Iranian Israeli War

The famous greenhouses in Gaza.

Now used to hide terrorist tunnels.

Things may be about to heat up in Iran’s Gaza Front. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists are being sent to Iran for advanced training by Republican Guards. Also advanced weapons such as those used by Hezbollah are also being smuggled in through our friend Egypt. Those who said giving up Gaza would only result in a new staging area for terrorism against Israel were unfortunately right; instead of taking this opportunity to show the world that they could govern a state civilly and successfully they instead turned Gaza into a violent circus fought over by differing sects, criminal gangs, clans, and terrorist cells like Hamas, Fatah, and Al Qaeda. Regardless of whether Iran orders things to heat up or the IDF decides it’s had enough of daily rocket attacks Iran’s Gaza Front is about to erupt.

Update: DEBKA file has a report that the Mujahiddin Brigades units that are firing Al Buraq 2 rockets into Israel at a rate greater than two a day, despite a so called truce, are commanded by an Iranian Revolutionary Guards officer. Also, the US forces in Iraq are holding two of five Iranians captured during a raid on the compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a high ranking Shia politician. The Iranians are implicated in the smuggling of weapons to Iraqi terrorists that have used them against American and Iraqi forces as well as civilians.

Our friends the Iraqis

When Shia and Sunni in Iraq kill each other it is easy to take into effect the underlying political stakes behind the violence. This goes hand in hand with trying to found an Islamic Democracy where Islam and politics can not be separated. That one Islamic principle, no separation between church and state, is why many claim that Islam and freedom can’t coexist and therefore an Islamic Democracy is an oxymoron. When Shia and Sunni kill Christians, Jews, Yizidis, Mandeans, Baha’is, and Kaka’I, none of whom have any political power in Iraq, it is just plain religious intolerance and nowhere is this more prevalent than in Iraq. Nina Shea explains the plight of non-Muslims in Iraq at NRO. Why the US stays silent on this topic is beyond me, other than hoping more bad news out of Iraq will go away if ignored by Bush.

Basiji Book Burners

Most Iranians are proud of their Persian heritage. The Basiji, enforcers of Iran's Islamic codes, are not. Militant Basiji gathered up and burned Persian classics and history books in Tabriz, Iran. Shades of 1930's Germany but please don't call them Islamofascists.The Basiji are doing far worse than book burning, they are hunting down students who gave Ahmadinejad a less than warm welcome when he spoke last week at Amir Kabir University. The Amir Kabir Newsletter reports that three of the students photographed have gone into hiding. Meanwhile we hear nothing from the international community or our own President. That would be Bush, the one who said:

And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.

There has been precious little support for Iranian dissidents from Mr. Bush so far but now may be a critical time when any support would have far more serious consequences to the regime. Supreme Leader Khamenei is dying and should reach room temperature sometime this spring. The Mullahs sent a message to Ahmadinejad this last election; he will not become Supreme Leader. The coverage of the Iranian President’s humiliation at the university by official Iranian press also sent the same message. Ahmadinejad and his supporters will not take this lightly so now would be a great time for the people of Iran to rise up while the Mullahs and the Revolutionary Guard are at odds. The Bush administration should tell the opposition that we will render every bit of aid, including enforcing a no fly zone should civil war break out. Besides the students there are others need our help. Christians are being arrested in time for Christmas. Bus drivers are arrested for being unionized. Arabs are sentenced to death for being Arab.

Iran War

Damn, Iran is at war with Bahrain too?

It has been reported that the Iranian government has formed and financed more than 24 Shia organizations in Bahrain. Each organization has been allocated one particular task but the overall objective of all of them is to overthrow the traditional government of Bahrain and install an Iranian style Islamic Republic. In the recent elections in Bahrain, the Shia coalition secured 23 seats of the parliament. Although they officially accepted the results of elections, they have now started a campaign for destabilising the system which is one of the most competent systems in the Arab world.
The Shia community always had a major share in political and economic power in Bahrain although the ruling family is Sunni. After the elections a Shia was appointed as the deputy Prime Minister and another one as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. There are other Shia politicians in the government too. In spite of being part of the government, the Shia groups of Bahrain are following the same strategies that Hamas is implementing in Palestine and Hezbollah is carrying out in Lebanon.
The process of the destabilisation of Bahrain has begun. Al-Wefaq Islamic Society led by Chairman Ali Salman is playing the same role that the Hezbollah of Lebanon is playing.

Update: The Sudanese Thinker has Iran meddling in Sudan also.

Ahmadinejad's Pilgrims

It looks like the Champion of the dispossessed, the Global Everyman is going to shake things up in the upcoming Hajj ceremonies.

The Islamic Republic itself is expected to send 200,000 pilgrims, representing almost 10 percent of the total. Saudi officials claim that some 5 percent of the Iranian pilgrims have always been identified as members of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps and the Islamic Republic's various intelligence services. This year, however, the profiles of Iranian applicants for pilgrimage visas indicate that more than 20 percent may belong to the military or security services.

To these must be added professional street-fighters from the various branches of the pan-Islamic Hezbollah movement, which Iran created in the 1980s as a way to "export" Khomeinism to other Muslim countries. The movement's best-known branch, the Lebanese Hezbollah, has announced it will sending over 3,000 pilgrims this year - all paid for by Iran.

With so many men with military and security backgrounds in Mecca, the mullahs leading the Iranian pilgrims would be in a position to seize control of the space around the black stone of the Ka'aba (The Cube) and use it as a venue for political demonstrations.

Interesting times ahead.

Death to Israel

Maybe the suggestion that we negotiate with Iran wasn’t the worst thing to come out of the Iraq Surrender Group. On page 41 we have this little gem:

Sustainable negotiations leading to a final peace settlement along the lines of President Bush’s two-state solution, which would address the key final status issues of borders, settlements, Jerusalem, the right of return, and the end of conflict.

The Palestinian population has grown from 711,000 in 1950 to current estimates ranging from 5 to 8 million. Right of return means that any or all of those Palestinians may return to Israel and receive Israeli citizenship with all the privileges therein. That would effectively end Israel's status as a Jewish state, as Israel's current population is composed of about 5.5 million Jews and 1.3 million Muslims not to mention the massive overpopulation this would cause. Asking Israel to give the Golan Heights back to a Syria that would allow Hezbollah to set up artillery and rockets in which to much more effectively kill Jews was dumb enough, but asking Israel to commit suicide is far worse. There have been many claims that Baker is Anti-Semitic but really, this is ridiculous.

The Report

The Iraq Surrender Group has released its much heralded report. The worst part of the report:

Diplomatic efforts ...should seek to persuade Iran that it should take specific steps to improve the situation in Iraq

As Milblogger T. F. Boggs puts it:

Baker and Hamilton want us to get terrorists supporting countries involved in fighting terrorism!

Anyone who reads my blog knows where I stand on dialog with Iran, a country that I feel is at war with us. Nevertheless suppose we do give Iran enough to get them to agree to back off in Iraq. What have we gained? Ahmadinejad has already stated:

Iran will stand by its neighbor Iraq to help the country boost security and achieve peace.

Don’t we believe him? If not, why would we believe him anytime in the future?

One thing that permeates the report is the disdain the authors seem to have for the military. Sgt. Boggs saw it.

Not only are the findings of the ISG a joke but the people who led the group (Baker and Hamilton) treat soldiers like they are a joke.

What the group desperately needed was at least one their members to have been in the military and had recent experience in Iraq.

You would think a commission looking to make recommendations on how to move forward in a military conflict would include a few Generals much less someone familiar with the conflict. However the assertions from the MSM that this was a repudiation of Bush’s policy seemed to have missed a few of the reports good points.

[W]e believe it would be wrong for the United States to abandon [Iraq] through a precipitate withdrawal of troops and support. A premature American departure from Iraq would almost certainly produce greater sectarian violence and further deterioration of conditions.

We agree with the goal of U.S. policy as stated by the president: an Iraq that can ‘govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself.’

Seems more of a repudiation of the cut and run crowd. I’ll leave you with one more quote from the Sergeant’s great post.

War sucks but a world run by Islamofacists sucks more.

The Iran War

At the United Nations for a millennium summit, President Clinton paced back and forth along the halls, impatiently waiting for Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to appear. Clinton was staging one of his classic photo ops, one where he and Khatami would “accidentally” meet and a symbolic handshake would result in a new diplomatic understanding between the US and Iran. This followed almost two years of backdoor diplomacy with Iran after the Iranians attacked the U.S. base at Khobar, Saudi Arabia, killing nineteen Americans. Clinton had already made a down payment on the handshake, Madeleine Albright apologized publicly to the Islamic Republic for past American actions in the region and the administration lifted some of the sanctions imposed on Iran. For his trouble Clinton got stood up at the UN, Supreme Ruler Ali Khamenei decided outgoing Clinton had served the Mullah’s purposes and had nothing left to offer. Score one for Iran in the war that they initiated on November 1979. Iran has scored hit after hit in this war, one most Americans are blissfully unaware that we are even fighting. This is because we aren’t fighting; we are talking and have been through five different administrations. Carter talked when the hostages were taken from our Embassy; Reagan talked when they captured more Americans in Lebanon and then killed 300 more Americans at another Embassy. Nevertheless Reagan was the only President to fire a shot in this war, when Iran tried to blockade the Persian Gulf we sunk half their navy. That did not stop their movement on the ground. Setting up Hezbollah and Hamas has given Iran a military presence in Gaza and Lebanon, and Iran is poised to regain control of Lebanon through its Syrian ally. Iran has also strengthened ties to almost every other Islamist terrorist organization. Iran’s goals in the region are plainly stated by the Mullahs:

1. The complete destruction of Israel
2. A Muslim (Shia Iranian) Caliphate

Towards those ends Iran has some secondary goals.

1. Shame the US into leaving the region.
2. The destruction of all democracy in the region, (Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq)
3. Obtain nuclear capability.

Now we are to believe it is the United States’ best interest to hold more talks with Iran. What do we have to bargain with? We have already held out all kinds of bribes to the Mullahs to get them to give up the bomb resulting in nothing but the promise of more talks. We want them to leave Iraq alone. They want us to leave Iraq period. What can we offer them to stop, especially since they appear to be winning, at least winning the hearts and minds of America’s left? The left has already championed the Iranian goal of kicking us out of Iraq. When the American public has already voted for cut and run we would look pretty stupid offering that option to the Iranians. Can we offer them Afghanistan? They must figure that once we are out of Iraq it can safely be left to Sadr to finish the job of gaining control for the greater Shia Caliphate. The Jihadist can then go to Afghanistan to destroy that annoying democracy. They don’t need us to abandon Afghanistan, make it tough on the Americans and they will cut and run from Afghanistan as well. Iran will most assuredly ask us to abandon Israel although the left is not quite willing to do that yet. They only need to kill one or two more ministers to take back Lebanon so we can’t even offer them Lebanon. The only other carrot we can offer Tehran is to go ahead and let them get their nukes. Is that even an option? Based on the situation so far Tehran should have every reason to believe we will do nothing to prevent them from reaching that goal. On top of that, what incentive does Iran have to actually abide by whatever agreements they agree to? None. Yet that old saw that you must have dialog still stands, so we may see President Bush wandering the halls next, waiting for the Mullahs to deliver.

The Iran War

Amir Taheri at Gulf News explains from a military point of view why Iran coaxed Syria into assassinating Gamayel or else just ordered their agents or Hezbollah to carry it out. Basically in the Iran American war both sides see Lebanon as crucial. The Americans need a Democracy that will do what is in Lebanon’s best interest, and having a state within a state that puts it’s Iranian master’s interest ahead of Lebanon’s is obviously not in Lebanon’s best interests. The Iranians need control of Lebanon in order to keep its proxy army on Israel’s border so that at any time they can unleash a firestorm for whatever reason they deem necessary. However both Iran and Syria do not count on the following:

Rather than watch with folded arms as Iran and Syria annex Lebanon, Israel would feel obliged to take action. It is clear that Syria would be the immediate target of such action.

Mr. Taheri thinks that the next war will be an Israeli Syrian one. While I agree my thinking was that for political reasoning and due to the fact that Israel was perceived to have lost the Hezbollah Israeli War Assad would be dumb enough to try and take back the Golan Heights.

Update: Amir Taheri on the stupidity of talking to the Iranian regime.

Assad's not that stupid.

Many were doubting a Syrian connection to yesterday’s assassination of Anti-Syrian and Christian Lebanese Minister Pierre Gamayel, again and again people would say Assad’s not that stupid. Apparently he is. Blacksmiths of Lebanon reports this incredible news.

Al Seyassah daily learned from authoritative sources in Beirut, that one of the editors of the Syrian National News Agency (SANA) placed a phone call to a pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper at 3:05 pm on Tuesday. The caller inquired about the details of the assassination of Lebanese Minister for Industry Pierre Gemayel, raising eyebrows at the Lebanese newpaper. The timing of phone call was 55 minutes before the assassination was carried out.

Update:

From what I’m hearing on the Middle East blogs Al Seyassah is not a credible source. Zman’s comment on the story at Sand Monkey is common:

Oh my God SM!

I love your blog and the links you always provide , but I beg you, Only not “Al Seyassah” newspaper! Have you ever read their online version for more than a week? I congratulate you if you can. They make up news about EVERYTHING and EVERYONE, sometimes you think that you are reading the Arabic version of “The Onion” except that “The Onion” is really funny and this one is so cheap! Some of the stories they create about “conspiracies” in the Middle East are just hilarious! They always have a “well-connected” person in every presidential palace in the Middle East , and of course , their very close sources in the White House!

NOTE: I am not defending anyone here, I just wanted to to say that “Al Seyassah” is the last source on earth that one can quote. Check what they write about Egypt and what stories they make about Iraq and you’ll find yourself laughing in 10 minutes.

P.S They also never have any proofs of their claims against any country, because their evidences always get “confiscated” - I told you they are in the middle of a huge , endless conspiracy theory starting from the USA and stretching through the Middle East - and they know all about it :)

Iran War

Anti-Syrian and Christian Lebanese Minister Pierre Gamayel has been assassinated. Why? Well Hezbollah wants more power in governmental affairs and was planning massive protests to demand them, rather than rely on something as mundane and anti-Islamic as an election. Syria and Iran want the Lebanese government disbanded; a Democratic Lebanon is as much a threat to the tyrants as a Democratic Iraq. Should Hezbollah kill two more ministers the government will dissolve for lack of a quorum. Does Lebanon realize it is at war with Syria, and therefore at war with Iran? We don't, I can hardly expect them to acknowledge the fact, but trust me, they know. May Mr.Gamayel rest in peace.

Updates from the blog From Beirut to the Beltway (Hattip Sandmonkey)

Update. Angry crowds are gathering outside the St Joseph hospital and chanting anti-Aoun and anti-Hizbullah slogans. As Anton Effendi said, this assassination guarantees that any street protest now will devolve into clashes. The Kataeb party, of which Gemayel is a member, is calling on people to excercise self restraint.

With this assassination, March 14 has lost a member of parliament and a cabinet minister. For the Assad regime, one less March 14 vote means one less vote to ratify the international tribunal.

The eyes now are on the UN Security council, which must endorse the international tribunal as soon as possible

Update 2. Syrian-installed president Emile Lahoud has canceled the November 22nd independence day celebrations to mourn the loss of what he now referred to as a minister. Not long ago, he considered Gemayel and the rest of cabinet illegitimate following the resignation of the Shia ministers and the pro-Lahoud minister.

Meanwhile, Interior minister Ahmad Fatfat has accused Syria of standing behind Gemayel's assassination.

Update 3. Geagea has called on Lahoud to resign immediately, accusing him of acting as a cover for the terrorist attacks. He also called on the Amal and Hizbullah ministers to return to the cabinet.

Update 4 (11am EST). The crowds outside the hospital are calling on people and March 14 to take to the streets.

Meanwhile, gunmen have fired shots at the office of another March 14 minister, Michel Pharaon in Ashrafieh.

It looks like March 14 is under attack.

March 14 leaders will meet tonight to decide on a course of action.

Update 5. A distraught Amin Gemayel (Pierre's father) addressed the crowds. He asked all those who loved Pierre to preserve the cause he died for. He called for self-restraint so not to desecrate what he said is the cause for freedom. He asked everyone to use this night to pray and think about the meaning of martyrdom, and how to protect this country, away from revenge and irresponsible actions.

" We want the Lebanese cause to triumph. I wish upon all those who loved Pierre to safeguard the cause", he said.

Update 6 (11:40 EST). Walid Jumblatt visited the hospital and have a short statement amid anti-Aoun and anti-Nasrallah chants. He affirmed that the international tribunal is coming and warned against civil strife. "They want to create civil strife... We will triumph. We will not let them drag us to sedition," he said.

"As we were on that great day (March 14) with Pierre in the lead, peaceful and democratic for Lebanon, we will remain," he added.

Update: Abu Takla comments at Michael J Totten's blog.

one more to go, not 2. If they assassinate one more minister, the cabinet is automatically dissolved, because it would lack the two-thirds + 1 it needs to be constitutional.

And they did try. Anti-Syrian and Christian Lebanese Minister Michel Pharaon was also targeted today.

Our Friend Israel

This is a week old but I just saw it. Hat tip Buck.

It's 1938 and Iran is Germany and it's racing to arm itself with atomic arms.

Video of a speech Benjamin Netanyahu gave at the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly (UJC-GA) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Monday. The canary in the coal mine but no one is paying attention.

America's Second Defeat

We may have lost in Iraq. The death knell sounded the night of November 7th and Iran, Syria, and Iraq all heard it. This is just like Vietnam when we cut their funding and the resulting mess left a legacy that all our future allies remember; America can’t be trusted. We will cut and run. Osama saw this and decided we are a paper tiger that can’t handle anything difficult. Nothing has changed, if anything its gotten worse. Today if we can’t win a war in a few months without casualties we will take our ball and go home. What’s different about Iraq is that the bully will follow us home.

Michael Ledeen points out today at NRO that the Iraqis are looking to mend any fences with Iran and now are afraid to be seen helping America because they know we have already abandoned them with this election. He also points out that until we face the fact that the war in Iraq encompasses Iran and Syria we can not win. The only solution is to take the war to our enemies, especially Iran, but instead what we will do is sit down with the Mullahs and discuss their surrender terms.

Update:

I had missed this but the much heralded Iraq Study Group (Baker-Hamilton Commission) has been stacked with anti-war advocates. Michael Rubin at the Weekly Standard reported in October on who some of these are.

Raad Alkadiri, for example, has repeatedly defined U.S. motivation for Iraq’s liberation as a grab for oil. Raymond Close, listed on the Iraq Study Group’s website as a ‘freelance analyst,’ is actually a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, which, in July 2003, called for Vice President Dick Cheney’s resignation for an alleged conspiracy to distort intelligence, which they said had been uncovered by none other than Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. The following summer, Close posited that ‘Bush and the neocons’ had fabricated the charge ‘that the evil Iranian mullahs inspired and instigated the radical Shia Islamist insurgency.’ To Close, the problem was not Iranian training and supply of money and sophisticated explosives to terrorists, but rather neoconservatism.

Abandonment seems even more likely now.

Our Friends the British

It's worse in Britain than we in the US thought. And we thought it was pretty bad what with Red Ken, MP Galloway, little public support for the battle in Iraq, homegrown Islamist terrorists, and Prince Charles conversion to Islam. Now Azarmehr at the blog For a democratic secular Iran points out the failings of the British Police and the Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

A group called Vigil, have infiltrated one of the most extremist groups in Britain, the radical al-Muhajiroun group, headed by Omar Bakri Mohammed, yet they claim the British police are just not interested in their evidence.

It has also been emerged today that a senior executive officer, Abid Javid, in Immigration and Nationality Directorate which processes tens of thousands of asylum and visa applications every year, is a member of the fundamentalist Islamic group Hizb-ul Tahrir which believes in a worldwide Islamic state under Shariah law.

I have seen tens of genuine asylum applications by bonafide secular Iranian political activists refused by the Home Office, and yet unsavoury characters determined to break up the very fabric of this society keep pouring in. I always suspected infiltration in the Home Office by Islamic radicals and have written about it in the past. Today's news confirms my suspicions.

I'll pray for you England, but I'll have to leave time to pray for my own country which is not far behind yours on the path towards dhimmitude.

The Iranian War

When will most Americans realize we are at war with Iran? At NRO today Barbara Lerner editorialized that Where Rumsfeld Really Failed was in not convincing GWB that Iran and it's Syrian stooge are the problem and should be attacked. Iran is killing our troops today, right now, in Iraq, by equipping and training terrorist and fomenting civil war. That to me is a bigger issue than their damn nukes! October 20th was Qods (Jerusalem) Day and Iranian newspapers published articles calling for Muslims to

prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime (Israel), and remove this cancerous growth.

Last I checked, and this may change with the Dems in power, but for now is not Israel an ally? If an ally is attacked, as Israel is daily by Iranian proxy forces Hezbollah and Hamas, should we not respond? But if the storming of our Embassy, taking Americans hostage, killing our troops, aiding terrorists, and violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which it signed isn’t enough to wage war I guess destroying a bunch of Jews won’t be either.

BTW did you hear about the mass kidnapping in Baghdad? Guess who? Mohammed at Iraq the Model will tell you who and why.

The mass abduction that shocked Baghdad yesterday was intended to be a clear message from Tehran-through its surrogates in Baghdad-to anyone who thinks productive dialogue with the Islamic republic over Iraq and Middle East peace is a possible option.

The operation was a show of victory and it was so smooth and perfect that neither the MNF nor the Iraqi military could do a thing to stop it.
And today the show continues with the assassination of the colonel who's in charge of internal investigation in the department of national police, also known as the police commandos, one day after an investigation was ordered.

Perhaps choosing a ministry like the higher education (which belongs to the Sunni Accord Front) is also a warning message to Sunni politicians who are preparing to send a delegation to Washington especially that the Accord bloc announced recently that they were looking forward to "clear the misunderstanding and mistrust" between them and the US administration to search for solutions for the situation in Iraq.

Did Iran misunderstand the American democracy?
Absolutely yes and Tehran is planning and working according to this faulty impression.

Iran now considers itself the victor and it will not negotiate for peace but instead will try to impose conditions to accept America's surrender.

Isn't Iraq an ally? At least until the Dems abandon them?

Our Friends the Egyptians

In Egypt they tried to have a demonstration against the Eid outrage that occurred not long ago. Sand Monkey sums up the result.

The egyptian police stopped a sexual harrassment demonstration- one that was protesting an incident that happend in front of that same police, who didn't lift a finger to stop it -, chased down demonstrators and journalists, arrested two of them and beat up the female one, and then blocked an internet blog. All on the same day! It seems that they are more interested in stopping people from protesting their inability to do their job, rather than actually doing it. Fan-freakin-tastic, no?

Rabaa Fahmy says what many in the ME think.

“The United States is responsible for all of this!” exclaimed Rabaa Fahmy, a staff lawyer for the Nadim Center who was also inside the Excelsior café.
“They cause these problems because they support our government. All of their propaganda about democracy is false because they make alliances with dictatorial regimes like ours.”

She has a point; allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt may do more harm than good. Maybe we should have a chat with our friend Mubarak.

Double Speak

George Orwell would be proud. Firebombing Muslims are “youths”. Blowing yourself up along with an Israeli falafel shop is “self defense”. Cutting off young girls heads is “charity”.

Hasanuddin allegedly returned from a visit to members of Philippines Islamist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front with tales of how that organisation regularly staged bombings to coincide with Lebaran, the festival that ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He later spoke with a preacher in Poso, Central Sulawesi, about whether such a plan could work in Indonesia, but expressed doubt about whether it was appropriate.

However, after further discussion with friends, he decided that beheading Christians could qualify as an act of Muslim charity.

A Religion that embraces death and global Jihad is a “Religion of Peace”. Up is “down”, good is “evil”, and Satan is “Allah”.

Our Friends the Egyptians

Imagine being arrested and the police interrogation going something like this.

"Do you pray?"

"What do you think of Christianity?"

"What is your opinion of Jesus? What about his apostles?"

Imagine being arrested because you voiced your opinions on a blog like mine. The charges?

•Spreading data and malicious rumors that disrupt public security
•Defaming the President of the United States
•Incitement to overthrow the country upon hatred and contempt
•Incitement to hate "Christianity" and breach of the public peace standards
•Highlighting inappropriate aspects that harm the reputation of the United States and spreading them to the public

What liberal is not guilty of at least a few of these charges? Thankfully this is not likely to happen anytime soon in America but in countries that practice Sharia this is not uncommon. You might think of Iran or the Sudan when you conjure up images like I describe above and you would be right, however the case I described above, substituting Islam and Mohammed for Christianity and Jesus, occurred in Egypt. Sandmonkey, my source of all the news from Egypt, alerted me to the case of Abdelkareem Nabil Soliman. While at Al Azhar University Mr. Soliman wrote what many considered anti-islamic posts on his blog. He was expelled and the University quickly turned him in to the authorities.

Not too long ago I posted about the government of Bahrain blocking the blog Mahmood's Den. We all signed a petition and quess what? The block was removed. We got Ganji released from an Iranian prison. Maybe we can get Abdelkareem released. Go to the Release Abdelkareem web site and sign the petition.

Victory! But for who?

James Robbins is afraid. “My greatest fear is that this Republican loss will be seen by our adversaries as a great victory.” Well they will because it is. They will try to force Bush to cut and run. They will scuttle NSA and CIA programs that are catching, interrogating, and holding terrorists. They will close Gitmo releasing the worst of the worst. They will talk and talk to Iran until Iran has its Nukes. It’s no great secret who the terrorist support as Deroy Murdock explains.

“Americans should vote Democrat,” said Jihad Jaara of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

“I tell the American people, vote for withdrawal” from Iraq, said Hamas’s Abu Abdullah.

“As Arabs and Muslims, we feel proud of this talk,” Islamic Jihad’s Muhammad Saadi said. “Very proud from the great successes of the Iraqi resistance. This success that brought the big superpower of the world to discuss a possible withdrawal.” Saadi explained that a U.S. pullout would “prove the resistance is the most important tool and that this tool works.”

As Rep. Jack Kingston (R., Ga.) recalled in the Washington Times, Zawahiri proposed a four-step blueprint for jihad. “The first stage: expel the Americans from Iraq,” wrote Zawahiri.

This country does not have the backbone to fight the Jihadist. That will come in time but much more American blood will have to be spilled before we develop the type of fortitude that saw us through the bloody battles of WWII.

Update: Our enemies are ecstatic about the Democrat victory.

Our Friend John Kerry

Hat tip Vince Aut Morire

Our Freind Bahrain

When I think of Bahrain I think of a modern dynamic Middle Eastern country that supports our efforts against radical Islamofascists. While this might be the case that does not mean we have a Democratic country that grants what we Americans consider basic human rights such as free speech. Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy and Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King, has pushed for economic and political reforms. Nevertheless Bahrain is still no America, witnessed by the fact that they have attempted to stifle dissent by blocking several blogs. Chief amongst those is the reformist blog Mahmood's Den. At a time when knowledge of Islam and the countries that comprise the ME are paramount to our own survival the loss of such windows into that region are very troubling. Even more damaging is the loss of Mahmood’s voice to the people of Bahrain. Fortunately we can still get his blog and his countrymen can get it at a mirror site, but one wonders for how long. Go here to sign a petition to get it unblocked.

Update: We got the block removed.

Our friend Egypt

Sand Monkey has some incredibly disturbing news from Egypt.

The story is as follows for the those of you who didn't hear about it: It was the first day of Eid, and a new film was opening downtown. Mobs of males gatherd trying to get in, but when the show was sold out, they decided they will destroy the box office. After accomplishing that, they went on what can only be described as a sexual frenxy: They ran around grabbing any and every girl in sight, whether a niqabi, a Hijabi or uncoverd. Whether egyptian or foreigner. Even pregnant ones. They grabbed them, molested them, tried to rip their cloths off and rape them, all in front of the police, who didn't do shit. The good people of downtown tried their best to protect the girls. Shop owners would let the girls in and lock the doors, while the mobs tried to break in. Taxi drivers put the girls in the cars while the mobs were trying to break the glass and grab the girls out. It was a disgusting pandamonium of sexual assaults that lasted for 5 houres from 7:30 PM to 12:30 am, and it truns my stomach just to think about it.

Police did nothing, saying “Happy Eid!”. The press?

Al Jazeera had taped the incidents but were forbidden to air it at the request of the egyptian authorities. The new editor at the Daily Star refused to touch it with a 6 foot pole. This was going to be one of those incidents that only the blogsphere would talk about, while the mainstream media ignored.

I wonder how much of our billions of dollars annually given to Egypt goes towards security?

War in Gaza

Prediction: Israel will attack Gaza and reoccupy some parts to stop the daily rocket attacks and stem the porous Egyptian weapons pipeline. Fatah and Egypt will quietly aid the Israelis. Syria will take the opportunity to attack and try and retake the Golan Heights. Syria thinks that because Israel “lost” against Hezbollah that Israel is now beatable. Like ME despots before him, Assad will of course be proven to have grossly miscalculated.

The Knesset took a strong turn to the right with the election of Avigdor Lieberman into the government. I had heard that the IDF was going to petition the Knesset to let them go back into Gaza. Olmert has said Israel is preparing extensive Gaza operations. Syria has been making noises since the end of the Hezbollah Israeli war.

Assad’s latest declarations reflect his (and his regime’s) growing self-confidence. From his perspective, Syria is now in a “win-win” situation; every development will play to its advantage. A glance through the Syrian prism at three possible scenarios shows how might all (sic) be expected to develop positively:

1. Initiation of negotiations for a comprehensive Syrian-Israeli peace agreement
2. Launching a “popular struggle” to regain the Golan
3. A major Israeli war against Syria

I can’t see #1 anytime soon, not until Lebanon begins to fulfill its obligations vis a vis Hezbollah, not to mention Syria’s support for same. Israel will not willingly open a second front, especially if they actually let the IDF loose to do what must be done. So Assad’s only option is to attack the Golan, even if only by proxy. Again it will not be a win for Syria but even if Assad gets his nose bloodied if the regime is still in existence afterward he will be hailed as a hero who stood up to Israel.

Help a Hero

Millblogger SPC Reid Stanley who blogs at A Storm in Afghanistan needs our help. His wife Ellicia was diagnosed with cancer and will soon be entering a hospice and such care is not covered under the military’s health plan. LTC Buzz Patterson is offering to help by auctioning off a three book set on E-Bay. You can bid on them here. You can also donate directly here.

Most of what I know about how things are going in the War on Islamofascism comes from the boots on the ground rather than the enemy enabling leftist MSM. While I’ve woefully neglected to update my links to the millbloggers I will certainly take the time to link to his site, as well as LTC Patterson’s. Not only is he doing a great service to us by his military service but his input into the tons of firsthand accounts of the war will allow historians to accurately gage what we accomplish and fail to accomplish in our efforts to rid the world of the Islamic extremists who are trying to kill us. Lets help him out.

Nork's Nukes

On the Jim Villanucci afternoon talk show recently Heather Wilson stated her support for sending Governor Bill Richardson to North Korea. Jim also thought someone should talk to them. That seemed to be the message most callers had, someone, if not Richardson, should talk to Kim Jong Il. "You must have dialog", "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer", that still seems to be the American consensus, that we can use diplomacy to get what we want, in this case a nuclear free Korean peninsula.
That this approach hasn’t worked in the past and isn’t working now was made obvious by NK’s recent missile and bomb tests. Despite Madam Albright’s fancy dinners and Clinton’s $4.6 billion bribe Little Kim went ahead and developed his nukes. Clinton even went so far as to allow Jimmy Carter to go to NK as an unofficial ambassador, much the same as is being suggested with Richardson. Jhimmah came back and triumphantly declared peace in our day, on CNN, before even telling the white House. Privately Clinton was furious as it has been reported that Carter overstepped his authority. What damage would a future Presidential candidate from the opposing party do to the Bush administration? Given that going to our enemies and criticizing Bush on their soil is a popular leftist tactic maybe Bush should pass on sending Bill.

My point is that even after talks have failed to the point that he now has his nukes we still opt for that approach. While it might be too late to stop NK it’s not too late to stop Iran. Even the EU is now admitting that nuclear talks with Iran have failed. Iran’s goal is to have nuclear weapons. Any negotiations start at that point and no amount of talk will change that. Yet most Americans want dialog, talk is cheap and confrontation very hard. So talk we will till the Mullahs have their bomb, then we will have more talks to convince them to give up their bombs.

War in Iran

When discussing our war in Iran I often here people asking what we can due short of actually bombing the nuke facilities. Every one agrees that such an act would have horrible consequences. One excellent article on what we can and should now be doing is Henry Sokolski's in the Weekly Standard.

For instance Iran says it will block the Strait of Hormuz:

The first move is to reduce the vulnerability of energy exports from the Persian Gulf. Oil experts have determined that all but the 2 to 3 million barrels a day that Iran itself ships through the Strait of Hormuz could be piped instead to ports on the Red Sea and the Sea of Oman. Pipelines from Iraq, past Kuwait, through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea, the UAE, and Oman are already in place; they only need to be connected.

This could be done by reopening the Iraqi pipeline across Saudi Arabia that the Saudis seized from Saddam in 2001, and by having anti-drag agents (chemical additives that increase the flow of existing oil pipelines as much as 60 percent) at the ready. It also would require building relatively short spur lines to integrate Omani and UAE pipelines with the Saudi pipeline system (something now under discussion). Most of this project could be completed in roughly 18 months for less than a billion dollars. In addition, it would be useful to build up a stock of oil on ships at sea as a floating reserve. This could provide a supply cushion for several weeks, allowing a smooth transition to moving oil by pipe rather than through the strait.

Our Friends the Egyptians

How is Syria an enemy but Egypt an ally? Admittedly Syria allows Iran to funnel arms and other assistance to Hezbollah so they can attack Israel from Lebanon. That is an act of war but keep in mind Syria is still technically at war with Israel. Egypt on the other hand has signed a peace treaty with Israel and is supposed to be our ally in the War on Terror. Yet Egypt continues to preach violent jihad on Israel and the US with its state run media. Couple this with the fact that Egypt has now given Tehran tacit approval of a plan to train and equip Hamas to act in the same proxy war against Israel from Gaza. Also inferred in this is the facilitation by Egypt to allow terrorist and arms to flow from Iran through Egypt to Gaza. How is this different from Syria? We should really take a close look as to what our 15 billion dollars of annual aid to Egypt is netting us. The rational of course is that Mubarak is bad but the Muslim Brotherhood would be worse. My question is how could it be worse?

Update: To those who say the Muslim Brotherhood would turn Egypt into a Sharia run theocracy I would counter that it already is. This man has been in an Egyptian jail for 18 months for "Insulting Islam", he converted to Christianity.

Michael A. Uliano 1959-2001

Michael Uliano probably would have preferred to be somewhere other than at the 105th Floor of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. An options broker for Cantor Fitzgerald, Michael enjoyed his work but would rather have been an actor. Surpassing his love of the stage was his love for fishing. To his fishing lure customers on the net he was known as Artie Fishhills, a play on the word artificial because of his knack for tying fishing flies. So if he could have Mike might have been fishing and clamming off Cape Cod in his old ’73 Jeep with the Shark’s mouth grill instead of one of millions of New Yorkers reporting to duty at thousands of desks across the world’s financial nerve center.

Michael's quilt at the United in Memory Gallery.

Michael acted off Broadway and was working on a screenplay. He so loved acting that he endured the amusement of his fellow Ithaca College football players and took ballet lessons. Many of those expressing fond memories of Michael at Legacy.com remember him on the stage or the football field. As quarterback of Canton high school Mike’s Number 10 was retired. He is survived by his wife Linda Buffa, his mother Gail, and eight brothers and sisters.

"Duck and Cover" or "How I Learned to Love the Bomb Shelter"

Iran will get its nukes unless Israel decides to intervene, the US public will not get behind another war given that we don’t have the backbone to see the current war in Iraq to a successful conclusion. Given that Olmert didn't have the backbone to finish off Hezbollah I don't see Israel saving the day either. If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gains real power as he seems to be doing then when he becomes Supreme Ruler we may see those nukes used. I don’t think American society can withstand the loss of several major cities including Washington D.C. and NYC. I will become a survivalist, country boy will survive, but I fear for the rest of the world. If the Twelfth Imam really comes maybe we will be alright, otherwise the rest of the world will have it far worse than the U.S.

I’d like to see a blockade of Iran regardless of what that would mean to oil prices but that doesn’t seem likely. I am certain any stronger action is more unlikely. UN sanctions are a joke, Saddam showed us that, and either China or Russia will veto any action on Iran anyway. Time has run out, you may not have noticed but Iran is blocking IAEA inspections of its uranium enrichment facility. Mario Loyola at NRO calls this the point of no return in the Iranian nuclear crises. It’s now time to consider the ramifications of an Iranian nuclear power.

In Our Fallout-Shelter Future Stanley Kurtz makes a few sobering observations.

Once Iran gets the bomb, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are likely to develop their own nuclear weapons, for self-protection, and so as not to allow Iran to take de facto cultural-political control of the Muslim world. (I think you’ve got to at least add Egypt to this list.) With three, four, or more nuclear states in the Muslim Middle East, what becomes of deterrence?

With several Muslim countries in possession of the bomb, it would be extremely difficult to trace the state source of a nuclear terror strike. In fact, this very difficulty would encourage states (or ill-controlled elements within nuclear states — like Pakistan’s intelligence services or Iran’s Revolutionary Guards) to pass nukes to terrorists. The tougher it is to trace the source of a weapon, the easier it is to give the weapon away. In short, nuclear proliferation to multiple Muslim states greatly increases the chances of a nuclear terror strike.

Deep mutual suspicion between an expansionist, apocalyptic, Shiite Iran, secular Turkey, and the Sunni Saudis and Egyptians (not to mention Israel) is likely to fuel a dangerous multi-pronged nuclear arms race. Larger arsenals mean more chance of a weapon being slipped to terrorists. The collapse of the world’s non-proliferation regime also raises the chances that nuclearization will spread to Asian powers like Taiwan and Japan.

“Duck and cover” is back! In a post-proliferation world, we are going to be raising another generation of children (probably several generations of children) marked by nerve-wracking “retention drills.” And get ready...the fallout shelter is coming back, too. Given the Soviets’ overwhelmingly large nuclear arsenal — capable of turning the entire United States to dust in the event of a major nuclear exchange — fallout shelters came to seem like a joke. But when dealing with a possible strike from a single weapon, or at most a mere handful of weapons, the logic of the fallout shelter is compelling. We’re going to need to be able to evacuate our cities in the event of a direct attack, or to avoid radiation plumes from cities that have already been struck.

We are in big trouble even if Iran never uses its nukes; just having them will insure their immunity from retaliatory military action for any transgressions they may initiate. What do we do if they move into southern Iraq? Or worse go through Iraq, into Kuwait, and unlike Saddam, down into Saudi Arabia? Imagine the Mullahs controlling that much oil. Tehran has shown itself to be the world’s premier sponsor of terrorism, would we go after a nuclear armed Iran like we did little Afghanistan if a Tehran sponsored terrorist group brings on another 9/11? Could we count on our European allies, (as if we could now), if the Mullahs have the capability to lob nukes into Europe? Iran will be able to ride roughshod over the entire middle east with impunity, at least till its neighbors gets their nukes. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty will be dead and the world will become a much scarier place than it already is and its going to happen.

Update:

Ahmadinejad cannot become Supreme Ruler, he lacks the religious credentials. At best he will remain a toady puppet for the Mullahs who are hopefully no where near as insane.

Our friends the Afghans

One problem with supporting Democracy in Muslim countries is that the result may not be what we want. American blood and treasure was spilled in Afghanistan to promote a stable democratic society that would have the chance of bringing a backward theocracy into the twenty-first century. Concurrent with that goal was the hope that other institutions that we associate with democracy would also follow, one being religious tolerance. Instead we saw a man condemned to death for converting away from Islam. Now Afghanistan plans to bring back the religious police.

The cabinet also approved reviving the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Discouragement of Vice, a body that Afghan governments have maintained through much of the country's history. It became notoriously punitive under Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, when turbaned enforcers whipped women if their veils slipped and arrested men for wearing too-short beards or playing chess.

This leads me to wonder can Democracy and Sharia co-exist?

The Iran War

Iranian Akbar Mohammadi is dead. Read here about who he was and why we should care. Arrested for participating in a demonstration against the forceful shutdown of a campus newspaper he was sentenced to death but his sentenced was reduced to 15 years. You just don’t mess with the Mullahs of Iran. Tortured and denied medical care he went on a hunger strike nine days ago to protest his and his fellow prisoner’s treatment. In poor health due to his nine years in prison the hunger strike killed him in the form of a heart attack.

So what? The world can be expected to rant and rave about Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, but remain silent about the horrid prisons in the Middle East that house political prisoners. By political prisoners I mean the likes of Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi, and Zahra Kazemi, as opposed to the “political prisoners” that the world wants Israel and the US to release. The terrorist still housed in Gitmo were captured on the battlefield and represent the worst of the worst. Some that we already released have been found back in the field carrying on the Jihadi mission of killing Americans and Democracy. Yet we hear constantly from liberals about how we need to close Gitmo and release the terrorist or place them in the care of our justice system. It’s a dangerous precedent treating POW’s as criminals, our troops are not police and you can’t treat a battlefield like a crime scene.

Even more ridiculous is the notion that Israel should reward Hezzbollah kidnappers by trading with them terrorist in Israeli prisons. Such so called political prisoners include Samir Qantar who killed a policeman, a father, and his 4 year old daughter. Qantar smashed the young girls head against the rocks with his rifle butt after shooting her father at point blank range. He is now a hero to the Islamist terrorists and Nasrallah demands he be part of any exchange.

Underlying all this; Sadr in Iraq, Hamas attacks, Hezbollah attacks, and jailed political prisoners dying while in custody, is Iran. The MSM's and the international community's constant anti-Semitic drumbeat that Israel is overreacting, killing civilians, invading its neighbor, and raising the price of oil allows for scant mention of the fact that it’s all Iran’s doing.

Adios Fidel

He aint dead yet but just the fact that he is in poor shape sent thousands of exiled Cubans into celebratory mode. GOP Vixen Bridget Johnson reports at NRO on how Castro's death will raise Hugo Chavez’ already rising star to greater heights.

Chavez fancies himself the cult of personality that will eclipse the long-fading allure of Castro; he fantasizes about being the larger-than-life leader who can unite even the most stubborn and independent Latin American countries into the United States of Hugo.

Does Chavez have any protégés in Cuban power circles? Does he have to set up a puppet to effectively control Cuba or will his money and popularity alone give him that power? 75 year old alcoholic Raul won’t last too long.

A few questions Monsure Minister.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy had to take cover under a stairway in Haifa when the sirens sounded Sunday.

Douste-Blazy is visiting the region as diplomatic efforts to end Israel's war with the Lebanese guerrilla group intensify.

Mr. Minister, a few questions please. Why is it "Israel's war" when the terrorist invaded Israel and killed and kidnapped its soldiers first? Which Diplomats have been dispatched to Hezbollah? To Hamas? Should they reach an understanding for a ceasefire will you take them at their word? Why? How asinine is it to think you can negotiate with a terrorist organization? Does having to hide from these rockets give you any idea what the Israelis have been going through since the Gaza pullout? Do you realize that since the pullout at least one rocket attack has occurred every single day? Should Israel succeed in its efforts to rid southern Lebanon of these terrorist don’t you think that would be a great boon to the new Lebanese Democracy?

Our Friend Castro

Rumors that Fidel Castro is dying are flying around the blogosphere. Everyone is treating the rumor as just that but most conservative Blogs are hoping it’s true. Babalu Blog is having a Castro deathwatch, a contest to pick the date of death; winner gets a Babalú and Che? Still dead! T-shirt. This will come as a hard blow to leftist admirers across the the country, especially those at the New York Times. It was a New York Times editorial writer named Herbert L. Matthews that was instrumental in putting Castro in power. The Real Cuba reports that Hugo Chavez said last night that he recently saw Castro and "he is stronger than ever." I find that encouraging.

Clinton Bribery Revisited.

Is this legal? Remember the Clintons firesale of Presidential Pardons? Rick Hendrick -convicted for mail fraud pardoned for a $500,000 donation to the Clinton Foundation. Marc Rich -indicted for tax evasion, fraud and "trading with the enemy" -- Iran, during the hostage crisis, pardoned for a $1 million donation to the Democratic Party, a $10,000 contribution to the Clintons legal defense fund and $7,300 worth of furniture. That of course is old news and apparently legal. What’s new is the fact that Hillary’s brother received $107,000 in “loans” that he never had to pay back in exchange for a Clinton pardon. Captains Quarters has the details.

Our friend Mubarak

The outrage over how the criminals in Abu Ghraib were treated was justifiable; the left’s obsession over what was an anomaly in order to discredit the war effort and Bush was not. What is not an anomaly but rather a common practice is the treatment journalist and demonstrators receive at the hands of our friends the Egyptians. Read first hand how blogger Mohamed el-Sharqawi was kidnapped, beaten and sexually abused. Blogger Alaa has been in prison for 25 days now for his peaceful protest. Today more demonstrators are being arrested. This is a regime that we support to the tune of 5 billion dollars a year. Where’s the outrage for this? Here's some more love from the state run Egyptian media. Egyptian TV promotes anti-American hatred

Al-Sadr the butcher

Militia who admitted they belong to Muqtada al-Sadr were busted red-handed kidnapping ten Sunni men Thursday. US troops and Iraqi police were alerted by village leaders and clerics and were able to free seven men. One terrorist was killed and 30 captured. Hopefully Iraqis will recognize the danger Sadr presents to the fragile Democracy before he sets off a full scale civil war. If they don't then the British will. Sadr's Mehdi Army, backed by fundamentalists across the border in Iran, opened fire on British troops trying to rescue a downed helicopter crew. The British say that if the Iraqi Government doesn't go after the Sadr militia they will.

May 7-13 N.M. Correctional Officer Week

When it is time to go inside
That place of steel and stone
I pray that you will keep me safe
So I won’t walk alone
Help me do my duty
Please watch me on my rounds
Amongst those perilous places
And slamming steel door sounds
Keep my fellow Officers
Well and free from harm
Let them know I'll be there too
Whenever there's alarm
Above all when I walk my beat
No matter where I roam
Let me go back whence I came
To my family and my home

In remembrance of Officer Ralph Garcia, KIA August 31, 1999.

Free Alaa

The Middle East blogs are all over the story of one of our own being arrested in Egypt for a peaceful demonstration in support of an independent judiciary. Some judges have claimed election fraud and the Government’s reaction is to go after the judges and any press who cover the story. Then when Pro-Democracy activist rally to support those judges they themselves are attacked and arrested. Such was the case of Alaa and many others. The whole story can be seen at Manal and Alaa’s Bit Bucket

Just when we get Ganji freed we lose another. At least our friends the Egyptians are heads and shoulders above the Iranians when it comes to freedom of speech. Alaa will not get what Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi received at the hands of the Mullahs in Iran. However Mubarak is a despot and a free press is the bane of despots everywhere. With Mubarak however there is some hope that bloggers the world over can have some effect. The 5 billion in aid the US gives Egypt each year should give us some leverage if we can convince the Bush administration to push the issue.

Contact the State Department:
US Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Main Switchboard: 202-647-4000

From Sand Monkey:

E-mail them, send them letters, harrass them. The last time you did that we got Abdel Karim released. I am not joking when I tell you that I had information from a source inside that this is the only reason they released him. Too much pressure by the average american and european. The egyptian government is cowardly, they will sucumb to pressure. Tell them that you find his detainment and arrest unacceptable. That you will not set foot in this country, and will tell every friend of yours never to visit Egypt, unless Alaa and the other detainees are released immedietly. That a government that throws people in jail for freedom of speech is not one that will get your money. Tell everyone you know and spread the word. In the words of Tigerhawk: Release the Hounds.

Update from Sand Monkey's site:


US Protests to Free Alaa
They are having many of them tomorrow , so if you are in the area, please go:

Start: 09/05/2006 - 19:30
Location: Egyptian embassy and consulates
Egyptian embassy and consulates in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and San Francisco
Organizer: Activists in the U.S
Description:

Michael Moore's Freedom Fighters

Michael Moore’s freedom fighters assassinated a doctor at the opening of his new medical center for the poor. The man had no political leanings; he just wanted to serve his fellow Iraqis. The doctor was the brother in-law of Iraq the Model bloggers Mohammed and Omar. If the terrorist thought that their vile act would silence Mohammed or Omar they were mistaken, the real freedom fighters will blog on.

Not to long ago a high ranking member of one of our prison gangs put out a hit on me. I know the fear that put in me and my family. I sleep with a loaded weapon under my bed, my neighbor’s dog sleeps in my bedroom, and I always sit with my back to a wall. How much worse must it be for Mohammed, Omar and their family to know these murderous head chopping animals are out to get them? The incredible courage they show in not being silenced is repeated everyday in Iraq by policemen, Army and National Guardsmen. Indeed any Iraqi that is trying to make Iraq a better place is a target of these pigs, the two teachers beheaded in front of their students for example. Yet the fringed left defends the monsters and hopes they win! Michael Moore calls them minutemen; Ramsey Clark would no doubt defend them pro bono. Cindy Sheehan will call it self defense. The DUmmies would say “What would you do if your country was invaded and occupied?” I wouldn’t be doing what they are doing, assassinating doctors, beheading teachers, and blowing up kids. I do fear what I would do if I ever run into Michael Moore.

Suicide in self defense.

"The father was traumatized, he went into shock. He ran to the children to gather them up and the children were screaming, 'Mom! Mom!' and she wasn't answering, she was dead already..."

In what Hamas justifies as an act of self defense a Palestinian terrorist, whoops my bad, mustn’t judge, a Palestinian militant blew himself and scores of others up at a bus station falafel shop in Tel Aviv. Mahmoud Abbas had the guts to call it terrorism, something Reuters will not do.

An Arab television station aired a video tape showing a young militant from Islamic Jihad, holding an assault rifle, and said he carried out the attack.

Associated press also doesn't use the "T" word.

The blast came amid a sharp increase in fighting between Israel and the Palestinians across the Gaza border. Militants have fired barrages of homemade rockets at Israel, and Israel has responded with artillery fire.

So when Israel launches a counter attack against a rocket launch site Palestinians respond by attacking a falafel shop. Abbas said "This operation does not go in line with the Palestinian national consensus and the ... interests of the Palestinian people." However Hamas, who by Palestinian national consensus recently took over the Palestinian Government, calls it self defense. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the attack was an act of "self-defense" which he said was a reaction to "the continued Israeli crimes against our people". Crimes such as attacking rocket launchers or killing terrorist leaders. Syrian Hamas leader Moussa abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera that "the Israeli side must feel what the Palestinian feels". Maybe Palestinians should feel what the Israeli feels. That would mean indiscriminately killing men, women and children however and the Israelis, despite what the left says, are not terrorists.

Queen of Clubs Captured!

Rosie Ching Chong O'Donnell aka: Shezanini Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Watanitwit Ibrahem Alhassen) (Arabic: برزان إبراهيم الحسن التكريتي; Shezānini Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasan at-Tikrītī) was one of three half-sisters of Saddam Hussein, and a leader of the Mukhabarat, the intelligence organisation that was believed to have tortured and murdered thousands of opponents of the regime. Despite falling out of favour with Saddam Hussein at one time, she was believed to have been a presidential adviser at the time of her capture.

Upside-down flag, US in distress.

This is supposed to make me understand that rampant illegal immigration is not a problem and that our porous borders should stay that way? Hundreds of thousands of protestors have hit the streets recently to protest the Government’s “racist” attempts to uphold the laws of our nation, that being the United States, not Mexico, BTW. Apparently many are more supportive of Mexico than of the United States. For my part I plan to patrol the New Mexico border in April as part of the Minute Man Project.

You really can’t get less than around 5% unemployment. People will voluntarily leave the job market for a variety of reasons such as to go back to school or spend more time with the family. Since we are at or very near full employment I support legal immigration to fill jobs that obviously need filling. Key word here is legal. I want to know who is coming in and that they will be an asset and not a burden. Those who wish to exploit illegal immigrants, be they businesses or political entities like MEChA that wish to swell their numbers and therefore their power make me sick. As legal immigrants many Mexican workers would have a far better life than they do when marginalized by their illegal status. They would be better compensated for their labor. They would be protected the same as any American worker by the many labor friendly policies the Government has such as OSHA standards and such. They would not have to fear seeking police or other law enforcement protection. Yet the very people who claim to be advocates for Mexican workers are the ones that want to keep them illegal. Who are the real racists here?

That is not the reason I became a Minuteman however. I want secure borders because in today’s terrorist environment to not have secure borders is stupid and suicidal. Yet those people who are champions of the downtrodden Mexican laborer seem to have no problem with letting terrorist stroll across the border and maybe bomb L.A. Again, if it will increase their political power they don’t seem too concerned. Let me end with a warning to pandering politicians, many Hispanics besides me don’t favor open borders because many Hispanics are loyal Americans and realize the dangers open borders pose to our country.

Put your lives in the left's hands.

There are two very good articles in National Review Online today that, while focused on two different stories, when in juxtaposition highlight the left’s dangerous stand when it comes to national security and the war on terror. The first article by Byron York focuses on a secret FISA Court of Review. The Court of Review is a process that allows parties to appeal decisions made by the FICA Court. After the Patriot Act was passed tearing down Janet Reno’s wall keeping police agencies from cooperating with intelligence agencies the FICA Court attempted to in effect keep the wall up. The result of the review:

In its opinion, the Court of Review said the FISA Court had, in effect, attempted to unilaterally impose the old 1995 rules. "In doing so, the FISA Court erred," the ruling read. "It did not provide any constitutional basis for its action — we think there is none — and misconstrued the main statutory provision on which it relied." The FISA Court, according to the ruling, "refus[ed] to consider the legal significance of the Patriot Act's crucial amendments" and "may well have exceeded the constitutional bounds" governing the courts by asserting "authority to govern the internal organization and investigative procedures of the Department of Justice."

This is the FISA court that the left wants to hand over authority for war time surveillance to. Beyond that:

And then the Court of Review did one more thing, something that has repercussions in today's surveillance controversy. Not only could the FISA Court not tell the president how do to his work, the Court of Review said, but the president also had the "inherent authority" under the Constitution to conduct needed surveillance without obtaining any warrant — from the FISA Court or anyone else. Referring to an earlier case, known as Truong, which dealt with surveillance before FISA was passed, the Court of Review wrote: "The Truong court, as did all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the President did have inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign intelligence information. . . . We take for granted that the President does have that authority and, assuming that is so, FISA could not encroach on the President's constitutional power."

I don’t believe that in the CYA climate that we live in any politician is going to do anything without the approval of a host of lawyers. Yet the left believes that any lie repeated often enough will be believed. Now First Amendment killer Feingold is trying to censure the President over the “illegal wire taps”:

When the President of the United States breaks the law, he must be held accountable.

BTW how did he vote on the Clinton impeachment? No one is attempting to make the case that Clinton didn’t break the law. Anyway the second article by James S. Robbins discusses the brilliant effort by Al Qaeda to stage a Tet like attack on the American and British embassies in the Green Zone. He notes:

Imagine news coverage of al Qaeda fighters in the American embassy. The story line would be irresistible — Tet Offensive, the Sequel. The press is already fixated on comparing the Iraq war to Vietnam, despite the numerous and significant differences. An attack like this, a surprise urban guerilla assault on a key symbol of American power, would immediately be cast as a replay of the January 31, 1968, Viet Cong attack on the U.S. embassy in Saigon.

Tet was a military failure as was the attack on the American Embassy, one small battle of the offensive. Nevertheless it was the beginning of the end of American support for South Vietnam. Al Qaeda well knows this as Robbins points out:

Prussian military theorist Karl von Clausewitz famously posited a “trinity” essential for the successful prosecution of war — synchronization between three necessary elements; the fighting forces, the political leadership, and the national will. The terrorists realize they cannot defeat our military, nor sway our (current) leaders, so they seek to strike at our only vulnerability, our national commitment to continue to prosecute the struggle.

Just as North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap credits people like John Kerry with his victory over America, so does Al Qaeda recognize the value of people like, well, John Kerry in their effort to win in Iraq and in the WOT in general.

What is exactly at work here? Is the left so anti-American, anti-military, or anti-Bush that they will undercut the WOT at every turn? Is it just a path back into power? They were supposed to outline their positions on nation policy back in November and still haven’t done so. Is their only position that Bush is always wrong, with no alternatives of their own? Shall we trust them with our security, our lives and the lives of our loved ones? I know I’m preaching to the choir here but why is this so difficult for others to see? My only conclusion is that the “repeat a lie” theory works, especially if you have a biased MSM as your propaganda tool.

The Iranian war.

Pamela at Atlas Shrugs posted on how we’ve been at war with Iran since October 2001. She points to a Weekly Standard article on how Iran secretly agreed to assist the Taliban in it’s war with America. I’ve been saying this for years. The first Declaration of War was the invasion of US soil in the 1979 embassy takeover. Iranian funded Hezbollah carried out the Beirut bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines. Iran supported another terror cell that in 1996 truck bombed the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. 19 Americans were killed and 372 wounded.Terrorists, including Al Qaeda, are being trained in Iran and allowed to use its border to cross into Iraq. Sadr’s rebellion was financed by Iran. Spies have been caught and confessed on videotape. Arms have been stopped at the Iran Iraq border including timers, detonators, and sophisticated explosives. Iran was probably behind the bombing of the Golden Dome. Sadr certainly has taken advantage of it.

Our response to the war has been to ignore it. We calmly accept hundreds of dead and wounded because they happen sporadically and are caused by surrogates. Also there don’t seem to be a lot of good options available. The MSM has pretty much soured the country on Iraq, another conflict with Iran would have little support. Things may be coming to a head soon however. The US will take the Iranian nuke matter to the UN Security Council. One assumes we will have Chinese and Russian backing on at least some penalties. Congress is calling for sanctions against companies or nations that invest in Iran's energy sector even though that may split the international coalition against Iranian nukes. Iran in response threatens us with higher oil prices. I would prefer a blockade of Iranian ports but if they voluntarily cut off their oil that would have the same effect. Of course it’s one thing to cut them off completely as opposed to Iran shortening the supply but the Iranian economy is already in sad shape and any further pressure will hurt them more than us. From the CIA factbook:

Iran's economy is marked by a bloated, inefficient state sector, over reliance on the oil sector, and statist policies that create major distortions throughout. Most economic activity is controlled by the state.

11.2% (2004 est.) unemployment, 40% (2002 est.) below the poverty level, 16% (2005 est.) inflation, $48.82 billion in revenue and $60.4 billion in expenditures, (2005 est.) and a public debt 27.5% of GDP (2005 est.). Higher oil prices will certainly hurt the economy but if the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. Iran may price its oil to such an extent that the result could mimic the OPEC fiasco of the 70s. When the dust settled the world had responded with more exploration, more energy conservation, more investment in alternative sources and less dependence on OPEC. I would not mind that happing again, especially given that our reliance on Mid East oil is funding our enemies. Hamas will be looking to Iran to make up what aid it will lose from the US and any other counties with backbone enough to withhold aid. That will further tax Iran’s economy. Strong pressure on Iran’s economy will also strengthen opposition to the Mullahs. The senior Iranian security official that promised us "harm and pain" also said "So if the US wishes to choose that path, let the ball roll”. Yes, let the ball roll.

Test of Fire

Just as they slavered over the coming of the 2000th American death in Iraq, the MSM is breathlessly awaiting a civil war between Sunni and Shia in the wake of the Golden Mosque bombing in Samarra. When the question is asked as to who benefited from the bombing Al Qaeda and Iran come to mind, but the MSM is also riding that horse for all its worth. In a classic example of Media creating the news we have the Washington Post trumpeting its latest poll that 80% of Americans believe that a civil war is coming. Given that that is what MSM has been saying since before the smoke cleared the results are not surprising. In fact many pundits are being brought forward proclaiming that the war has already started. Words such as “low level civil war” and “continuos sectarian violence” are used to press the meme that Iraq is a lost cause. Of course the same could be said of any country that contains both Sunni and Shia populations. Where are the reports of civil war in Pakistan? I will admit that this was an extreme test of Iraq’s dedication to Democracy but I believe that instead of teetering on the brink of destruction Iraq has come through this and several positive things have come to light.

The most amazing thing I saw was that the Coalition was able to sit back and let the Iraqi Army quell the violence. Units comprised of Shia, Sunni, and Kurd did not disintegrate but instead performed well. Iraqi forces are stepping up.

Of the 435 company-level or higher operations conducted in Iraq last week, 31 percent were independent Iraqi operations, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said at a news briefing.

Another surprise was that, just as in the Cartoon case, the riots were not spontaneous but rather politically motivated. Mohammed at Iraq the Model gives an eyewitness account.

As a person who lives in Baghdad I've been following the situation from the early hours after the attack; on Wednesday morning I was on my way to work when I heard the news on the radio and I began watching closely to probe the feelings of the common people. People were at work as they always are, clerks behind their desks, grocers looking after their goods and municipal workers picking trash from the streets and I haven't noticed any unusual feelings among the people I came in contact with. In general life was normal until noon in the Shia majority district of Baghdad and there were absolutely no signs of a crisis of any sort. But on my way home I saw the men in black take to the streets after Ayatollah Sistani issued his fatwa.

So…the protests were not spontaneous like clerics want us to think; in fact the only spontaneous protest was the one in Samarra itself!
I live here and I've seen the whole thing. The demonstrations in Baghdad began after the fatwa and I saw how shop keepers unwillingly closed their shops when the men in black with their arms and loudspeakers ordered them to do so "in the name of the Hawza" and I saw the sad look on the faces of people abandoning their only source of income for a time that could go indefinitely.

Calm has returned to Sammara, the spontaneous riot Mohammed refers to were Sunni’s condemning the act and calling for Iraqi unity. That was pretty much the case for most clerics and Government officials. That was pretty much the case for most Iraqis. Like its Fitzmass hopes it looks like the MSM is not going to get its civil war. Unfortunately since the American public still gets most of its news from the MSM and The Daily Show it may not matter.

What now.

When none other than William F. Buckley Jr. says we have failed in Iraq then I have to take notice. In an NRO article he states that the underlying postulates governing our Iraq policy are flawed.

One of these postulates, from the beginning, was that the Iraqi people, whatever their tribal differences, would suspend internal divisions in order to get on with life in a political structure that guaranteed them religious freedom.

This goes farther than Iraq, can Arab Muslims anywhere suspend sectarian and tribal hatreds and form a government that respects the rights of others or is the only workable solution a dictatorial strongman than can ruthlessly suppress any opposition? Buckley refers to one soldier lamenting the fact that he can understand why Saddam Hussein was needed to keep the Sunnis and the Shiites from each other’s throats.

Sunni Blogger GQ illustrates this hatred on his site.

I just got home and one of the first things my father told me that the Shia masjid/shrine is blown up. As soon as he said that, I had the BIGGEST smile on my face. LOL ALLAHU AKBAR!

I am so happy. May Allah reward the ones who did it. Ameen

These retarded scumbags need more of this. May Allah guide them or destroy these little dogs. Ameen

Go to the comments section to see saner Muslims condemn his vitriolic reaction. Such hatreds are not mainstream but in a country of 26 million if only a conservatively estimated 20% hold to these feelings that is 5,200,000 people ready to create havoc.

Add to this the usual blaming of the US. There are some that actually think the US committed the bombings or allowed them to take place. Obviously Americans did this. That way a sectarian civil war can break out with our troops in the middle. The tons of blood and dollars spent to build a Democratic Iraq can then go down the tubes in an orgy of Muslim against Muslim fighting and American influence in the region will all but be destroyed. Sure pal, makes sense to me. Certainly Iran, Sadr (same thing), or Al Qaeda have nothing to gain by a civil war but the benefits to the US are numerous and great. In the convoluted Middle East such conspiracies abound, I'm guilty myself by suspecting Sadr of being involved. Others agree. From The American Spectator:

The coordinated Shia-based assaults on hundreds of Sunni mosques that followed was directed by Iranian agents or fellow travelers. Signals source suspects the Iranians are using captured Salafists from Pakistan, men who are devoted to murdering Shia.These surrogates are captured by Iranian forces while en route to Iran and given a stark choice: conduct this murder campaign or we will just kill you where you hang.

Note that Mookie Sadr was in Beirut when the detonation triggered the so-called spontaneous lynch mobs. Sadr was put on an aircraft filled with special operations teams from Shia HizbAllah, along with communications and intelligence equipment to be used in the weeks ahead.

Mohammed at Iraq The Model also sees the Salafists as being the actual bombers:

It's not a secret who was behind the attack on the shrine and I am sure that who did it were the Salafi/Wahabis whether Iraqi or foreigners and with external support from parties planning to disrupt the political process in Iraq. The reason I believe it's the Salafis who did it comes from their own ideology which considers all mosques built upon tombs as places of polytheism and infidelity and thus must be destroyed. This also applies to Sunni shrines like Abu Haneefa and al-Gailani; Salafis consider the Shia and the Sufis their worst enemie and they commonly refer to them in their speech with the term "tomb worshippers" or Mushrikoon Quborioon in Arabic.

Regardless of who carried out the bombings the reactions were predictable. While Mohammed points out that just as with the cartoons when the bombing first happened everyone did not rush out and form a mob. Like so many sheep everyone waited till their Imam told them what to do.

So…the protests were not spontaneous like clerics want us to think; in fact the only spontaneous protest was the one in Samarra itself! I live here and I've seen the whole thing. The demonstrations in Baghdad began after the fatwa and I saw how shop keepers unwillingly closed their shops when the men in black with their arms and loudspeakers ordered them to do so "in the name of the Hawza" and I saw the sad look on the faces of people abandoning their only source of income for a time that could go indefinitely.

No matter how many votes you got in the last election if ain’t got a militia you ain’t nothing and the militias come out of this as being the only force that can protect the Mosques. Another result of this sad play is that Sunni participation in the Ministries of Defense and Interior is all but a dead deal. Just as Americans are leery of an Arab country managing our ports the Shia were not ready to allow the Sunni to be involved in the higher level governance of the Army or police. Some even went so far as to say our insistence that they be allowed to resulted in the bombing. In a way maybe it did. Such is politics in the Middle East.