If anyone has any questions why we can't win in Iraq, remember, it's because of our weak President and his attempts to keep liberals from attacking him. The rules of non-engagement, the trials of our soldiers for defending themselves, the use of them as meat shields rather then having the will to kill the enemy, and our unwillingness to attack the source of insurgent weapons and supplies in Iran are all clear examples of Bush's incompetence. This may be the one of the most egrigous examples of a lack of leadership that I've ever seen...
There may be an unlimited supply of explosives in Iraq, but there is not an unlimited supply of people who know how to wire the detonators. In 2004, CIA operatives in Iraq believed that they had identified the signatures of 11 bomb makers. They proposed a diabolical -- but potentially effective -- sabotage program that would have flooded Iraq with booby-trapped detonators designed to explode in the bomb makers' hands. But the CIA general counsel's office said no. The lawyers claimed that the agency lacked authority for such an operation, one source recalled.
There are technologies that would allow us to detonate every roadside bomb in Iraq by heating the wires in the detonators to the point that they triggered an explosion. But these systems could severely harm civilians nearby, so we're not using them, either. "In our system, we often are not given credit for the fact that we are very concerned about collateral damage," Meigs said.
We wrote the book for the insurgents, in a sense. By arming and training the mujaheddin in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets in the 1980s, we created the modern dynamics of asymmetric warfare. That extends even to the fearsome armor-piercing "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, that we have accused the Iranians of supplying to Iraqi insurgents. The CIA referred to these tank busters as "platter charges" in the days when we were covertly helping provide them to the Afghan rebels.
Full Story
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Never Forget: Bin Laden taking credit for 9/11
Not exactly new, but for those people that might agree with the scumbag in the video below, a little reminder that this scumbag actually confessed. I know it doesn't fit with Rosie's idiotic theories but there are some in this world who prefer conspiracies to the truth.
Muslim terrorist accuses the west of initiating conflict between Muslims and Christians
His proof you ask? Isabella and Ferdinand of course. He conveniently leaves out the part about how the Muslims got on the Iberian Peninsula, but why let facts get in the way of hate?
He also calls the Iranian Nuclear program peaceful, even though Ahmadinijad himself promises the destruction of the United States and Israel. Classic Islamic hate at its finest.
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He also calls the Iranian Nuclear program peaceful, even though Ahmadinijad himself promises the destruction of the United States and Israel. Classic Islamic hate at its finest.
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ElBaradei cancels meeting with Iranian Negotiator after Iran refuses to dislose details of nuclear program
The meeting was to have taken place at the nuclear watchdog IAEA board meeting which began in Vienna Monday. The IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei said the brewing confrontation with Iran must be defused and the current stalemate urgently needs to be broken.
He said: "The facts on the ground indicate that Iran continues steadily to perfect its knowledge relevant to enrichment and to expand the capacity of its enrichment facility" in Natanz.
Iran is also continuing "with the construction of its heavy water reactor at Arak," which can produce plutonium, like enriched uranium a potential bomb material, and blocking "our right to re-verify design information at Arak," ElBaradei said.
His report will be submitted to the next UN Security Council session due to discuss harsher sanctions against Iran later this month.
Ahead of the watchdog's meeting, diplomats in Vienna disclosed that Iran is expanding the assembly of centrifuges by 300 a week, and the number had risen to more than 2,000.
DEBKAfile’s military sources estimate that Tehran may have produced enough enriched uranium for one or two nuclear devices, though lacking the technology to build a bomb.
Source - DEBKAFile
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He said: "The facts on the ground indicate that Iran continues steadily to perfect its knowledge relevant to enrichment and to expand the capacity of its enrichment facility" in Natanz.
Iran is also continuing "with the construction of its heavy water reactor at Arak," which can produce plutonium, like enriched uranium a potential bomb material, and blocking "our right to re-verify design information at Arak," ElBaradei said.
His report will be submitted to the next UN Security Council session due to discuss harsher sanctions against Iran later this month.
Ahead of the watchdog's meeting, diplomats in Vienna disclosed that Iran is expanding the assembly of centrifuges by 300 a week, and the number had risen to more than 2,000.
DEBKAfile’s military sources estimate that Tehran may have produced enough enriched uranium for one or two nuclear devices, though lacking the technology to build a bomb.
Source - DEBKAFile
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Bush gets his watch stolen by the Muslims he's selling out Serbia too
This is just classic... How come the Secret Service won't let American's near the President, but he's allowed to be surrounded by mobs in foreign countries? It's like the idiocy of our President is contagious.
Video Here
Video Here
Hundreds of Islamic Centers in the United States preaching Jihad against the United States
Hundreds of Islamic centers in the United States have become a hot-bed of extremist activity; they promote violence, terrorism and hatred against America.
“Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.”
Gaubatz is a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who now works for the Mapping Shari’a in America Project (www.mappingsharia.com), which is supported by SANE, a national non-profit group devoted to investigating the 2,300 Islamic centers in the U.S. for extremist activity.
Gaubatz and his investigators are currently active and will soon form a team of about 12. They pose as people interested in converting to Islam or who are current Muslims. Their goal is to infiltrate mosques and Muslim centers. Recently, he and his team penetrated the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Sporting a beard and Muslim dress, Gaubatz said he went on May 18 to the center, pretending to be an American interested in becoming a convert to Islam. He discovered the center espoused terrorism and jihad against America.
“They are teaching what they call Jihad Qital, which means physical jihad,” Gaubatz said. “They’re teaching violence and hatred of the United States.”
Full Story - Insight
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“Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.”
Gaubatz is a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who now works for the Mapping Shari’a in America Project (www.mappingsharia.com), which is supported by SANE, a national non-profit group devoted to investigating the 2,300 Islamic centers in the U.S. for extremist activity.
Gaubatz and his investigators are currently active and will soon form a team of about 12. They pose as people interested in converting to Islam or who are current Muslims. Their goal is to infiltrate mosques and Muslim centers. Recently, he and his team penetrated the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, located in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Sporting a beard and Muslim dress, Gaubatz said he went on May 18 to the center, pretending to be an American interested in becoming a convert to Islam. He discovered the center espoused terrorism and jihad against America.
“They are teaching what they call Jihad Qital, which means physical jihad,” Gaubatz said. “They’re teaching violence and hatred of the United States.”
Full Story - Insight
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Sunday, June 10, 2007
Lebanon to stop immigration from Muslim Countries
This one's for you Gir53457. If it's not racist for them, how can it be racist for us...
Lebanon on Friday was reportedly considering stopping issuing entry visas to Arab citizens at the airport in a bid to prevent any terrorist infiltrations into the country.
The daily An Nahar said contacts in this regard were already underway between the Foreign Ministry and the General Directorate of the General Security Department.
It said Arabs interested in visiting Lebanon would be asked to apply for visas at the Lebanese mission accredited in their countries.
The move comes after several citizens from various Arab nations suspected of having links with the terrorist groups Fatah al-Islam and al-Qaida have been detained in recent weeks.
Original Story
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Lebanon on Friday was reportedly considering stopping issuing entry visas to Arab citizens at the airport in a bid to prevent any terrorist infiltrations into the country.
The daily An Nahar said contacts in this regard were already underway between the Foreign Ministry and the General Directorate of the General Security Department.
It said Arabs interested in visiting Lebanon would be asked to apply for visas at the Lebanese mission accredited in their countries.
The move comes after several citizens from various Arab nations suspected of having links with the terrorist groups Fatah al-Islam and al-Qaida have been detained in recent weeks.
Original Story
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Saturday, June 9, 2007
Iran buys missles from North Korea in preparation for war
And just in case there is anyone out there who still doesn't believe that Iran wants a war:
Iran and North Korea are in advanced negotiations for Tehran’s purchase of Taep’o-dong-2 ballistic missiles, whose estimate range is 3,500-4,000 km., DEBKAfile’s exclusive intelligence sources report. North Korea’s deputy foreign minister Kim Hyong brought the proposition to its final stages when he visited Tehran in the first week of May. Delivery was promised for late July or early August. US Vice President Richard Cheney informed Saudi King Abdullah of this development during his May visit to Riyadh, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 first revealed on May 11.
Israeli military sources say that Iranian president Mahoud Ahmadinejad’s declarations are made more outrageous than ever by knowledge of the deal. Sunday he declared the countdown has begun for the demise of the Zionist state.
Aly Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme national Security Council said Monday: “The deployment of the US air system in Europe to counter Iranian missiles is the joke of the year.” He said Iran’s missiles could not reach Europe.
That may have been true at this moment – but not after the delivery of the North Korean missiles at summer’s end. Russian president Vladimir Putin was also undoubtedly aware of this when he said Europe is not threatened by long-range missiles from Iran. In fact, Tehran’s acquisition of the Taep’o-dong-2 will triple its long-range missile arsenal and upgrade its range and quality.
Source: DEBKAfile
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Iran and North Korea are in advanced negotiations for Tehran’s purchase of Taep’o-dong-2 ballistic missiles, whose estimate range is 3,500-4,000 km., DEBKAfile’s exclusive intelligence sources report. North Korea’s deputy foreign minister Kim Hyong brought the proposition to its final stages when he visited Tehran in the first week of May. Delivery was promised for late July or early August. US Vice President Richard Cheney informed Saudi King Abdullah of this development during his May visit to Riyadh, as DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 first revealed on May 11.
Israeli military sources say that Iranian president Mahoud Ahmadinejad’s declarations are made more outrageous than ever by knowledge of the deal. Sunday he declared the countdown has begun for the demise of the Zionist state.
Aly Larijani, head of Iran’s Supreme national Security Council said Monday: “The deployment of the US air system in Europe to counter Iranian missiles is the joke of the year.” He said Iran’s missiles could not reach Europe.
That may have been true at this moment – but not after the delivery of the North Korean missiles at summer’s end. Russian president Vladimir Putin was also undoubtedly aware of this when he said Europe is not threatened by long-range missiles from Iran. In fact, Tehran’s acquisition of the Taep’o-dong-2 will triple its long-range missile arsenal and upgrade its range and quality.
Source: DEBKAfile
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Iran and Syria brace for expected attack from the United States and Israel
One can only hope they're right and that it's coming. I personally no longer believe the neutered Bush has the balls for it. But I can hope...
DEBKAfile’s intelligence and Middle East sources take a look at the actions behind the words issuing from Damascus officials affirming Syria’s willingness to go into peace talks with Israel.
During most of last week, two high-ranking Iranian delegations spent time in Damascus. One was composed of generals who held talks with Syrian leaders on coordinated preparations for a Middle East war in the coming months.
At the Iranian end, a similar high-ranking Syrian military delegation called in at Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards headquarters to tighten operational coordination between them at the command level, as well as inspecting the Iranian arsenal. The Syrian general staff will draw up a list of items it is short of for a possible military confrontation with Israel this summer.
Our sources report that last week, Tehran sent Moscow a check for $327 m to pay for assorted missiles consigned to Damascus. A further $438 m has been pledged by the end of June for more hardware to Syria.
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s three days of talks in Damascus at the end of May further consolidated the strategic partnership between the two governments under the mutual defense pact they signed a year ago.
Their deliberations produced concurrence on the following issues:
1. Expanded economic cooperation, i.e. an enlarged Iranian aid package for Syria including monetary assistance and an extra 5 million tons of oil gratis per annum on top of the one million already guaranteed. Syrian president Bashar Assad drove a hard bargain: He demanded a larger slice of economic aid as the price for entering into strategic cooperation with Iran for the coming war.
2. The Assad government agreed not to take any military - or other steps with military connotations - without prior notice to Tehran and its assent. This clause applies equally to activating the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas’ Damascus headquarters.
3. Reciprocal visits by Syrian and Iranian generals and political officials will be stepped up.
4. In Iraq, Iran and Syria agreed to jointly intensify their terrorist operations against US and British troops.
The regime heads in Tehran are basing their common front with Damascus on intelligence reports whereby the US and Israel have drawn up plans for coordinated military action against Iran, Syria and Hizballah in the summer.
According to this hypothesis, Iranian leaders foresee the next UN Security Council in New York at the end of June or early July ending with an American announcement that the sanctions against Tehran are inadequate because Russia and China has toned them down. Therefore, the military option is the only one left on the table. The ayatollahs have concluded that US president George W. Bush is determined to bow out of office on the high note of a glittering military success against Iran to eclipse his failures in Iraq.
They believe he will not risk the lives of more Americans by mounting a ground operation, but rather unleash a broad missile assault that will wipe out Iran’s nuclear facilities and seriously cripple its economic infrastructure.
According to the Iranian scenario, the timeline for hostilities has already been fixed between Washington and Jerusalem - and so has the plan of action. The US will strike Iran first, after which Israel will use the opportunity to go for Syria, targeting its air force, missile bases and deployments, as well as Hizballah’s missile and weapons stocks which Iran replenished this year.
Officials in Tehran and Damascus find confirmation of their intelligence evaluations in the visit Israel’s transport minister Shaul Mofaz paid to Washington last week at the head of a large military delegation. They are certain Mofaz, a former defense minister and chief of staff, used the strategic talks to tie the last ends of the planned offensive. They were perturbed in particular by the Israel minister’s reported advice to secretary of state Condoleezza Rice of the importance of setting a deadline, beyond which the US will abandon sanctions as ineffective and turn to its remaining options for dealing with Iran’s advance towards a nuclear weapons capability.
Considering the climate in Damascus and Tehran and their active pursuit of preparations for imminent attack, it is not surprising that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert received no reply to the note he sent to Assad proposing peace talks and offering the Golan as an incentive. Assad was not inclined to take the Israeli prime minister seriously. According to DEBKAfile’s sources in Jerusalem, Olmert did not really expect him to. The offer was more in the nature of clearing the decks ahead of Olmert’s White House visit later this month.
Source: DEBKAfile
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DEBKAfile’s intelligence and Middle East sources take a look at the actions behind the words issuing from Damascus officials affirming Syria’s willingness to go into peace talks with Israel.
During most of last week, two high-ranking Iranian delegations spent time in Damascus. One was composed of generals who held talks with Syrian leaders on coordinated preparations for a Middle East war in the coming months.
At the Iranian end, a similar high-ranking Syrian military delegation called in at Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards headquarters to tighten operational coordination between them at the command level, as well as inspecting the Iranian arsenal. The Syrian general staff will draw up a list of items it is short of for a possible military confrontation with Israel this summer.
Our sources report that last week, Tehran sent Moscow a check for $327 m to pay for assorted missiles consigned to Damascus. A further $438 m has been pledged by the end of June for more hardware to Syria.
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s three days of talks in Damascus at the end of May further consolidated the strategic partnership between the two governments under the mutual defense pact they signed a year ago.
Their deliberations produced concurrence on the following issues:
1. Expanded economic cooperation, i.e. an enlarged Iranian aid package for Syria including monetary assistance and an extra 5 million tons of oil gratis per annum on top of the one million already guaranteed. Syrian president Bashar Assad drove a hard bargain: He demanded a larger slice of economic aid as the price for entering into strategic cooperation with Iran for the coming war.
2. The Assad government agreed not to take any military - or other steps with military connotations - without prior notice to Tehran and its assent. This clause applies equally to activating the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas’ Damascus headquarters.
3. Reciprocal visits by Syrian and Iranian generals and political officials will be stepped up.
4. In Iraq, Iran and Syria agreed to jointly intensify their terrorist operations against US and British troops.
The regime heads in Tehran are basing their common front with Damascus on intelligence reports whereby the US and Israel have drawn up plans for coordinated military action against Iran, Syria and Hizballah in the summer.
According to this hypothesis, Iranian leaders foresee the next UN Security Council in New York at the end of June or early July ending with an American announcement that the sanctions against Tehran are inadequate because Russia and China has toned them down. Therefore, the military option is the only one left on the table. The ayatollahs have concluded that US president George W. Bush is determined to bow out of office on the high note of a glittering military success against Iran to eclipse his failures in Iraq.
They believe he will not risk the lives of more Americans by mounting a ground operation, but rather unleash a broad missile assault that will wipe out Iran’s nuclear facilities and seriously cripple its economic infrastructure.
According to the Iranian scenario, the timeline for hostilities has already been fixed between Washington and Jerusalem - and so has the plan of action. The US will strike Iran first, after which Israel will use the opportunity to go for Syria, targeting its air force, missile bases and deployments, as well as Hizballah’s missile and weapons stocks which Iran replenished this year.
Officials in Tehran and Damascus find confirmation of their intelligence evaluations in the visit Israel’s transport minister Shaul Mofaz paid to Washington last week at the head of a large military delegation. They are certain Mofaz, a former defense minister and chief of staff, used the strategic talks to tie the last ends of the planned offensive. They were perturbed in particular by the Israel minister’s reported advice to secretary of state Condoleezza Rice of the importance of setting a deadline, beyond which the US will abandon sanctions as ineffective and turn to its remaining options for dealing with Iran’s advance towards a nuclear weapons capability.
Considering the climate in Damascus and Tehran and their active pursuit of preparations for imminent attack, it is not surprising that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert received no reply to the note he sent to Assad proposing peace talks and offering the Golan as an incentive. Assad was not inclined to take the Israeli prime minister seriously. According to DEBKAfile’s sources in Jerusalem, Olmert did not really expect him to. The offer was more in the nature of clearing the decks ahead of Olmert’s White House visit later this month.
Source: DEBKAfile
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Iran caught redhanded giving arms to Taliban
NATO officials say they have caught Iran red-handed, shipping heavy arms, C4 explosives and advanced roadside bombs to the Taliban for use against NATO forces, in what the officials say is a dramatic escalation of Iran's proxy war against the United States and Great Britain.
"It is inconceivable that it is anyone other than the Iranian government that's doing it," said former White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stopped short earlier this week of blaming Iran, saying the U.S. did not have evidence "of the involvement of the Iranian government in support of the Taliban."
But an analysis by a senior coalition official, obtained by the Blotter on ABCNews.com, concludes there is clear evidence of Iran's involvement.
"This is part of a considered policy," says the analysis, "rather than the result of low-level corruption and weapons smuggling."
Iran and the Taliban had been fierce enemies when the Taliban was in power in Afghanistan, and their apparent collaboration came as a surprise to some in the intelligence community.
"I think their goal is to make it very clear that Iran has the capability to make life worse for the United States on a variety of fronts," said Seth Jones of the Rand Institute, "even if they have to do some business with a group that has historically been their enemy."
The coalition analysis says munitions recovered in two Iranian convoys, on April 11 and May 3, had "clear indications that they originated in Iran. Some were identical to Iranian supplied goods previously discovered in Iraq."
Hat Tip: Cox & Forkum
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Friday, June 8, 2007
Pictures of our soldiers beheaded by Muslim Monster...
Apparently these aren't the three soldiers recently kidnapped. O'Reilly thinks that makes a difference. Does it matter? No it doesn't. These are monsters, they await the day they can do this to all of us...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Nine U.S. Military ships enter Persian Gulf Wednesday, Bush vows to destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities before leaving office
If Bush does this, I'll take back everything I've ever said about him.
They sailed through the Strait of Hormuz by day - according to US Navy officials for training exercises. The vessels carry around 17,000 combat and marine personnel. They include the two aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz and USS Stennis, as well as the USS Bonhomme Richard LHD 6 Group, the world’s biggest amphibious strike force. Iran was not notified of the planned arrival.
DEBKAfile reports the maneuvers take place less than two weeks after Vice President Dick Cheney visited the region and informed Saudi King Abdullah and fellow Gulf rulers that President George W. Bush has determined that if Iran refuses to waive a nuclear weapon capability, the US will attack its nuclear, military and economic infrastructure before he leaves the White House in Jan. 2009.
(This was first disclosed in DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 on May 11.)
Our sources also note that the US armada sailed into the Gulf on the day the latest UN Security Council ultimatum expired for Iran to give up uranium enrichment or face a fresh set of sanctions.
Its presence backs up Cheney’s pledge and tells the region and Iran that Washington may not be satisfied with sanctions and the military option is alive. Washington is also stiffening its posture ahead of its first direct talks with Tehran on Monday, May 28, when US and Iraqi ambassadors meet in Baghdad. The message to Iran and its ally Syria is that if the Baghdad talks fail, and they refuse to suspend their backing for Iraq’s insurgents and al Qaeda, the US stands ready with a military option.
Tuesday, May 21, a senior US officer in Baghdad accused Iran of orchestrating a summer offensive against US troops in Iraq “linking al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents to its Shiite militia allies.” Our sources add that Iran with Syrian support has also embarked on a summer offensive in other parts of the Middle East, including Lebanon and the Gaza Strip
Rear Admiral Kevin Quinn said maneuvers beginning now are part of a long-planned effort to reassure nearby countries of America’s commitment to regional security. He told reporters before crossing: “There is always the threat of any state or non-state actor deciding to close one of the international straits, and the biggest one is the Strait of Hormuz.”
Full Story - DEBKAfile
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They sailed through the Strait of Hormuz by day - according to US Navy officials for training exercises. The vessels carry around 17,000 combat and marine personnel. They include the two aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz and USS Stennis, as well as the USS Bonhomme Richard LHD 6 Group, the world’s biggest amphibious strike force. Iran was not notified of the planned arrival.
DEBKAfile reports the maneuvers take place less than two weeks after Vice President Dick Cheney visited the region and informed Saudi King Abdullah and fellow Gulf rulers that President George W. Bush has determined that if Iran refuses to waive a nuclear weapon capability, the US will attack its nuclear, military and economic infrastructure before he leaves the White House in Jan. 2009.
(This was first disclosed in DEBKA-Net-Weekly 300 on May 11.)
Our sources also note that the US armada sailed into the Gulf on the day the latest UN Security Council ultimatum expired for Iran to give up uranium enrichment or face a fresh set of sanctions.
Its presence backs up Cheney’s pledge and tells the region and Iran that Washington may not be satisfied with sanctions and the military option is alive. Washington is also stiffening its posture ahead of its first direct talks with Tehran on Monday, May 28, when US and Iraqi ambassadors meet in Baghdad. The message to Iran and its ally Syria is that if the Baghdad talks fail, and they refuse to suspend their backing for Iraq’s insurgents and al Qaeda, the US stands ready with a military option.
Tuesday, May 21, a senior US officer in Baghdad accused Iran of orchestrating a summer offensive against US troops in Iraq “linking al Qaeda and Sunni insurgents to its Shiite militia allies.” Our sources add that Iran with Syrian support has also embarked on a summer offensive in other parts of the Middle East, including Lebanon and the Gaza Strip
Rear Admiral Kevin Quinn said maneuvers beginning now are part of a long-planned effort to reassure nearby countries of America’s commitment to regional security. He told reporters before crossing: “There is always the threat of any state or non-state actor deciding to close one of the international straits, and the biggest one is the Strait of Hormuz.”
Full Story - DEBKAfile
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Iran calls for Israel to be wiped off the map ...again
As the Hamas-led multiple missile offensive against Israel marked its first week, voices were heard in Israel and overseas, well-meaning or despairing, calling for Israel to start talks with the Palestinian Islamist group’s leaders.
Hamas soon knocked that notion on the head. After hurling some 150 missiles against Israel, one of its officials, Nizhar Riyah, issued a clear statement of intent Monday, May 21:
“Hamas is determined to wipe Israel off the map and replace it with the state of Palestine,” he said. Hamas will fight “until the last Jew is expelled” - not only from Sderot but also from Ashkelon and “all of Palestine.”
In February 2006, Hamas beat Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah in the Palestinian general elections, which the incoming Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, against every Israeli security interest, allowed to take place.
Ret. Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, then head of Israel’s national security council, strongly advised them to make the best of a bad job and engage the new Palestinian leaders in talks. This recommendation was emphatically reported by DEBKAfile’s analysts just days after the election. But it was turned down by leaders who preferred to follow advice from Washington.
Just as US State Department urged Israel to permit an election which gave Hamas its victory, officials at State also had a plan to deal with its unfortunate aftermath: a campaign spearheaded by the US and Israel, and adopted by the Middle East Quartet, to boost the Palestinian loser, Fatah and its leader Mahmoud Abbas, and boycott the winning Hamas.
It was soon clear they had backed the losing horse - and still are.
In the intervening 15 months, Hamas was not idle. Instead of breaking down under international pressure, Hamas went from strength to strength, taking advantage of Israel’s indecision and inaction and the ineffectiveness of Abu Mazen and his sidekick Mohammed Dahlan.
The Palestinian fundamentalists quickly jumped aboard the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah bandwagon. That bandwagon is now racing ahead in the Middle East arena, leaving Israel behind with the United States and its crises.
In these circumstances, and after the Lebanon War less than a year ago, Israel must on no account turn to Hamas for talks, because the only agenda on offer now would be terms for Jewish state’s capitulation and demise.
The outcome would reflect the consequences of Washington’s two years of talks with Iraqi Sunni insurgent leaders, brokered by dozens of Arab and Muslim mediators, including Jordan’s King Hussein. The result has been the exacerbation of terror in Iraq.
For Hamas, diplomacy would serve only as a respite to gear up for more aggression. Saudi King Abdullah tried his hand in Mecca earlier this year. Once again, Washington and Jerusalem were deluded into believing the Saudi royal hand could tame Hamas and persuade its leaders to share power with Fatah in a unity government.
Full Story - DEBKAfile
Hamas soon knocked that notion on the head. After hurling some 150 missiles against Israel, one of its officials, Nizhar Riyah, issued a clear statement of intent Monday, May 21:
“Hamas is determined to wipe Israel off the map and replace it with the state of Palestine,” he said. Hamas will fight “until the last Jew is expelled” - not only from Sderot but also from Ashkelon and “all of Palestine.”
In February 2006, Hamas beat Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah in the Palestinian general elections, which the incoming Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, against every Israeli security interest, allowed to take place.
Ret. Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, then head of Israel’s national security council, strongly advised them to make the best of a bad job and engage the new Palestinian leaders in talks. This recommendation was emphatically reported by DEBKAfile’s analysts just days after the election. But it was turned down by leaders who preferred to follow advice from Washington.
Just as US State Department urged Israel to permit an election which gave Hamas its victory, officials at State also had a plan to deal with its unfortunate aftermath: a campaign spearheaded by the US and Israel, and adopted by the Middle East Quartet, to boost the Palestinian loser, Fatah and its leader Mahmoud Abbas, and boycott the winning Hamas.
It was soon clear they had backed the losing horse - and still are.
In the intervening 15 months, Hamas was not idle. Instead of breaking down under international pressure, Hamas went from strength to strength, taking advantage of Israel’s indecision and inaction and the ineffectiveness of Abu Mazen and his sidekick Mohammed Dahlan.
The Palestinian fundamentalists quickly jumped aboard the Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah bandwagon. That bandwagon is now racing ahead in the Middle East arena, leaving Israel behind with the United States and its crises.
In these circumstances, and after the Lebanon War less than a year ago, Israel must on no account turn to Hamas for talks, because the only agenda on offer now would be terms for Jewish state’s capitulation and demise.
The outcome would reflect the consequences of Washington’s two years of talks with Iraqi Sunni insurgent leaders, brokered by dozens of Arab and Muslim mediators, including Jordan’s King Hussein. The result has been the exacerbation of terror in Iraq.
For Hamas, diplomacy would serve only as a respite to gear up for more aggression. Saudi King Abdullah tried his hand in Mecca earlier this year. Once again, Washington and Jerusalem were deluded into believing the Saudi royal hand could tame Hamas and persuade its leaders to share power with Fatah in a unity government.
Full Story - DEBKAfile
IAEA Head AlBaradei, a Muslim, wants Muslim terrorist regimes to possess nuclear weapons
The U.S. and France are finally on the same page now that they've booted that criminal Chirac and elected Sarkozy. Apparently, the french had their full of the Muslim riots and instead of capitulating like Spain has joined the U.S. in the fight against Muslim tyranny.
Sarkozy announced that France will join the official US-led struggle against head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei, who recommended that Iran be allowed to enrich uranium in some of its nuclear plants.
On Tuesday, American officials urged allies to back a formal protest against ElBaradei, saying his comments could hurt UN Security Council efforts to pressure Tehran over its enrichment program.
"We were indeed surprised by several comments from Mr. ElBaradei over the weekend," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei. "We share the gist of concerns expressed by our American partners - along with several other partners, for that matter."
Over the past two weeks, ElBaradei has publicly said he believes it is too late to force Teheran to scrap its enrichment program as demanded by the Security Council, and argued instead for implementing inspection safeguards to prevent an expansion of the program.
"I can confirm that our permanent representative in Vienna will take part in the American initiative," Mattei said, referring to the Austrian capital where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based.
Mattei also took issue with ElBaradei's recent reference to French intelligence about the speed of Iran's nuclear program, without providing details.
"In addition, the IAEA director-general referred, in one of his public statements, to analyses from French intelligence services over the time that it would take Iran to have access to a nuclear weapon," Mattei said. "We aren't in the habit of releasing national intelligence analyses publicly - much less through an international organization."
Despite ElBaradei's recent comments, on Wednesday he released a report saying that Iran continues to defy UN Security Council demands to scrap its uranium enrichment program and has instead expanded its activities.
Full Story
"We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction, yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security - and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use."
-Mohamed ElBaradei
New York Times 2/12/04
Winner of the The Human Security award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Sarkozy announced that France will join the official US-led struggle against head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei, who recommended that Iran be allowed to enrich uranium in some of its nuclear plants.
On Tuesday, American officials urged allies to back a formal protest against ElBaradei, saying his comments could hurt UN Security Council efforts to pressure Tehran over its enrichment program.
"We were indeed surprised by several comments from Mr. ElBaradei over the weekend," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei. "We share the gist of concerns expressed by our American partners - along with several other partners, for that matter."
Over the past two weeks, ElBaradei has publicly said he believes it is too late to force Teheran to scrap its enrichment program as demanded by the Security Council, and argued instead for implementing inspection safeguards to prevent an expansion of the program.
"I can confirm that our permanent representative in Vienna will take part in the American initiative," Mattei said, referring to the Austrian capital where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based.
Mattei also took issue with ElBaradei's recent reference to French intelligence about the speed of Iran's nuclear program, without providing details.
"In addition, the IAEA director-general referred, in one of his public statements, to analyses from French intelligence services over the time that it would take Iran to have access to a nuclear weapon," Mattei said. "We aren't in the habit of releasing national intelligence analyses publicly - much less through an international organization."
Despite ElBaradei's recent comments, on Wednesday he released a report saying that Iran continues to defy UN Security Council demands to scrap its uranium enrichment program and has instead expanded its activities.
Full Story
"We must abandon the unworkable notion that it is morally reprehensible for some countries to pursue weapons of mass destruction, yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security - and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use."
-Mohamed ElBaradei
New York Times 2/12/04
Winner of the The Human Security award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Only Muslims allowed in Mecca. I wonder if they'll let our cruise missle in?
Our good friends the Saudi's arresting infidels for having the gall to enter Mecca. No one really knows why the hell he'd want to go there. The next time (notice I didn't say if) America gets hit, if it involves even 1 Saudi, Mecca should become a mushroom cloud. And NO, I'M NOT KIDDING. On the other hand, if we agree to stay out of Mecca, can we make America and Europe Muslim free?
Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.
Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca's Great Mosque.
After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.
"The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals," he said.
Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, "Traveler's Information," the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, "Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry."
Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city's environs.
Full Story
Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.
Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca's Great Mosque.
After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.
"The Grand Mosque and the holy city are forbidden to non-Muslims," Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News. "The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of criminals," he said.
Similar restrictions apply to the Saudi city of Medina. In a section entitled, "Traveler's Information," the Web site of the Saudi Embassy in Washington states that, "Mecca and Medina hold special religious significance and only persons of the Islamic faith are allowed entry."
Highway signs at the entrance to Mecca also direct non-Muslims away from the city's environs.
Full Story
Spain sides with the terrorists... Again...
In all this, note there's nothing about the press taking risks by placing themselves in the middle of a war zone. Note to dumb Spanish judge's and reporters, If you place yourself in a position to be used as a human shield by the enemy, you will get killed.
A Spanish judge on Thursday upheld an indictment against three members of an American tank crew, deemed responsible for the April 2003 death of a Spanish journalist in Baghdad.
In August 2003, US military inquiry exonerated the tank crew for firing a 120mm shell into an upper floor of the Palestine Hotel, an attack that killed Ukrainian ReutersTV cameraman Taras Protsyuk, 35, and Spanish cameraman for Telecinco, Jose Couso, 37.
The tank crew claimed they fired on the Palestine--home base for much of the Western press corp--because they thought they saw a spotter guiding hostile fire from the top floor, an explanation that convinced the military's inquiry to rule they had acted within the rules of engagement.
The Spanish state's legal team mounted the same defense--that the tank crew was acting to defend themselves in a war zone--in their latest appeal to have the charges dismissed.
But Judge Santiago Pedraz issued his ruling Thursday rejecting the appeal on the grounds that the American troops had used indiscriminate and excessive force for the circumstances. Pedraz said there was no evidence of a spotter in the hotel, though it wouldn't have made a difference:
"Even if there was a spotter, the reaction was still disproportionate, because it was not an attack on U.S. forces, and because they knew about the hotel and who was inside it--journalists, persons protected by the fourth Geneva Convention," Pedraz said in his ruling. "The collateral damage that would be produced was predictable, that is the death and injury of those staying at the hotel," Pedraz said.
The US has said it will not extradite the three members of the tank crew, though Pedraz has issued several arrest warrants for them.
If the soldiers travel to any country with an extradition treaty with Spain, they could run the risk of arrest under Spain's international warrant.
The three American soldiers were part of the U.S. 3rd Infantry, based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Original Story
A Spanish judge on Thursday upheld an indictment against three members of an American tank crew, deemed responsible for the April 2003 death of a Spanish journalist in Baghdad.
In August 2003, US military inquiry exonerated the tank crew for firing a 120mm shell into an upper floor of the Palestine Hotel, an attack that killed Ukrainian ReutersTV cameraman Taras Protsyuk, 35, and Spanish cameraman for Telecinco, Jose Couso, 37.
The tank crew claimed they fired on the Palestine--home base for much of the Western press corp--because they thought they saw a spotter guiding hostile fire from the top floor, an explanation that convinced the military's inquiry to rule they had acted within the rules of engagement.
The Spanish state's legal team mounted the same defense--that the tank crew was acting to defend themselves in a war zone--in their latest appeal to have the charges dismissed.
But Judge Santiago Pedraz issued his ruling Thursday rejecting the appeal on the grounds that the American troops had used indiscriminate and excessive force for the circumstances. Pedraz said there was no evidence of a spotter in the hotel, though it wouldn't have made a difference:
"Even if there was a spotter, the reaction was still disproportionate, because it was not an attack on U.S. forces, and because they knew about the hotel and who was inside it--journalists, persons protected by the fourth Geneva Convention," Pedraz said in his ruling. "The collateral damage that would be produced was predictable, that is the death and injury of those staying at the hotel," Pedraz said.
The US has said it will not extradite the three members of the tank crew, though Pedraz has issued several arrest warrants for them.
If the soldiers travel to any country with an extradition treaty with Spain, they could run the risk of arrest under Spain's international warrant.
The three American soldiers were part of the U.S. 3rd Infantry, based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Original Story
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Iraqi terrorist butchers torture and smash the heads of kidnapped American Soldiers
If another moron ever mentions Abu Ghareb and the underwear on the head again, I think I'll punch someone. Tell me how those Muslims feel about the Geneva convention? I'm not defending Abu Ghareb, but isn't it just a tad irrelevant in the face of the horrors the enemy ALWAYS bestows upon its captors.
The search for the soldiers missing since an ambush in Mahmoudiya twelve days ago faced a troubling development on Wednesday, with reports emerging that at least one body, though possibly three, have been retrieved from rivers in Babel province.
Multiple media outlets have confirmed through US military and Iraqi police sources that one body found Wednesday in the Euphrates river, reportedly with Western features and wearing US-issue military pants, has been turned over to US authorities.
The independent Iraqi news agency VOI is reporting that Iraqi police forces in Babel province have found two more bodies.
"“Babel police patrols today found two bodies believed to be from the two kidnapped U.S. soldiers near the Euphrates bank in al-Masayab area,” the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
He added, “the bodies bore marks of torture with their heads smashed. They wore the U.S. military-style uniform.” The source said “The two bodies were handed over to the U.S. forces at the location where they were found.”
Hat Tip:
Iraq Slogger
The search for the soldiers missing since an ambush in Mahmoudiya twelve days ago faced a troubling development on Wednesday, with reports emerging that at least one body, though possibly three, have been retrieved from rivers in Babel province.
Multiple media outlets have confirmed through US military and Iraqi police sources that one body found Wednesday in the Euphrates river, reportedly with Western features and wearing US-issue military pants, has been turned over to US authorities.
The independent Iraqi news agency VOI is reporting that Iraqi police forces in Babel province have found two more bodies.
"“Babel police patrols today found two bodies believed to be from the two kidnapped U.S. soldiers near the Euphrates bank in al-Masayab area,” the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
He added, “the bodies bore marks of torture with their heads smashed. They wore the U.S. military-style uniform.” The source said “The two bodies were handed over to the U.S. forces at the location where they were found.”
Hat Tip:
Iraq Slogger
1 in 4 American Muslims approve of suicide bombings
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Tue May 22, 6:42 PM ET
WASHINGTON - One in four younger U.S. Muslims said in a poll that suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.
The survey by the Pew Research Center, one of the most exhaustive ever of the country's Muslims, revealed a community that in many ways blends comfortably into society. Its largely mainstream members express nearly as much happiness with their lives and communities as the general public does, show a broad willingness to adopt American customs, and have income and education levels similar to others in the U.S.
Even so, the survey revealed noteworthy pockets of discontent.
While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.
That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.
"It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.
He said most supporters of the attacks likely assumed the context was a fight against occupation — a term Muslims often use to describe the conflict with
U.S. Muslims have growing Internet and television access to extreme ideologies, he said, adding: "People, especially younger people, are susceptible to these ideas."
Federal officials have warned the U.S. must guard against homegrown terrorism, as the British suffered with the London transit bombings of 2005.
Full Story - Yahoo News(AP)
WASHINGTON - One in four younger U.S. Muslims said in a poll that suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida.
The survey by the Pew Research Center, one of the most exhaustive ever of the country's Muslims, revealed a community that in many ways blends comfortably into society. Its largely mainstream members express nearly as much happiness with their lives and communities as the general public does, show a broad willingness to adopt American customs, and have income and education levels similar to others in the U.S.
Even so, the survey revealed noteworthy pockets of discontent.
While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.
That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.
"It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.
He said most supporters of the attacks likely assumed the context was a fight against occupation — a term Muslims often use to describe the conflict with
U.S. Muslims have growing Internet and television access to extreme ideologies, he said, adding: "People, especially younger people, are susceptible to these ideas."
Federal officials have warned the U.S. must guard against homegrown terrorism, as the British suffered with the London transit bombings of 2005.
Full Story - Yahoo News(AP)
Sharia Law in Action: Man beats wife to death with rubber pipe. Abu Dhabi Supreme Court changes death sentence to 1.5 years in prison
As we know from below, you're only allowed to beat your woman until her legs are about to break. I wonder if he gave her the stern admonishment that's required before beating her to death? I guess we can ask him in about 18 months.
Killer husband's death penalty commuted
By Mohammad Shamseddine, Staff Reporter
Abu Dhabi: A man who beat his wife to death has had his death penalty commuted to jail term by the Federal Supreme Court.
The convict will now serve one-and-a-half years in jail and will be deported, the court said.
The convict, a Syrian identified as S.N., lived in Abu Dhabi with his two wives in the same house.
On the evening of the murder, S.N. argued with one wife, identified as A.H. He told the public prosecution he slapped her twice in the face and left the house.
Dragged
S.N. told the prosecution he came back home at 11pm to find his wife standing on the kitchen balcony with "little clothes on her". He then slapped A.H. a few times in the face and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her room. Then he beat her with a rubber pipe.
Full Story: Gulf News
Hat tip:Weasel Zippers
Killer husband's death penalty commuted
By Mohammad Shamseddine, Staff Reporter
Abu Dhabi: A man who beat his wife to death has had his death penalty commuted to jail term by the Federal Supreme Court.
The convict will now serve one-and-a-half years in jail and will be deported, the court said.
The convict, a Syrian identified as S.N., lived in Abu Dhabi with his two wives in the same house.
On the evening of the murder, S.N. argued with one wife, identified as A.H. He told the public prosecution he slapped her twice in the face and left the house.
Dragged
S.N. told the prosecution he came back home at 11pm to find his wife standing on the kitchen balcony with "little clothes on her". He then slapped A.H. a few times in the face and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her room. Then he beat her with a rubber pipe.
Full Story: Gulf News
Hat tip:Weasel Zippers
Rosie blames Elizabeth for hearing Rosie call the troops terrorists!
Finally! Elizabeth can defend herself. After months of Rosie speaking to Elizabeth like she's the poor little idiot who believes Republican propaganda (i.e., the truth), she finally lets her have it. It's about time as far as I'm concerned. Since Elizabeth didn't get around to it, I'll say it. You did call the troops terrorists, you blamed them for the death of 600,000 Iraqi's, and you are a horrible rotten human being.
All that said without once calling her a "fat loud mouth lesbian" Oh, ooops....
All that said without once calling her a "fat loud mouth lesbian" Oh, ooops....
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
More kids and their parents that need to die
Just sticking with the theme of our peaceful arab brothers and their rotten children
Saudi professor predicts the fall of the United States
Once again, our good friends the Saudi's have our back as usual
There's a special place in hell for people like these...
When you see things like this, you have to realize there is never going to peace. Palestinian children brainswashed by Kindergarten. Are you kidding me? Dennis Kucinich thinks pulling out of Iraq will make them stop hating us? Or does he think they only hate the Jews, so it's ok. Two problems with that theory, Pulling out of Iraq will not stop them hating us, and they don't only hate the Jews.
Palestinians rejoicing after 9/11
Just a reminder for those who forgot or who didn't get a chance to see it. It was quickly censored by all of the media so as not to incite anger towards Muslims. In the midst of all the Palestinian conflict it is important to remember who we are dealing with. The stated goal of Hamas, the duly elected government of Palestine, has said it's his goal to wipe Israel off the map. I ask you, who would you prefer controlling Jerusalem, a loyal democratic Israel or a terrorist filled Palestine spreading their brand of terrorism to the entire western world. I know which one I'd choose.
Religion of Peace strikes again
Insurgents shot dead a Buddhist man and burnt his body in an increasingly used atrocity in Yala early Tuesday, before detonating a bomb at police responding to the scene, wounding four people including a foreign photographer.Police said they were informed of the charred body at around 6.30 a.m. so they rushed to the scene in Muang district. The man was found to have been shot and his motorcycle was also found to have been burnt.When they arrived at the scene a bomb exploded on the roadside, slightly injuring three police men and Australian photographer Philip Blenkinsop.
"We were lucky that there were no scraps of metal in the bomb," said Yala Police Lieutenant Colonel Salawudh Wongderm.Blenkinsop, a World Press Photo winner, was only slightly injured by the explosion.It was the latest terrorist act in Thailand's violence-plagued deep South, a majority Muslim region that comprises Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces, all of which border Malaysia.Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country, has painted the southern conflict as a separatist insurgency, downplaying its religious element, a stance that has been accepted by much of the world's Islamic community.
The three provinces constituted an independent Islamic sultanate known as Pattani for hundreds of years before being conquered by Bangkok in 1786. The border provinces came under direct rule of the Thai bureaucracy in 1902.A separatist struggle took off in the 1950s, fuelled by government efforts to suppress the local culture and religion in the region.The long-simmering separatist struggle, after a two decade-long lull, took a turn for the worse when Muslim militants raided an army arms depot and stole more than 300 weapons in January 2004.
Hat Tip:LGF
Monday, May 21, 2007
Palestinians refuse to be outdone by Iran in pushing Israel off the map
As the Hamas-led multiple missile offensive against Israel marked its first week, voices were heard in Israel and overseas, well-meaning or despairing, calling for Israel to start talks with the Palestinian Islamist group’s leaders.
Hamas soon knocked that notion on the head. After hurling some 150 missiles against Israel, one of its officials, Nizhar Riyah, issued a clear statement of intent Monday, May 21:
“Hamas is determined to wipe Israel off the map and replace it with the state of Palestine,” he said. Hamas will fight “until the last Jew is expelled” - not only from Sderot but also from Ashkelon and “all of Palestine.”
In February 2006, Hamas beat Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah in the Palestinian general elections, which the incoming Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, against every Israeli security interest, allowed to take place.
Full Story - DEBKAfile
Hamas soon knocked that notion on the head. After hurling some 150 missiles against Israel, one of its officials, Nizhar Riyah, issued a clear statement of intent Monday, May 21:
“Hamas is determined to wipe Israel off the map and replace it with the state of Palestine,” he said. Hamas will fight “until the last Jew is expelled” - not only from Sderot but also from Ashkelon and “all of Palestine.”
In February 2006, Hamas beat Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah in the Palestinian general elections, which the incoming Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, against every Israeli security interest, allowed to take place.
Full Story - DEBKAfile
Islamists make excuses for genocide in Darfur
Al-Hayat Columnist: "The Lobby to Save Darfur" is Just a Nickname for the Israel Lobby
Jihad Al-Khazen, former editor and now columnist for the London daily Al-Hayat, claimed that the Israel lobby is exploiting the victims of Darfur in order to divert the world's attention from crimes being committed in Palestine and Iraq:
"In New York, Darfur is the most important issue in the world... In the subway tunnels and the streets, there are thousands of posters screaming 'genocide' and '400,000 people dead,' and there are ads in the newspapers and on television. The save-Darfur lobby claims that it includes 180 organizations representing 130 million Americans, and that its aim is to pressure Congress and the administration to stop this 'genocide' and punish the Khartoum government.
"Darfur is a terrible humanitarian disaster that should not be played down, and I myself am not doing so. However, the U.N. itself said that [only] 200,000 have been killed and that what has been done [in Darfur] was war crimes, not genocide.
"I choose to believe the U.N. rather than the save-Darfur lobby, because [the save-Darfur lobby] is just a nickname for the Israel lobby. [Its] goal is to divert attention from Israel's crimes, or from the disaster of the war in Iraq.
"The U.S. war in Iraq has killed, according to a medical estimate, 655,000 Iraqis. That is, more than three times the number of dead in Darfur, and perhaps five times, if we believe the higher estimate of nearly one million victims. Yet we do not see posters in New York for the Iraqi victims, nor read about 'genocide' or a [hear any] call to punish the war cabal on charges of genocide, or at the least for war crimes...
"In Darfur, the victims are Muslims. There are 200,000 Muslims killed by Muslims. This lobby, whether of Israel or Darfur, does not defend them. It uses them as a smokescreen to obscure the other crimes stretching from Palestine to Iraq. The Israel lobby has, after all, been very active in the pursuit of war and still [continues to] defend it - that is, it still supports the killing of young American [soldiers] in an unjustified war to protect Israel's security.
"Thus, the U.S. press is not interested [in Darfur] because the victims are Arabs and Muslims; [rather], the lobby's [aim is] to prevent any in-depth discussion and to divert the attention from the crimes being committed every day in Palestine and Iraq."
Senior Qatari Journalist: There is No Ethnic Cleansing in Darfur
Sudanese journalist Babker 'Issa, editor of the Qatari daily Al-Raya, also expressed suspicion over the U.S.'s motives in Darfur:
"The American public is showing extraordinary interest in the events in Darfur. The American administration shares this interest, as though the events [in Darfur] are meant to hide America's incompetence in Iraq, to divert attention away from Israel's actions in the occupied territories… or to disguise the daily massacres being committed in Somalia… We all know that the U.S. is pursuing its own interests in the world... and that there is no dimension of morality in American policy…
"The popular and official American interest in Darfur is exaggerated, especially as there is no ethnic cleansing being perpetrated [there, contra to] what is said in the American media and in official speeches. We acknowledge that great instability has taken hold in Darfur in the course of clashes between the Sudanese government, rebel movements and the Janjaweed - but this can not be described as ethnic cleansing or as mass annihilation of the African tribes...
"In addition, the steps taken by the American administration and the British government against Khartoum, while ignoring the rebel forces who refused [to sign] the Abuja agreement, are cause for wonder."
"...In an article titled "The Arabs and the Racist Indifference towards the Tragedy in Darfur" in the UAE daily Al-Ittihad, Palestinian intellectual and researcher Khaled Al-Kharoub harshly condemned the indifference of the Arab media and intellectuals towards the events in Darfur:
"Hardly any of us is innocent of the racist indifference towards the crimes against humanity that have been committed [in Darfur] in the last four years, in full view of the Arabs and the Muslims. This issue hardly receives any attention in [our] media... Our media, our writers, and our intellectuals (myself included) - whether in the satellite [TV channels] and the written press or at [various] conventions and academic conferences - devote minimal attention to Darfur, to the daily developments and [ongoing] crimes being committed there. Many are content to take a narrow and despicable [approach], shrilly repeating the old familiar [claim that the entire affair is] a Western plot against Sudan... If [the whole affair] is indeed a Western plot, and all of us (including the Sudanese government, of course) have 'exposed' it, then why is [the Sudanese government], up to this very moment, exacerbating [the crisis] and contributing to the perpetuation of the daily bloodbath?...
"What is happening in Darfur is an ongoing disaster. The body count [in Darfur] at the end of the day is sometimes higher than in Iraq, Palestine, and all the other Arab countries put together. The victims of Darfur are nameless statistics... How can we - not only as Arabs and Muslims but as human beings - take such a conciliatory [approach] towards this affair, with so many [people] being killed every day? [How can we] ignore the number of victims? Are not human dignity and human life the most sacred values by to every criterion, every holy book, and every faith on the face of the planet? Our conscience (and above all my own) needs shock therapy until it wakes up and says: No to the cheap taking of life in Darfur!
"Stopping the cycle of violence in Darfur is a goal of supreme [importance] that must be achieved quickly. Why has [human] life become so cheap and valueless? This goal must be achieved, through [intervention] of U.N., African or Western forces. The claim that the sovereignty [of Sudan] is sacred, and must be protected even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, is a stupid and weak claim. A country and government that allows 200,000 of its citizens to be murdered on its own soil within four years - and even takes part in the chain of killing - must be held accountable.
"All of us who read, write and take part in the [shaping of] so-called Arab public opinion [must be considered] accomplices to the crime... We must hear the [cries of] anguish rising from Darfur and empathize with the [victims'] suffering. [We must] try to reach out and help, raise our voices in condemnation and demand that the governments in the region - which are even more complicit than we - undertake effective action. The respectable Arab League, which is quicker to defend the sovereignty of governments than the sovereignty of peoples, is also guilty... We must place the good of peoples before the good of governments, and prefer people to live instead of [letting them] die while we keep silent in the face of their murderers' [crimes]. Indeed, it may even be said that we are taking a hand in their murder."
Kuwaiti Columnist Dr. Khaled Al-Janfawi: "How Have We Arabs and Muslims [Managed to] Deteriorate to Such a Degree that the Suffering and Distress of Others Pass Before Our Eyes as Though They Were Nothing?"
In an article in the daily Al-Siyassa, Kuwaiti columnist Dr. Khaled Al-Janfawi condemned the Arab world's lack of empathy towards the victims of Darfur, and commended the involvement of the international community:
Moroccan Columnist: The Tyranny of the Sudanese Regime, Its Despotism, Its Exclusion of the Other, and Its Defiled Thinking Are the Reasons for Sudan's Problems
'Asasi Abd Al-Hamid, Moroccan Berber columnist for the reformist website http://www.rezgar.com/, mocked the Sudanese foreign minister's declaration accusing the Jews of inventing the Darfur crisis:
"'It is the Jews who were behind the invention of the Darfur crisis,' claimed Sudanese Foreign minister Mustapha 'Othman Isma'il in a statement to the international press, publicly accusing the Jews of being behind the Darfur crisis. He added that he had solid proof of the truth of his words.
"Statements of this kind do not amaze, especially from a senior [figure] like the Sudanese foreign minister - indeed, we have already become accustomed to them. Whenever the fascist Arab regimes fail in developing their countries and in providing wellbeing and security for their citizens, they project their failures on those whom Allah condemned, and first of all the Jews. Whenever these regimes - which are haunted by a single specter and by perverted Salafist thought - are powerless to provide a life of dignity to their peoples, they blame their historic enemies - and who are these but the dastardly Jews...
"Sixteen million Jews are responsible for all the crises... - from Malaysia in the east to Casablanca in the west - which afflict the nation of the Merciful [Allah] numbering 1.5 billion. Is it logical that such a tiny number of Jews, comparable to a miniscule point in a broad lake, [can] hold such a [great] measure of craftiness, cunning, and evil that it can shock the security of the countries in the region?...
"[I tell you,] Mustapha 'Othman: Sudan's problems - particularly the Darfur crisis - are the consequence of the tyrannical regime that has risen to power in Khartoum time and again, [and are the consequence] of your [regime's] inability to formulate a serious plan for comprehensive development in which the citizen will be a partner, and of the failure to give the [various] regions of Sudan the possibility of conducting their own affairs under a regional government that respects the uniqueness of each region.
"Your [regime's] tyranny and despotism, [its] exclusion of the other, and [its] defiled thinking are the reasons [for Sudan's problems]. Therefore, it is no wonder that you state that the Jews are working to divide Sudan, are striving to spread AIDS amongst the youth, are planning to poison the Nile in order to destroy your [regime], and are engaged in conspiring against [it].
Source: MEMRI
Jihad Al-Khazen, former editor and now columnist for the London daily Al-Hayat, claimed that the Israel lobby is exploiting the victims of Darfur in order to divert the world's attention from crimes being committed in Palestine and Iraq:
"In New York, Darfur is the most important issue in the world... In the subway tunnels and the streets, there are thousands of posters screaming 'genocide' and '400,000 people dead,' and there are ads in the newspapers and on television. The save-Darfur lobby claims that it includes 180 organizations representing 130 million Americans, and that its aim is to pressure Congress and the administration to stop this 'genocide' and punish the Khartoum government.
"Darfur is a terrible humanitarian disaster that should not be played down, and I myself am not doing so. However, the U.N. itself said that [only] 200,000 have been killed and that what has been done [in Darfur] was war crimes, not genocide.
"I choose to believe the U.N. rather than the save-Darfur lobby, because [the save-Darfur lobby] is just a nickname for the Israel lobby. [Its] goal is to divert attention from Israel's crimes, or from the disaster of the war in Iraq.
"The U.S. war in Iraq has killed, according to a medical estimate, 655,000 Iraqis. That is, more than three times the number of dead in Darfur, and perhaps five times, if we believe the higher estimate of nearly one million victims. Yet we do not see posters in New York for the Iraqi victims, nor read about 'genocide' or a [hear any] call to punish the war cabal on charges of genocide, or at the least for war crimes...
"In Darfur, the victims are Muslims. There are 200,000 Muslims killed by Muslims. This lobby, whether of Israel or Darfur, does not defend them. It uses them as a smokescreen to obscure the other crimes stretching from Palestine to Iraq. The Israel lobby has, after all, been very active in the pursuit of war and still [continues to] defend it - that is, it still supports the killing of young American [soldiers] in an unjustified war to protect Israel's security.
"Thus, the U.S. press is not interested [in Darfur] because the victims are Arabs and Muslims; [rather], the lobby's [aim is] to prevent any in-depth discussion and to divert the attention from the crimes being committed every day in Palestine and Iraq."
Senior Qatari Journalist: There is No Ethnic Cleansing in Darfur
Sudanese journalist Babker 'Issa, editor of the Qatari daily Al-Raya, also expressed suspicion over the U.S.'s motives in Darfur:
"The American public is showing extraordinary interest in the events in Darfur. The American administration shares this interest, as though the events [in Darfur] are meant to hide America's incompetence in Iraq, to divert attention away from Israel's actions in the occupied territories… or to disguise the daily massacres being committed in Somalia… We all know that the U.S. is pursuing its own interests in the world... and that there is no dimension of morality in American policy…
"The popular and official American interest in Darfur is exaggerated, especially as there is no ethnic cleansing being perpetrated [there, contra to] what is said in the American media and in official speeches. We acknowledge that great instability has taken hold in Darfur in the course of clashes between the Sudanese government, rebel movements and the Janjaweed - but this can not be described as ethnic cleansing or as mass annihilation of the African tribes...
"In addition, the steps taken by the American administration and the British government against Khartoum, while ignoring the rebel forces who refused [to sign] the Abuja agreement, are cause for wonder."
"...In an article titled "The Arabs and the Racist Indifference towards the Tragedy in Darfur" in the UAE daily Al-Ittihad, Palestinian intellectual and researcher Khaled Al-Kharoub harshly condemned the indifference of the Arab media and intellectuals towards the events in Darfur:
"Hardly any of us is innocent of the racist indifference towards the crimes against humanity that have been committed [in Darfur] in the last four years, in full view of the Arabs and the Muslims. This issue hardly receives any attention in [our] media... Our media, our writers, and our intellectuals (myself included) - whether in the satellite [TV channels] and the written press or at [various] conventions and academic conferences - devote minimal attention to Darfur, to the daily developments and [ongoing] crimes being committed there. Many are content to take a narrow and despicable [approach], shrilly repeating the old familiar [claim that the entire affair is] a Western plot against Sudan... If [the whole affair] is indeed a Western plot, and all of us (including the Sudanese government, of course) have 'exposed' it, then why is [the Sudanese government], up to this very moment, exacerbating [the crisis] and contributing to the perpetuation of the daily bloodbath?...
"What is happening in Darfur is an ongoing disaster. The body count [in Darfur] at the end of the day is sometimes higher than in Iraq, Palestine, and all the other Arab countries put together. The victims of Darfur are nameless statistics... How can we - not only as Arabs and Muslims but as human beings - take such a conciliatory [approach] towards this affair, with so many [people] being killed every day? [How can we] ignore the number of victims? Are not human dignity and human life the most sacred values by to every criterion, every holy book, and every faith on the face of the planet? Our conscience (and above all my own) needs shock therapy until it wakes up and says: No to the cheap taking of life in Darfur!
"Stopping the cycle of violence in Darfur is a goal of supreme [importance] that must be achieved quickly. Why has [human] life become so cheap and valueless? This goal must be achieved, through [intervention] of U.N., African or Western forces. The claim that the sovereignty [of Sudan] is sacred, and must be protected even at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, is a stupid and weak claim. A country and government that allows 200,000 of its citizens to be murdered on its own soil within four years - and even takes part in the chain of killing - must be held accountable.
"All of us who read, write and take part in the [shaping of] so-called Arab public opinion [must be considered] accomplices to the crime... We must hear the [cries of] anguish rising from Darfur and empathize with the [victims'] suffering. [We must] try to reach out and help, raise our voices in condemnation and demand that the governments in the region - which are even more complicit than we - undertake effective action. The respectable Arab League, which is quicker to defend the sovereignty of governments than the sovereignty of peoples, is also guilty... We must place the good of peoples before the good of governments, and prefer people to live instead of [letting them] die while we keep silent in the face of their murderers' [crimes]. Indeed, it may even be said that we are taking a hand in their murder."
Kuwaiti Columnist Dr. Khaled Al-Janfawi: "How Have We Arabs and Muslims [Managed to] Deteriorate to Such a Degree that the Suffering and Distress of Others Pass Before Our Eyes as Though They Were Nothing?"
In an article in the daily Al-Siyassa, Kuwaiti columnist Dr. Khaled Al-Janfawi condemned the Arab world's lack of empathy towards the victims of Darfur, and commended the involvement of the international community:
Moroccan Columnist: The Tyranny of the Sudanese Regime, Its Despotism, Its Exclusion of the Other, and Its Defiled Thinking Are the Reasons for Sudan's Problems
'Asasi Abd Al-Hamid, Moroccan Berber columnist for the reformist website http://www.rezgar.com/, mocked the Sudanese foreign minister's declaration accusing the Jews of inventing the Darfur crisis:
"'It is the Jews who were behind the invention of the Darfur crisis,' claimed Sudanese Foreign minister Mustapha 'Othman Isma'il in a statement to the international press, publicly accusing the Jews of being behind the Darfur crisis. He added that he had solid proof of the truth of his words.
"Statements of this kind do not amaze, especially from a senior [figure] like the Sudanese foreign minister - indeed, we have already become accustomed to them. Whenever the fascist Arab regimes fail in developing their countries and in providing wellbeing and security for their citizens, they project their failures on those whom Allah condemned, and first of all the Jews. Whenever these regimes - which are haunted by a single specter and by perverted Salafist thought - are powerless to provide a life of dignity to their peoples, they blame their historic enemies - and who are these but the dastardly Jews...
"Sixteen million Jews are responsible for all the crises... - from Malaysia in the east to Casablanca in the west - which afflict the nation of the Merciful [Allah] numbering 1.5 billion. Is it logical that such a tiny number of Jews, comparable to a miniscule point in a broad lake, [can] hold such a [great] measure of craftiness, cunning, and evil that it can shock the security of the countries in the region?...
"[I tell you,] Mustapha 'Othman: Sudan's problems - particularly the Darfur crisis - are the consequence of the tyrannical regime that has risen to power in Khartoum time and again, [and are the consequence] of your [regime's] inability to formulate a serious plan for comprehensive development in which the citizen will be a partner, and of the failure to give the [various] regions of Sudan the possibility of conducting their own affairs under a regional government that respects the uniqueness of each region.
"Your [regime's] tyranny and despotism, [its] exclusion of the other, and [its] defiled thinking are the reasons [for Sudan's problems]. Therefore, it is no wonder that you state that the Jews are working to divide Sudan, are striving to spread AIDS amongst the youth, are planning to poison the Nile in order to destroy your [regime], and are engaged in conspiring against [it].
Source: MEMRI
Khamenei: Iran leading nations against US
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Monday that his country was leading the world's nations in their confrontation against the US, Iranian state television reported.
Khamenei's comments came exactly one week before US and Iranian ambassadors are scheduled to meet in Baghdad to discuss the security situation in Iraq, providing one more reason to question whether the upcoming talks will be productive.
"In the field of confrontation of nations against the arrogant system of the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into a command center for the nations' front," the television quoted Khamenei as saying while meeting a group of students.
Iran's leader, who has final say over all state matters, said his country's 1979 Islamic revolution sent shock waves through the international system because it produced a country willing to challenge the US.
Jerusalem Post Story
Khamenei's comments came exactly one week before US and Iranian ambassadors are scheduled to meet in Baghdad to discuss the security situation in Iraq, providing one more reason to question whether the upcoming talks will be productive.
"In the field of confrontation of nations against the arrogant system of the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran has turned into a command center for the nations' front," the television quoted Khamenei as saying while meeting a group of students.
Iran's leader, who has final say over all state matters, said his country's 1979 Islamic revolution sent shock waves through the international system because it produced a country willing to challenge the US.
Jerusalem Post Story
Iran looks like a fun place to live
Maybe we should send Nancy Pilosi, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton...
Woman dead in Kassam rocket strikes, both Hamas and Fatah claim credit
Is Israel allowed to respond now that their rockets actually killed someone? Or are the poor israelis just "panicked" as Reuters has claimed ever time. I wonder how those same reporters would act if it was there home town which was getting bombarded by rockets on a daily basis.
As the IDF pushed ahead with its campaign against Kassam squads on Monday, a 35-year-old woman was killed in Sderot when a salvo of rockets pounded the western Negev and one hit her car.
Shortly after 8 p.m., five rockets were fired from Gaza and one struck the woman's car near Sderot's commercial center. She died en route to hospital, becoming the first Israeli to die in a rocket attack since November. Two other people were wounded in the attack, one moderately and the other lightly, and were evacuated to Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital.
Earlier in the day, an IAF missile hit a car in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, killing its four occupants, an Islamic Jihad Kassam squad. Another strike killed a
The IDF said the Islamic Jihad members were responsible for dozens of Kassam attacks, including one in November that killed Fatima Slutsker, 57, in Sderot and seriously wounded one of Defense Minister Amir Peretz's bodyguards. The IDF said the squad was intercepted based on intelligence provided by the Shin Bet
In response, Hamas ordered its operatives to limit their movements and to refrain from speaking on cellphones. Hamas also threatened to renew suicide attacks from the West Bank.
Tens of thousands of people on Monday attended a funeral in Gaza City for the people killed in Sunday evening's IAF air strike.
"You are under attack because you are strong, because you are the supporters of the resistance in Palestine," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas told the crowd.
The latest air strikes followed Sunday's security cabinet decision to step up operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad and to begin targeted killings of terrorist leaders and politicians.
The attack in Sderot came as European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were meeting there. Following the attack, Sderot residents threatened to burn the tires of the car carrying the two to protest a lack of protection from rocket attacks.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signed an order designating Sderot and communities surrounding the as "conflict zones." The decision will allow residents to receive compensation for direct and indirect damage from Kassam attacks. Monday afternoon, the Knesset Finance Committee authorized a financial benefits package for Sderot residents.
Full Story - Jerusalem Post
As the IDF pushed ahead with its campaign against Kassam squads on Monday, a 35-year-old woman was killed in Sderot when a salvo of rockets pounded the western Negev and one hit her car.
Shortly after 8 p.m., five rockets were fired from Gaza and one struck the woman's car near Sderot's commercial center. She died en route to hospital, becoming the first Israeli to die in a rocket attack since November. Two other people were wounded in the attack, one moderately and the other lightly, and were evacuated to Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital.
Earlier in the day, an IAF missile hit a car in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, killing its four occupants, an Islamic Jihad Kassam squad. Another strike killed a
The IDF said the Islamic Jihad members were responsible for dozens of Kassam attacks, including one in November that killed Fatima Slutsker, 57, in Sderot and seriously wounded one of Defense Minister Amir Peretz's bodyguards. The IDF said the squad was intercepted based on intelligence provided by the Shin Bet
In response, Hamas ordered its operatives to limit their movements and to refrain from speaking on cellphones. Hamas also threatened to renew suicide attacks from the West Bank.
Tens of thousands of people on Monday attended a funeral in Gaza City for the people killed in Sunday evening's IAF air strike.
"You are under attack because you are strong, because you are the supporters of the resistance in Palestine," Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas told the crowd.
The latest air strikes followed Sunday's security cabinet decision to step up operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad and to begin targeted killings of terrorist leaders and politicians.
The attack in Sderot came as European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were meeting there. Following the attack, Sderot residents threatened to burn the tires of the car carrying the two to protest a lack of protection from rocket attacks.
Hours earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signed an order designating Sderot and communities surrounding the as "conflict zones." The decision will allow residents to receive compensation for direct and indirect damage from Kassam attacks. Monday afternoon, the Knesset Finance Committee authorized a financial benefits package for Sderot residents.
Full Story - Jerusalem Post
When not fighting infidels, they fight themselves...
Imagine if you will while watching this what the response of the media would be if America or Israel had to assault a mosque. Notice there is no outrage when the muslims do it to each other.
Lebanon in Chaos: A gift from their Syrian friends
Syria continues to wreak havoc in the region, supporting Fatah Al-Islam in their arms crusade against the muslim-christian democracy which emerged after the Civil War which ravaged the country. Do we really want fighting like this on the streets of America? Or London? Or France? (well, we've already seen it in france...)
How do you think they'll blame this one on Israel or the United States?
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Battles engulfed a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Monday in the second day of fighting between the Lebanese army and al Qaeda-inspired militants which has killed 79 people.
Black smoke billowed from the Nahr al-Bared camp, home to 40,000 Palestinians, as tanks shelled positions held by Fatah al-Islam fighters hitting back with machinegun and grenade fire.
In the capital Beirut, a bomb rocked a shopping area in the mainly Sunni Muslim district of Verdun wounding at least seven people, security sources and witnesses said.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, at a meeting on Monday to discuss the fighting, stressed the need "to put an end" to Fatah al-Islam, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
Original Story - Reuters
NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Battles engulfed a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Monday in the second day of fighting between the Lebanese army and al Qaeda-inspired militants which has killed 79 people.
Black smoke billowed from the Nahr al-Bared camp, home to 40,000 Palestinians, as tanks shelled positions held by Fatah al-Islam fighters hitting back with machinegun and grenade fire.
In the capital Beirut, a bomb rocked a shopping area in the mainly Sunni Muslim district of Verdun wounding at least seven people, security sources and witnesses said.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government, at a meeting on Monday to discuss the fighting, stressed the need "to put an end" to Fatah al-Islam, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
Original Story - Reuters
Destroying a Koran is now a crime in the United States? What's next, walking outside without your berka on?
CAIR: FBI Probes Web Site Showing Shooting of Quran
Source: Associated Press
Federal authorities are looking into a video that shows two men shooting a Quran with a military rifle, then throwing the bullet-riddled Muslim holy book at the entrance of a a Chattanooga mosque, an FBI agent said Monday.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday had called on the Justice Department to investigate the incident as a possible civil rights violation. The group said it was the latest in a series of incidents targeting mosques in several states. . .
The video, titled " kill the koran" was posted on MySpace.com last month, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. It could still be seen on the Web site on Monday.
Original Story
Source: Associated Press
Federal authorities are looking into a video that shows two men shooting a Quran with a military rifle, then throwing the bullet-riddled Muslim holy book at the entrance of a a Chattanooga mosque, an FBI agent said Monday.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday had called on the Justice Department to investigate the incident as a possible civil rights violation. The group said it was the latest in a series of incidents targeting mosques in several states. . .
The video, titled " kill the koran" was posted on MySpace.com last month, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. It could still be seen on the Web site on Monday.
Original Story
Republicans ignore 1986 Immigration Bill to further the agenda of legalizing 20 milion immigrants
So, I was watching John Kyl on the news this morning trying to save his and every other republican that supports this sham of an immigration bill. He said that legislation was "necessary" because it is currently unlawful for employers to verify legalization status with a tamper proof ID. This is of course political speak for saying that the ID's which employers are currently required to use are subject to counterfeiting. Of course, he does not provide any explanation as to why the new ID's will be counterfeit, nor does he point out that the government under the 1986 immigration control act (i.e. the last time amnesty was granted) promised for employer verification and government monitoring.
The act required the president to create a system which would enable the federal government to monitor the employees which are hired by companies and verify the ID's which presented. The president is still vested in that authority and could create that monitoring system any time he chooses without the passage of a new bill and the legaization of 20 million illegal aliens.
As anyone with eyes can read. This problem as already supposed to be addressed. Even though it was not, the Preseident still has the authority to create a monitoring system which would actually verify the documents which employers are currently provided to check. So let's here it Jon and George. What went wrong with this system? Why would any of us believe the new system would be any different? The 80% of the people who oppose this bill understand that nothing will be different, and your lies no longer affect us.
Without further ado, and quoted right from the 1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act:
""(B) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING BOTH EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND IDENTITY. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) United States passport;
"(ii) certificate of United States citizenship;
"(iii) certificate of naturalization;
"(iv) unexpired foreign passport, if the passport has an appropriate, unexpired endorsement of the Attorney General authorizing the individual's employment in the United States; or
"(v) resident alien card or other alien registration card, if the card --
"(I) contains a photograph of the individual or such other personal identifying information relating to the individual as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, sufficient for purposes of this subsection, and
"(II) is evidence of authorization of employment in the United States.
"(C) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) social security account number card (other than such a card which specifies on the fact that the issuance of the card does not authorize employment in the United States);
"(ii) certificate of birth in the United States or establishing United States nationality at birth, which certificate the Attorney General finds, by regulation, to be acceptable for purposes of this section; or
"(iii) other documentation evidencing authorization of employment in the United States which the Attorney General finds, by regulation, to be acceptable for purposes of this section.
"(D) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) driver's license or similar document issued for the purpose of identification by a State, if it contains a photograph of the individual or such other personal identifying information relating to the individual as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, sufficient for purposes of this section; or
"(ii) in the case of individuals under 16 years of age or in a State which does not provide for issuance of an identification document (other than a driver's license) referred to in clause (ii), documentation of personal identity of such other type as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, provides a reliable means of identification.
"(2) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. -- The individual must attest, under penalty of perjury on the form designated or established for purposes of paragraph (1), that the individual is a citizen or national of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or an alien who is authorized under this Act or by the Attorney General to be hired, recruited, or referred for such employment.
"(3) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM. -- After completion of such form in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), the person or entity must retain the form and make it available for inspection by officers of the Service or the Department of Labor during a period beginning on the date of the hiring, recruiting, or referral of the individual and ending --
"(A) in the case of the recruiting or referral for a fee (without hiring) of an individual, three years after the date of the recruiting or referral, and
"(B) in the case of the hiring of an individual --
"(i) three years after the date of such hiring, or
"(ii) one year after the date the individual's employment is terminated, whichever is later.
"(4) COPYING OF DOCUMENTATION PERMITTED. -- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the person or entity may copy a document presented by an individual pursuant to this subsection and may retain the copy, but only (except as otherwise permitted under law) for the purpose of complying with the requirements of this subsection.
"(5) LIMITATION ON USE OF ATTESTATION FORM. -- A form designated or established by the Attorney General under this subsection and any information contained in or appended to such form, may not be used for purposes other than for enforcement of this Act and sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code.
"(c) NO AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. -- Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of national identification cards or the establishment of a national identification card.
"(d) EVALUATION AND CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION SYSTEM. --
"(1) PRESIDENTIAL MONITORING AND IMPROVEMENTS IN SYSTEM. --
"(A) MONITORING. -- The President shall provide for the monitoring and evaluation of the degree to which the employment verification system established under subsection (b) provides a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States and shall examine the suitability of existing Federal and State identification systems for use for this purpose.
"(B) IMPROVEMENTS TO ESTABLISH SECURE SYSTEM. -- To the extent that the system established under subsection (b) is found not to be a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States, the President shall, subject to paragraph (3) and taking into account the results of any demonstration projects conducted under paragraph (4), implement such changes in (including additions to) the requirements of subsection (b) as may be necessary to establish a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States. Such changes in the system may be implemented only if the changes conform to the requirements of paragraph (2).
"(2) RESTRICTIONS ON CHANGES IN SYSTEM. -- Any change the President proposes to implement under paragraph (1) in the verification system must be designed in a manner so the verification system, as so changed, meets the following requirements:
"(A) RELIABLE DETERMINATION OF IDENTITY. -- The system must be capable of reliably determining whether --
"(i) a person with the identity claimed by an employee or prospective employee is eligible to work, and
"(ii) the employee or prospective employee is claiming the identity of another individual.
"(B) USING OF COUNTERFEIT-RESISTANT DOCUMENTS. -- If the system requires that a document be presented to or examined by an employer, the document must be in a form which is resistant to counterfeiting and tampering.
"(C) LIMITED USE OF SYSTEM. -- Any personal information utilized by the system may not be made available to Government agenices, employers, and other persons except to the extent necessary to verify that an individual is not an unauthorized alien.
"(D) PRIVACY OF INFORMATION. -- The system must protect the privacy and security of personal information and identifiers utilized in the system.
"(E) LIMITED DENIAL OF VERIFICATION. -- A verification that an employee or prospective employee is eligible to be employed in the United States may not be withheld or revoked under the system for any reason other than that the employee or prospective employee is an unauthorized alien.
"(F) LIMITED USE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES. -- The system may not be used for law enforcement purposes, other than for enforcement of this Act or sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code.
"(G) RESTRICTION ON USE OF NEW DOCUMENTS. -- If the system requires individuals to present a new card or other document (designed specifically for use for this purpose) at the time of hiring, recruitment, or referral, then such document may not be required to to be presented for any purpose other than under this Act (or enforcement of sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code) nor to be carried on one's person."
1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act
The act required the president to create a system which would enable the federal government to monitor the employees which are hired by companies and verify the ID's which presented. The president is still vested in that authority and could create that monitoring system any time he chooses without the passage of a new bill and the legaization of 20 million illegal aliens.
As anyone with eyes can read. This problem as already supposed to be addressed. Even though it was not, the Preseident still has the authority to create a monitoring system which would actually verify the documents which employers are currently provided to check. So let's here it Jon and George. What went wrong with this system? Why would any of us believe the new system would be any different? The 80% of the people who oppose this bill understand that nothing will be different, and your lies no longer affect us.
Without further ado, and quoted right from the 1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act:
""(B) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING BOTH EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION AND IDENTITY. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) United States passport;
"(ii) certificate of United States citizenship;
"(iii) certificate of naturalization;
"(iv) unexpired foreign passport, if the passport has an appropriate, unexpired endorsement of the Attorney General authorizing the individual's employment in the United States; or
"(v) resident alien card or other alien registration card, if the card --
"(I) contains a photograph of the individual or such other personal identifying information relating to the individual as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, sufficient for purposes of this subsection, and
"(II) is evidence of authorization of employment in the United States.
"(C) DOCUMENTS EVIDENCING EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) social security account number card (other than such a card which specifies on the fact that the issuance of the card does not authorize employment in the United States);
"(ii) certificate of birth in the United States or establishing United States nationality at birth, which certificate the Attorney General finds, by regulation, to be acceptable for purposes of this section; or
"(iii) other documentation evidencing authorization of employment in the United States which the Attorney General finds, by regulation, to be acceptable for purposes of this section.
"(D) DOCUMENTS ESTABLISHING IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUAL. -- A document described in this subparagraph is an individual's --
"(i) driver's license or similar document issued for the purpose of identification by a State, if it contains a photograph of the individual or such other personal identifying information relating to the individual as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, sufficient for purposes of this section; or
"(ii) in the case of individuals under 16 years of age or in a State which does not provide for issuance of an identification document (other than a driver's license) referred to in clause (ii), documentation of personal identity of such other type as the Attorney General finds, by regulation, provides a reliable means of identification.
"(2) INDIVIDUAL ATTESTATION OF EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. -- The individual must attest, under penalty of perjury on the form designated or established for purposes of paragraph (1), that the individual is a citizen or national of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or an alien who is authorized under this Act or by the Attorney General to be hired, recruited, or referred for such employment.
"(3) RETENTION OF VERIFICATION FORM. -- After completion of such form in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2), the person or entity must retain the form and make it available for inspection by officers of the Service or the Department of Labor during a period beginning on the date of the hiring, recruiting, or referral of the individual and ending --
"(A) in the case of the recruiting or referral for a fee (without hiring) of an individual, three years after the date of the recruiting or referral, and
"(B) in the case of the hiring of an individual --
"(i) three years after the date of such hiring, or
"(ii) one year after the date the individual's employment is terminated, whichever is later.
"(4) COPYING OF DOCUMENTATION PERMITTED. -- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the person or entity may copy a document presented by an individual pursuant to this subsection and may retain the copy, but only (except as otherwise permitted under law) for the purpose of complying with the requirements of this subsection.
"(5) LIMITATION ON USE OF ATTESTATION FORM. -- A form designated or established by the Attorney General under this subsection and any information contained in or appended to such form, may not be used for purposes other than for enforcement of this Act and sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code.
"(c) NO AUTHORIZATION OF NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS. -- Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize, directly or indirectly, the issuance or use of national identification cards or the establishment of a national identification card.
"(d) EVALUATION AND CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT VERIFICATION SYSTEM. --
"(1) PRESIDENTIAL MONITORING AND IMPROVEMENTS IN SYSTEM. --
"(A) MONITORING. -- The President shall provide for the monitoring and evaluation of the degree to which the employment verification system established under subsection (b) provides a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States and shall examine the suitability of existing Federal and State identification systems for use for this purpose.
"(B) IMPROVEMENTS TO ESTABLISH SECURE SYSTEM. -- To the extent that the system established under subsection (b) is found not to be a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States, the President shall, subject to paragraph (3) and taking into account the results of any demonstration projects conducted under paragraph (4), implement such changes in (including additions to) the requirements of subsection (b) as may be necessary to establish a secure system to determine employment eligibility in the United States. Such changes in the system may be implemented only if the changes conform to the requirements of paragraph (2).
"(2) RESTRICTIONS ON CHANGES IN SYSTEM. -- Any change the President proposes to implement under paragraph (1) in the verification system must be designed in a manner so the verification system, as so changed, meets the following requirements:
"(A) RELIABLE DETERMINATION OF IDENTITY. -- The system must be capable of reliably determining whether --
"(i) a person with the identity claimed by an employee or prospective employee is eligible to work, and
"(ii) the employee or prospective employee is claiming the identity of another individual.
"(B) USING OF COUNTERFEIT-RESISTANT DOCUMENTS. -- If the system requires that a document be presented to or examined by an employer, the document must be in a form which is resistant to counterfeiting and tampering.
"(C) LIMITED USE OF SYSTEM. -- Any personal information utilized by the system may not be made available to Government agenices, employers, and other persons except to the extent necessary to verify that an individual is not an unauthorized alien.
"(D) PRIVACY OF INFORMATION. -- The system must protect the privacy and security of personal information and identifiers utilized in the system.
"(E) LIMITED DENIAL OF VERIFICATION. -- A verification that an employee or prospective employee is eligible to be employed in the United States may not be withheld or revoked under the system for any reason other than that the employee or prospective employee is an unauthorized alien.
"(F) LIMITED USE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES. -- The system may not be used for law enforcement purposes, other than for enforcement of this Act or sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code.
"(G) RESTRICTION ON USE OF NEW DOCUMENTS. -- If the system requires individuals to present a new card or other document (designed specifically for use for this purpose) at the time of hiring, recruitment, or referral, then such document may not be required to to be presented for any purpose other than under this Act (or enforcement of sections 1001, 1028, 1546, and 1621 of title 18, United States Code) nor to be carried on one's person."
1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Israel continues assault to stop Kasaam Rocket attacks
Reuter's reports with it's usual biased spin...
GAZA, May 21 (Reuters) - Israel pounded Gaza with a series of air strikes on Monday, hours after killing nine Palestinians in an assault on the home of a senior Hamas politician, and in a separate raid on a suspected rocket manufacturing facility.
Israel's cabinet decided on Sunday to ratchet up military measures in Gaza in response to an increase in rocket attacks on Israel in the past week, though stopping short of waging an all out offensive in the coastal territory its troops quit in 2005. The latest Israeli air strike targeted the Zaitoun neighbourhood, an Islamic stronghold in Gaza City, shortly after an attack late on Sunday killed a man at what Palestinians said was a stone mason's workshop, and Israel called a rocket manufacturing plant.
Palestinian medics said a Hamas member had been shot and wounded from an Israeli aircraft while riding a bicycle early on Monday. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
In a second strike on Monday, a missile fired from an Israeli attack helicopter knocked out electricity for about 50,000 people in Nozeirat and a nearby refugee camp in central Gaza, witnesses said. There were no casualties. Eight Palestinians died in an Israeli air raid on Sunday that punched out the porch of the home of prominent Gaza lawmaker Khalil al-Hayya of Hamas. Israel said it had targeted Hamas gunmen involved in rocket attacks, killing five.
That attack was the first time in many months Israel had struck at a key figure of the Islamist militant group that rose to power a year ago but has been shunned by the West for refusing to recognise the Jewish state.
Hayya was not home and was unharmed by the raid which also wounded a dozen other people.
Hamas said two of those killed were gunmen and vowed "an earthquake" of a response against Israel, which had struck out at the home of a Hamas official for the first time in many months.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's top aide condemned Israel for the strike at Hayya's home which was Israel's deadliest in Gaza in about a year.
Full Story - Reuters
GAZA, May 21 (Reuters) - Israel pounded Gaza with a series of air strikes on Monday, hours after killing nine Palestinians in an assault on the home of a senior Hamas politician, and in a separate raid on a suspected rocket manufacturing facility.
Israel's cabinet decided on Sunday to ratchet up military measures in Gaza in response to an increase in rocket attacks on Israel in the past week, though stopping short of waging an all out offensive in the coastal territory its troops quit in 2005. The latest Israeli air strike targeted the Zaitoun neighbourhood, an Islamic stronghold in Gaza City, shortly after an attack late on Sunday killed a man at what Palestinians said was a stone mason's workshop, and Israel called a rocket manufacturing plant.
Palestinian medics said a Hamas member had been shot and wounded from an Israeli aircraft while riding a bicycle early on Monday. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
In a second strike on Monday, a missile fired from an Israeli attack helicopter knocked out electricity for about 50,000 people in Nozeirat and a nearby refugee camp in central Gaza, witnesses said. There were no casualties. Eight Palestinians died in an Israeli air raid on Sunday that punched out the porch of the home of prominent Gaza lawmaker Khalil al-Hayya of Hamas. Israel said it had targeted Hamas gunmen involved in rocket attacks, killing five.
That attack was the first time in many months Israel had struck at a key figure of the Islamist militant group that rose to power a year ago but has been shunned by the West for refusing to recognise the Jewish state.
Hayya was not home and was unharmed by the raid which also wounded a dozen other people.
Hamas said two of those killed were gunmen and vowed "an earthquake" of a response against Israel, which had struck out at the home of a Hamas official for the first time in many months.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's top aide condemned Israel for the strike at Hayya's home which was Israel's deadliest in Gaza in about a year.
Full Story - Reuters
The face of the enemy
These are the people Hillary thinks will leave us alone just as soon as she gets elected and we all get to live in peace. Do you think they're ready to lay down their guns? Do you believe they lack the desire and conviction to kill you? They are coming, regardless of the excuses, regardless of our foreign policy. They've been trained since birth to hate us. For them to die while killing us gives them their greatest reward. We cannot waiver, we cannot rest and we cannot allow the cowards who will pretend they don't exist to dictate our actions.
Do you want these going off in your home town?
IED's. The Improvised Explosive Device. They've become the standard for spreading of the islamic faith. From Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, the Phillipines, Spain, London, the list goes on... With Islamic communities and training grounds like Islamberg and Islamville popping up on American shores, how long until these start going off here. We must stop the immigration of this terror onto our shores. Immediately.
Israel threatens stronger military action
May 20 - Israel threatens stronger military action in the Gaza Strip if Hamas continues to fire rockets into the Jewish state.
The Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert warned Hamas that the Jewish state would "intensify" its response if the current military action failed to bring a halt to Hamas rocket attacks. The Israeli cabinet met to discuss expanding the military operation after another night of air strikes against Hamas killed at least three Palestinians in Gaza. But, once again, there were fresh rocket attacks against the Israeli border town of Sderot.
Helen Long reports
Source - Reuters (video)
The Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert warned Hamas that the Jewish state would "intensify" its response if the current military action failed to bring a halt to Hamas rocket attacks. The Israeli cabinet met to discuss expanding the military operation after another night of air strikes against Hamas killed at least three Palestinians in Gaza. But, once again, there were fresh rocket attacks against the Israeli border town of Sderot.
Helen Long reports
Source - Reuters (video)
Palestinian Rockets continue to pummel Sderot
An Indian restaurant in Kibbutz Nir-Am was destroyed Sunday evening when it was hit by a Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.
Firefighters battled frantically to extinguish the massive blaze that broke out in the western Negev restaurant but couldn't prevent the it from burning to the ground.
Sderot under siege: 'Our miracles won't last forever'
Red Dawn: 24 hours with MDA Sderot, Part I
Southern District Commander Cmdr. Ori Bar-Lev was on the scene directing security arrangements.
In total, six rockets hit the western Negev on Sunday evening, including one in Sderot, which caused a woman to suffer from shock.
Earlier Sunday, Sderot residents said that Defense Minister Amir Peretz's declaration of a state of emergency in the city was too little, too late.
"Unfortunately, only after dozens of Kassam rockets and thousands of residents have left Sderot, the government only now understands that there is a state of emergency in Sderot," said Alon Davidi, a Sderot activist.
Full Story
Firefighters battled frantically to extinguish the massive blaze that broke out in the western Negev restaurant but couldn't prevent the it from burning to the ground.
Sderot under siege: 'Our miracles won't last forever'
Red Dawn: 24 hours with MDA Sderot, Part I
Southern District Commander Cmdr. Ori Bar-Lev was on the scene directing security arrangements.
In total, six rockets hit the western Negev on Sunday evening, including one in Sderot, which caused a woman to suffer from shock.
Earlier Sunday, Sderot residents said that Defense Minister Amir Peretz's declaration of a state of emergency in the city was too little, too late.
"Unfortunately, only after dozens of Kassam rockets and thousands of residents have left Sderot, the government only now understands that there is a state of emergency in Sderot," said Alon Davidi, a Sderot activist.
Full Story
Can't we all just get along?
BEIRUT, May 20 (Reuters) - A woman was killed when an explosive device detonated near a shopping mall in eastern Beirut late on Sunday, a security source said.
Witnesses said six people were wounded by glass when windows in the area of the blast shattered.
"There was an explosive device either under a car or next to a car," another security source said, adding it took place in the car park of a popular mall in a Christian district in east Beirut.
The first source said the woman was killed when a wall at her house collapsed on her.
A Reuters witness said a plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area.
Witnesses said the bomb appeared to have exploded under a car in a car park near the ABC department store, one of the biggest stores in Lebanon.
The blast came as Lebanese troops battled Islamist militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country on Sunday and 48 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war
Source - Reuters
Witnesses said six people were wounded by glass when windows in the area of the blast shattered.
"There was an explosive device either under a car or next to a car," another security source said, adding it took place in the car park of a popular mall in a Christian district in east Beirut.
The first source said the woman was killed when a wall at her house collapsed on her.
A Reuters witness said a plume of smoke could be seen rising from the area.
Witnesses said the bomb appeared to have exploded under a car in a car park near the ABC department store, one of the biggest stores in Lebanon.
The blast came as Lebanese troops battled Islamist militants based in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country on Sunday and 48 people were killed in Lebanon's bloodiest internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war
Source - Reuters
Wafa Sultan confronts the Islamofascist with the Truth
Take good notice at the part where he declares that he abhors killing innocents. But the innocents in America number in the hundreds, possibly thousands, but no more. This is the teachings of the enemy, and it's knocking on our door.
Palestinian missiles rained down Sunday as Israeli prime minister threatened stronger action if six-day blitz from Gaza continues
May 20, 2007, 9:40 PM (GMT+02:00)
By afternoon, 14 missiles had exploded on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.
Nine landed Saturday night in the Eshkol region opposite S. Gaza, damaging schools, 3 in Sderot further north. Two Israeli soldiers were injured by a Palestinian anti-tank missile in Gaza against a bulldozer preparing the ground for Israel tank positions near Beit Hanoun in the north.
Two further Israeli air force attacks struck missile launcher teams in Gaza. The Palestinians report four killed.
Seven Israelis were injured in missile attacks Saturday, most in Sderot. During the day, the Air Force hit Palestinian missile squads south of Hanoun. Sderot Mayor Elie Moyal demands that the government declare the locations abutting Gaza a war zone. Some ministers urge Israel’s military measures expanded to ground incursions of the Gaza Strip. The military's current guidelines specify aerial surgical attacks on Hamas military installations, missile squads, weapons production infrastructure, arms depots, training centers in which Iranian instructors are involved and attacks on senior operatives.
Southern district police chief Uri Bar-Lev reported Ashkelon, the port town north of Gaza, is gearing up for attacks by missiles with extended ranges of 16km.
Hamas has fired 125 Qassams against Israel in six days, during which more than a 100 people were injured and 4,500 civilians left or were evacuated.
Original Story Here
By afternoon, 14 missiles had exploded on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.
Nine landed Saturday night in the Eshkol region opposite S. Gaza, damaging schools, 3 in Sderot further north. Two Israeli soldiers were injured by a Palestinian anti-tank missile in Gaza against a bulldozer preparing the ground for Israel tank positions near Beit Hanoun in the north.
Two further Israeli air force attacks struck missile launcher teams in Gaza. The Palestinians report four killed.
Seven Israelis were injured in missile attacks Saturday, most in Sderot. During the day, the Air Force hit Palestinian missile squads south of Hanoun. Sderot Mayor Elie Moyal demands that the government declare the locations abutting Gaza a war zone. Some ministers urge Israel’s military measures expanded to ground incursions of the Gaza Strip. The military's current guidelines specify aerial surgical attacks on Hamas military installations, missile squads, weapons production infrastructure, arms depots, training centers in which Iranian instructors are involved and attacks on senior operatives.
Southern district police chief Uri Bar-Lev reported Ashkelon, the port town north of Gaza, is gearing up for attacks by missiles with extended ranges of 16km.
Hamas has fired 125 Qassams against Israel in six days, during which more than a 100 people were injured and 4,500 civilians left or were evacuated.
Original Story Here
Kassam Rocket Barrage on Israel continues
"A barrage of five Kassam rockets struck Sderot and the surrounding areas Sunday morning, with one scoring a direct hit on a house... Officials said that school would remain out until the security risk were addressed. Some 13 rockets hit the western Negev town on Saturday, sending at least four people into shock and causing damage in the city."
You wouldn't know it from reading the papers or watching the news, but the peaceful palestinians continue to barrage israel with Kassam rockets. Israel is actually retaliating when it fires on Hamas positions, as Hamas terrorists try to goad Israel into entering the palestinian civil war between Hamas and Fatah.
" Israel has considered giving military support to Fatah in its power struggle with Hamas, the Daily Telegraph reported on its Web site Saturday morning. According to the report, even though Fatah was closely connected to Palestinian terorists with a long record of attacks against Israel, Israel was beginning to embrace the movement as a means of foiling Hamas.
The latest week of Palestinian infighting ended with nearly 50 fatalities, and in the last few days, IAF helicopters and jets have carried out multiple attacks on Hamas targets, especially sites connected with the manufacturing or launching of Kassam rockets.
Internecine violence in Gaza was at its highest since the March signing of the Mecca unity accords, which established a Palestinian Authority unity government."
Hamas was declared a terrorist organization since 1995 by the United States. Fatah is hardly better, but how does one actually choose between the lion or the tiger.
-Allahwatch
Al Qaeda's New Enemy
Al Qaeda's terrorists in Iraq now face a new enemy: Sunni tribesmen in Anbar Province. These tribal leaders in the heart of the insurgency are now backing coalition and Iraqi forces against the terrorists.You want good news from Iraq? There it is, in flashing neon.
These Anbar leaders aren't just jawing. Thousands of Sunnis have rushed to join local police forces, with tribal leaders' encouragement. "The progress has inspired an optimism in the American command that, among some officials, borders on giddiness," The New York Times reported. "There are some people who would say we've won the war out here," one Marine officer said.
That's a phrase you don't hear often in Iraq.While the Sunni tribal leaders probably haven't developed a sudden fondness for U.S. forces, they have apparently developed a deep disgust for the Al Qaeda agenda. The Sunnis don't want what Al Qaeda is peddling: a soul-crushing fundamentalist Islamic dictatorship.About a year ago, Army Col. Sean MacFarland began exploiting that split. He defied conventional wisdom by negotiating with a group of Sunni sheiks to fight Al Qaeda, according to USA Today. He built small, more vulnerable combat outposts in Ramadi's most dangerous neighborhood to expel insurgents and provide security. "I was going the wrong way down a one-way street," MacFarland told the newspaper.
Turns out it was the right way. Violence is down in Ramadi and the surrounding province. MacFarland's alliance has ultimately expanded to include more than 200 sheiks, the paper reported. The tribes started attacking Al Qaeda leaders on U.S. target lists.A rare success story? Yes. Like everything else in Iraq, caution is advised. The tribal elders might change sides again. The notion of a Sunni-U.S. alliance may not translate to other parts of Iraq, especially Baghdad. And Al Qaeda is still fighting. On Monday, for example, two suicide car bombers attacked a market and a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramadi, killing 13 people. "They committed this crime because we have identified their hideouts and we are chasing them," a Sunni police officer told The Associated Press.Many in Congress and across America will say any progress in Iraq is too little too late. They believe, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said, that the war is lost.But it is not.
In a recent op-ed in The Times, Owen West, a major in the Marine Reserve who has served two tours in Iraq, said that after years of failed strategies, the military "is finally making meaningful adjustments to the complex fight." Iraq can be solved, he suggests, but only by military and political strategies that complement one another. His suggestion: Double the size of the Iraqi army. Starting this fall, Iraqi units with American advisers would take the lead in fighting what he calls "a law enforcement war."
American troops could be embedded with bulked-up Iraqi units -- even as the U.S. force level declines.It's an intriguing idea. And the success in Ramadi is encouraging. But no strategy can work if Iraq's leaders don't meet the political and economic benchmarks that confront the government. Some of those benchmarks may be enshrined in a new U.S. military spending bill that the president and Congress are negotiating. That's an excellent idea: It dials up the pressure on Iraqi leaders to act.One thing we know: No compromise bill will include a timetable for withdrawing troops; that's a deal-breaker for President Bush.But there is a deadline of sorts for widespread, tangible progress. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, says we'll know by fall if the troop surge is working. That's when Petraeus has promised Congress a progress report. Rep. John Boehner, a key Republican House leader from Ohio, said Sunday that if the surge strategy has not yielded results by autumn, Congress will demand a "Plan B."But many Democrats are impatient. They may push a stopgap spending bill that would fund combat operations only through midsummer. The rest of the money would be withheld pending a progress report.In a Web video posted last weekend, Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, declared victory in Iraq. He pointed to the withdrawal timetables in the bill that Congress passed and President Bush vetoed.He's wrong. That's not proof of defeat; it's proof of growing American impatience.
Mustering more patience is a herculean effort for many Americans. But the surge strategy deserves a fair chance through the summer to work. Anbar suggests that a change in strategy can bring a welcome change in results.Remember: Al Qaeda doesn't have a Plan B.
No question Iraqi terrorists are supported by Iran and Syria
Here is video of an Iraqi terrorist admitting to receiving aid from Iran and Syria. Despite what the media would have you belive, we are fighting a proxy war with Iran and Syria rather then a civil war. We cannot win because we have so far refused to take the fight to the real enemy.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
America under Muslim law?
Unlike many religions, Islam includes a mandatory and highly specific legal and political plan for society called Sharia (pronounced "sha-rée-uh"), which translates approximately as "way" or "path." The precepts of Sharia are derived from the commandments of the Quran and the Sunnah (the teachings and precedents of Muhammad as found in the reliable hadiths and the Sira). Together, the Quran and the Sunnah establish the dictates of Sharia, which is the blueprint for the good Islamic society. Because Sharia originates with the Quran and the Sunnah, it is not optional. Sharia is the legal code ordained by Allah for all mankind. To violate Sharia or not to accept its authority is to commit rebellion against Allah, which Allah's faithful are required to combat.
There is no separation between the religious and the political in Islam; rather Islam and Sharia constitute a comprehensive means of ordering society at every level. While it is in theory possible for an Islamic society to have different outward forms -- an elective system of government, a hereditary monarchy, etc. -- whatever the outward structure of the government, Sharia is the prescribed content. It is this fact that puts Sharia into conflict with forms of government based on anything other than the Quran and the Sunnah.
The precepts of Sharia may be divided into two parts:
1. Acts of worship (al-ibadat), which includes:
Ritual Purification (Wudu)Prayers (Salah)Fasts (Sawm and Ramadan)Charity (Zakat)Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
2. Human interaction (al-muamalat), which includes:
Financial transactionsEndowmentsLaws of inheritanceMarriage, divorce, and child careFood and drink (including ritual slaughtering and hunting)Penal punishmentsWar and peaceJudicial matters (including witnesses and forms of evidence)
As one may see, there are few aspects of life that Sharia does not specifically govern. Everything from washing one's hands to child-rearing to taxation to military policy fall under its dictates. Because Sharia is derivate of the Quran and the Sunnah, it affords some room for interpretation. But upon examination of the Islamic sources (see above), it is apparent that any meaningful application of Sharia is going to look very different from anything resembling a free or open society in the Western sense. The stoning of adulterers, execution of apostates and blasphemers, repression of other religions, and a mandatory hostility toward non-Islamic nations punctuated by regular warfare will be the norm. It seems fair then to classify Islam and its Sharia code as a form of totalitarianism.
2. Jihad and Dhimmitude
a. What does "jihad" mean?
Jihad literally translates as "struggle." Strictly speaking, jihad does not mean "holy war" as Muslim apologists often point out. However, the question remains as to what sort of "struggle" is meant: an inner, spiritual struggle against the passions, or an outward, physical struggle.
As in any case of trying to determine Islamic teaching on a particular matter, one must look to the Quran and the Sunnah. From those sources (see above) it is evident that a Muslim is required to struggle against a variety of things: laziness in prayer, neglecting to give zakat (alms), etc. But is it also plain that a Muslim is commanded to struggle in physical combat against the infidel as well. Muhammad's impressive military career attests to the central role that military action plays in Islam.
b. Hasan Al-Banna on jihad
Below are excerpts from Hasan Al-Banna's treatise, Jihad. In 1928, Al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood, which today is the most powerful organization in Egypt after the government itself. In this treatise, Al-Banna cogently argues that Muslims must take up arms against unbelievers. As he says, "The verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah summon people in general (with the most eloquent expression and the clearest exposition) to jihad, to warfare, to the armed forces, and all means of land and sea fighting."
All Muslims Must Make Jihad
Jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded. Allah has ascribed great importance to jihad and has made the reward of the martyrs and the fighters in His way a splendid one. Only those who have acted similarly and who have modeled themselves upon the martyrs in their performance of jihad can join them in this reward. Furthermore, Allah has specifically honoured the Mujahideen {those who wage jihad} with certain exceptional qualities, both spiritual and practical, to benefit them in this world and the next. Their pure blood is a symbol of victory in this world and the mark of success and felicity in the world to come.
Those who can only find excuses, however, have been warned of extremely dreadful punishments and Allah has described them with the most unfortunate of names. He has reprimanded them for their cowardice and lack of spirit, and castigated them for their weakness and truancy. In this world, they will be surrounded by dishonour and in the next they will be surrounded by the fire from which they shall not escape though they may possess much wealth. The weaknesses of abstention and evasion of jihad are regarded by Allah as one of the major sins, and one of the seven sins that guarantee failure.
Islam is concerned with the question of jihad and the drafting and the mobilisation of the entire Umma {the global Muslim community} into one body to defend the right cause with all its strength than any other ancient or modern system of living, whether religious or civil. The verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Muhammad (PBUH {Peace Be Unto Him}) are overflowing with all these noble ideals and they summon people in general (with the most eloquent expression and the clearest exposition) to jihad, to warfare, to the armed forces, and all means of land and sea fighting.
Ask yourself, Is this what you want for America?
-Allahwatch
There is no separation between the religious and the political in Islam; rather Islam and Sharia constitute a comprehensive means of ordering society at every level. While it is in theory possible for an Islamic society to have different outward forms -- an elective system of government, a hereditary monarchy, etc. -- whatever the outward structure of the government, Sharia is the prescribed content. It is this fact that puts Sharia into conflict with forms of government based on anything other than the Quran and the Sunnah.
The precepts of Sharia may be divided into two parts:
1. Acts of worship (al-ibadat), which includes:
Ritual Purification (Wudu)Prayers (Salah)Fasts (Sawm and Ramadan)Charity (Zakat)Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
2. Human interaction (al-muamalat), which includes:
Financial transactionsEndowmentsLaws of inheritanceMarriage, divorce, and child careFood and drink (including ritual slaughtering and hunting)Penal punishmentsWar and peaceJudicial matters (including witnesses and forms of evidence)
As one may see, there are few aspects of life that Sharia does not specifically govern. Everything from washing one's hands to child-rearing to taxation to military policy fall under its dictates. Because Sharia is derivate of the Quran and the Sunnah, it affords some room for interpretation. But upon examination of the Islamic sources (see above), it is apparent that any meaningful application of Sharia is going to look very different from anything resembling a free or open society in the Western sense. The stoning of adulterers, execution of apostates and blasphemers, repression of other religions, and a mandatory hostility toward non-Islamic nations punctuated by regular warfare will be the norm. It seems fair then to classify Islam and its Sharia code as a form of totalitarianism.
2. Jihad and Dhimmitude
a. What does "jihad" mean?
Jihad literally translates as "struggle." Strictly speaking, jihad does not mean "holy war" as Muslim apologists often point out. However, the question remains as to what sort of "struggle" is meant: an inner, spiritual struggle against the passions, or an outward, physical struggle.
As in any case of trying to determine Islamic teaching on a particular matter, one must look to the Quran and the Sunnah. From those sources (see above) it is evident that a Muslim is required to struggle against a variety of things: laziness in prayer, neglecting to give zakat (alms), etc. But is it also plain that a Muslim is commanded to struggle in physical combat against the infidel as well. Muhammad's impressive military career attests to the central role that military action plays in Islam.
b. Hasan Al-Banna on jihad
Below are excerpts from Hasan Al-Banna's treatise, Jihad. In 1928, Al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood, which today is the most powerful organization in Egypt after the government itself. In this treatise, Al-Banna cogently argues that Muslims must take up arms against unbelievers. As he says, "The verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah summon people in general (with the most eloquent expression and the clearest exposition) to jihad, to warfare, to the armed forces, and all means of land and sea fighting."
All Muslims Must Make Jihad
Jihad is an obligation from Allah on every Muslim and cannot be ignored nor evaded. Allah has ascribed great importance to jihad and has made the reward of the martyrs and the fighters in His way a splendid one. Only those who have acted similarly and who have modeled themselves upon the martyrs in their performance of jihad can join them in this reward. Furthermore, Allah has specifically honoured the Mujahideen {those who wage jihad} with certain exceptional qualities, both spiritual and practical, to benefit them in this world and the next. Their pure blood is a symbol of victory in this world and the mark of success and felicity in the world to come.
Those who can only find excuses, however, have been warned of extremely dreadful punishments and Allah has described them with the most unfortunate of names. He has reprimanded them for their cowardice and lack of spirit, and castigated them for their weakness and truancy. In this world, they will be surrounded by dishonour and in the next they will be surrounded by the fire from which they shall not escape though they may possess much wealth. The weaknesses of abstention and evasion of jihad are regarded by Allah as one of the major sins, and one of the seven sins that guarantee failure.
Islam is concerned with the question of jihad and the drafting and the mobilisation of the entire Umma {the global Muslim community} into one body to defend the right cause with all its strength than any other ancient or modern system of living, whether religious or civil. The verses of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Muhammad (PBUH {Peace Be Unto Him}) are overflowing with all these noble ideals and they summon people in general (with the most eloquent expression and the clearest exposition) to jihad, to warfare, to the armed forces, and all means of land and sea fighting.
Ask yourself, Is this what you want for America?
-Allahwatch
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