Sanctuary Cities

Can't we at least deport those that repeatedly break the law? Three of the Fort Dix 6 terrorist who planned to kill hundreds of our servicemen and women were illegal aliens. They were also rotten drivers. Investigative reporter Jim Osman reports that the three had numerous run-ins with law enforcement:

Suspect Shain Duka had a real New Jersey driver's license despite being an illegal immigrant; he had an abysmal driving record. Duka was repeatedly stopped by police and had 19 suspensions of his license.

Suspect Dritan Duka, also illegally in the country, obtained a driving permit. He was stopped by police 11 times between 1997 and 2006. The state of New Jersey indefinitely suspended his original permit when it found out his visa had expired. He kept encountering authorities on driving issues.

And Eljvir Duka, as well in the country illegally, had 24 suspensions of his driving permit and was tagged by the state as a persistent violator.

The police knew they weren’t legal, why weren’t they deported? Many police departments are not even allowed to ascertain weather a suspect is illegal and police are not happy about it. Peggy O'Hare reports from Houston:

In the months before three East End women were abducted, raped and slain last year, one of the accused killers, Walter Alexander Sorto, 25, was ticketed by Houston police several times for traffic violations.

Sorto was an illegal immigrant, having somehow managed to circumvent the usual ports of entry into this country, just like his accused companion in crime, Edgardo Rafael Cubas, 24. They remained below radar, undetected by immigration authorities until they were arrested for capital murder.

But had they crossed paths with Houston police before the violence — as Sorto apparently did — officers here might have been hamstrung anyway, barred by city rules from asking about their immigration status or reporting them to federal authorities.

Critics refer to this rule as a "sanctuary" policy. And Sorto is a pointed example of what frustrates some Houston police officers about the "hands-off" provision toward illegal immigrants.

Sanctuary cities prohibit their law enforcement agencies from aiding federal authorities in any way when it comes to illegal immigrants. Some cities like San Francisco are actively trying to disrupt immigration raids. Mayor Newsom:

"I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids," Newsom declared. "We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about it."

Problem with these sanctuary cities is that there is no legal basis for doing so. It’s actually illegal.

Entry into the United States without inspection is a misdemeanor; but harboring, shielding, or concealing illegal aliens is a felony (Immigration and Nationality Act). Federal, state, and local officials may not restrict the sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual (Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act; Welfare Reform Act).

If you or anyone you know are a victim of a crime committed by illegal aliens and your city knew they were illegal, sue the hell out of the city. San Francisco will have to explain in a court of law why they are not obeying the laws of these United States. These are the sanctuary cities:

Anchorage, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Chandler, Arizona
Fresno, California
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
San Francisco, California
Sonoma County, California
Evanston, Illinois
Cicero, Illinois
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Orleans, Massachusetts
Portland, Maine
Baltimore, Maryland
Takoma Park, Maryland
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Durham, North Carolina
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Aztec, New Mexico
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Sante Fe, New Mexico
New York, New York
Ashland, Oregon
Gaston, Oregon
Marion County, Oregon
Austin, Texas
Houston, Texas
Katy, Texas
Seattle, Washington
Madison, Wisconsin.

* Alaska and Oregon both have state-wide policies that forbid state agencies from using resources to enforce federal immigration law. Oregon law, however, does provide an exception to allow law enforcement officers to share information on immigration status with federal authorities with those arrested for criminal offenses.

Blood on Pelosi's hand.

Nancy Pelosi’s felonious trip to Syria had far greater ramifications than just undermining a wartime President. Many dissidents are cowering in fear as Assad now feels he can take the gloves off.

Many Syrian dissidents and pro-democracy activists have privately expressed dismay at Ms. Pelosi’s message of friendship to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They say that Ms. Pelosi’s visit, no matter how well-intentioned, has effectively pulled the rug out from under them, critically damaging their efforts to create momentum for reform from within.

“Pelosi’s visit made the regime feel that Americans were divided on how to deal with Syria,” said a Damascus-based women’s-rights activist who, like five other activists interviewed for this article, asked that his name be withheld because he feared punishment. “This sends a message to the regime that the pressure is off, that it can do what it likes.”

He’s imprisoning Kurds, protestors, and pro-democracy activists while imposing restrictions on others. Joe Pace reports at SyriaComment.com that Assad may even have resumed assassinations.

On May 10, the prominent Kurdish Sheikh, Ma'shuq Khaznawi, received a call on his cell phone. The unknown caller told him to await a car in front of his office. According to two of the Sheikh's sons, as he left the office his last words to his colleague were "when are the security forces going to stop pestering me?" Minutes later he stepped into the car and disappeared. His body was found three weeks later on the other side of Syria.

SOS (Save Our Schools)

Kevin Libin at the National Post wants to know how did An Inconvenient Truth become required classroom viewing?

First it was his world history class. Then he saw it in his economics class. And his world issues class. And his environment class. In total, 18-year-old McKenzie, a Northern Ontario high schooler, says he has had the film An Inconvenient Truth shown to him by four different teachers this year.

His environment class? I thought religion wasn't supposed to be taught in our public schools and make no mistake the Man-made Global Warming movement is a religion. Save our schools, support school vouchers.

Update: Joey at Pheistyblog notes that this crap is even being shown in gym classes!

Iranian Israeli War

What you see above is a school classroom. Over 30 Qassam missiles were fired at Sderot, Israel in a 24-hour period by the Democratically elected Hamas government. Problem with Hamas is they are answerable to Iran not Palestine. When Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza I and many others made the prediction that Gaza would become a main terrorist cesspool instead of a functional Palestinian State. We were right.

The Palestinians have their state and terrorist government. They are now accountable for acts of war directed at other states. Hold them accountable when they attack Israel, bomb the hell out of them and repeat as necessary. In a war there is no such thing as a measured response. The anti-semetic international community will condemn Israel regardless so I say unleash the dogs of war and be as ruthless as your enemy or be destroyed.

Sicko

Michael Moore went to Cuba to tout the wonderful health care system that leftist Democrats like Hillary would like to emulate. He took some sick 9/11 responders to the embargoed country for treatment, however he failed to get clearance for the trip and now faces a U.S. Treasury Probe. Moore’s response?

The efforts of the Bush Administration to conduct a politically motivated investigation of Michael Moore and ‘SiCKO’ will not stop us from making sure the American people see this film.

The stunt was engineered to promote the next Moore faux documentary “SiCKO”, which we can assume will be as full of holes and lies as his previous films. How did they get some 9/11 heroes to go to Cuba? They lied.

Responders were told Cuban doctors had developed new techniques for treating lung cancer and other respiratory illness, and that health care in the communist country was free, according to those offered the two-week February trip.

While free, one has to wonder how effective any “advances” coming out of Cuba will be. Judging by the multitudes of other advances Castro’s paradise has produced I’d guess this will be as big as Iran’s herbal cure for AIDS. Fred Thompson was critical of Moore’s trip:

While this p.r. stunt has obviously been successful — here I am talking about it — Moore’s a piker compared to Fidel Castro and his regime. Moore just parrots the story they created — one of the most successful public-relations coups in history. This is the story of free, high quality Cuban health care.

The truth is that Cuban medical care has never recovered from Castro’s takeover — when the country’s health care ranked among the world’s best. He won the support of the Cuban people by promising to replace Batista’s dictatorship with free elections, and to end corruption. Once in power, though, he made himself dictator and instituted Soviet-style Communism. Cubans not only failed to regain their democratic rights, their economy plunged into centrally planned poverty.

As many as half of Cuba’s doctors fled almost immediately — and defections continue to this day. Castro won’t allow observers in to monitor his nation’s true state, but defectors tell us that many Cubans live with permanent malnutrition and long waits for even basic medical services. Many treatments we take for granted aren’t available at all — except to the Communist elite or foreigners with dollars.

For them, Castro keeps “show” clinics equipped with the best medicines and technologies available. It was almost certainly one of these that Moore went to, if the stories in the NY Post and the Daily News are true.

Moore responded with criticism of Thompson’s Cuban cigar habit and challenged Thompson to a health care debate. Fred’s response to that: Priceless!

Hugo Problemo

Castro apologists always point to the embargo as the reason for Cuba being broken. Now that Hugo is emulating that great failure one has to wonder how that mess will be explained away since Venezuela has no embargo. For the first time in recent history Venezuela is having trouble feeding itself. Junglemom explains how this especially hurts the middleclass.

It took us trips to 5 stores to be able to find chicken. The owner warned us that he did not know when he would get more. What is hard for the middle class, is that the poorer people have chicken and beans. They go to the government stores, stand in line and buy chicken at the subsidized rate. The rich people have chicken because they can send their maids to the stores. But those in the middle class don't have the time to stand in line for hours waiting to buy chicken because they have to actually go to work. So, I have not had black beans for many months now. And eat more fish and pork than I care for!

Christ told us the poor will always be with us. The middleclass were given no such assurances. Junglemom is on a mission from God, she wont leave Venezuela until Chavez kicks her out. Others however will and have. As you can imagine it’s no picnic being wealthy in the current environment either. Junglemom again:

We have been having a lot of student protests again near my house. I live in an area where there are several universities. The other day we could not get out of the neighborhood because the students had burned one vehicle already and ended up burning a bus as well. If you are on foot, they let you pass, but if you are able to afford a vehicle, you are the "oligarchs".

The oligarchs are in an even better position to get the hell out of there and I am sure most of their assets have already left. Would you invest in a country that was hell bent on nationalizing everything? Fabiola Sanchez reports that grocery stores have sporadically suffered shortages since 2003, when Chavez first started interfering with the free market. However things seem to be getting worse:

Survey results released by private pollster Datanalisis this week revealed scarcities of at least nine basic food staples: sugar, beef, powdered milk, chicken, eggs, rice, corn flour, sardines and beans.

Those that do find food do what anyone with common sense would do, buy as much as is practical. So of course Chavez puts the blame on "hoarders" and "speculators" and is punishing them when found.

Noel Alvarez, president of the country's largest business chamber Consecomercio, says the problem will continue to worsen unless the government eliminates policies which he blames for stifling production and hampering businesses.

He said overall demand outstripped supply by 100 percent last year. The shortfall has been met by imports, which rose to a record $32 billion in 2006.

This is only the beginning, wait till the effects of Hugo’s agrarian reform and state-funded farming cooperatives kick in.

"This is a disaster -- there are no eggs, there's no powdered milk, nothing," said Ramos, a 69-year-old retiree, visibly upset. "I need skim milk but because I can't find any, I'm drinking calcium with water. This is like Cuba."

Which is the point. Viva la revolution!

Update: Junglemom is being forced out.

Support the Minutemen

The House of Representatives has introduced bill H.R. 1999: To authorize appropriations for assistance for the National Council of La Raza and the Raza Development Fund. Hillary Clinton has hired former president of La Raza Raul Yzaguirre to co-chair her campaign and lead its outreach to Hispanic voters. While being given an award from La Raza for his efforts to pass an amnesty bill Senator Lindsay Graham said "We’re Gonna tell the Bigots to Shut Up". I must assume bigots being anyone who doesn’t support amnesty. La Raza, “The Race”, is a Hispanic advocacy organization that is by its very nature racist. I am sure the irony would escape Senator Graham.

A hotel named Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa has replaced the bible with Gore’s BS book An Inconvenient Truth. Pen of Jen has a few words to say about this.

Does anyone see the tragedy that we are not averting? We are permitting this charlatan, to set the tone for our country. His film is being shown in schools, convincing children to change or risk disaster. We are scaring the children, and forcing the parents to comply with these ridiculous requirements.Now that is bad enough, but now we are equating Al Gore's word with Gods.

Indeed. Man-made global warming is a religion because you have to take it on faith. We don’t even know how much rain falls on the planet each day yet any computer model that predicts planetary warming has to take into consideration the balancing effect of water, not just rain but the seas and oceans. None of the models used to predict CO2 levels effect on global warming does this. Oh, and carbon offsets are a scam.

September

Yesterday on the Jim Villanucci show senior republican Senator Pete Domenici basically said that things had better be improved in Iraq by September or a timetable would be imposed. Which imposes a timetable now. You’re on the clock Iraq. September.

Support the Minutemen

Happy May Day. Seejanemom has a funny blog on what a day without illegal aliens will be like. Michelle Malkin does the math on the huge number of deportees that never leave, 600,000 unaccounted for. Minutemen here in NM had 24 illegal border crossers picked up in one night in their April campaign. A small net on a huge border and they catch plenty in an area that is advertised as having Minutemen.

My Generation

The “Peace and Love” generation prides itself on stopping the Vietnam War and wish to “stop” the war in Iraq. Unfortunately you don’t stop a war without granting victory to the other side. Usually. Since Iraq is but one battlefield in the WOT we won’t even stop the war, just grant a victory to Iran and Al Qaeda. This is not my father’s Congress. The greatest generation may not be the kids who fought in WWII but rather the Americans at home who sacrificed tremendously to support their kids at war.

Would we be better off had we not invaded Iraq? It was not the cakewalk we thought it would be when everyone was for it, including most Democrats, but if we had not taken out Saddam what would the situation be today? First, we were concerned Iraq had chemical and biological weapons and may have been close to getting nukes. You don’t have to use a WMD; usually having one is enough to make you a major player. Everyone thought Saddam had WMDs; we would still think so today and act accordingly. Qusay and Uday would still be terrorizing Baghdad and the vast Baathist organization would still be terrorizing Iraq. I for one wonder how much longer we would have enforced the no-fly zone, especially when our pilots were being fired on by Saddam? Once that protection was dropped how long would the Kurds have held out? The Oil for Food scandal would have continued to line UN pockets up until the sanctions, largely ignored by our NATO allies anyway, were lifted. Once the sanctions were lifted guess what? According to the much ballyhooed 911 Report Saddam would have been ready to reactivate his WMD research, including Nukes.

One complaint I hear is that because we are bogged down in Iraq we can’t effectively deal with Iran. Put aside the fact that many making that argument are ready and willing to hand Iran a victory in Iraq, we can effectively deal with Iran had we the will. It would require one thing from the American people, sacrifice. A blockade of Iran would strangle an already shaky Mullah economy. It would mean higher gas prices, a sacrifice we would have to bear for our future security. One we are not willing to make. I come to think I have also found why many Americans are ready to abandon the Iraqis. Despite the fact that insurgencies usually take ten or more years to deal with and that we are slowly making progress, despite the fact that casualties are amazingly light, despite the fact that there is no rationing, shortages, or appeals to buy war bonds, we are ready to quit. Why? Because it’s costing us money.

Fire Harry Reid

At what point does one sell one’s soul, and for what gain? To undermine the troops with a slow bleed of vital funding during a time of war in the hope that that will kill a successful surge strategy. To give our enemies hope that if they can just hold on till a Democrat comes into power then no one will be there to stop them. To boldly declare defeat when we are winning in a desperate attempt to harm the wartime President so as to further your own political ambitions in 2008. Do they believe the United States can easily withstand loosing in Iraq? What the effect to Iran and Syria would be? What the effect to the Kurds and Lebanese would be? What the fate of those in Iraq that supported us would be? What running would say to anyone who might ally with us in the future? To so fully invest in defeat at such an expense to our friends and to ourselves is to sell that soul or otherwise have none.

Our troops Appeal For Courage from our politicians.

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

SSgt Thul has a few things to say to Reid. At Reid's home state Las Vegas reserves disagree the war is lost. In Anbar JD Johannes says the war doesn't look lost to him. Michelle Malkin has many more responses. I think where Reid screwed up was in believing the MSM portrayal of Iraq instead of getting the story from those in Iraq.

Besides saying the war is lost Reid also said “the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday”. Which is like saying that America is lost and it’s law enforcement is not doing its job because a suicidal nut case can kill thirty some kids on a college campus. Al Qaeda knows this war can be won politically and is playing more towards the anti-war crowd here than stirring up sectarian violence there. Steve Schippert explains this morning the Sunni-Shia “civil war” is more a construct of the Dem’s talking point than fact.

The perceived civil war in Iraq is in many ways more a product of foreign Iranian and al Qaeda instigation than internal Iraqi hatred. Had al Qaeda not bombed the Shia al-Askari Mosque and had Iran not provided arms and funds to both sides of the ensuing sectarian killings, there is no telling where Iraq would be right now. It certainly was not in civil war then.

Nevertheless Al Qaeda are being pushed out of Baghdad and out of Anbar and the surge is still in the process of being deployed. Kathryn Jean Lopez asks that we Give Surge a Chance.

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.

Iran War

Lads, lads, I think we’re going to get executed.

Day Two, said Joe Tindell, a 21-year-old marine, was the day “the mood completely changed, they changed from the military dress to all black, their faces covered.” He continued, “We thought we were going to the British embassy, but we got taken to a detention center, all 15 of us.”
“We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall. Basically there were weapons cocking. Someone, I’m not sure who, someone said, I quote, ‘Lads, lads, I think we’re going to get executed,’ ” he said in a separate interview with the B.B.C. “After that comment, someone was sick, and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut. From there we were rushed, to a room, quick photo, and then stuffed into a cell, and didn’t see or speak to anyone for six days.”

It was a bad week for the US war with Iran, a war most Americans don’t want to fight. Sounds familiar, we were pretty slow to respond to Hitler and Tojo with almost disastrous results. Until the Battle of Midway we were getting our buts kicked by the Japanese, and a lot of luck went into that victory.

Quiz a class of high school seniors and see if anyone there knows about Midway. Heck, ask if any of them can name the major players of WWII. Most can’t so should we be surprised that history is repeating itself?

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

A British seaman (L) shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after 15 British naval personnel were released, in Tehran April 4, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer

Thank God the hostages are safe and out. It would seem that Iran could have held them forever but they played it very shrewdly, giving Britain a gift for Easter. Fair enough, since Britain had given Iran a great gift, Victory.

I fear for the Brits. They may soon be on the front lines like Paris. Like some of us, they also don’t seem to know they are in a war with Iran. Admiral Sir Alan West, First Sea Lord in 2004 when Iran kidnapped 8 other Brits, explains.

These particular people would not be trained in counter-interrogation techniques because they are not expected to be captured. But I think our guidance to anyone in that position would be to say what they want you to say, let's not be silly about it. Don't tell them secrets, clearly, but if they tell you: 'Say this', well if that's going to get you out, then do it. It means absolutely nothing, what they say, to be honest.

Given the Middle East's reaction to the propaganda I would say it did great harm. This is no knock on the Seamen, apparently they followed their training which is the same as I give my Correctional Officers: When taken hostage co-operate fully. That is 180% from the SERE training we give all of our troops. SERE; Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape, “designed to help military personnel avoid capture or exploitation by the enemy”. No C there for capitulate. This goes a little deeper than conduct while a prisoner. If I had been there while certainly terrified I would also know Iran wouldn't dare kill me, at least with George Bush as Commander in Chief. What does it say when you have no such faith in your leaders and country?

Outrage of the day? Iran says the hostages' press conference was "a show".

I should not be too hard on the Brits, they at least strongly condemned the Iranians and threatened to break off trade relations. That’s more than the EU, of which union Britain is supposed to belong, did. The UN was also shown to be worthless in the face of such naked aggression, but they at least condemned it. The United States House of Representatives could not even bring themselves to do that. Which leads me to this week's other WOT debacle.



Where will this ultimately lead?

Thinking Blogger Award.

Junglemom has awarded me a “Thinking Blogger Award”! This is a “blog meme”, something I had not heard of before. Click on the link for more info on what exactly a blog meme is. I learn allot from JM so I was tempted to give her a second award, as well as Harry at Garbanzo Toons, but in the interest of highlighting other thinking blogs I won’t. I also left out the Big Players, those who have crawled out of the water in the TTLB Ecosystem and are walking upright, such as Seejanemom, La Shawn Barber, GOP Vixen, Atlas Shrugs, Iraq the Model, Amarji, etc. That said here’s my list of Thinking Blogs.
1. Liberty and Culture
2. Vince Aut Morire
3. I, Infidel
4. The Sudanese Thinker
5. Dagney’s Rant

President in her own mind.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in Syria this week to undermine the sitting wartime President, was offered surrender terms by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Ms. Pelosi was told that Syria would help the US achieve an "honorable withdrawal" from Iraq but in return the United States must press Israel to return the Golan Heights. Syria backs the latest Arab peace plan that calls for a return of land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, the creation of a Palestinian state and a "just solution" for Palestinians displaced in 1948. The “Just solution” for displaced Palestinians who chose to leave is the “right of return”, a solution that is suicide for the Jewish state of Israel. Ms. Pelosi said "(Our) meeting with the president enabled us to communicate a message from Prime Minister Olmert that Israel was ready to engage in peace talks as well." What Olmert actually asked her to say was Israel is interested in peace with Syria, but Syria would first have to abandon the path of terror and providing support for terrorist groups. That’s an important point to leave out. According to the state run Syrian press Pelosi seeks to “correct United States foreign policy.” Fortunately for us the Democrats will have to wait till they have the Presidency before they can “correct” United States foreign policy to fit the needs of the enemy.

Publius Pundit reports on another foundation of Democracy and civil rights being torn asunder by Hugo.

RCTV is under fire. The big television station, which has been broadcasting under license in Venezuela for 54 years, sort of the equivalent of FoxNews or CBS, officially loses its right to broadcast at the end of today. But that wasn't all that happened.

Like furies, red tshirted Chavista mobs gathered and bayed liked wolves in the days leading up to this end of an era, graffiting and spray-painting the TV station with words like 'expropriacion' along with filthy slogans that if you know Spanish, you can see the equivalent of 'f word' among, racism charges, campesino movement slogans, anti-Vatican slogans (the Vatican actually defended this TV station, which is run by a devout Catholic) and 'RCTV out' slogans. They also left plenty of garbage and mess, including what looks like a dead dog - a mob symbol if there ever was one, behind.

This is how Venezuela is being ruled right now - not just by arbitrary "legal" rulings based on what Chavez likes, but by the added calling card of the Chavista mob, spray painting its vile messages in its 'revolutionary' fervor to get the point across that this isn't about law or the public interest anymore, this is about bloodthirsty mob rule.

Junglemom reports on anti-Semitism and Hezbollah in Venezuella.

But here, we hear of the opening of a Hamas diplomatic office in Caracas. Hezbullah in Venezuela is already responsible for the pipe bombings at the US embassy last year. They are making headway among the tribes. The Tribal area is wide open to them since the removal of all American evangelical missionaries a year and a half ago.

Junglemom was one of those removed.

14 August 2006
Hizballah in Latin America: in Venezuela and online The website of the Hizballah group that has been invited into Venezuela by Hugo Chávez to "educate" the Wayuu tribe of the Goajiros ethnic group inhabiting the eastern part of the country:

Here is a rundown on everthing Chavez has been up to. And the left loves the guy.

Iran War

Leading Seaman Faye Turney sent a letter to the House of Commons dictated by her Iranian captors where she asks for the removal of British troops from Iraq. The left’s agenda continues to be Iran’s and Al Qaeda’s agenda. Will Britain be Britain or Spain? Fred Thompson doesn’t think there is much the British can do, at least on the high sea, they’ve mothballed most of their fleet.

Credibility Contest

In the right corner we have Senator John McCain and in the left corner we have CNN. Senator McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer to catch up on the news in Bagdad, that there were many areas outside the Green Zone where Americans can safely walk the streets. Later a CNN reporter in no uncertain terms called McCain a liar. The blogoshere will decide, Powerline leads the way.

Iran War

You might remember a war was started not long ago by Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah with the kidnapping of three IDF troops. Now the Iranians have recently saw fit to kidnap fifteen British sailors. In all three cases the kidnappers invaded foreign territory, in the sailor’s case Iraqi waters. That is an international act of war if anybody cares. But then that’s what the Mullahs do. Michael Ledeen has a quote from Iranian tool Islamic Jihad who have been responsible for many kidnappings over the last few years.

The issue of detainees and prisoners in the world is one of the outcomes of our confrontation with the powers of hegemony, which America leads as the mother of all corruption along with its germ Israel...As such, the issue of detainees is the reaction of Muslim freedom fighters to those practices. It is also an effort to release our mujahideen who are in prison. And this kind of reaction will continue as long as we are facing the same deeds, and because we believe in the necessity of work to release our freedom fighters from the prisons of occupied Palestine and Europe, and to solve the problem of those we hold in our prisons.

The mujahideen they want released this time are the five Iranians arrested in Irbil.

The sailors, taken at gunpoint Friday by Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Al Quds soldiers were captured intentionally and are to be used as bargaining chips to be used for the release of five Iranians who were arrested at the Iranian consul in Irbil, Iraq by US troops, an Iranian official told the daily paper Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday.

In addition, a senior Iranian military official said Saturday that the decision to capture the soldiers was made during a March 18 emergency meeting of the High Council for Security following a report by the Al-Quds contingent commander, Kassem Suleimani, to the Iranian chief of the armed forces, Maj.Gen. Hassan Firouz Abadi. In the report, according to Asharq al-Awsat, Suleimani warned Abadi that Al Quds and Revolutionary Guards' operations had become transparent to US and British intelligence following the arrest of a senior Al Quds officer and four of his deputies in Irbil.
According to the official, Iran was worried that its detained people would leak sensitive intelligence information.

Tehran has reacted to all diplomatic overtures exactly as expected; they see it as a sign of weakness. Britain’s “softly-softly” approach made them a prime choice for extortion, the same type of pressure Al Qaeda used to get Spain to retreat from Iraq. We are at war with Iran, maybe a direct attack on a NATO ally will drive this point home. In any case should we reward the Iranians with any type of exchange we would open the door to more widespread kidnappings of British troops as well as our own troops. The response I would like to see is a blockade of Iranian oil imports and a UN investigation into Iranian arms shipments to Al Qaeda, Sadr Militia, Hamas and Hezbollah. That’s one tooth the basically toothless sanctions have, Iran must halt all arms exports.

Meanwhile Omar reports the surge success continues with the arrest of Ahmed Farhan Hassan, a senior aide to Abu Omar al-Baghdadi the leader of al-Qaeda’s Islamic State in Iraq. Also captured was a huge bomb making factory responsible for close to a thousand Iraqi deaths. The leaders of the shop were also arrested. Expect an intell windfall from Hassan and the bombmakers. Also noted by Omar are more Iraqi political parties coming on board.

Today a spokesman of the Accord Front, to which VP Hashimi and deputy PM Zobaie belong, affirmed the AF’s support for the ongoing operation saying, “Our bloc, seeing the security forces covering Baghdad’s districts and operating without discrimination, is now convinced that the operation is unbiased.”

Al Qaeda, Sadr's militia, and White Flag Democrats are doing their best to insure the operation's failure but are not having much luck.