Monday, February 28, 2005
UPROAR IN THE ARAB STREET
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THE BELL TOLLS FOR THE LEFT
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. - John Donne
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BUSH DEMOCRACY AGENDA CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTORY
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Sunday, February 27, 2005
FIRST THEY WHACKED HARIRI; IS ABBAS NEXT?????
I pray I am wrong... I fear that I am right...
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ASSAD TOSSES BUSH "A BONE"
I guess that is something like a "charm offensive."
WELL, I AM NOT BUYING THIS CYNCAL GESTURE! There're PLENTY MORE like Saddam's half-brother ALL OVER Syria, some who work for "insurgency groups" in Iraq, and others who work for "insurgency groups" like HAMAS and HIZBALLAH. THEY MUST ALL BE HANDED OVER! NOW!! Or we should target them and their assets with CRUISE MISSILES!
Actually, it is LONG PASSED TIME for an OPERATION DESERT FOX-type attack against Syrian Forces in Lebanon, and along Syria's Iraqi border. (Operation Desert Fox was the week-long missile attack against Saddam that was ordered by Clinton in 1998 - WITHOUT U.N. or Congressional or NATO approval - (and without the Left and the euroweenies complaining one iota!)
YUP: it's time to KILL the bad-guys; killing bad guys like Assad and Nasrallah is a GOOD thing: good for peace and freedom and democracy EVERYWHERE - and it's ESPECIALLY good for the emerging democracies in Iraq and Lebanon and in the occupied territories.
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BUSH SAID THE RIGHT THINGS IN NEW EUROPE
Old Europeans must be held to account for their FAILURE to stand with us in Iraq - and to the core values of Western Civilization - or they should be ignored and denied our aid and the free safety of our military defense. In other words, Bush should've said to Putin, Schroder and Chirac: "Old Europe - join us on the front-lines of the Good Fight, or be damned!"In recent times, we have witnessed landmark events in the history of liberty, a Rose Revolution in Georgia, an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and now, a Purple Revolution in Iraq. With their votes cast and counted, the Iraqi people now begin a great and historic journey. They will from a new government, draft a democratic constitution, and govern themselves as free people. They're putting the days of tyranny and terror behind them and building a free and peaceful society in the heart of the Middle East, and the world's free nations will support them in their struggle. (Applause.)
The terrorist insurgents know what's at stake. They know they have no future in a free Iraq. So they're trying desperately to undermine Iraq's progress and throw the country in chaos. They want to return to the day when Iraqis were governed by secret police and informers and fear. They will not succeed. The Iraqi people will not permit a minority of assassins to determine the destiny of their nation. We will fight to defend this freedom and we will prevail. (Applause.)
Victory in this struggle will not come easily or quickly, but we have reason to hope. Iraqis have demonstrated their courage and their determination to live in freedom, and that has inspired the world. It is the same determination we saw in Kiev's Independent Square, in Tbilisi's Freedom Square, and in this square almost 17 years ago. (Applause.)
Slovakia has taken great risks for freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq. You have proved yourself a trusted friend and a reliable ally. That is why I recently announced a new solidarity initiative for nations like Slovakia that are standing with America in the war on terror. We will help you to improve your military forces so we can strengthen our ability to work together in the cause of freedom. We're working with your government to make it easier for Slovaks to travel to the United States of America. (Applause.)
Hundreds of thousands of our citizens can trace their roots back to this country. Slovak immigrants helped build America and shape its character. We want to deepen the ties of friendship between our people, ties based on common values, a love of freedom, and shared belief in the dignity and matchless value of every human being. (Applause.)
The Velvet Generation that fought for these values is growing older. Many of the young students and workers who led freedom's struggle here now struggle to support families and their children. For some, the days of protest and revolution are a distant memory. Today, a new generation that never experienced oppression is coming of age. It is important to pass on to them the lessons of that period. They must learn that freedom is precious, and cannot be taken for granted; that evil is real, and must be confronted; that lasting prosperity requires freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom of association; and that to secure liberty at home, it must be defended abroad. (Applause.)
By your efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and across the world, you are teaching young Slovaks these important lessons. And you're teaching the world an important lesson, as well: that the seeds of freedom do not sprout only where they are sown; carried by mighty winds, they cross borders and oceans and continents and take root in distant lands.
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Saturday, February 26, 2005
ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER: SYRIA BEHIND BOMBING
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Friday, February 25, 2005
SUICIDE BOMBER IN TEL AVIV A SYRIAN & IRANIAN STOOGE FROM HIZBALLAH
Syrian Operational and Logistical Support
As early as 1993, Shiqaqi [a founder of Islamic Jihad] acknowledged that he received Iranian funding and channeled it to operatives in Gaza and the West Bank. "Iran gives us money and supports us," he said in an interview with Newsday, "then we supply the money and arms to the occupied territories and support the families of our people. Just about all of it goes there because that's where most of our organization is."7
The most detailed evidence that Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus planned attacks, sent orders for attacks to operatives in the territories and funneled money to them, comes from the documents of PA intelligence agencies seized by Israeli forces in the West Bank earlier this year and deemed authentic by American officials. In an October 2001 document, Palestinian Preventive Security chief Jibril Rajoub briefed Yasser Arafat on the activities of Palestinian terrorist groups in Syria, citing intelligence indicating that "intensive meetings are being held in Damascus, in which leaders of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front and the Hezbollah take part, in an attempt to increase the joint activities "inside," with financial support
from Iran."8
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BUSH'S FAILED EURO-DIPLOMACY
Has Russia canceled it's arms sales to Venezuela? NO! To Syria? NO! Has Putin canceled the missile sale to Syria? NO! Has Putin canceled the nuke technology sales to Iran? NO! Have France or Germany or Spain or Turkey or NATO really stepped up to the plate and begun to do what they should do in Iraq? No, no, no, no, no and no!!!!!
This does NOT bode well.
This is bizarre, stupid, hypocritical, and COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. Why is he doing it?
I think to make Rice look good to our euroweenie foes as she starts her new assignment. And I think it's a bad bad BAD move.
IF...(in the coming 8 weeks) Bush wins unanimous UNSCR's which authorize military attacks against Syria and Iran - IF they fail to play ball with previous international agreements, (and if Russia now puts BIG PRESSURE on North Korea) then I will admit that I am now being too critical, and that Bush and Rice were right and shrewd.
Stay tuned.
ADDENDUM: Bush must soon appoint a UN Ambassador. If he appoints a "neocon" - (like Kirkpatrick or Moynihan) - then he will be signalling the world that his core policies haven't changed. If he appopints a career State Department type, then it will signal that Bush is capitualiating to the "realists" - perhaps because he is exhausted and ready to coast from here on out, perhaps prefering to take on domestic challenges.
BOTTOM-LINE: defeat in Iraq - and Iran and Syria and North Korea - lurks around the corner; if Bush continues to appease our pseudo-allies in Old Europe, then defeat is MORE likely to happen, not less. We need INCREASED resolve and devotion to the priciple of confronting and defeating evil, NOT a greater willingness to moderate our tactics to appease vestigial pseudo-allies who have neither the will or the means to be effective/REAL wartime allies.
Two weeks ago I would have NEVER thought Bush capable of abandoning the Bush Doctrine - especially NOT coming on the heels of its greatest victories. But his recent pandering in euroweenieland has made me very VERY concerned.
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Thursday, February 24, 2005
BUSH SQUANDERING HIS INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL CAPITAL
Bush also got a huge deposit of more political capital from the Iraqi election - BUT HE SEEMS TO BE SQUANDERING IT!
Chirac and Schroder and Zapatero and Putin should be ashamed of how they behaved during the Iraq Crisis, and now they should be BEGGING forgiveness - and asking if they can do more! Instead: Bush is letting them off the hook!
Now: Bush and Condi should be ashamed of themselves for lowering themselves down to their level!
"Steve Forbes is going to hear this message from me. I will do nothing for him if he does to me what he did to Dole. Period. There is going to be a consequence. He is not dealing with the average, you know, 'Oh gosh, let's all get together after it's over.' I will promise you, I will not help him. I don't care."
I REPEAT: Bush should be as AT LEAST as tough with Chirac and Schroder and Putin and Zapatero as he CLAIMED he would have been with Forbes.
DISLOYALTY TO THE USA AND TO THE CAUSE OF UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND LIBERTY MUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES! Bush's pathetically obsequious trip sends EXACTLY THE WRONG MESSAGE! He is rewarding Putin and Chirac and Schroder. This will set us back YEARS in the GWOT...
The ONLY acceptable excuse is if Bush's PUBLIC PERFORMANCE is a ruse, and if we are in fact deeply - and surreptitiously - engaged in fomenting democratic revolutions in Lebanon and Iran and North Korea (and even Russia) - RIGHT NOW. As we should be.
Time will tell: if the Lebanese Orange Revolution - and the upcoming Lebanese election - fail to bring real change; if Mahmous Abbas fails; if Iraq becomes like Iran is now (instead of the reverse) - THEN BUSH WILL HAVE FAILED, AND IT WILL HAVE BEEN BECAUSE HE SQUANDERED THE POLITICAL CAPITAL HE GAINED IN THE IRAQI ELECTION.
Bush has squandered his political capital because he has chosen to be magnanimous instead of "going in for the kill" - which is VERY un-cowboy-like.
It's sort of like, well, it's sort of like if Bush was "Marshall Will Kane" (the Gary Cooper character in the classic Western, "HIGH NOON") - who - having just faced-down a gang of murderous outlaws ALL BY HIMSELF, and just as he's outdrawn the baddest badguy and the ringleader of the gang that was after him, suddenly turns his back to take a bow in front of the town that ABANDONED HIM and made him face the gang alone - and he gets shot in the back!
Which is why Gary Cooper didn't do it. And why George W. Bush shouldn't have. The pinko appeasers of Old Europe will shoot him in the back the first chance they can. Unless we get them first.
Sound too harsh? Too hawk-like and extreme? Not if you remember this simple dictum: the pinko appeasers are NOT anti-war; they're on the other side.
WW4 will not end until we have utterly defeated the enemy, and that cannot happen until we defeat THE AXIS OF EVIL, which means overthrowing Iran and Syria and North Korea.
That NOW means we must also defeat Putin - and his sycophants in Old Europe - the part of Europe we liberated in WW2, protected in the Cold War - (WW3), and that took our efforts for granted. We must defeat Russia and Old Europe because their selfish and short-sighted arms deals nuke deals strengthen our enemies: Iran and China (and even that thug Chavez in Venezuela), and thereby they hurt us (because these EU/Putin strengthened enemies will INEVITABLY cause us more casualties in the inevitable battles that lie ahead).
TRUE: The "spirit of magnanimity" is noble and fine; Bush and Rice are merely PREMATURELY MAGNANIMOUS. The time for sweet talk and magnanimity has not come yet; it can only come AT THE END OF WW4. And that's still a long way off.
(ASIDE: NEW EUROPE - that part of Europe we liberated from the USSR - is OKAY. Bush should have ONLY visited New Europe and Italy and Denmark, even Ukraine - the nations who stood by us in OUR time of need.)
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LEBANESE ORANGE REVOLUTION GROWS IN BEIRUT'S NEW TENT CITY
A small tent city has popped up on Martyrs' Square in Beirut as anti-Syrian protesters call for political changes in the wake of former prime minister Rafik Hariri's assassination. Thousands of tent dwellers have spent four nights in the square and more are joining them each day.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2005
BUSH SHOULD BE IN BEIRUT, NOT BRATISLAVA
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PUTIN, ASSAD, KHATAMI, NASRALLAH AND ZARQAWI
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WHY PUTIN IS AIDING IRAN AND SYRIA
And by fomenting an Orange Revolution in Russia! We must identify and aid a true democratic movement in Russia. ASAP!
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BUSH INSPIRED LEBANESE ORANGE REVOLUTION GAINS MOMENTUM
Jim's right: QUOTE OF THE DAY
From David Ignacius' column in the Washington Post today: The leader of this Lebanese intifada [for independence from Syria] is Walid Jumblatt, the patriarch of the Druze Muslim community and, until recently, a man who accommodated Syria's occupation. But something snapped for Jumblatt last year, when the Syrians overruled the Lebanese constitution and forced the reelection of their front man in Lebanon, President Emile Lahoud. The old slogans about Arab nationalism turned to ashes in Jumblatt's mouth, and he and Hariri openly began to defy Damascus...
"It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq," explains Jumblatt. "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world." Jumblatt says this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. "The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."
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Tuesday, February 22, 2005
LEBANON, DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM
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Monday, February 21, 2005
LEBANESE ORANGE REVOLUTION BLOSSOMING
This is another instance of the Bush Doctrine - and the neo-con Democratic Domino Theory - WORKING! Soon BOTH Syria and Iran will be entiredly surrounded by pro-USA / pro-democracy governments which will oppose neojihadist terrorism. This will put increasing pressure on Syria and Iran to democratize, too - (and to cease supporting neojihadism and imbalancing armament policies). It's a WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN!
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Friday, February 18, 2005
LEBANESE ORANGE REVOLUTION BEGINS!
Lebanon's opposition has called for an peaceful "independence uprising" and called for the government to step down. The opposition holds both the Lebanese and Syrian governments responsible for the assassination on Monday of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri's death in an explosion in Beirut has sparked anti-Syrian feeling. Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned on Friday, saying the government was unable to "remedy the dangerous situation in the country". He said his decision was in line with his convictions and his "obligation to the nation". ... The opposition says it wants a representative government to be formed which would then oversee the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION - the DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION!
Welcome Le Sabot Moderne readers. And if your not one yet - YOU SHOULD BE, EVERYDAY! Start now with his LINK-FILLED post on the situation In Lebanon . For those of you unfamiliar with him, he has a great perspective on how popular democratic movements lead to real REVOLUTIONARY change: he's been living through, and been blogging on, the current ORANGE REVOLUTION in Ukraine.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
orange
SYLLABICATION: or·angeETYMOLOGY: mela, fruit + arancio, orange tree (alteration of Arabic naranj...
WORD HISTORY:
... the orange , originating in China, then being introduced to India, and traveling on to the Middle East, into Europe, and finally to the New World. ... As the fruit passed westward, so did the word, as evidenced by Persian narang and Arabic naranj. Arabs brought the first oranges to Spain, and the fruit rapidly spread throughout Europe. The important word for the development of our term is Old Italian melarancio, derived from mela, “fruit,” and arancio, “orange tree,” from Arabic naranj.
UPDATE - 2/19 - (FOX/AP):BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Lebanese opposition stepped up its campaign against the pro-Syrian government Friday, calling for a peaceful uprising to force the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami (search) and the withdrawal of Syrian troops. ... the Lebanese opposition, in a statement read to reporters by Samir Franjieh, urged residents to continue gathering daily at Hariri's gravesite in Beirut's Martyrs' Square to light candles and pray near the mosque there that Hariri built. The government should resign and a transitional Cabinet should be formed "to protect the people, and to ensure an immediate and full withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon as a prelude for free and fair elections," said Franjieh, a second cousin of the interior minister. ... The grave of Hariri, a self-made billionaire businessman credited with rebuilding Lebanon after the 1975-90 civil war, has become a pilgrimage destination.
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PUTIN-IRAN AXIS
It is HIGH TIME we fomented an ORANGE REVOLUTION in Russia! More HERE.
UPDATE: NRO has a MUST READ on Russia by Ilan Berman. EXCERPT:
Moscow's renewed maneuvers in the Middle East have everything to do with ideology. Over the past year, Putin's increasingly authoritarian governing style has succeeded in eliminating any semblance of serious domestic opposition to the Kremlin, giving the Russian president virtual carte blanche to formulate foreign and defense policy. Worse still, this growing political mandate has been mirrored by the revival of unhealthy notions of Russian greatness and geopolitical opposition to the United States. Whether these ideas actually benefit Russian national interests in the long term remains to be seen. But for the United States, the Kremlin's counterproductive policies in the Middle East — and the corrosive ideology underpinning them — are becoming harder and harder to ignore.
UPDATE #2: CAPT'S QUARTERS has MORE. And MORE HERE and HERE. And HERE. And HERE.
MORE HERE AT SECULAR BLASPHEMY, (hat tip ROGER l. SIMON.)
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Thursday, February 17, 2005
ROGUES GALLERY OF RECENT LEFTIST SCOUNDRELS
Joe Wilson. Richard Clarke. Sandy Berger. Dan Rather. Eason Jordan. Ward Churchill. Paul Krugman. Maureen Dowd. Jimmy Carter. Teddy Jo Kopechne. Howard Dean. John Kerry. Barbara Boxer. Chirac. Zapatero. Schroder. Putin. Kofi. Saddam. Assad. Arafat.What a crew! Just saying each one's name makes me CRINGE! Thank God they're not calling the shots! I wouldn't trust a single one to cat-sit for me, let alone have ANY real influence on my nation's security.
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SPHINX VERSUS LINKS: Old Media versus the blogosphere
Hence the "clever" phrase: "SPHINX vs LINKS."
The blogosphere EVERYTIME. And the Old Media better get into it or they're goners.
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CIA: MEXICAN BORDER CRUCIAL TO HOMELAND SECURITY
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 - New intelligence information strongly suggests that Al Qaeda has considered infiltrating the United States through the Mexican border, top government officials told Congress on Wednesday. ... Intelligence that "strongly suggests" that Al Qaeda operatives have considered using the Mexican border as an entry point was cited in written testimony by Adm. James M. Loy, the deputy secretary of homeland security. But he wrote that there was "currently no conclusive evidence" that this had succeeded. In the past, law enforcement officials have said Al Qaeda might try to use the Mexican border, but the testimony on Wednesday [by CIA diredctor Goss] seemed to suggest increasing concern.
UPDATE - NOTES: (a) the Israeli security fence proves that fences WORK; (b) the cost of a fence is LESS THAN the cost of an attack.
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Wednesday, February 16, 2005
JENIN & ARAFAT; FALLUJAH & ZARQAWI; LEBANON & NASRALLAH
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HARIRI WAS WHACKED BY SUICIDER
Likely a suicide car bomb
"The security services are almost sure that it was a suicide car bomb," Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said, adding however that the investigation was still going on and rejecting calls for an international probe. ... A hitherto unknown Islamic group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was to avenge Hariri's close ties with the Saudi regime, but experts suggested it required highly sophisticated technology and know-how that only a well organised group or government might possess.
Hariri's killer is Palestinian linked to al-Qaida
The jihad has indeed returned to Lebanon. Hariri murder update from UPI, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The suicide bomber who killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is a Palestinian member of an Islamic group linked to al-Qaida. A security source, on condition of anonymity, identified the bomber as Ahmed Abu Adas, a Palestinian refugee who lived in the low-income Beirut neighborhood of Tarik Jadida. The source said the bomber's neighbors saw him leave his home a few hours before the attack that killed Hariri and eight other people.
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SYRIA AND IRAN ANNOUNCE AXIS
Stay tuned...
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005
FORENSICS WILL REVEAL HARIRI'S KILLERS
IF the neojihadist group that claimed the hit is real, and IF it was a suicide bomber, THEN it was done by IRAN (because they are more neojihadist than Syria which is actually run by non-Muslims/Alawites).
IF the group is phony, and IF the bomb was remotely detonated, THEN the hit was done by Syria.
Whoever did it should get whacked for a week with cruise missiles until their military - and any/all suspected WMD sites in their territory - are GONZO.
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HAS PUTIN JOINED THE AXIS OF EVIL?
I think it is time that Condi - a Russia expert, by training - turned up the heat on Putin.
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THE BEIRUT AND DAMASCUS NEXUS - you read it hear first
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FROM THE UK: MORE PROOF THAT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH
ALSO from the BBC: The death rates for most diseases is MUCH higher in the UK than the USA; here's one example:Thousands of extra surgeons are going to be needed over the next few years to meet demand, a report warns. The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) said there would be a 2,760 shortfall by 2010 because of early retirement and new working practices. The figure amounts to 50% of the current number of surgeons and takes into account surgeons who will graduate from training in the coming years. The study said action was needed now as it takes 10 years to train a surgeon. ... However, the government missed its target of increasing consultants [medical specialists which includes surgeons] by 7,500 by 2004. A Department of Health spokeswoman said the government was looking to increase the number of surgeons. "It is something we are working towards. We know we have more work to do here.
That means your have a 50% greater chance of dying from cancer sooner/younger in the UK, than in the USA. Which is a win-win for the UK socialists: the government saves money by spending less to save your life, and they ALSO pocket the receipts from your retirement taxes since you won't be around to collect the benefit!"There are 17,000 deaths from the cancer in Britain each year and the five year survival rate for sufferers is just 40%, compared to 60% in America."
MORE PROOF from THE OBSERVER/Guardian:
An authoritative study to be published later this year will demonstrate that the chances of survival after undergoing a major operation are far greater in an American hospital. The authors conclude that NHS waiting lists, the lack of specialist-led care and the fact that many patients do not go routinely to intensive care contribute largely to the difference. A team from University College London (UCL) and a team from Columbia University in New York jointly studied the medical fortunes of more than 1,000 patients at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and compared them with nearly 1,100 patients who had undergone the same sort of major surgery at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. The results, which surprised even the researchers, showed that 2.5 per cent of the American patients died in hospital after major surgery, compared with just under 10 per cent of British patients. They found that there was a sevenfold difference in mortality rates when a subgroup of patients - the most seriously ill - were compared. ... 'We looked at a number of hypotheses, but it does seem to show a difference in the systems of care, rather than a reflection of some other factor. The provision of intensive-care beds is obviously one of the differences. In America, everyone would go into a critical care bed - they go into a highly monitored environment. That doesn't happen routinely in the UK.'
Suppose you come down with one of the big killer illnesses like cancer. Where do you want to be — London or New York? In Lincoln, Nebraska or Lincoln, Lincolnshire? Forget the money — we will come back to that — where do you have the best chance of staying alive? The answer is clear. If you are a woman with breast cancer in Britain, you have (or at least a few years ago you had, since all medical statistics are a few years old) a 46 per cent chance of dying from it. In America, your chances of dying are far lower — only 25 per cent. Britain has one of the worst survival rates in the advanced world and America has the best.
If you are a man and you are diagnosed as having cancer of the prostate in Britain, you are more likely to die of it than not. You have a 57 per cent chance of departing this life. But in America you are likely to live. Your chances of dying from the disease are only 19 per cent. Once again, Britain is at the bottom of the class and America at the top. How about colon cancer? In Britain, 40 per cent survive for five years after diagnosis. In America, 60 per cent do. With cancer of the oesophagus, survival rates are low all round the world. In Britain, a mere 7 per cent of patients live for five years after diagnosis. In America, the survival rate is still low, but much better at 12 per cent.
The more one looks at the figures for survival, the more obvious it is that if you have a medical problem your chances are dramatically better in America than in Britain. That is why those who are rich enough often go to America, leaving behind even private British healthcare. One reason is wonderfully simple. In America, you are more likely to be treated. And going back a stage further, you are more likely to get the diagnostic tests which lead to treatment.
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Monday, February 14, 2005
WHO HIT HARIRI? My money is on....IRAN!
Hariri regards the risk of assassination philosophically; his Muslim faith clearly helps. "I believe if my life is finished, it will be finished," he says. "It is written." But the businessman in him improved the odds of survival by spending $2 million of his own money to install blast-resistant armor plating and bulletproof glass in the government palace. He employs 40 private bodyguards and drives in a convoy of six armored Mercedes with smoked-glass windows. Even the Lebanese soldiers who ride shotgun in Range Rovers interspersed with the Mercedes cars do not know which vehicle carries the Prime Minister.
... his Saudi connections have proved a source of tension in Lebanon, where foreign sponsorship of competing religious communities has often aggravated sectarian strife. Some pro-Iranian Shi'ites view the return of the Sunni Muslim billionaire with suspicion. [emphasis added - reliapundit.]
After 27 years in the kingdom, Hariri speaks with a Saudi accent. He has encouraged other wealthy Saudis to invest in Lebanese reconstruction projects. Twice last month he met with King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, where his Palestinian-born wife Nazek and five children still live when they are not in Paris. While acknowledging his friendship with the King, Hariri denies he is "Saudi Arabia's man" in Lebanon. "King Fahd doesn't need a man in Lebanon," says Hariri. "Saudi Arabia doesn't have a policy of expansion or of trying to be influential in Lebanon. He is my friend. But I'm not here on a Saudi mission."
Neither is he Syria's man, he says. Unlike his recent predecessors, Hariri claims he does not seek approval for policy decisions from Damascus, which continues to maintain 40,000 troops in his country. But since it is virtually impossible to hold high political office in postwar Lebanon without Syria's stamp of approval, Hariri has cultivated ties there. Abdel Halim Khaddam, the Syrian Vice President responsible for his country's involvement in Lebanon, is a close friend. And Hariri's firm recently completed President Hafez Assad's hilltop palace in Damascus, a gift from Saudi Arabia. In addition, Lebanese allies of Syria retain key portfolios in Hariri's Cabinet. Though a September 1992 deadline for Syrian forces to withdraw to eastern Lebanon was not observed, Hariri says the redeployment is "not an issue" because the Lebanese army isn't yet strong enough to preserve law and order on its own. He declines to set a deadline for the Syrians' departure: "We cannot sacrifice the security of the country to satisfy some people. The Syrians don't want to stay, and we don't want them to stay. But they are needed."
Nasrallah is acutely aware of the will of the majority of Lebanese and has had to tread carefully over the past two and a half years in order not to overstay his welcome. At Syria's instructions, Lebanon has allowed Hizballah free rein in the areas from which Israel withdrew in May 2000. There is no real governmental authority and no international presence in these areas, which have become "Hizballah-land."
Nevertheless, Hizballah is acutely aware that this sufferance is tenuous. If it actually crosses a certain line and provokes a massive Israeli reaction that will disrupt and destroy everything that Hariri has been trying to build in Lebanon over the last few years, Hizballah might suffer the consequences from within the Lebanese system.
The Syrians are also a factor. There is a balance of deterrence between Israel and Syria today and for the foreseeable future. The Syrians have a very large standing army that can inflict a lot of pain. They have systematically and deliberately provided Hizballah with the ability to inflict even greater pain in some ways, since it can now hit large populated areas of Israel relatively quickly, without having to deploy the Syrian military. At the same time, conventional deterrence of Syria works. Bashar Assad is under no illusions whatsoever as to what will happen to Syria in a general conflict, and this has acted to modify and restrain Hizballah on a day-to-day basis.
During the past two and a half years there have been limited breaches of the peace, such as attacks on Israeli positions at the "Shib'ah Farms." There were some artillery duels with Hizballah in the north during Israeli operations in Jenin. There has been one major Hizballah-sponsored terrorist attack across the border near Hanita that killed five civilians and one soldier. Yet this is nowhere near the full use of Hizballah capabilities. How do we keep it this way in time of crisis?
Hizballah, and the Iranians who back them, have to some extent reduced the level of direct activity across the border because they have turned much of their energy toward the manipulation of terrorist activity within the Palestinian areas and within Israel. Essentially, the Iranian establishment is more focused on supporting terrorist organizations in the Palestinian arena, with Hizballah as backers and suppliers of arms and technology. The major conduit they use is Islamic Jihad, which is directly responsive to Iranian directives. The infusion of Iranian money, support, and technology accounts for the tremendous rise in the effectiveness of Islamic Jihad operations, as compared to a couple of years ago.
Hizballah has also infiltrated the Palestinian Authority itself. The use of mortars in Gaza was begun by PA officers working under the influence and direction of Hizballah. The bombing on Tel Aviv's Neve Sha'anan Street, which took 23 lives, was also the result of a link with Hizballah.
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ELECTION RESULTS PROVE: ANTI-DEMOCRACY EFFORTS BY IRAQI SUNNI ARABS FAIL MISERABLY
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Mexican-Algerian move MUST be countered
As a sovereign nation, Mexico is within its rights to allow anyone it wants into it's country - with any degree of security or checking or oversight.ALGIERS (AP): Algeria President Vicente Fox arrived in Algeria on Saturday with plans to sign a series of accords during the first visit by a Mexican leader to this North African nation in three decades. Four accords were being signed during his visit, Fox told Algerian government-controlled daily El Moudjahid, ranging from exchanges in education, art and culture to a decision to do away with visas in diplomatic and official passports
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Friday, February 11, 2005
ROGER L. SIMON: THE GALL!
I wish him well, and know and pray that HE WILL BE WELL SOON.
I had the operation a few years back - laparoscopically. I recovered in a few days.
I ate a bowl full of Vitenamese pork bellies last night - and slept wonderfully!
Roger - all the best to you, and I'm praying you have a speedy and calm and uncomplicated recovery. All the best to you and yours!
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CAUSES OF EUROPE'S "DIATHESIS FOR DHIMMITUDE"
EXCERPTS:
I believe there are TWO root causes for Europe's DIATHESIS FOR DHIMMITUDE:According to Ms. Ye'or, this Arab/European alliance was motivated primarily by anti-Americanism, anti-Zionism and a desire to import oil and cheap labor. ... any Europeans agree with Said’s theories. Many don’t believe that their culture is worth preserving. ... The policies of the EU towards Israel mirror Arab policies. ... This multicultural 'alliance' is currently cemented by European fear of terrorism. ... Europe seems to accept its current dhimmi status, and does not seem to be willing to defend traditional Western, Judeo-Christian values.
(1) EXHAUSTION - they are worn out by the bloody 20th Century.
(2) This exhaustion has led to flase rationalizions and self-defeating modalities which now permeate NOT only the European "Academe" and the elites, but Europe's masses:
As Seinfeld once humorously noted (paraphrasing): the French fought harder to keep out Disneyland than they did the NAZIS!"(a) colonialism and imperialism were bad and their wealth is the result of pillaging the Third World - which would be wealthy if it weren't for European Hegemony. This has caused MASSIVE GUILT and SELF-LOATHING.
(b) nationalism and etnocentricity led to a lack of acceptance of neighbors and bloodshed; therefore we must blindly accept anything that another nation or culture does that is value-related or we risk more pointless bloodshed. This has led to Pan-Europeanism and to Cultural Relativism and to a "Neo/Quasi-Pacificism."Weirdly, (a) and (b) have led them to embrace and adore Third World culture and immigrants even as they try to protect their culture from so-called "savagery of American Cultural Hegemony" - (which is a misconception of and misnomer for the world's freely evolving "Mass/Pop Culture" or the "free marketplace of ideas," which is free because it is unfettered by snobbery and elitism - and which I blogged about here).
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ABBAS BEGINS MOVE AGAINST HAMAS
If these signals are followed by actions, then a settlement and peace will be possible. STAY TUNED...Mahmoud Abbas is to demand today that militant leaders stop their attacks on Israelis, after the Palestinian president's Fatah movement declared a state of emergency for Palestinian security forces. Mr Abbas is to confront militant leaders in the Gaza Strip in a bid to curb the violence. He will tell militant leaders that "there is only one Palestinian Authority and one leadership, and [he] will not accept any measures that can subject our national project to danger," cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said.Late last night, Fatah's central committee announced the state of emergency and accused the militant group Hamas of violating the fragile truce agreed on Tuesday between Mr Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.
The crackdown on militancy follows a sustained rocket and mortar barrage on Jewish settlements yesterday that threatened to unravel the ceasefire just days after it was announced. "We are still committed to the language of dialogue, but at the same time, we warn against continuation of these irresponsible actions," Fatah's leadership said in a statement. "The Palestinian Authority will not tolerate any actions that will sabotage the agreement reached with Israelis on a mutual ceasefire," Mr Abu Libdeh said.
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ZARQAWI ALLEGEDLY SEEN IN KIRKUK
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Thursday, February 10, 2005
KARTER, KLINTON AND KOREAN NUKES
NORTH KOREA SAYS IT HAS NUKES. Bill Quick blames Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. I guess they deserve some of the blame, but honestly there hasn't been all that much we could do about North Korea, short of nuking them, anyway. The Clinton-Carter deal didn't help, but I don't think it really did a lot of harm, either.
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STEWART CONVICTED!
GOOD.
Now... when can we start indicting Old Media journalists like Eason Jordan for doing the same thing!?!?!?!? After all, they are the CHIEF propagandists for ther terrorists: without their hyping of the attacks there'd less "TERROR" (which after all depends on the media to hype their attacks and thereby inflict a disproportionate fear on to the populace), and they're often tipped off before attacks, and they're HAPPY to broadcast the terrorists' charges, and always ignore the good news! If that ain't abetting the enemy then nothing is!
CHECK OUT POWERLINE ON THIS NOW! EVEN MORE AT Michele Malkin, (please use my blogroll link - the BLOGGER hyperlink system seems to be down.)
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HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD KICK BALL BACK INTO ABU MAZEN'S COURT
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have said they are not bound by the ceasefire agreed between Palestinian and Israeli leaders at a summit in Egypt on Tuesday. The two militant groups were at the forefront of attacks on Israel during the Palestinian uprising, but have been observing an unofficial truce. ... "The resistance is not committed to what has been agreed at the summit... since the Palestinian conditions were not achieved. "We consider that there is no truce and there is no deal to stop the resistance." An Islamic Jihad spokesman, Mohammed al-Hindi, said the summit had brought "nothing new". However, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he was "fully content" that compliance with the ceasefire would be "complete and comprehensive". A senior Palestinian official has meanwhile been sent to Lebanon to urge the Hezbollah militia to back the peace moves, French news agency AFP reports, citing unnamed sources.
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Wednesday, February 09, 2005
"KNIFE CONTROL" ANYONE!?
(these are BBC HEADLINES ONLY for the last month)
1 Knifeman grabs money in robbery - A robber wielding a knife threatens shop staff and grabs money from the till.
2 A man who murdered his partner in front of her two daughters has been jailed for life at Cardiff Crown Court. Paul Viner, 45, stabbed Donna Brough, 39, to death with a sheath knife at her home in Tylorstown, Rhondda, after she returned home late from a night out.
3 Fresh efforts to cut knife crime - Proposals aimed at helping Scottish police reduce knife crime are setout by ministers at Holyrood.
4 Men held after house knife raid - Police in Grimsby arrest two men in connection with an raid at a house in Nunsthorpe.
5 Knife held to customer's throat - A man holds a knife to a customer's throat during a robbery at a Tyneside petrol station.
6 Armed robbery at service station - Police hunt two men who robbed a petrol service station armed with a handgun and knife.
7 Armed robber holds up nightclub - A hooded robber armed with a knife holds up a nightclub in Derby.
8 Man has knife held to his throat - Two men hold a knife to a man's throat during an assault in a street in Cumbria.
9 Knife-crime battle is stepped up - Police patrols aim to crack down on knife crime in a north London borough.10 Diamond robber photofit released - Police release an image of a suspected jewellery robber who threatened a couple with a knife.
11 Man with knife robs betting shop - Police are hunting a man armed with a knife who robbed a betting shop in County Durham.
12 Men's sex attack on woman in car - A woman was sexually assaulted by two men carrying a knife who got into her car in central London.
13 Knife gang assaults man in park - A man is punched and threatened by a gang of four as he walks home through a Northampton park.
14 Man still in custody over knifing - Police continue to question a 24-year-old Grimsby man over the stabbing of a New Year's Eve partygoer.
15 Knife attack on video shop staff - A member of staff at a video shop in Rushden is threatened with a knife during a robbery.
16 Man in court over knife rampage - A man appears in court charged with murder and five counts of attempted murder following knife attacks in London.
An armed citizenry is a bulwark against thuggery.
As the song asks: "When will they ever learn when will they ever learn?"
WELCOME readers of THE AMERICAN THINKER; please check out a few other posts. (And if your not a regular reader of that fine blog, yet - YOU SHOULD BE, EVERYDAY! And check what T.A.T. editor Thomas Lifson has to say about gun control.)
FLASH!!!! UPDATE!!!!! THIS JUST IN: FOXNEWS reports that there's been another stabbing in London - at a stampede near a midnight grand opening for a new IKEA! FOX: "The stabbing victim, a man in his 20s, was attacked at around 1:30 a.m. near the IKEA store, a spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police said, adding that his condition did not appear life-threatening."
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WHICH SIDE REALLY TARGETS JOURNALISTS: PART III
Now, Mr Eason: WHICH SIDE REALLY TARGETS JOURNALISTS?!?!?!?!?!A BBC producer has died after being shot while making a series of reports in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Kate Peyton, 39, and reporter Peter Greste had just arrived in the capital Mogadishu when she was hit. Mr Greste was not injured. Ms Peyton was taken to hospital, where she had an operation on a bullet wound to her back, but died later of internal bleeding, the BBC said. ... A spokesman for Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed said Ms Peyton's death was "extremely shocking and extremely tragic", the Associated Press reported. Yusuf Ismail spoke to the news agency from Kenya where the exiled government is currently based.
More HERE, at SOXBLOG; (hat tip ROGER L. Simon).
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US WARNS SYRIAN AMBASSADOR
WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department called in Syria's ambassador this week and warned him Damascus must stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq and end support for Palestinian militants or risk fresh U.S. sanctions, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The warning to Ambassador Emad Moustapha appeared to signal Washington is edging closer to imposing new sanctions on Syria, which Washington accuses of supporting Palestinian militants and of allowing money and arms to flow to insurgents in Iraq. ... In one sign of U.S. frustration with Damascus, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Syria for what she said was its policy of exporting terror and attempting to wreck Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts."It is just not acceptable that Syria would continue to be a place from which terrorists are funded and helped to destroy the very fragile peace process in the Middle East or to change the dynamic of events in Lebanon," Rice said on Tuesday.
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WAS THE U.N. WEATHER SCAM FINANCING AL QAEDA?
The tempest inside the World Meteorological Organization began with a single check. An accountant working late one night in July 2003 at the United Nations-affiliated weather agency in Geneva spotted a check that he had signed, but noticed that someone had endorsed it to an unknown third party, one L. Khalil. The accountant's curiosity was piqued, and he began nosing around. "Within half an hour I had found about 25 checks worth about $400,000 that had not gone to where they were supposed to go," said the accountant, Luckson Ngwira. That led to a formal audit and a continuing criminal investigation by Swiss authorities at the sleepy agency, focusing on allegations of embezzlement of training funds by Muhammad Hassan, a Sudanese employee who controlled that money. Investigators allege in documents and interviews that Mr. Hassan stole as much as $3 million over three or four years.
It's a great short article (but one that fails to even ask this question); RTWT.
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WHO'S THE UN AMBASSADOR FROM THE USA?
Don't you think it'd be a good idea if Bush appointed on BEFORE we go to the mats with Iran and the IAEE at the UNSC?!?!?!?
And who is our National Director of Intelligence!?!?!?
NO ONE, yet. Bush hasn't appointed anyone for that key job, either.
Bush should get a move on, no!? What's he waiting for!?
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RICE: NO DEADLINE FOR IRAN
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that Iran cannot delay indefinitely accountability for a suspected nuclear weapons program, but said the United States has set “no deadline, no timeline” for Tehran to act. ... “I’m quite clear and I believe everybody is telling the Iranians that they are going to have to live up to their international obligations,” she said. “It is obvious that if Iran cannot be brought to live up to its international obligations, in fact, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) statute would indicate that Iran would have to be referred to the U.N. Security Council” for possible sanctions. “I think the message is there,” Rice said. “The Iranians need to get that message,” she said, adding that Tehran should know that “there are other steps” the international community can take.
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SEVERAL ZARQAWI AIDES CAPTURED. IS ZARQAWI NEXT?
Iraqi security forces arrested several assistants to Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi after storming hideouts in Al-Ramadi, said the Iraqi government in a statement Tuesday. The statement said the Iraqi forces arrested in Al-Ramadi a group of terrorists including Adnaan Al-Delimi, 34, who is also known as Abu Abdulrahman.It added, forces arrested another assistant to Al-Zarqawi in the city named Abbas Al-Obaidi, 39, who is also known as Abu Ali. They also detained Adnan Al-Saadawi, 38, known as Abu Ahmad, who is a suspect of planning and financing several terrorist attacks within Al-Zarqawi network. The Iraqi government also announced the arrest of Abu Waleed, the military advisor of Al-Zarqawi, also known as Enaad Al-Qaisi. A statement issued by the Iraqi cabinet said, Abu Waleed, a 41 years old Jordanian, "provided facilities for Al-Zarqawi network which is tied to Al-Qaida terrorist network".Spokesman for Iraqi Premier Thaaer Al-Naqeeb said in a statement that the Iraqi security arrested Basheer Al-Takriti near Mousel.
MORE HERE at POWERLINE. Welcome MY PET JAWA readers. (And if your NOT ONE YET - GO THERE NOW!)
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Israel and the P.A. BOTH accuse Iran and Syria
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas are trying to recruit Palestinian militants for attacks on Israelis in order to sabotage Middle East peace efforts, senior Palestinian officials said on Wednesday. ... "We know that Hizbollah has been trying to recruit suicide bombers in the name of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to carry out attacks which would sabotage the truce," said one official, referring to a militant group inside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. ... Another official said intercepted email communications and bank transactions suggested Hizbollah had raised its cash offers to militants, but it was unclear if this reflected a heightened desire to see violence flare up or a dearth of recruits. "Now they are willing to pay $100,000 for a whole operation (suicide bombing) whereas in the past they paid $20,000, then raised it to $50,000," the second official told Reuters. ... Israel has long accused Hizbollah, whose attacks helped end its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000, of bankrolling a Palestinian revolt that erupted later that year.
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Tuesday, February 08, 2005
WHAT EASON JORDAN AND DAVOS TELL US ABOUT A FREE PRESS
Then Glenn commented:If the Davos organizers refuse to release it, and CNN refuses to call for its release, and the BBC refuses to call for its release, and every other news agency refuses to call for its release... ...then remember this, the next time the media gets up on a high horse about the public's right to know. Remember this the next time Dick Cheney has a meeting with energy executives. Remember this the next time reporters complain about Bush not holding enough press conferences, and not doing enough interviews. Remember this the next time they talk about the importance of a free press, and an informed citizenry. Because it's all conditional. None of this applies when the situation includes a media executive says something in a big forum that he later realizes he doesn't want the public to hear. Then all of a sudden, none of this matters, because it's bad form for other news agencies to look into the story if he wants it to go away. "Bad manners, old chap. We journalists have to stick together."
You don't need TV for those ideas to spread. And when they do -- and they are -- getting rid of Eason Jordan doesn't matter so much. Because neither does Eason Jordan. On the other hand, if the Eason Jordans of the world are all untrustworthy, self-interested boobs, and seen as such, it's going to be hard to sustain public support for press freedom. Unless, perhaps, enough people are blogging that the public sees its own face on "press freedom" and not the likes of Eason Jordan's.
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BLAIR AND RICE ISSUE SERIOUS WARNINGS TO IRAN AND SYRIA
That's why the recent CONCERTED warnings coming from Blair and Rice against Iran (and against Syria here) are so VERY important - and herald the next front in the GWOT.
I predict that if Syria and Iran don't play ball - if they and their surrogates interfere with the Israeli Peace Process (or in a major attack in Iraq), then they are going to get WHACKED - and I don't mean with more sanctions. Stay tuned...
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ANOTHER NEW SIGN OF HOPE
Israeli flags flew inside a cluster of Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian flags on the route from the Sharm e-Sheikh airport to the resort hotel where the four-way summit was being held Tuesday morning, already a marked improvement from the last time Israeli and Palestinian leaders met here in 2000. At the ill-fated summit in 2000, Jordanian, Egyptian, Palestinian and American flags flew, but the Israeli banner was nowhere to be seen. The Israeli flag was also noticeably absent from the streets of Aqaba during the summit there in June 2003. Yigal Palmor, one of a handful of Israeli spokesmen who traveled to the meeting to present Israel's position to the mass of journalists who converged on the scene, said that the very fact that the Israeli flag is flying already indicates a change of attitude toward the Israelis.
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Monday, February 07, 2005
ANOTHER GOOD SIGN FROM ABBAS AND SHARON
Israel and the Palestinians will announce a cease-fire at Tuesday's summit in Egypt to halt more than four years of violence, officials from both sides said. The deal was reached ahead of the landmark meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Both sides have said they hoped the highest-level meeting since 2000 would mean a halt to violence. It also signals a step toward reviving a U.S.-backed "road map" for a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. "We have agreed to declare a mutual cease-fire," said Mohammad Dahlan, a close Abbas aide who has been in pre-summit talks with the Israelis. "This cease-fire means a halt to all actions against Palestinians and Israelis in accordance with the road map," he told reporters. An Israeli official confirmed the agreement but said the text had yet to be finalized. Signaling new U.S. commitment after Yasser Arafat's death to ending decades of conflict, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Lt. Gen. William Ward as security coordinator to protect the budding Middle East peace moves. Both Sharon and Abbas had also accepted invitations to the White House in the Spring for talks with President Bush.
And - to all my Leftie Dove friends: be prepared to admit that the Bush Doctrine IS WORKING! MORE HERE.
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ABBAS TAKES ANOTHER GOOD STEP
Abbas demands TV shed violent visuals - Newly elected President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered Palestinian television to cleanse its screens of bloody imagery to conform with a new mood of conciliation in the region.
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MORE PROOF THAT GLOBAL JIHAD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BUSH OR ISRAEL - and what denial of this FACT says about the Left
MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of armed followers of a jailed former Muslim rebel leader [NUR MISUARI] attacked government troops and occupied at least one army detachment on violent southern Jolo island (search) on Monday, sparking clashes that killed at least 12 soldiers, officials said. Misuari formerly headed the Moro National Liberation Front, a large Muslim separatist group that accepted limited autonomy and signed a peace deal with the government in 1996 [before the Second Intifada, before Bush - reliapundit]. A week before elections were to be held in November 2001 to elect his successor as governor, hundreds of his followers attacked an army camp in Jolo in an assault officials alleged was aimed at derailing the ballot. More than 100 people, mostly Misuari's followers, were killed. Misuari was arrested and jailed on rebellion charges. He is still being tried on those charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. ... They have periodically been accused by military officials of supporting Abu Sayyaf guerrillas. The Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for mass kidnappings, beheadings and bombings, has been loosely linked to Al Qaeda.
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SALUTE
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GOODS NEWS: US DEVELOPING NEW NUKES
U.S. Redesigning Atomic Weapons
Worried that the nation's aging nuclear arsenal is increasingly fragile, American scientists have begun designing a new generation of nuclear arms meant to be sturdier and more reliable and to have longer lives, federal officials and private experts say.
The officials say the program could help shrink the arsenal and the high cost of its maintenance. But critics say it could needlessly resuscitate the complex of factories and laboratories that make nuclear weapons and could possibly ignite a new arms race.
So far, the quiet effort involves only $9 million for warhead designers at the nation's three nuclear weapon laboratories, Los Alamos, Livermore and Sandia. Federal bomb experts at these heavily guarded facilities are now scrutinizing secret arms data gathered over a half century for clues about how to achieve the new reliability goals.
The relatively small initial program, involving fewer than 100 people, is expected to grow and produce finished designs in the next 5 to 10 years, culminating, if approval is sought and won, in prototype warheads. Most important, officials say, the effort marks a fundamental shift in design philosophy.
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IRAN COUNTER-ATTACKS IN WAR OF WORDS... for now
Iran's top nuclear negotiator says Iran will retaliate and accelerate its efforts to develop nuclear technology if attacked by the US or Israel. Hassan Rohani told Reuters news agency there was nothing the West could do that would persuade Tehran to scrap its nuclear programme. Both the US and Israel have said it would be unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear programme will be used to generate electricity. The US has refused to rule out a military strike on Iran, but has said it will try to resolve the dispute by diplomatic means.
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Sunday, February 06, 2005
POP QUIZ ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The correct answer is: they are 3 of the 5 members of the UN Human Rights Commission's "Working Group on Situations!"
Sickening, isn't it!? I mean IF you believe in Hman Rights it is simply sickening.
MORE HERE. (HAT TIP The Corner.)
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FOUR MORE HOSTAGES TAKEN IN IRAQ ... REAL HOSTAGES!
Gunmen abducted four Egyptian telecoms engineers in Baghdad Sunday, underlining the danger haunting Iraq's streets despite its faltering steps toward democracy. The men were seized as they left their house in the west of the capital for work. All are employed by a unit of the Egyptian firm Orascom, which has several contracts in Iraq including one to run Iraqi mobile phone operator Iraqna. "We don't have any more details at this stage," said Shamal Hanafi, an Iraqna spokesman. "It's not clear who was behind it."
The abduction appeared to be part of an attempt by militants to disrupt the rebuilding of Iraq and came two days after the brazen kidnapping of an Italian journalist.
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POPE WAS 10 MINUTES FROM DEATH
According to TIME:THE Pope was just 10 minutes from death when he was rushed to hospital last week, a report has revealed.The Pope's condition was far graver than his spokesman let on, according to the US magazine Inside the Vatican due out this week. ... Inside the Vatican says the Pope was taken to the hospital's intensive care unit until his breathing spasms subsided - an action that also contradicted the account given by Vatican officials. "We got him by a breath," one medico tells the magazine. Another says: "If he had come in 10 minutes later he would have been gone."
Pope John Paul II appears to be recovering after being hospitalized last week with a respiratory infection, the result of a bout with the flu. But his latest health scare has revived a heavy question hovering over St. Peter's Square: Who is really running the show? Despite his physical frailties brought on by Parkinson's disease, his collaborators say John Paul, 84, is mentally alert and capable of making big calls on the direction of the Roman Catholic Church. But even the most steadfast Vatican loyalists concede that a substantial chunk of his workload has been delegated to top subordinates in Rome. A senior Vatican official told TIME, "Things that the Pope would have handled personally in the past are more and more being entrusted to aides." Some duties, such as signing major encyclicals and apostolic letters, cannot be handed off to others. But Vatican insiders say the Pope has now given the green light to the heads of dicasteries to handle their own business virtually without oversight. "He is still the head of the church," said a priest based in Rome. "But he's more of a figurehead. He's not making the day-to-day decisions anymore."
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WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
[Javier Solana is the EU's "foreign policy chief." According to the BBC,] Solana said that a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would be "a mistake", the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has warned. "That will complicate enormously the situation," he told Britain's ITV television network.
Asked if he agreed with UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that a US military action against Iran was "inconceivable", Mr Solana replied: "I think at this point in time military action... is very difficult to conceive. "I don't think that the United States has at this point of time the wish or the will or the capability to do that," Mr Solana said.
With allies like these, who needs enemies! Or as the wise man once said: "They're not for peace; they're on the other side!" (YES: I MEAN IT - THE EU IS ON THE OTHER SIDE! AFTER ALL IT'S THE EU AND RUSSIA WHO'RE SELLING IRAN WHAT THEY NEED TO MAKE NUKES!)
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Saturday, February 05, 2005
WARD CHURCHILL SHOULD BE FIRED - FOR LYING
But he can't be fired for saying what he said.
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BAD NEWS: ABBAS USING OLD ARAFAT TRICK
Israeli security officials said on Saturday that it appears the Palestinian Authority is continuing with the same "revolving door" policy from the past when it would arrest suspects involved in terror against Israel but release them shortly after. "It is a shame that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has not yet acted on the ground to disarm terror organizations and crackdown on terror," a security official said. Palestinian security forces on Saturday briefly arrested three leaders of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which claimed responsibility for a recent attack that lightly wounded two Israeli soldiers. The arrests marked the first such detentions since Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian Authority chairman last month; however, the three were released five hours after they were arrested, party members said.
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"Culture of Life" expanding
CHICAGO — A couple whose frozen embryo was accidentally destroyed at a fertility clinic (search) has the right in Illinois to file a wrongful-death lawsuit, a judge has ruled in a case that some legal experts say could have implications in the debate over embryonic stem cell research. In an opinion issued Friday, Cook County Judge Jeffrey Lawrence (search) said "a pre-embryo is a 'human being' ... whether or not it is implanted in its mother's womb." He said the couple is as entitled to seek compensation as any parents whose child has been killed.
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WHAT GENERAL MATTIS AND EASON JORDAN TELL US ABOUT THE LEFT
UPDATE 3: Type "Mattis" into the search engines of the Washington Post, the ew York Times, the Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times and you will find tories here, here, here, and here on United States Marine Corps General James Mattis' remarks on war fighting made this past Tuesday.
Type "Eason Jordan" into those same search engines and you will get nothing concerning Jordan's scandalous accusation at Davos on January 27 that the American military "targeted" and killed a dozen journalists in Iraq. Zip. Nothing.
The elite media instantly saddles up to ride to the condemnation of a speech given by a warrior much beloved and respected by his troops --a genuine hero and charismatic war-winner who believes in closing with and killing the enemy before they kill his troops and more civilians, and for those ideology of fascism he has complete contempt.
But let the speech be given by a MSM big, and let the subject be a slander on the entire American military, and the result is total MSM silence.
This is why there is near complete contempt for the MSM among center-right people. Think about it. Every major paper has an anti-Mattis story. Not one has even mentioned Jordan.Cancel a MSM subscription today. And find a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine to thank for their service.
So: Either the Left takes a deep breath, admits they were wrong about the 20th Century or they will vanish in the 21st - either by dwindling to electoral insignificance, or by self-immolation. Their choice. And ultimately, it matters not: Humanity can and will continue the centuries long march toward liberty and democracy without them! As the wise man once said: "Lead. follow, or get out of the way." Bush is leading; it's time for the Left to follow us, or get out of the way.
More at Capt's Quarters here and here and here and here.
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Friday, February 04, 2005
Let's Give Fidel the Finger!
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Thursday, February 03, 2005
FOUR QUESTIONS ON SOCIAL SECURITY FOR THE PALEO-LIBS
(2) Can tax receipts received by the Federal government grow faster than direct investments in the economy WITHOUT THE FEDS RAISNG TAXES (and damaging the economy)?
(3) If bonds are better than stocks (and if this is Krugman's and other paleo-libs chief objection to individualization/partial privatization of Social Security), than why don’t they favor partially privatization and then limit each individual account to bonds?
(4) Can the current system offer people inheritability?
I think the answers to these questions prove that Krugman and the paleo-libs are wrong on the facts, and essentailly favor keeping a system that is archaic and anti-poor. I KNOW: RIGHT NOW I AM POOR, AND THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET SOMETHING LIKE A "401k" would be if it came out of my payroll taxes. Rich folks already have both.
Or, look at it this way:
WOULD YOU WANNA USE A PHONE FROM 1935? WOULD YOU WANNA DRIVE A CAR FROM 1935 ON US 95? WOULD YOU WANNA FLY TO EUROPE IN A 1936 PLANE? So why would ANYONE wanna government retirement stipend system designed in 1935?!
It is time to innovate. NO: IT IS PASSED TIME! Partial privatization is OVERDUE.
EVEN IF there is no looming demographic shortfall, it is time to make innovative changes.
Of course, there IS a looming demographic crisis. When the paleo-libs deny there is a looming demographic shortfall, they're denying what Clinton and other libs admitted six years ago. Which is sort of like the paleo-lib position on Saddam: he was a grave threat to them in 1998 - when Clinton was in power - but a well-contained pussycat as soon as Bush became president.
The majority of people see through this HYPOCRISY. As a result Bush will win on partial privatization - just as he won on Iraq and the prescription drug plan and his education bill.
(YEAH I KNOW: there are 8 questions in this post!)
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Leftist Surrealism
I think it's part of a pattern: The Left seems to be more afraid of phony threats than real ones - ALL THE TIME. They feared AsKKKroft more than Binladen. They feared Sharon more than Arafat. They feared Reagan more than Gorbachev.
Any more examples? Any theories?
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Wednesday, February 02, 2005
BOTTOM-LINE RE: JOKES ON HOAX
This is a link to a photo of the Bulgarian hostage's torso-less head dripping with blood being held aloft by a ruthless neojihadist savage.
The prior makes light of the latter in ways that must hurt the families of those so brutally slaughtered.
The jokesters of the hoax have no sympathy and no shame.
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GERMANY IN THE FAST LANE!
FIVE MILLION UNEMPLOYED - THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE SINCE THE 1930's (BBC)!
Socialism is just not as effective as a free-market at creating prosperity.
The sooner that Continental Europe gets a "THATCHER" the sooner they become economically vital.
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POPE DOING WELL
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Sharon, Mubarak, Abbas, Abdullah to meet in Egypt next Tuesday
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THE OLD MEDIA - THEY'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE
As such, it is further proof that MANY in the Old Media are not only NOT OBJECTIVE, but they're actively supporting our enemy.
They're worse than liars; they're traitors and accomplices of terrorists and murderers.
CLICK HERE and read WIZBANG on the issue. And CLICK HERE, too (HUGH HEWITT has links to many other bloggers on the case).
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WHO MIGHT BE THE NEXT POPE?
He has been a Pope of great historic dimensions - within and without his Church. He helped defeat the USSR, and for this the whole of humanity owes him a great debt.
On other issues his record has been mixed, especially of late: I think that the Vatican has dropped the ball on their sex scandals, and that a return to a married clergy is needed to save the Church in Europe from disappearing. This Pope has not acted well on these fronts - in my humble AND NON-CATHOLIC opinion. (I am not Catholic, but have read A LOT about the Church's history - especially about it from the 5th Century to the 20th.)
Here is a list of the SEVEN Cardinals I feel might most likely be selected (in order of likelihood) in the inevitable and still sad event of the Pope's eventual crossing-over:
Juan-Luis Cipriani-Thorne (Peru, 12/28/43);
(Links take you to official English Bio's/cv's and a photo.)
These are the youngest Cardinals with the best pedigrees/resumes, and they're from countries with special histories and cultures.
Other bloggers may have more insight into the current political intrigues of the CoC's. Or gossip. This list merely represents my somewhat educated guess. I think the CoC's will pick a conservative from a country or region that has seriously dealt with all forms of outreach and a Cardinal who has been good at it. Additionally, the Church has been growing most in Africa and South America - which may give these two Cardinals an edge that they might not have enjoyed a few decades ago. All "look" papal.
That being said, I want to again extend my wishes for a speedy recovery for the Pope. I hope that not too many of you feel that thinking about who may become the next Pope is ghoulish. Mature people make preparations for the inevitable. The Pope's age and frailty mean that his eventual passing - as sad as that is for many MANY millions of people - is much closer than ever before.
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HOAX NO LAUGHING MATTER
Must I remind the blogosphere that the neojihadists still hold hostages, and they HAVE BEHEADED dozens and dozens of REAL PEOPLE, including Daniel Pearl.
Making light of them and their ruthless practices demeans the people they've already murdered and those they currently hold - and those who serve in harms way AND MIGHT BE TAKEN HOSTAGE.
I suggest that those who think it's funny (and suggest in their blogs that we'll next see claims of Mr. Bill or BERT & ERNIE or Miss Piggy taken hostage) - should volunteer to take the place of a current hostage!
SHAME ON YOU ALL WHO MAKE LIGHT OF THIS.
The hoax was crude and cruel; making light of it it bad form, too.
UPDATE:
LOOK: I think it's GREAT to have a sense of humor about things - BUT as long as there are hostages whose lives are threatened by ruthless thugs (who HAVE BEHEADED people), we shouldn't make light of it.
It crosses the line for me, a line between good taste and bad taste.
I think if someone made jokes about the people who jumped out of the WTC it would also be in bad taste... (like maybe someone could write a joke about how the jumpers were pyrophobes who weren't not afraid of heights); NOT FUNNY! Neither would I find it funny or in good taste to make jokes about abortion.
It'd be better - in better taste - to make fun of our enemies, and not the victims of our enemies.
UDPATE #2 - BOTTOM-LINE: I guess I am disappointed in the pro-war side for making light of this hoax. I expect this kind of sick humor from the DU, not us!
JOKING ABOUT HOSTAGE-TAKING REMINDS ME OF WOLCOTT'S ASININE PRO-HURRICANE COMMENTS: its cruel snarkiness is in bad taste!
UPDATE #3 - TWO QUESTIONS: If it was a USA teen prankster making a sick joke (and who hacked the hoax onto the jihadist web-site) and NOT a jihadist who posted the hoax, then who are you making fun of by "piling on" with the doll/hoax jokes? And at who's expense, the jihadists or the families of hostages? Maybe Iraqi kidnappers get paid a bounty by the neojihadists, and they have to post a vidoe of their victims in order to collect, and maybe a kidnapper posted this hoax to collect a bounty he hadn't "earned?"
It matters not - not to me, at least. WHY?!
Because there ARE families out there who have had their loved one's head savagely cut off.
And there are other families out there with loved ones who are now hostages.
And there are families out there who have loved ones in harms way RIGHT NOW - fighting in Iraq or working on reconstruction projects there. They are all potential hostages.
I would rather NOT laugh than say something that would hurt these familes or make light of their plight or potential plight.
Obviously I'm in the minority - most pundits are piling on, and commenters at various threads are generally saying I should "lighten up." Maybe, I should. But, there certian things I will not make fun of. A cheap little laugh is not worth hurting people whose loved ones have been slaughtered by the ruthless enemy we are fighting, or whose loved ones are in danger because they are in the front lines.
And we also should keep in mind that right here in the USA a family of four Egyptian Copts were SLAUGHTERED by our neojihadist enemies. So all of us here in the USA - especially bloggers who favor fighting back - should remember: the next hostage might be someone we know, someone we love, or even US.
I don't think that's funny. It's a sick joke, in bad taste, and it ain't funny.
UPDATE #4: A great and leading blogger - Jayson Javitz of POLITICAL VICE SQUAD (and the fabulous blog Polipundit) - wrote me, defending the "jokes about the hoax;" he wrote that - "It's not to make a political statement, in and of itself, it's just twisted irony."
I think he's RIGHT! That's the "why," at least. Nobody thinks their hurting anyone by joking about hostages (except maybe the people who deserve it - like the neojihadists). The BRILLIANT Betsy Newmark of Betsy's Page said the same thing on a short thread at her great blog.
Yet, I will not budge. I guess that makes me a middle-brow with high-brow leanings - someone who enjoys battling the seemingly never-ending downward spiral in pop discourse; the idea that when it comes to humor "anything goes!"
I'm battling windmills, in a way - I know - but I think people should think before they crack the easy - and sometimes inadvertently mean or hurtful rejoinder. And maybe I've done that, a little, by posting on the "jokes about the hoax."
In other words: I'm more a fan of (and miss) Johnny Carson's thoughtful and warm humor and regret the "Letterman-ish snideness" and the general snarkiness that passes for humor these days. Especially on issues of such public import as the GWOT. But Lettermen is very popular - as is snarkiness in the blogospere. I don't mind sayng: I don't like that kind of humor one bit - even of it does little good and makes many people think I need to "lighten up." What's right is right. What's in bad taste - is in bad taste. Popular, or not. PERIOD.
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Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Commie Autocrat Gorby Criticizes Iraqi Elections
Gorby has about as much credibility on demcoracy as Putin! Utopianist totalitarians like him should shut up and get out of the way of the only AUTHENTIC REVOLUTION: the demcoracy revolution!
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MORE PROOF OF GLOBAL JIHAD
Two of the suicide bombers who staged attacks in Baghdad during the Iraqi election Sunday were Syrian and Chechen, an interior ministry source said. The source also said some attackers had been detained during the day. About seven suicide bomb attacks, most by individuals who just carried belts packed with explosives toward polling stations and other targets, were carried out during the election. The interior ministry said 36 people were killed in all insurgent attacks during the day. The interior ministry source confirmed the Chechen and Syrian nationalities of two of the attackers and added: "We have arrested some people but I cannot give figures or nationalities." A Kurdish party said that a Sudanese had carried out a suicide bomb attack in the town of Khanaqin on Saturday killing four adults and a child.
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POLITICAL PRISONERS TO BE FREED AT LAST
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PUTIN-ABBAS AXIS
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BLOGROLL US!
