strike Iran.
And yet, Bush has come under criticism for even having the Pentagon draw up battle scenerios against a nation that has vowed to dominate the West, and is currently creating the means to do so. From Seymour Hirsh, purvayor of so many of the left's lies, we hear that due to Iran's new strength, our only option is to talk -
“If you attack,” the high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna, “Ahmadinejad will be the new Saddam Hussein of the Arab world, but with more credibility and more power. You must bite the bullet and sit down with the Iranians.”
The diplomat went on, “There are people in Washington who would be unhappy if we found a solution. They are still banking on isolation and regime change. This is wishful thinking.” He added, “The window of opportunity is now.”
...and that we are sure to face a defeat at the hands of the Iranian military-
a retired four-star general told me that, despite the eight thousand British troops in the region, “the Iranians could take Basra with ten mullahs and one sound truck.” [must be the same general that's chanting "Rummy must go!" - ed.]
...and that, of course, Israel is driving our policy-
I was told by several officials that the White House’s interest in preventing an Israeli attack on a Muslim country, which would provoke a backlash across the region, was a factor in its decision to begin the current operational planning. In a speech in Cleveland on March 20th, President Bush depicted Ahmadinejad’s hostility toward Israel as a “serious threat. It’s a threat to world peace.” He added, “I made it clear, I’ll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel.”
From today's New York Daily News, former Iranian hostage and Jimmy Carter tells us that Ahmadinejad's greatest fear is not the United States, but the dreaded UN Security Council:
This demands a reinvigorated and unrelenting UN Security Council program of aggressive diplomatic intervention that steadfastly supports the human rights movement in Iran.
This is the key to isolating the regime, weakening its totalitarian hold over the Iranian people and creating a united front of Iranians calling for a more open society.
Far more than military threats from a hated superpower, that would be Ahmadinejad's worst nightmare.
Ahmadinejad ran for the presidency of Iran on a platform of rejuvenating the revolutionary period of the Khomeini era. His nuclear sideshow is a convenient ploy to distract the unemployed poor from their own serious needs
Two canards in one! The UN as savior (even though Russia and China have stated that they feel Security Council decrees will "do more harm than good"!), and the "root-causes" excuse, as in "Iranian poverty and poor human rights records" are the real issues here. Yeah, they are issues all right, that can be addressed once the Mad Mullahs are no longer controlling the Persian state.
William Arkin in today's Washington Post gets it right:
The diplomatic effort directed at Iran would be mightily enhanced if that country understood that the United States is so serious about deterring the Iranian quest for nuclear weapons that it would be willing to go to war to stop that quest from reaching fruition.
Iran needs to know -- and even more important, the American public needs to know -- that no matter how many experts talk about difficult-to-find targets or the catastrophe that could unfold if war comes, military planners are already working hard to minimize the risks of any military operation. This is the very essence of contingency planning.
Amazing that all the mulitculturalists on the left cannot grasp the simple fact that the Iranians are not like us; that the only chance they have of taking the carrot is the threat of the big, fat stick of Uncle Sam, not the impotent whines of the United Nations. Begging and pleading won't get the Iranians off their bomb-hunt; it has never worked in the Middle East before (more "shuttle diplomacy", anyone?).
Let's make sure Iran knows how serious we are, and how firm we are in our resolve to prevent them from creating a nuclear Islamist fascist state. Only then, when faced with an unwavering, unapologetic, and unrelenting American adversary, might the Iranians say, "OK, friends, let us talk...'.
Photo top via Gateway Pundit, who covers this story as well.
In-depth coverage at Front-Page Iran.
And of course, there is this...
Iran has formed 40,000 suicide bombers into battalions ready to strike at American and British targets if its nuclear sites are attacked, officials in Tehran claim.
The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a military parade, dressed in olive-green uniforms with explosive packs around their waists and detonators held high.
The suicide battalions were revealed as Iran issued a shocking military warning to the United States yesterday.
"You can start a war, but it won't be you who finishes it," said Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures.
"The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters at a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.
At the same gathering on Friday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that Israel was heading towards "annihilation."
A report leaked in February confirms that President Bush is preparing to strike Iran.
And yet, Bush has come under criticism for even having the Pentagon draw up battle scenerios against a nation that has vowed to dominate the West, and is currently creating the means to do so. From Seymour Hirsh, purvayor of so many of the left's lies, we hear that due to Iran's new strength, our only option is to talk -
“If you attack,” the high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna, “Ahmadinejad will be the new Saddam Hussein of the Arab world, but with more credibility and more power. You must bite the bullet and sit down with the Iranians.”
The diplomat went on, “There are people in Washington who would be unhappy if we found a solution. They are still banking on isolation and regime change. This is wishful thinking.” He added, “The window of opportunity is now.”
...and that we are sure to face a defeat at the hands of the Iranian military-
a retired four-star general told me that, despite the eight thousand British troops in the region, “the Iranians could take Basra with ten mullahs and one sound truck.” [must be the same general that's chanting "Rummy must go!" - ed.]
...and that, of course, Israel is driving our policy-
I was told by several officials that the White House’s interest in preventing an Israeli attack on a Muslim country, which would provoke a backlash across the region, was a factor in its decision to begin the current operational planning. In a speech in Cleveland on March 20th, President Bush depicted Ahmadinejad’s hostility toward Israel as a “serious threat. It’s a threat to world peace.” He added, “I made it clear, I’ll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel.”
From today's New York Daily News, former Iranian hostage and Jimmy Carter tells us that Ahmadinejad's greatest fear is not the United States, but the dreaded UN Security Council:
This demands a reinvigorated and unrelenting UN Security Council program of aggressive diplomatic intervention that steadfastly supports the human rights movement in Iran.
This is the key to isolating the regime, weakening its totalitarian hold over the Iranian people and creating a united front of Iranians calling for a more open society.
Far more than military threats from a hated superpower, that would be Ahmadinejad's worst nightmare.
Ahmadinejad ran for the presidency of Iran on a platform of rejuvenating the revolutionary period of the Khomeini era. His nuclear sideshow is a convenient ploy to distract the unemployed poor from their own serious needs
Two canards in one! The UN as savior (even though Russia and China have stated that they feel Security Council decrees will "do more harm than good"!), and the "root-causes" excuse, as in "Iranian poverty and poor human rights records" are the real issues here. Yeah, they are issues all right, that can be addressed once the Mad Mullahs are no longer controlling the Persian state.
William Arkin in today's Washington Post gets it right:
The diplomatic effort directed at Iran would be mightily enhanced if that country understood that the United States is so serious about deterring the Iranian quest for nuclear weapons that it would be willing to go to war to stop that quest from reaching fruition.
Iran needs to know -- and even more important, the American public needs to know -- that no matter how many experts talk about difficult-to-find targets or the catastrophe that could unfold if war comes, military planners are already working hard to minimize the risks of any military operation. This is the very essence of contingency planning.
Amazing that all the mulitculturalists on the left cannot grasp the simple fact that the Iranians are not like us; that the only chance they have of taking the carrot is the threat of the big, fat stick of Uncle Sam, not the impotent whines of the United Nations. Begging and pleading won't get the Iranians off their bomb-hunt; it has never worked in the Middle East before (more "shuttle diplomacy", anyone?).
Let's make sure Iran knows how serious we are, and how firm we are in our resolve to prevent them from creating a nuclear Islamist fascist state. Only then, when faced with an unwavering, unapologetic, and unrelenting American adversary, might the Iranians say, "OK, friends, let us talk...'.
Photo top via Gateway Pundit, who covers this story as well.
In-depth coverage at Front-Page Iran.
And of course, there is this...
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