DEBKA's analysis:
Bush Wants the Hizballah-Israel War to Give Iran a Bloody Nose
This poker game between Tehran and Washington is going back and forth over the heads of Israel and Lebanon...
The green light flashing in Washington may give Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert a latitude never before granted any Israeli premier. But it also tells the Islamic Republic that its rulers’ meddling in Iraq carries a high price tag. By pulverizing Iran’s surrogate, Israel is articulating America’s determination to smash Iran’s strength and positions of influence around the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.
DEBKA claims that this determination came from a recent incident in Iraq:
This determination was sparked by an unnoticed incident in Iraq on July 4, 2006.
On that day, for the first time in the Iraq War, Nasrallah activated the three-year old sleeper terror and sabotage networks Iranian and Hizballah intelligence had established across Iraq shortly after the US invasion. He was obeying orders from Iranian supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
America’s Day of Independence 2006 was selected for this group to make its first low-key attacks against US forces in Baghdad and British units in Basra and break surface under the name of The Abu al Fadal al Abas Brigades. No one had heard of it because Tehran had kept this Iraqi arm of Hizballah dark as the ultimate weapon to spring on the Americans in Iraq at the appropriate moment....
That was the last straw, but George W. Bush turned it around as a boomerang to hit Tehran. The Israeli Defense Forces, there to hand, were more than ready to punish Hizballah and had been raring to go after five years of forced restraint against the Lebanese group and Palestinian terrorists. For Bush, this course offered America the chance of a bold, efficient blow against a Shiite extremist terrorist group without a single American soldier having to step onto the battlefield....
Can Bush be this clever???
However, the unacknowledged object of Israel’s campaign is none of the highly rational goals outlined by officials. It is to satisfy Washington that Tehran has been given a bloody nose and is ready to pull back from its deepening political, military and intelligence interference in Iraq.
To this end, Bush decided to let the armed forces of the Jewish state strike out against a fundamentalist Islamic force. For Israel, this is a first, a chance awaited since the first Gulf War of 1991 to get its own back on the radical Arab assailants besetting the country...
It's like a mini cold-war, with Israel as a US proxy/ally fighting the proxies/allies of Iran; be they Hezbollah, Hamas, or Syria. Meanwhile, the U.S. takes on insurgents and terrorists in Iraq, with stakes higher than anyone in the media (or Democratic Party) can fathom - the winner in the Iraqi War gets to forcibly reshape the Middle East for the next decade.
Who's strategy do you like now - W's; or John Murtha's?
วันจันทร์, กรกฎาคม 17, 2549
The BBC sides with Hezbollah, naturally...
Back in August of 2001, a Palestinian suicide bomber murdered 15 people (7 of which were children) and wounded 130 while destroying a Sbarro's Pizzaria in Jerusalem.
The parents of one of the victims, a 15 year old girl named Malka Chana Roth, have a blog entitled This Ongoing War.
They posted last Friday about the BBC's reporting on the outbreak of the Israeli-Lebanese war:
In choosing to present both sides of the frightening events of the past 36 hours, BBC's voice from Beirut happens to be that of Kim Ghattas , a born-in-Lebanon Lebanese who speaks English smoothly and is never identified as partisan or even (in our experience) Lebanese. The BBC's choice of academic expert is a Lebanese man based in Washington DC with a very Lebanese viewpoint. And the message from both (paraphrased by us) is: it's those belligerent Israelis all over again, and until civilized and cultured forces from outside step in, the bloodshed will continue. We're now into the second half-hour of this hour-long bulletin, and while there's not a single word - not one word, not one image - so far about what's being done to Israeli towns all over the Galilee, there is a diplomatic analysis, courtesy of Syria's ambassador to the UN. (Yes, Syria.)
Read it all; the BBC's belligerent anit-Israeli biased is posted upon again here .
Hat tip to Biased BBC
The parents of one of the victims, a 15 year old girl named Malka Chana Roth, have a blog entitled This Ongoing War.
They posted last Friday about the BBC's reporting on the outbreak of the Israeli-Lebanese war:
In choosing to present both sides of the frightening events of the past 36 hours, BBC's voice from Beirut happens to be that of Kim Ghattas , a born-in-Lebanon Lebanese who speaks English smoothly and is never identified as partisan or even (in our experience) Lebanese. The BBC's choice of academic expert is a Lebanese man based in Washington DC with a very Lebanese viewpoint. And the message from both (paraphrased by us) is: it's those belligerent Israelis all over again, and until civilized and cultured forces from outside step in, the bloodshed will continue. We're now into the second half-hour of this hour-long bulletin, and while there's not a single word - not one word, not one image - so far about what's being done to Israeli towns all over the Galilee, there is a diplomatic analysis, courtesy of Syria's ambassador to the UN. (Yes, Syria.)
Read it all; the BBC's belligerent anit-Israeli biased is posted upon again here .
Hat tip to Biased BBC
วันอาทิตย์, กรกฎาคม 16, 2549
Talking Points
Ralph Peters in the NY Post makes some valid points:
Another iron rule that applies to this and every Israeli attempt to strike back at Islamist terrorists is that, just when the Israeli Defense Forces really start to hurt the enemy, the world community - including the United States - intervenes to save the terrorists from destruction.
Europeans have more sympathy with Iran's nuclear program than they do with Israel's attempts at self-defense. But, then, the only thing continental Europeans regret about the Holocaust is that they didn't get to finish the job.
Peters also agrees that Syria should be Israel's primary target; read the whole thing for some of the better Middle East analysis you'll see today...
And of course the terrorist-lovin' editorial columnists in the Washington Post clearly illustrate why any moves Israel makes for peace are wasted:
With a force of between 600 and 1,000 full-time fighters, along with thousands of backups pulled from the streets willing to become human bombs, Nasrallah managed what the tens of thousands in the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan were unable to do for a half-century -- force Israel to retreat. Today, his is the last private army left in Lebanon.
By using the phrase "forced retreat" in this admiring biography of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, author Robin Wright uses the propoganda of the terrorists, instead of pointing out that it was Israel's withdrawal from this territory (on the promise of the Lebanese erediction of Hezbollah, and the hope of peace) that allowed Nasrallah to start what is undoubtly a new Middle Eastern war.
But that is the way the Washington Post likes it....
Another iron rule that applies to this and every Israeli attempt to strike back at Islamist terrorists is that, just when the Israeli Defense Forces really start to hurt the enemy, the world community - including the United States - intervenes to save the terrorists from destruction.
Europeans have more sympathy with Iran's nuclear program than they do with Israel's attempts at self-defense. But, then, the only thing continental Europeans regret about the Holocaust is that they didn't get to finish the job.
Peters also agrees that Syria should be Israel's primary target; read the whole thing for some of the better Middle East analysis you'll see today...
And of course the terrorist-lovin' editorial columnists in the Washington Post clearly illustrate why any moves Israel makes for peace are wasted:
With a force of between 600 and 1,000 full-time fighters, along with thousands of backups pulled from the streets willing to become human bombs, Nasrallah managed what the tens of thousands in the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan were unable to do for a half-century -- force Israel to retreat. Today, his is the last private army left in Lebanon.
By using the phrase "forced retreat" in this admiring biography of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, author Robin Wright uses the propoganda of the terrorists, instead of pointing out that it was Israel's withdrawal from this territory (on the promise of the Lebanese erediction of Hezbollah, and the hope of peace) that allowed Nasrallah to start what is undoubtly a new Middle Eastern war.
But that is the way the Washington Post likes it....
วันเสาร์, กรกฎาคม 15, 2549
Israel gives Syria ultimatum
From yNet, a credible story in the fog of war:
London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat says Israel gave Syria 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity, bring about release of kidnapped IDF troops. ‘Israel will not end military activity until new situation created that will prevent Syria, Iran from using terror organizations to threaten its security,’ newspaper quotes Pentagon official as saying
... “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.”
The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”
Developing...
London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat says Israel gave Syria 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity, bring about release of kidnapped IDF troops. ‘Israel will not end military activity until new situation created that will prevent Syria, Iran from using terror organizations to threaten its security,’ newspaper quotes Pentagon official as saying
... “Washington has information according to which Israel gave Damascus 72 hours to stop Hizbullah’s activity along the Lebanon-Israel border and bring about the release the two kidnapped IDF soldiers or it would launch an offensive with disastrous consequences.”
The report said “a senior Pentagon source warned that should the Arab world and international community fail in the efforts to convince Syria to pressure Hizbullah into releasing the soldiers and halt the current escalation Israel may attack targets in the country.”
Developing...
Via Instapundit, one of Glenn's readers asks:
A simple question asked in the context of recent events and prior discussions of the Geneva Accords: Why hasn't the International Committee of the Red Cross demanded access to the Israeli soldiers taken in Gaza and in northern Israel? The same could be asked for any other relevant organizations as well as governments who've recently been concerned with the treatment of non-uniformed combatants.
His reply:
Because, of course, the Geneva Conventions only apply against Israel, and the United States, never to their benefit. You can look it up.
A simple question asked in the context of recent events and prior discussions of the Geneva Accords: Why hasn't the International Committee of the Red Cross demanded access to the Israeli soldiers taken in Gaza and in northern Israel? The same could be asked for any other relevant organizations as well as governments who've recently been concerned with the treatment of non-uniformed combatants.
His reply:
Because, of course, the Geneva Conventions only apply against Israel, and the United States, never to their benefit. You can look it up.
Middle East War Notes - Saturday Report
Michael Totten is one who thinks that Israel is going after the wrong targets:
Israel has a right - nay, a moral obligation - to defend itself and rescue the kidnapped. But what kind of down-the-rabbit-hole war is this, where the guilty parties - the Baath regime in Syria and the Jihad regime in Iran - sleep warm in their beds while Beirut, a libertine city they hate, takes the punishment for them?
The dictators in the region have always been happy to fight the Israelis to the last Palestinian. Now it looks like they're happy to fight the Israelis to the last Lebanese, too. And why not? Lebanon is a relatively liberal and almost half Christian sort-of democracy. Can't have any of that in the region if you're a totalitarian mullah. It suits Tehran just fine if the Jews slug it out with such people.
Austin Bay concurs:
Unfortunately, Iran has the petro-dollars to reconstitute Hezbollah– unless the Lebanese can act in concert with the Israelis to police terrorists using Lebanese territory. To truly police terrorists in Lebanon –which entails denying them logistics support as well as territory for bases– means regime change in Syria. Dealing Hezbollah more than a temporary defeat means terminating the Assad regime in Damascus.
No doubt about it– the Israelis can seriously damage Hezbollah. Reducing Hezbollah’s arsenals may reduce its local clout in Lebanon. But Syria promotes Hezbollah and Iran finances it.
The Israelis have given no indication they are ready to topple the Assad regime...
And while the JerseyNut stongly feels that if you are to be a sovereign state, you must be responsible for what goes on within your borders, it is a bit of a mystery here as well as to why Israel hasn't at least bitched-smacked Baby Assad; perhaps blowing up a few of his bridges or military installations. To paraphrase Totten, why should the Syrian thugs sleep easy why others fight their battles?
Michael Oren in the Washington Post explains why land for peace is dead (my words, not his) and why Israel must fight:
Paradoxically, Israel has been attacked from the two territories from which it unilaterally withdrew with the approval of much of the international community. Since the pullout of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah terrorists have periodically fired rockets at civilian targets in Israel and ambushed soldiers across the U.N.-recognized border. Since the withdrawal from Gaza last year, Hamas and other Palestinian groups have fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israeli territory and have repeatedly attempted to conduct terrorist raids across the border.
Israel refrained from large-scale military reprisals for this aggression, confident of having won international goodwill through its withdrawals and fearful of being dragged back into the Lebanese and Gazan morasses. But Israelis have learned that unprovoked violence against them raises little outcry in the world and that failure to react to isolated acts of terror invites unremitting terror.
And perhaps Israel is closing in on Syria, although the below is much too little:
Israel fired rockets near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Saturday, heightening fears that it could hit Syria as well as Lebanon, in a campaign to dislodge Syrian-backed Hizbollah fighters from its northern border.
Witnesses said Israeli planes fired four rockets at the Masnaa crossing point between the last Lebanese post and the first Syrian army position on the Beirut-Damascus road.
Now just a little bit closer, a little bit closer....
And finally, a warning from Michael Ledden at The Corner:
At that moment, we should want Hizbollah destroyed in both Lebanon and Syria, Assad under attack from his own people for playing this awful game, and Khamenei humiliated as the artefice of a failed operation.
But we have not heard anything about "seizing the moment." We hear lawyer talk and diplotalk, surrender talk and appeasement talk, and there is no action whatsoever. Is this not the time to go after the terrorist training camps in Syria and Iran? What in the world are we waiting for?
And finally, if we dither through this one, the next one will be worse. Maybe much worse. It's not going away. Stability is a mirage...
And where does the UN stand in all this? See their vile complicity with terror here...
UPDATE: More Iranian fingerprints:
Israel charged that Iran, the main sponsor of Hezbollah militants, has 100 troops in Lebanon providing Hezbollah key support — including helping fire a missile Friday that badly damaged an Israeli warship.
It's long past time they mad mullahs of Tehran were sent a message...
Israel has a right - nay, a moral obligation - to defend itself and rescue the kidnapped. But what kind of down-the-rabbit-hole war is this, where the guilty parties - the Baath regime in Syria and the Jihad regime in Iran - sleep warm in their beds while Beirut, a libertine city they hate, takes the punishment for them?
The dictators in the region have always been happy to fight the Israelis to the last Palestinian. Now it looks like they're happy to fight the Israelis to the last Lebanese, too. And why not? Lebanon is a relatively liberal and almost half Christian sort-of democracy. Can't have any of that in the region if you're a totalitarian mullah. It suits Tehran just fine if the Jews slug it out with such people.
Austin Bay concurs:
Unfortunately, Iran has the petro-dollars to reconstitute Hezbollah– unless the Lebanese can act in concert with the Israelis to police terrorists using Lebanese territory. To truly police terrorists in Lebanon –which entails denying them logistics support as well as territory for bases– means regime change in Syria. Dealing Hezbollah more than a temporary defeat means terminating the Assad regime in Damascus.
No doubt about it– the Israelis can seriously damage Hezbollah. Reducing Hezbollah’s arsenals may reduce its local clout in Lebanon. But Syria promotes Hezbollah and Iran finances it.
The Israelis have given no indication they are ready to topple the Assad regime...
And while the JerseyNut stongly feels that if you are to be a sovereign state, you must be responsible for what goes on within your borders, it is a bit of a mystery here as well as to why Israel hasn't at least bitched-smacked Baby Assad; perhaps blowing up a few of his bridges or military installations. To paraphrase Totten, why should the Syrian thugs sleep easy why others fight their battles?
Michael Oren in the Washington Post explains why land for peace is dead (my words, not his) and why Israel must fight:
Paradoxically, Israel has been attacked from the two territories from which it unilaterally withdrew with the approval of much of the international community. Since the pullout of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah terrorists have periodically fired rockets at civilian targets in Israel and ambushed soldiers across the U.N.-recognized border. Since the withdrawal from Gaza last year, Hamas and other Palestinian groups have fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israeli territory and have repeatedly attempted to conduct terrorist raids across the border.
Israel refrained from large-scale military reprisals for this aggression, confident of having won international goodwill through its withdrawals and fearful of being dragged back into the Lebanese and Gazan morasses. But Israelis have learned that unprovoked violence against them raises little outcry in the world and that failure to react to isolated acts of terror invites unremitting terror.
And perhaps Israel is closing in on Syria, although the below is much too little:
Israel fired rockets near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Saturday, heightening fears that it could hit Syria as well as Lebanon, in a campaign to dislodge Syrian-backed Hizbollah fighters from its northern border.
Witnesses said Israeli planes fired four rockets at the Masnaa crossing point between the last Lebanese post and the first Syrian army position on the Beirut-Damascus road.
Now just a little bit closer, a little bit closer....
And finally, a warning from Michael Ledden at The Corner:
At that moment, we should want Hizbollah destroyed in both Lebanon and Syria, Assad under attack from his own people for playing this awful game, and Khamenei humiliated as the artefice of a failed operation.
But we have not heard anything about "seizing the moment." We hear lawyer talk and diplotalk, surrender talk and appeasement talk, and there is no action whatsoever. Is this not the time to go after the terrorist training camps in Syria and Iran? What in the world are we waiting for?
And finally, if we dither through this one, the next one will be worse. Maybe much worse. It's not going away. Stability is a mirage...
And where does the UN stand in all this? See their vile complicity with terror here...
UPDATE: More Iranian fingerprints:
Israel charged that Iran, the main sponsor of Hezbollah militants, has 100 troops in Lebanon providing Hezbollah key support — including helping fire a missile Friday that badly damaged an Israeli warship.
It's long past time they mad mullahs of Tehran were sent a message...
UN Giving Tactical Support to Terrorists
Watch this YouTube video here; see how a UN - marked ambulance, flying the blue flag, is used as a troop carrier by terrorists in Gaza.
And what does Kofi Annan have to say about this flagerant violation of international law?
Just you wait - trust me, this is somehow the fault of those pesky Jews....
And what does Kofi Annan have to say about this flagerant violation of international law?
Just you wait - trust me, this is somehow the fault of those pesky Jews....
วันศุกร์, กรกฎาคม 14, 2549
Israel gets it, but France does not:
"The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly." — Theodore Roosevelt
Wonder what TR would have said to the "disproportionate response" crowd ?
"The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided; but never hit softly." — Theodore Roosevelt
Wonder what TR would have said to the "disproportionate response" crowd ?
Least Surprising headline of the day!
France condemns Israel
French President Jacques Chirac said in a television interview: "One can ask oneself whether there isn't a sort of desire to destroy Lebanon.
"I find, honestly, like most Europeans, that the reactions are completely disproportionate."
OK, well, the next time Israel suffers blows from hundreds of rockets on its northern and southern borders, and has its territory violated by enemy incursions resulting in the death and abductions of military personnel and civilians, I guess they need to check with Jacques Chirac (who by his own account represents all Europeans) to determine what a proportional response is.
His remark about "destroying Lebanon" is a gratuitous type of anti-Isreali hatred that I am sure will play well on al-Jazeera tonight; but why do I feel that is the audience that Chirac is performing for anyway? Jacques Chirac, standing tall for the terrorists since 9/12...
Fortunately, Chirac has no standing as a world leader (save maybe to the MSM), and France has little or no power (except its undeserved Security Council seat) to effect any change in the world anyway. Still...what a vile little man, rushing to the bedside of Yassar Arafat while condemning Jews for defending their very lives.
Atlas Shrugged has a nice roundup of who's with us and who is against us...
French President Jacques Chirac said in a television interview: "One can ask oneself whether there isn't a sort of desire to destroy Lebanon.
"I find, honestly, like most Europeans, that the reactions are completely disproportionate."
OK, well, the next time Israel suffers blows from hundreds of rockets on its northern and southern borders, and has its territory violated by enemy incursions resulting in the death and abductions of military personnel and civilians, I guess they need to check with Jacques Chirac (who by his own account represents all Europeans) to determine what a proportional response is.
His remark about "destroying Lebanon" is a gratuitous type of anti-Isreali hatred that I am sure will play well on al-Jazeera tonight; but why do I feel that is the audience that Chirac is performing for anyway? Jacques Chirac, standing tall for the terrorists since 9/12...
Fortunately, Chirac has no standing as a world leader (save maybe to the MSM), and France has little or no power (except its undeserved Security Council seat) to effect any change in the world anyway. Still...what a vile little man, rushing to the bedside of Yassar Arafat while condemning Jews for defending their very lives.
Atlas Shrugged has a nice roundup of who's with us and who is against us...
Ignatius spouts Hezbollah lies
In today's Washington Post, David Ignatius commits two crimes against humanity in a column rife with false conclusions and outright lies - first, he advocates Israel's, and America's, surrender to terrorism:
Israeli and American doctrine is premised on the idea that military force will deter adversaries. But as more force has been used in recent years, the deterrent value has inevitably gone down. That's the inner spring of this crisis: The Iranians (and their clients in Hezbollah and Hamas) watch the American military mired in Iraq and see weakness. They are emboldened rather than intimidated. The same is true for the Israelis in Gaza. Rather than reinforcing the image of strength, the use of force (short of outright, pulverizing invasion and occupation) has encouraged contempt.
The danger of Iranian-backed adventurism is immense right now, but that's all the more reason for America and Israel to avoid past mistakes in countering it.
Don't counter it! Issue strongly worded resolutions instead! That'll show 'em!
The first is that in countering aggression, international solidarity and legitimacy matter. In responding to the Lebanon crisis, the United States should work closely with its allies at the Group of Eight summit and the United Nations.
Well, that has worked...never. But of course Ignatius knows that, as he fails to cite any precedent...
And here is his Big Lie:
One way to boost the Lebanese government (and deflate Hezbollah) would be to negotiate the return of the Israeli-occupied territory known as Shebaa Farms.
The "occupation of Sheeba Farms" is Hezbollah's excuse for its continued shelling of the Jews from Lebanese territories; too bad that according to Ignatius' precious United Nations, Sheeba Farms is 100% Israeli territory:
Full Israeli Implementation of Resolution 425
(Communicated by Foreign Ministry Spokesman)July 25, 2000
Israel welcomes the announcement by the UN Secretary General to the Security Council (24 July), confirming that Israel has corrected all the violations along its border with Lebanon.
If anyone is in violation of UN resolutions, it is the Lebanese government:
The Secretary General's announcement notes that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces will be deployed along the border within days. Israel expresses the hope that Lebanon, too, will fulfill its obligations in accordance with UN resolution 425, will reestablish effective rule over southern Lebanon, and will take action to halt the violations emanating from its territory which infringe upon Israeli sovereignty
Ignatius cannot admit the truth, that the way of the UN and road map and land for peace has failed, not because of Israel, but because of the bloodlust of their enemies, which no treaty will satiate. So he helps Hamas and Hezbollah by inventing new Israeli crimes, to further force Israel into kowtowing to its psychotic enemies and cede more of their territory to them.
Either Ignatius is fully aware of these facts, and is distorting them to support a failed doctrine, or he is ignorant of UN resolutions in this matter. Simply typing "Sheeba Farms" on any internet search engine would have led him to this information; is he simply a lazy man or deliberately malicious?
Neither is acceptable; one should never wonder why the media has fallen so far in the public's eye...
Israeli and American doctrine is premised on the idea that military force will deter adversaries. But as more force has been used in recent years, the deterrent value has inevitably gone down. That's the inner spring of this crisis: The Iranians (and their clients in Hezbollah and Hamas) watch the American military mired in Iraq and see weakness. They are emboldened rather than intimidated. The same is true for the Israelis in Gaza. Rather than reinforcing the image of strength, the use of force (short of outright, pulverizing invasion and occupation) has encouraged contempt.
The danger of Iranian-backed adventurism is immense right now, but that's all the more reason for America and Israel to avoid past mistakes in countering it.
Don't counter it! Issue strongly worded resolutions instead! That'll show 'em!
The first is that in countering aggression, international solidarity and legitimacy matter. In responding to the Lebanon crisis, the United States should work closely with its allies at the Group of Eight summit and the United Nations.
Well, that has worked...never. But of course Ignatius knows that, as he fails to cite any precedent...
And here is his Big Lie:
One way to boost the Lebanese government (and deflate Hezbollah) would be to negotiate the return of the Israeli-occupied territory known as Shebaa Farms.
The "occupation of Sheeba Farms" is Hezbollah's excuse for its continued shelling of the Jews from Lebanese territories; too bad that according to Ignatius' precious United Nations, Sheeba Farms is 100% Israeli territory:
Full Israeli Implementation of Resolution 425
(Communicated by Foreign Ministry Spokesman)July 25, 2000
Israel welcomes the announcement by the UN Secretary General to the Security Council (24 July), confirming that Israel has corrected all the violations along its border with Lebanon.
If anyone is in violation of UN resolutions, it is the Lebanese government:
The Secretary General's announcement notes that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces will be deployed along the border within days. Israel expresses the hope that Lebanon, too, will fulfill its obligations in accordance with UN resolution 425, will reestablish effective rule over southern Lebanon, and will take action to halt the violations emanating from its territory which infringe upon Israeli sovereignty
Ignatius cannot admit the truth, that the way of the UN and road map and land for peace has failed, not because of Israel, but because of the bloodlust of their enemies, which no treaty will satiate. So he helps Hamas and Hezbollah by inventing new Israeli crimes, to further force Israel into kowtowing to its psychotic enemies and cede more of their territory to them.
Either Ignatius is fully aware of these facts, and is distorting them to support a failed doctrine, or he is ignorant of UN resolutions in this matter. Simply typing "Sheeba Farms" on any internet search engine would have led him to this information; is he simply a lazy man or deliberately malicious?
Neither is acceptable; one should never wonder why the media has fallen so far in the public's eye...
วันพฤหัสบดี, กรกฎาคม 13, 2549
Iran's Proxy War
We noted yesterday that the Hezbollah aggresion against Israel could simply be a fulfillment of Iran's threats of war should they be referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions regarding their nuclear program. Seems like that connection has been cemented today, as Hezbollah works openly with Iran to transfer the captured Israeli soldiers out of Lebanon and into...:
Israel has information that Hizbullah guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers are trying to transfer them to Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah presses their offensive, shelling Israel's third largest city:
For the first time ever, two rockets launched from Lebanon landed in Haifa in the neighborhood of Stella Maris. Sappers came to the scene to neutralize the rocket that landed in the middle of a road. One person suffered from shock. The launch represented the farthest a rocket had ever reached into Israel.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned earlier that his organization would strike Haifa if Israel attacked Beirut. There were no reports as yet that Israel had struck Beirut. Before the attack on Haifa, CNN reported that the US Navy ordered one of their ships that was docked at the Haifa Bay to be moved to a safer location.
Shortly before the attack, a rocket hit the old city in Safed, followed by another strike about an hour later. One of thirteen wounded people, who was initially listed in critical condition, later died of his wounds. Two others were seriously wounded, one moderately, and the rest were lightly wounded. A boy was reported missing, and was feared to be trapped in a building that was struck. Following the strike, power supply was cut in parts of the city....
The toll of casualties in Israel throughout the day stood at one death and 122 wounded....
Note how Hezbollah targets surburbs with civilian populations, while Israel goes out of its way to avoid...oh, never mind, I tire of repeating myself, although maybe the world is waking up, as the usual condemnations of Israel (by the EU and Russia) are rather tepid and slow moving, as opposed to their usual knee-jerkedness....and thank God for John Bolton, by the way:
The United States vetoed a UN draft resolution that would have called for an end to Israeli attacks and "disproportionate use of force" in the Gaza Strip as well as for the release of a kidnapped Israeli soldier...
...The United States, Israel's staunchest ally, last used its veto in the Security Council in October 2004, to block a similar draft demanding that Israel end all military operations in northern Gaza and withdraw from the area.
France, a permanent member of the council, voted in favor while Britain, Denmark, Slovakia and Peru abstained.
Ah, those feckless French, still ready to throw the Jews over the edge, as they have done countless times before (via Roger Simon)....isn't this just what Iran is counting on, a war between Isreal and Hamas/Hezbollah/Lebenon/Syria that will divide the G-8 and the Security Council, leaving it free to pursue its path to nuclear domination over the region?
It seems as if the EU is already falling into line, good dhimmis that they are...
UPDATE: Interesting, regarding my comment about somewhat tepid condemnations:
Moderate Arab governments reacted with relative restraint, apparently reflecting a sentiment in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel
Someone give the EU a clue....
UPDATE: Seems like some in the Middle East realize that Hezbollah, and perhaps by extension Hamas, have finally gone too far:
Egypt launched a diplomatic bid to resolve the crisis, amid apparent frustration among moderate Arab nations that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas — without naming them — of "uncalculated adventures" that precipitated the latest Middle East crisis.
"The kingdom sees that it is time for those elements to alone shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behavior and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone," according to a Saudi official quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.
Might be a bit tough to put this genie back into the bottle, my arabian friends....maybe you should've put the reins on these terrorists a little bit earlier - just ask the Taliban, or 'ol Saddam...
More on Iran's proxy war at Tigerhawk
Israel has information that Hizbullah guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers are trying to transfer them to Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah presses their offensive, shelling Israel's third largest city:
For the first time ever, two rockets launched from Lebanon landed in Haifa in the neighborhood of Stella Maris. Sappers came to the scene to neutralize the rocket that landed in the middle of a road. One person suffered from shock. The launch represented the farthest a rocket had ever reached into Israel.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned earlier that his organization would strike Haifa if Israel attacked Beirut. There were no reports as yet that Israel had struck Beirut. Before the attack on Haifa, CNN reported that the US Navy ordered one of their ships that was docked at the Haifa Bay to be moved to a safer location.
Shortly before the attack, a rocket hit the old city in Safed, followed by another strike about an hour later. One of thirteen wounded people, who was initially listed in critical condition, later died of his wounds. Two others were seriously wounded, one moderately, and the rest were lightly wounded. A boy was reported missing, and was feared to be trapped in a building that was struck. Following the strike, power supply was cut in parts of the city....
The toll of casualties in Israel throughout the day stood at one death and 122 wounded....
Note how Hezbollah targets surburbs with civilian populations, while Israel goes out of its way to avoid...oh, never mind, I tire of repeating myself, although maybe the world is waking up, as the usual condemnations of Israel (by the EU and Russia) are rather tepid and slow moving, as opposed to their usual knee-jerkedness....and thank God for John Bolton, by the way:
The United States vetoed a UN draft resolution that would have called for an end to Israeli attacks and "disproportionate use of force" in the Gaza Strip as well as for the release of a kidnapped Israeli soldier...
...The United States, Israel's staunchest ally, last used its veto in the Security Council in October 2004, to block a similar draft demanding that Israel end all military operations in northern Gaza and withdraw from the area.
France, a permanent member of the council, voted in favor while Britain, Denmark, Slovakia and Peru abstained.
Ah, those feckless French, still ready to throw the Jews over the edge, as they have done countless times before (via Roger Simon)....isn't this just what Iran is counting on, a war between Isreal and Hamas/Hezbollah/Lebenon/Syria that will divide the G-8 and the Security Council, leaving it free to pursue its path to nuclear domination over the region?
It seems as if the EU is already falling into line, good dhimmis that they are...
UPDATE: Interesting, regarding my comment about somewhat tepid condemnations:
Moderate Arab governments reacted with relative restraint, apparently reflecting a sentiment in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel
Someone give the EU a clue....
UPDATE: Seems like some in the Middle East realize that Hezbollah, and perhaps by extension Hamas, have finally gone too far:
Egypt launched a diplomatic bid to resolve the crisis, amid apparent frustration among moderate Arab nations that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas — without naming them — of "uncalculated adventures" that precipitated the latest Middle East crisis.
"The kingdom sees that it is time for those elements to alone shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behavior and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone," according to a Saudi official quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.
Might be a bit tough to put this genie back into the bottle, my arabian friends....maybe you should've put the reins on these terrorists a little bit earlier - just ask the Taliban, or 'ol Saddam...
More on Iran's proxy war at Tigerhawk
UPDATE: Hamas denies firing into Haifa; where the missles actually fired by the Iranian military?
Israel said that at least one of the missiles that hit Haifa Thursday was fired by members of the Iranian Guard. These Iranian Guard units are stationed in Southern Lebanon.
So the curtain begins to lift...
วันพุธ, กรกฎาคม 12, 2549
The Iranian Response?
Is there a connection between this:
Frustrated world powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran before the United Security Council for possible punishment, saying the Iranians had given no sign they would bargain in earnest over their disputed nuclear program....
And this?
The militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others in an attack along the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday morning. Four more Israeli soldiers were killed when troops and tanks crossed the border in pursuit of the captives.
The timing is extremely suspect, as:
Iran ratcheted up threats to retaliate if reported to the U.N. Security Council over suspicions it wants nuclear weapons, warning Friday that U.S.-backed referral would "kill" a proposal to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia.
So at virtually the same moment that Iran is being referred to the Security Council, their stooges in south Lebanon launch a deadly offensive against Israel. Is this an effort to curry favor within the Arab world, to distract the G-8 ahead of the summit, or simply fulfillment of Ahmadinejad's commitment to destroy Israel?
I don't believe in coincidences; and I am sure the rest of the 'leadership" of the West has connected a similar set of dots (save for those that will shortly blame Israel for being attacked on two fronts). Will they draw a deep collective breath and find the courage to hold firm? Or will Iran's strategy of dividing the tenuous western alliance bear fruit, as nations scramble to water down resolutions in an attempt to protect their own flanks via appeasement of the mullahs?
The winds of war whip through the Middle East while Iran, the great fanner of the flames, sits back unmolested, and builds nukes....should the will of the West fail now, how many lives will become forfeited in the future?
Frustrated world powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran before the United Security Council for possible punishment, saying the Iranians had given no sign they would bargain in earnest over their disputed nuclear program....
And this?
The militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others in an attack along the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday morning. Four more Israeli soldiers were killed when troops and tanks crossed the border in pursuit of the captives.
The timing is extremely suspect, as:
Iran ratcheted up threats to retaliate if reported to the U.N. Security Council over suspicions it wants nuclear weapons, warning Friday that U.S.-backed referral would "kill" a proposal to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia.
So at virtually the same moment that Iran is being referred to the Security Council, their stooges in south Lebanon launch a deadly offensive against Israel. Is this an effort to curry favor within the Arab world, to distract the G-8 ahead of the summit, or simply fulfillment of Ahmadinejad's commitment to destroy Israel?
I don't believe in coincidences; and I am sure the rest of the 'leadership" of the West has connected a similar set of dots (save for those that will shortly blame Israel for being attacked on two fronts). Will they draw a deep collective breath and find the courage to hold firm? Or will Iran's strategy of dividing the tenuous western alliance bear fruit, as nations scramble to water down resolutions in an attempt to protect their own flanks via appeasement of the mullahs?
The winds of war whip through the Middle East while Iran, the great fanner of the flames, sits back unmolested, and builds nukes....should the will of the West fail now, how many lives will become forfeited in the future?
A few days in Jersey heaven...
Can't you just taste the waves?
At the tip of a New Jersey barrier island, high tide makes itself known:
This salty seabird enjoys a morning dip.....
...maybe he'll represent me on my bogger profile page?
วันอาทิตย์, กรกฎาคม 09, 2549
Mmmmm...Vacation!
Brief blogging break as I head to the beaches of South Jersey to clear my mind and cleanse my soul at the ocean for a few days...be back mid-week, hopefully with a bit more creative energy than I have shown lately...
วันเสาร์, กรกฎาคม 08, 2549
Ahmadinejad Sets Us Straight!
Jeez, and I always thought the problems within the Arab states was caused by totalitarian regimes that supressed the will of their peoples, combined with nonexistent economic growth and the growing power of a twelfth-century religious doctrine. But no, it has nothing to do with these prevailing conditions at all - you see....:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on Islamic countries to mobilise against Israel and “remove” the “Zionist regime”.
“The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilise to remove this problem,” the president said in a speech to regional officials....
“Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region,” Ahmadinejad said. “ The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime,” he added, before going on to attack Israel’s supporters...
Ah, I get it - remove those pesky Jews, and immediately flower petals will drop from the sky, the rivers shall run with gold, the jobless will become employed, the ignorant will gain wisdom, and the unskilled masses will become masters of trade and commerce...
And one wonders why the Arabs are sinking into the sands of despair...there is nothing the West can do to help these people; if they refuse to enlighten themselves (or somehow obtain less psychotic rulers), they will become a dying race, clinging to superstition and lies as all falls apart around them...
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on Islamic countries to mobilise against Israel and “remove” the “Zionist regime”.
“The basic problem in the Islamic world is the existence of the Zionist regime, and the Islamic world and the region must mobilise to remove this problem,” the president said in a speech to regional officials....
“Today there is a strong will... to remove the Zionist regime and implement a legal Palestinian regime all over Palestine. The continued survival of this regime (Israel) means nothing but suffering for the region,” Ahmadinejad said. “ The biggest threat today for the region is the existence of the fake Zionist regime,” he added, before going on to attack Israel’s supporters...
Ah, I get it - remove those pesky Jews, and immediately flower petals will drop from the sky, the rivers shall run with gold, the jobless will become employed, the ignorant will gain wisdom, and the unskilled masses will become masters of trade and commerce...
And one wonders why the Arabs are sinking into the sands of despair...there is nothing the West can do to help these people; if they refuse to enlighten themselves (or somehow obtain less psychotic rulers), they will become a dying race, clinging to superstition and lies as all falls apart around them...
"Palestinians Dig In"?
The Washington Post tries to make a ragtag army of terrorist irregulars into a stubborn fighting force:
Israeli tanks and bulldozers edged deeper into a crowded residential neighborhood here Friday amid stiffening resistance from Palestinian gunmen....
Stiffening? Why, has the Israeli advance into Gaza been halted at all?
The small Israeli armored force carved more space between the fields in this western Gaza city used by Palestinian gunmen to launch rockets and the southern Israeli towns that are their target. But it did so slowly against gunmen outwardly undaunted by the beating they took a day earlier when at least 21 Palestinians were killed, many from the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement
No, only slowed, so it likely took them a few more hours to reach their objective point than it might have. Most likely, and most ironically, it was done to limit Palestinian casualties, for certainly a few easily executed bombing runs could have cleared any area they wished to enter.
Seems like more than a few Palestinians know the difference between rhetoric and action, however:
Although the Hamas interior minister called Thursday for Palestinians to fight the Israeli forces, the more than 70,000 members of the Palestinian security services did not appear to heed it.
"If they get into this, it will mean the total destruction of the Palestinian Authority," said Abu Mohammed, 30, an al-Aqsa gunman. "All due respect to the minister, but I think he just wants to get them killed."
Good idea, Abu. Maybe if you finally taste firsthand the true military force of your neighbor, perhaps you will learn to stop shooting missles into their backyard. It's been a tough lesson to pound into your head, especially when the Europeans keep pushing you into the trenches by blaming the Jews:
“The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated,” Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in a statement...
Yeah, OK, dhimmi, whatever you say... The Palestinians always engage in provocative actions, then run and hide behind a viciously anti-semitic United Nations, counting on condemnations and resolutions (and moral support from a terrified Europe) to halt Israeli retaliation.
But do you know what? Despite quislings like our EU President above, it doesn't seem like the world has the stomach for much more of Hamas' games. Looks like the Palestinians are going to have to fight this one out for themselves; and despite the Washington Post's dubious claims of "stiffening resistance", I believe the Palestinians are going to have to re-think their strategy, once they pick their teeth off the ground...
Israeli tanks and bulldozers edged deeper into a crowded residential neighborhood here Friday amid stiffening resistance from Palestinian gunmen....
Stiffening? Why, has the Israeli advance into Gaza been halted at all?
The small Israeli armored force carved more space between the fields in this western Gaza city used by Palestinian gunmen to launch rockets and the southern Israeli towns that are their target. But it did so slowly against gunmen outwardly undaunted by the beating they took a day earlier when at least 21 Palestinians were killed, many from the armed wing of the governing Hamas movement
No, only slowed, so it likely took them a few more hours to reach their objective point than it might have. Most likely, and most ironically, it was done to limit Palestinian casualties, for certainly a few easily executed bombing runs could have cleared any area they wished to enter.
Seems like more than a few Palestinians know the difference between rhetoric and action, however:
Although the Hamas interior minister called Thursday for Palestinians to fight the Israeli forces, the more than 70,000 members of the Palestinian security services did not appear to heed it.
"If they get into this, it will mean the total destruction of the Palestinian Authority," said Abu Mohammed, 30, an al-Aqsa gunman. "All due respect to the minister, but I think he just wants to get them killed."
Good idea, Abu. Maybe if you finally taste firsthand the true military force of your neighbor, perhaps you will learn to stop shooting missles into their backyard. It's been a tough lesson to pound into your head, especially when the Europeans keep pushing you into the trenches by blaming the Jews:
“The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated,” Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in a statement...
Yeah, OK, dhimmi, whatever you say... The Palestinians always engage in provocative actions, then run and hide behind a viciously anti-semitic United Nations, counting on condemnations and resolutions (and moral support from a terrified Europe) to halt Israeli retaliation.
But do you know what? Despite quislings like our EU President above, it doesn't seem like the world has the stomach for much more of Hamas' games. Looks like the Palestinians are going to have to fight this one out for themselves; and despite the Washington Post's dubious claims of "stiffening resistance", I believe the Palestinians are going to have to re-think their strategy, once they pick their teeth off the ground...
วันพุธ, กรกฎาคม 05, 2549
The United Nations in Action!
With out-and-out warfare erupting between the Palestinians and Israel, with North Korea firing a plethora of payload-capable rocketry into the Sea of Japan, and with its own internal structure crumbling, how does the United Nations function? Let us see...
China, Russia resist North Korea sanctions
China and Russia resisted an attempt in the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions against
North Korea for its missile launches Wednesday, saying only diplomacy could halt the isolated regime's nuclear and rocket development programs
Japan, backed by the U.S. and Britain, circulated a resolution that would ban any country from transferring funds, material and technology that could be used in North Korea's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
China, the North's closest ally, and Russia, which has been trying to re-establish Soviet-era ties with Pyongyang, countered that they favor a weaker council statement without any threat of sanctions. Both countries hold veto power in the council, making sanctions unlikely.
It seems as if Japan's request is mild, given the fact that there are missles being fired at them; and after all, doesn't diplomacy always require a little bit of arm-twisting? No, China and Russia call for a different type of "diplomacy", one consisting of empty talks while buying the time for North Korea to become their little nuclear-armed puppet state. And since they hold veto power at the UN, we have no choice but to accept the plans laid by these two dictatorships. Exactly what the founders of the UN expected, right? And what say those liberals who can't wait to cede American power to this disfunctional organization? Remember, Hillary's husband gave N-Korea nukes, and turned a blind eye when they broke their agreement...
Meanwhile, a prominent UN envoy dished out the United Nations' daily dose of hateful anti-semitism:
An emergency meeting of the UN's new human rights body on the Gaza crisis has heard condemnation of Israeli policy and its effects on civilians.
Israel was violating in Gaza the "most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law", UN envoy John Dugard told the special session.
The meeting was called by Muslim states with support from Russia and others.
Mr Dugard, the keynote UN speaker, told the session that Israel's conduct was "morally indefensible".
"Over 1,500 rounds of artillery have been showered on Gaza," he said.
"Sonic booms terrorise the people. Transport has been seriously disrupted by the destruction of roads and bridges. Sanitation is threatened."
Transport has been disrupted! Sanitation is threatened! Well, we can't have that! Someone tell those pesky Jews to just sit down, fold their hands, and allow themselves to be bombed into obliteration without disrupting Palestinian transport!
But don't worry about terrorism, or Iran's nukes, or North Korea's ballistic missles flying every which way...'caused everything is really the fault of those damn dirty Jews, and the UN has their eyes on 'em!:
The new United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent part of the agenda of future meetings.
The former, discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights was abolished because nations argued it had become too politicized.
Senior Counsel for B'Nai B'Rith International in Canada David Matas said the U.N. Council was created to avoid the politicization and focus on Israel that existed under the old commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met. "In the end, there was a resolution passed condemning Israel. It was the only country-specific resolution," he said.
Matas noted the council did not pass specific resolutions on other countries, such as Sudan. "Simply in terms of numbers, the number of people killed in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza is nowhere near the number of people killed in Sudan. And yet, there is nothing about Sudan, or Iran, or Burma or any other country, where there is glaring human rights problems," he said.
This simply boggles the mind - again, I want to hear from those who feel the United States should never act without the approval of this vile organization. Why should we subserviate our morals to peoples whose belief systems are in a different universe than ours?
And speaking of morals - the most moral thing to do here is to leave the UN, defund it, and appropriate monies to a new organization; a "Council of Democratic Nations" (votes weighted by level of democracy in each member state - Canada getting more than, say, Russia) or something, because what we have is too broken to fix. The United Nations needs to be burned to the ground; with holy water and salt sprinkled upon its remains, and after a prayer and a shamanic dance, it needs to be rebuilt - as something less than a tool for the basest members of the organization, and something more befitting its once-lofty goals...
China, Russia resist North Korea sanctions
China and Russia resisted an attempt in the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions against
North Korea for its missile launches Wednesday, saying only diplomacy could halt the isolated regime's nuclear and rocket development programs
Japan, backed by the U.S. and Britain, circulated a resolution that would ban any country from transferring funds, material and technology that could be used in North Korea's missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.
China, the North's closest ally, and Russia, which has been trying to re-establish Soviet-era ties with Pyongyang, countered that they favor a weaker council statement without any threat of sanctions. Both countries hold veto power in the council, making sanctions unlikely.
It seems as if Japan's request is mild, given the fact that there are missles being fired at them; and after all, doesn't diplomacy always require a little bit of arm-twisting? No, China and Russia call for a different type of "diplomacy", one consisting of empty talks while buying the time for North Korea to become their little nuclear-armed puppet state. And since they hold veto power at the UN, we have no choice but to accept the plans laid by these two dictatorships. Exactly what the founders of the UN expected, right? And what say those liberals who can't wait to cede American power to this disfunctional organization? Remember, Hillary's husband gave N-Korea nukes, and turned a blind eye when they broke their agreement...
Meanwhile, a prominent UN envoy dished out the United Nations' daily dose of hateful anti-semitism:
An emergency meeting of the UN's new human rights body on the Gaza crisis has heard condemnation of Israeli policy and its effects on civilians.
Israel was violating in Gaza the "most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law", UN envoy John Dugard told the special session.
The meeting was called by Muslim states with support from Russia and others.
Mr Dugard, the keynote UN speaker, told the session that Israel's conduct was "morally indefensible".
"Over 1,500 rounds of artillery have been showered on Gaza," he said.
"Sonic booms terrorise the people. Transport has been seriously disrupted by the destruction of roads and bridges. Sanitation is threatened."
Transport has been disrupted! Sanitation is threatened! Well, we can't have that! Someone tell those pesky Jews to just sit down, fold their hands, and allow themselves to be bombed into obliteration without disrupting Palestinian transport!
But don't worry about terrorism, or Iran's nukes, or North Korea's ballistic missles flying every which way...'caused everything is really the fault of those damn dirty Jews, and the UN has their eyes on 'em!:
The new United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent part of the agenda of future meetings.
The former, discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights was abolished because nations argued it had become too politicized.
Senior Counsel for B'Nai B'Rith International in Canada David Matas said the U.N. Council was created to avoid the politicization and focus on Israel that existed under the old commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met. "In the end, there was a resolution passed condemning Israel. It was the only country-specific resolution," he said.
Matas noted the council did not pass specific resolutions on other countries, such as Sudan. "Simply in terms of numbers, the number of people killed in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza is nowhere near the number of people killed in Sudan. And yet, there is nothing about Sudan, or Iran, or Burma or any other country, where there is glaring human rights problems," he said.
This simply boggles the mind - again, I want to hear from those who feel the United States should never act without the approval of this vile organization. Why should we subserviate our morals to peoples whose belief systems are in a different universe than ours?
And speaking of morals - the most moral thing to do here is to leave the UN, defund it, and appropriate monies to a new organization; a "Council of Democratic Nations" (votes weighted by level of democracy in each member state - Canada getting more than, say, Russia) or something, because what we have is too broken to fix. The United Nations needs to be burned to the ground; with holy water and salt sprinkled upon its remains, and after a prayer and a shamanic dance, it needs to be rebuilt - as something less than a tool for the basest members of the organization, and something more befitting its once-lofty goals...
วันอังคาร, กรกฎาคม 04, 2549
Thoughts On The Fourth of July...
"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be."- John Wayne
"America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal – to discover and maintain liberty among men."- Woodrow Wilson
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. - Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
My God! how little do my countrymen know what precious blessings that they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy. - Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Monroe. June 17, 1785.
I do believe we shall continue to grow, to multiply and prosper until we exhibit an association powerful, wise, and happy beyond what has been seen by man. - Thomas Jefferson.
"I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at shall be my country’s, my God’s and Truth’s. I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die an American." - Daniel Webster
"If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag." - Author Unknown
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education.
They had security, but they valued liberty more.
Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor".
And finally...related yet unrelated, and admittedly gratuitous....where would the “flag desecration” amendment, narrowly defeated in the Senate, stand on the following patriotic display?
Now THIS is is the kind of freedom our founding fathers were talking about...GOD, I LOVE MY COUNTY!
วันอาทิตย์, กรกฎาคม 02, 2549
Sunday Morning Moral Equivilance...
One of the vilest traits of liberals is moral equivilance; taking the horrendous acts of a group and excusing it by pulling a barely related event out of our own history and declaring, "See, we are no better!".
Jim Hoagland in today's Washington Post gives us a perfect example as he lumps evangelical Christians in with Muslim terrorists:
Intolerance -- whether exercised by "Islamic" fundamentalists blowing up the mosques of other sects or by "Christian" activists blowing up abortion clinics -- is rapidly becoming a decisive force in domestic politics and foreign policy in nation after nation.
As seen here on a site dedicated to exposing the horrors visited upon abortion clinics, the number of incidents that Hoagland describes has fallen sharply. They list two "bombings" last year, but no details are given...
Compare that to 5,281 Muslim terrorist attacks (see Religion of Peace sidebar/link) since 9/11 (16 on abortion clinics in that time). Obviously, there is no comparison, so why does Hoagland make it ? To hide the evil of the Islamic Fundamentalists, or to smear American Christians by lumping them in with Muhammed Atta? Oh, but there is more than one way to deginerate Christianity:
The spiraling growth of evangelical Christianity in the United States -- as well as in Latin America, China and Africa -- reflects the central reality that also helps drive the radicalization of Islam across the Middle East, Central Asia and the northern Caucasus.
Except, of course, that Christians aren't flying 747's filled with innocents into Mecca and Medina, while trying to set up a new version of the Holy Roman Empire, are they? Doesn't matter to secular Jim; a church-going Christian is just as bad as a hate-filled Islamist; after all, everyone in the pressroom of the Washington Post know it!
Hoagland then cites liberal poster-boy Barak Obama (a good black politician, as opposed to, for instance, the sinister Condi Rice):
"...At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It's the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime; to base our policymaking on such commitments would be a dangerous thing."
Obama may have a general point, but liberal democracy can co-exist nicely within a strong religious backround (Israel's democracy is even more vibrant than America's). Despite Hoagland's fevered attempt to create a perception that the Christian Conservatives are trying to impose sharia-type law on America, there is no recent history of violent unrest in the United States over the secular/religious split in our deeply spiritual culture. In the Middle East, you have "morality police" dragging out and beating folks over the length of their beards and the style of their prayer. There is no comparison, no moral equivilance, to the American Christian, no matter how hard Hoagland and Obama try to convince us that we are no better than the terrorist animals that aim to destroy us.
Hoagland, fearful of America's enemies, tries to drag us down onto the mud with them. I feel sorry for Jim with his self-loathing, but his odious comparison just serves to illuminate the balanced nature of our nation. Is Hoagland trying to tell us that the Christians within the Republican Party are no different than the Muslims who make up Hamas?
Sorry, I don't buy into this liberal psychosis...
Jim Hoagland in today's Washington Post gives us a perfect example as he lumps evangelical Christians in with Muslim terrorists:
Intolerance -- whether exercised by "Islamic" fundamentalists blowing up the mosques of other sects or by "Christian" activists blowing up abortion clinics -- is rapidly becoming a decisive force in domestic politics and foreign policy in nation after nation.
As seen here on a site dedicated to exposing the horrors visited upon abortion clinics, the number of incidents that Hoagland describes has fallen sharply. They list two "bombings" last year, but no details are given...
Compare that to 5,281 Muslim terrorist attacks (see Religion of Peace sidebar/link) since 9/11 (16 on abortion clinics in that time). Obviously, there is no comparison, so why does Hoagland make it ? To hide the evil of the Islamic Fundamentalists, or to smear American Christians by lumping them in with Muhammed Atta? Oh, but there is more than one way to deginerate Christianity:
The spiraling growth of evangelical Christianity in the United States -- as well as in Latin America, China and Africa -- reflects the central reality that also helps drive the radicalization of Islam across the Middle East, Central Asia and the northern Caucasus.
Except, of course, that Christians aren't flying 747's filled with innocents into Mecca and Medina, while trying to set up a new version of the Holy Roman Empire, are they? Doesn't matter to secular Jim; a church-going Christian is just as bad as a hate-filled Islamist; after all, everyone in the pressroom of the Washington Post know it!
Hoagland then cites liberal poster-boy Barak Obama (a good black politician, as opposed to, for instance, the sinister Condi Rice):
"...At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It's the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime; to base our policymaking on such commitments would be a dangerous thing."
Obama may have a general point, but liberal democracy can co-exist nicely within a strong religious backround (Israel's democracy is even more vibrant than America's). Despite Hoagland's fevered attempt to create a perception that the Christian Conservatives are trying to impose sharia-type law on America, there is no recent history of violent unrest in the United States over the secular/religious split in our deeply spiritual culture. In the Middle East, you have "morality police" dragging out and beating folks over the length of their beards and the style of their prayer. There is no comparison, no moral equivilance, to the American Christian, no matter how hard Hoagland and Obama try to convince us that we are no better than the terrorist animals that aim to destroy us.
Hoagland, fearful of America's enemies, tries to drag us down onto the mud with them. I feel sorry for Jim with his self-loathing, but his odious comparison just serves to illuminate the balanced nature of our nation. Is Hoagland trying to tell us that the Christians within the Republican Party are no different than the Muslims who make up Hamas?
Sorry, I don't buy into this liberal psychosis...
วันเสาร์, กรกฎาคม 01, 2549
Israel in a Kafka-esque World...
In light of the raging hatred that is unleashed upon Israel on a daily basis (and why won't those pesky Jews just roll over and die already?), I found this little tidbit buried within a Washington Post story very illuminating:
Israel's interior minister, Roni Bar-On, informed four elected Hamas officials, including one cabinet minister, that a month-long grace period he gave them to leave Jerusalem had expired...
Their attorney called the interior minister's action a form of expulsion that violated international law governing the rights of those living in occupied territory.
"We are planning to appeal to the Israeli supreme court and, if that fails, we will pursue international proceedings," said the attorney, Hassan Jabareen. "
Hmmm....so these four memebers of Hamas, a body that has vowed to destory Israel (and is doing everything in its power to fulfill that dream) are exercising their Israeli-given rights to appeal this expulsion to the Israeli Supreme Court. OK, fine. But...
I wonder - did young Eliyahu Pinchas get an opportunity to beg for his life in a Palestinian Supreme Court before Hamas thugs executed him? Oh, wait, terrorist thugocracies have no such bodies...but what about the thousands of Kurds and Sunnis that were gassed and slaughtered by Saddam Hussein? Surely there must be records of their appeals to the Iraq's highest court and...oh, wait, nothing there either.
Well, I believe that Iran has a Supreme Court, but if you want to try your luck in front of a dozen bearded mullahs with a thirteenth-century mentality, go ahead....last I heard, they were hanging gays by stringing them up from the tops of construction cranes for the crime of being...gay.
How about the right of petitioners in Saudi Arabia? Anyone heard of a High Court in the Kingdom you can appeal to once your arm has been cut off? What about Syria, Egypt? Are factions bent on overthrowing these governments allowed to appeal their sentences in front of a honest Court?
Of course not...yet with the bile spewing forth upon Israel, a democratic country that allows their sworn enemies the same rights as any tried and true citizen, you would think they are on par with the worst totalitarian states - which, of course, is the driving purpose behind all this anti-Semitic propoganda. And speaking of which -
The new UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session.
The resolution, which was sponsored by Islamic countries, was passed by a vote of 29-12, with five abstentions. It effectively revives a practice of the UN’s dissolved Human Rights Commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met.
It never ends.
But I can tell you one thing that might actually end - Israel's restraint and patience, even within their Gaza offensive, with their enemies. Maybe it is time for Israel (and to a certain extent, the United States), to give these faux committees something to complain about.
Expulsion as a "violation of international law", indeed...
Israel's interior minister, Roni Bar-On, informed four elected Hamas officials, including one cabinet minister, that a month-long grace period he gave them to leave Jerusalem had expired...
Their attorney called the interior minister's action a form of expulsion that violated international law governing the rights of those living in occupied territory.
"We are planning to appeal to the Israeli supreme court and, if that fails, we will pursue international proceedings," said the attorney, Hassan Jabareen. "
Hmmm....so these four memebers of Hamas, a body that has vowed to destory Israel (and is doing everything in its power to fulfill that dream) are exercising their Israeli-given rights to appeal this expulsion to the Israeli Supreme Court. OK, fine. But...
I wonder - did young Eliyahu Pinchas get an opportunity to beg for his life in a Palestinian Supreme Court before Hamas thugs executed him? Oh, wait, terrorist thugocracies have no such bodies...but what about the thousands of Kurds and Sunnis that were gassed and slaughtered by Saddam Hussein? Surely there must be records of their appeals to the Iraq's highest court and...oh, wait, nothing there either.
Well, I believe that Iran has a Supreme Court, but if you want to try your luck in front of a dozen bearded mullahs with a thirteenth-century mentality, go ahead....last I heard, they were hanging gays by stringing them up from the tops of construction cranes for the crime of being...gay.
How about the right of petitioners in Saudi Arabia? Anyone heard of a High Court in the Kingdom you can appeal to once your arm has been cut off? What about Syria, Egypt? Are factions bent on overthrowing these governments allowed to appeal their sentences in front of a honest Court?
Of course not...yet with the bile spewing forth upon Israel, a democratic country that allows their sworn enemies the same rights as any tried and true citizen, you would think they are on par with the worst totalitarian states - which, of course, is the driving purpose behind all this anti-Semitic propoganda. And speaking of which -
The new UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to make a review of alleged human rights abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session.
The resolution, which was sponsored by Islamic countries, was passed by a vote of 29-12, with five abstentions. It effectively revives a practice of the UN’s dissolved Human Rights Commission, which also reviewed alleged Israeli abuses every time it met.
It never ends.
But I can tell you one thing that might actually end - Israel's restraint and patience, even within their Gaza offensive, with their enemies. Maybe it is time for Israel (and to a certain extent, the United States), to give these faux committees something to complain about.
Expulsion as a "violation of international law", indeed...
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