Showing posts from July, 2006

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Phony Outrage, Phony Politics

Last week Democrats were supposedly outraged by Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's refusal to condemn Hizbullah and condemnation of Israel. Howard Dean called him an Anti-Semite. Senator Barbara Boxer and Charles Schumer boycotted his speech. Then of course Dick Durbin just had to join in the fun. Now I have no doubt that as a Shiite with close ties to the Iraqi Ayatollah, Maliki's views on Jews are pretty much what they are across the Arab world where the median range is between those who want to kill Jews now and those who want to kill Jews later. That doesn't mean the born again Pro-Israel Democrats are anything but laughable. " We don't need to spend $200, $300, $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and refuse to condemn Hezbollah ," Howard Dean said. This pretty much categorizes the Clinton administration, certainly the Carter one. They certainly never believed Israel had

In Vino Veritas

The report says Mel Gibson told the deputy, "You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you." The report also says "Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he 'owns Malibu' and will spend all of his money to 'get even' with me." The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Three Soldiers and the Price of Disengagement

Nine IDF soldiers were killed in the Hizbullah village of Bint Jbeil. One of those killed was 20 year old corporal Ohad Klausner. Klausner's father spoke out saying that his son had not been trained to fight terrorists but to expell Jews. Disengagement had become the priority of the Sharon government and it increasingly focused the efforts of the military and inteligence branches on fighting other Jews, rather than fighting terrorism. The price for that is being paid on the battlefield. Major Royie Klein who was killed in that same battle was a deputy commander of the elite Golani brigade. In the best tradition of Israeli Defense Force offiers, he fell on a grenade to shield his own men and died. Now his widow and her two children are threatened with expulsion from their own home because of a Peace Now petition (members include the Defense Minister and Pime Minister Olmert's wife) demanding the demolition of twelve houses in Eli, they claim were built on land belonging to Arab

Olmert's Shamefull Performance

In 2000 Ehud Olmert's current political ally and then Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew from Lebanon giving Hizbullah a free hand to build up an army at Israel's borders and turn former Israeli controlled territory into a war zone from which to shell Israel all the way to Haifa. Barak promised that the retreat would secure Israel's borders so that Israeli troops would not have to return to Lebanon. He lied. In 2005 Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert withdrew from Gaza. They turned Gaza over to Hamas which began building up an army there and using it as a base for terrorist attacks against Israel and to shell Israeli towns and cities. Sharon and Olmert claimed that the withdrawal would secure Israel's borders and Israeli soldiers would never return to Gaza. They lied. A year later and they're back. A year later and the only difference between Lebanon and Gaza is that the Hizbullah had 6 years of free reign to prepeare for this war, while Hamas less than 1 year. With Israe

Muslim Fake Deaths, Burials a Common Practice

(Reuters) " Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered an inquiry into the case of a man who spent three years in jail for a murder that never happened, a court official said Tuesday. The woman Malik Taj Mohammad was convicted of kidnapping and killing was arrested for theft two years ago and is serving a jail sentence in the eastern city of Gujarat. The woman, Malkani Bibi, was said to have been murdered during a property dispute between relatives, although Taj had maintained that his accusers had performed a mock burial." Something to keep in mind when more Lebanese or Palestinian 'casualties' come in, some of whom wind up walking off during their own funerals like the last time....

Why Arab Ideas of Shame and Honor Make Peace Impossible

Most people remember the Iraqi Information Minister's outrageous statement that are no American troops at Baghdad International Airport. Some were outraged by it, others bemused by the sheer baldfaced denial of reality. Few realized that in truth they were getting a view into how Arab cultures cope with defeat. Arab cultures cope with defeat by first denying it happened and then by pasting conspiracy theories over it. Few Arab states ever admit they were defeated. Saddam erected statues to his victory in the 1992 Gulf War and the Iran-Iraq War. Egypt celebrates its victory in the Six Day War. This attitude is not just a matter of historical revisionism but how Arab countries and Arab societies approach wartime as well. With his entire air force destroyed and Israeli forces advancing on Cairo, Nasser and the entire Egyptian political and military establishment continued to insist that they were winning. Nasser even telephoned the King of Jordan telling him that the Israelis were on

Things Which May Not Be Said in Russia

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov invented a new unit of currency on Friday: "That thing your are not allowed to say." rocess of adopting a law that will fine government ministers for saying "dollar" when they could have used the word "rouble" instead. But old habits die hard. Telling reporters about a contract to supply fighter aircraft to Venezuela, Ivanov said the deal had "a value of more than one billion of that thing that you are not allowed to say anymore."

Flying Pigs Over Lebanon

There is something strange going on when Israel bombs an Arab country and half the Arab world seems to be condemning the Arab side. Indeed there's more criticism being directed at Israel from Europe with the usual socialist suspects wailing and tearing their clothes, then there is from the Arab world. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have issued statements critical of Hizbullah. Even Saddam got in the act warning Syria that its ties with Iran might lead it to disaster. While the media glorifies Hizbullah, the rest of the Arab world is turning its back. So why are pigs flying over Lebanon? Some would interpret this as an acknowledgment of Israel's show of strength but Israel hasn't shown all that much strength and while Egypt and Jordan would generally want to avoid a regional war, after all both of them signed peace treaties with Israel on recognizing that fighting wars with Israel was pointless; Saudi Arabia is certainly not in that category, let alone Saddam. It wou

Live with the Victorious Hizbullah fighters on the ground it's the BBC

5:31 London - This is the BBC Nigel: Hello my name is Nigel Aintwhyte and in a moment we'll be going live to our correspondent in Lebanon where the full brutal might of the Israeli warmachine has been unleashed on an innocent and unarmed handful of women and children and the few brave Hizbullah fighters courageously defending them against this unprovoked aggression. Stay with us as unlike the American networks we provide you with accurate and unbiased coverage. And now our correspondent, Angela Wentworth. 5:33 Lebanon Angela: This is Angela Wentworth reporting to you from Lebanon where a handful of courageous fighters armed only with their courageous courage, small rocks, RPG's and batteries of advanced Chinese missiles are resisting the Israeli occupation of their country. Here is one of them Hamoud Al-Ghazi. Hamoud how is the fighting going so far? Hamoud: Fighting going great. We down six Israeli planes today. Five yesterday. Many more tomorrow. Angela: This

The Arab Mind and the Cost of War in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq

When Osama Bin Laden's Al-Queda launched an attack on the US, he could not have remotely foreseen the consequences of it. If Osama had been thinking of fighting a drawn out guerrilla war with American forces in the hostile terrain of Afghanistan and repeating the 19th century Afghani expulsion and victory over the British colony in the colossal military disaster what is called the First Afghan War, he was in for a bitter disappointment. It was certainly on the mind of leftists like Robert Fisk who mockingly recited lines from Robert Kipling's famous poem and gloated over the thought of US soldiers being butchered and mutilated in Khyber Pass. The First Afghan War had not been a war but a case of ignorant Orientalist British politicians who refused to listen to their military commanders and surrendered to the Afghans, allowed themselves to be disarmed and then butchered. Osama might have done better to pay attention to the aftermath of that massacre when the British return

War in Gaza and Lebanon and the Beauty of Being Proportional

Israel is being disproportionate, the world is crying. Tragic I know. You have to wonder what in the world proportionality has to do with anything. Faces should be proportionate. If you're loading cargo, it should be proportionate. But proportionality in war just means an endless stalemate. If WW2 had been fought with proportionality we'd have just only returned fire when the Germans and Japanese did and refused to bomb their cities, until they bombed ours. We could still be fighting WW2 with a thousand times the number dead. And wouldn't that just have been so wonderfully proportional. The people advocating 'proportion' are really advocating tit for tat kids on a playground morality which is an idea as backwards as them. if someone attacks you, what's the moral basis for demanding a proportionate response. If someone attacks you, you do what it takes to make sure he doesn't attack you again. Demanding proportionally presumes that the attacker and the vic

Past and Present

2006 - Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah promises a new surprise weapon that will provide victory. It proves to be a UAV which lightly damages an Israeli ship. 1944 - Hitler boasts in radio speeches of the new weapons with which Germany will win the war. The new weapons prove to be V1's and V2's which inflict damage on England but make no significant difference in the war.

Know the Enemy - Know their Evil

They are not misguided. They are not confused. They are not oppressed. They're evil. This is what this war is about. It is purely and simply a war against true evil. This is Samir Kuntar. One of the terrorists whose release Hizbullah is demanding in exchange for their Israeli hostages. This is the face of evil. "Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah demanded at a news conference held yesterday at the Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut that Israel release three Lebanese prisoners it is holding - Samir Kuntar , Yehiya Saqaf and Nasim Nasser and promised that he would demand the release of additional Arab prisoners in the course of negotiations." "Samir Kuntar is “a beacon of light” for having slaughtered an Israeli father and his two young daughters in a terrorist attack in 1979, according to the PA-controlled daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. On Thursday the PA daily featured an article labeling Kuntar an “authentic role model” for all Palestinian Arabs." ...and here is

Breaking: Haifa, Nahariyah hit by Missiles

You that Mitchel's prayer have heard, 'Send war in our time, O Lord!' Know that when all words are said And a man is fighting mad, Something drops from eyes long blind Under Ben Bulben - Yeats

Choosing the Cult of Death or the Gift of Life

On September 11th 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark New Jersey to San Francisco took off with 37 passengers on board. Four of those passengers were not Americans and were not passengers. They were murderers awaiting their moment. When their moment came they took out their knives and claiming to have a bomb on board, They stabbed Mark Rothenberg and then murdered flight attendant, Debra Welsh. Then came the passenger's moment. Calling their loved ones they learned what had happened. They learned of the two planes that had crashed into the World Trade Center. They knew what was about to happen and they took action. Using improvised weapons and boiling water, they charged the armed terrorists who retreated into the cockpit and took down the plane. Everyone on board was killed and the airplane was never used on its intended target, the White House. The passengers were nominated for Congressional Gold Medals but never received them. The memorial that is to be dedicat

The Forward on Israel: Surrender Now and Beat the Rush

The Forward, which has never found an Anti-Israeli position it didn't embrace and whose politics are indistinguishable from those of Peace Now, has an editorial titled 'Thunder in Gaza' that sums up the feeble arguments of the media and the remaining adherents of Oslo, who continue to cry Peace, Peace, even as a Hamas government with the backing of a soon to be nuclear armed Iran, conducts an open war against Israel. "It's hard not to notice the huge imbalance between Israel's large-scale actions in Gaza in the past two weeks — bombing bridges, government offices and a university...rounding up elected officials — and the ostensible goal of the operation, rescuing a single hostage." Gush, that just sounds so awfull doesn't it. Bombing government offices and a university. Rounding up elected officials. Of course the buildings bombed were empty. The government offices belonged to terrorist organizations and the elected officials were heads of terrorist o

There Will Nevermore Be An England

There'll always be an England, And England shall be free If England means as much to you As England means to me There'll Always Be An England, Parker and Charles Public opinion in Britain is negative towards Americans and mostly favourable towards Muslims, but the feeling is not requited by British Muslims, who are among the most embittered in the western world, according to a global poll published yesterday. The Pew Research study poll found that 63% of all Britons had a favourable opinion of Muslims. Attitudes in Britain were more positive than in the US, Germany and Spain (where the popularity of Muslims has plummeted to 29%), and about the same as in France. By contrast, the poll found that British Muslims represented a “notable exception” in Europe, with far more negative views of westerners than Islamic minorities elsewhere on the continent. A significant majority viewed western populations as selfish, arrogant, greedy and immoral. Across the board, Muslim attitudes in Br

Voice of America and Radio Liberty banned in Russia again

Much as had been the case in Communist times, Russian radio stations are now barred from rebroadcasting news reports from Voice of America and Radio Liberty. Russian TV stations have been brought under Putin's control. Newspapers and radio stations are quickly following suit. Originally Voice of America and Radio Liberty served as independent voices reporting the news in opposition to the government propaganda of the Communist regime. They've come to serve that function again under Putin's revival of Russian tyranny and have accordingly been banned. "Of the 30 affiliate stations Radio Liberty had in Russia in 2005, it now has only four, according to Trimble. Of the 42 stations that rebroadcast material from Voice of America in 2005, only five are still working with the organization" And now there will be none... meanwhile Putin has been officially authorized to employ Russian military forces abroad...

Revolutions of Faith

The character of a nation is born out of strife and struggle. It can be seen more clearly in its darker hours than its times of prosperity. As adversity brings out the true nature of a man through seeing how he copes with his trials, so too adversity brings out the nature of a nation as the men who compose it rise preserve their homeland. Wars and revolutions define the character of a nation and for the United States of America the War of Independence was both a war and a revolution. The character of the United States of America is marked heavily by it as the scars of the conflict, cannon, shot and bayonet, covered its countryside and the bodies of those men who had fought in it. It was a nation born against impossible odds. Farmers gathered in bands to fight the trained soldiers of the greatest world power of its age and stood their ground. The British redcoats had been famous for holding the line no matter what but at Bunker Hill it was the British lines that broke and the American o

Arab Terrorists: Criminals or Soldiers

When the US Supreme Court recently ruled on the legality of military tribunals for captured terrorists, it was another syllable in a long conversation on how to describe terrorists. As soldiers, pirates, spies or criminals. The left has continually tried to shoehorn them into the category of criminals. Al Queda terrorists should be tried by the justice system like all criminals, the left has argued, rather than fighting a War on Terror we should be using legal means to extradite and prosecute them, they've argued. The position of the left derives from the fact that criminals enjoy a good deal of legal protections. But there's a reason for that. Criminals are members of our society whose rights are protected as are the rights of all the members of our society. Terrorists however come from outside our society, infiltrating in the service of foreign governments and agencies with the intent of attacking us and causing us grave harm. As such they fall far more closely into the