October 26, 2006
But now he has gone too far -- even for his own Democrats.
Top Democrats are rushing to repudiate former President Carter’s controversial new book on the Middle East, in which he accuses the Israeli government of maintaining an apartheid system.Two key party leaders — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, party chairman, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and several congressmen issued statements Monday saying that the book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” does not represent their views on the Jewish state.
“It is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support a government in Israel or anywhere else that institutionalizes ethnically based oppression, and Democrats reject that allegation vigorously,” Pelosi wrote in a statement. “With all due respect to former President Carter, he does not speak for the Democratic Party on Israel.”
Carter’s book is being published by Simon & Schuster and is slated for release November 14. In an advanced draft copy of the work, obtained by the Forward, the former president asserts that Israel’s current policies in the Palestinian territories constitute “a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights.” He argues that Israel’s settlement policy is principally to blame for the failure of peace initiatives in the Middle East.
Dean also took issue with CarterÂ’s assessment.
“While I have tremendous respect for former President Carter, I fundamentally disagree and do not support his analysis of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Dean wrote in a statement. “On this issue President Carter speaks for himself, the opinions in his book are his own, they are not the views or position of the Democratic Party. I and other Democrats will continue to stand with Israel in its battle against terrorism and for a lasting peace with its neighbors.”
Several Democratic members of New York’s House delegation — Reps. Steve Israel, Charlie Rangel and Jerrold Nadler — also have issued statements criticizing Carter’s book, as did Rep. John Conyers, Jr., a Michigan Democrat who is often criticized by members of the Jewish community for his failure to support Israel in a certain instance. Last summer, Conyers was one of eight House members who did not vote for a resolution backing the Jewish state in the wake of the Hezbollah attacks.
Good grief -- when even an anti-Semite like Conyers denounces someone for being too critical of Israel, you have to recognize that they have gone way too far.
And another sign that the argument goes way too far is when French government officials start taking the opposite side of the issue.
rench Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy declared last week he has changed his opinion on Israel's controversial separation barrier in light of its drastic effect on terror, forcing French authorities to clarify their position on the issue.The barrier, which separates the West Bank from the rest of Israel, has garnered much criticism for creating a ghetto-style situation for the Palestinians and for allegedly appropriating Palestinian land on the Israeli side.
But although the French government has been critical of it since the start of its construction four years ago, Douste-Blazy has now reversed the feeling.
“I have significantly evolved on the matter of the separation fence” said Douste-Blazy on French Jewish television TFJ on Thursday. “Although the wall was a moral and ethical problem for me, when I realised terror attacks were reduced by 80 percent in the areas where the wall was erected, I understood I didn’t have the right to think that way.”
Douste-Blazy is the first high ranking French official to openly state his support for the security fence.
Remember -- he is part of a government that opposed and led the condemnation of the security fence. That there is now support for the fence from a member of that government should be seen as significant.
Buit not to worry -- Hamas is still in Dhimmi Carter's side.
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October 22, 2006
Republicans took a page from President Johnson's Cold War-era presidential campaign with an advertisement set to air this weekend called "The Stakes," which prominently features al Qaeda leaders threatening to kill Americans."Just like in the Cold War, the reality is that our nation is at war with an ideology and not a country," said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.
Democrats, however, have called the commercial, which is reminiscent of Johnson's 1964 "Daisy" ad, a "desperate ploy to once again try to scare voters."
The advertisement, which is available on the Republican National Committee Web site, is scheduled to run on national news networks Sunday. Republicans are emphasizing national security and terrorism issues in their bid to maintain control of Congress with about two weeks before the November midterms.
The ad features al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri, speaking, but the only sound is a ticking clock in the background. The terror leaders' quotes are posted on the screen and key phrases in the quotes stand alone as the rest of the quote fades out.In one instance, bin Laden is quoted as saying, "With God's permission we call on everyone who believes in God ... to comply with His will to kill the Americans." As the text of the quote fades out, "kill the Americans" remains on the screen.
Another bin Laden quote: "They will not come to their senses unless the attacks fall on their heads and ... until the battle has moved inside America" -- fades out, leaving only "inside America" on the screen.
Meanwhile, footage of terrorists engaged in martial arts and weapons training rolls in the background. One scene shows terrorists traversing monkey bars over fire.
The ticking clock morphs into a heartbeat as the ad comes to a close, and the only spoken words on the commercial announce, "The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."
If the Democrats are really opposed to terrorism, how could they object to the content of the ad? They wouldn't be trying to hide the facts, would they?
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October 18, 2006
After all, my wife and I will be in our customary seats in Reliant Stadium.
A Web site is claiming that seven NFL football stadiums -- including Houston's -- will be hit with radiological dirty bombs this weekend, but the government today expressed doubts about the threat.The warning, posted Oct. 12, was part of an ongoing Internet conversation titled "New Attack on America Be Afraid." It mentioned NFL stadiums in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland and Cleveland, where games are scheduled for this weekend.
The Homeland Security Department alerted authorities and stadium owners in those cities, as well as the NFL, of the Web message but said the threat was being viewed "with strong skepticism." Officials at the NCAA, which oversees college athletics, said they too had been notified.
Houston-based FBI officials would not comment on any security measures that might occur as a result of the threat to detonate a dirty bomb at Reliant Stadium and the six other NFL stadiums throughout the nation.
"But, we always have a presence at the games and at major events," said FBI Special Agent Shauna Dunlap.
If I don't go watch NFL football, the terrorists win.
Jawa Report has done great work covering this story -- including posting the threat and the site in question. Gateway Pundit connects the dots to previous terrorist threats.
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October 16, 2006
Sadly, while defending a client, she chose to become part of a criminal conspiracy to direct terrorist activities.
Convicted in federal court, she was sentenced yesterday for her crimes.
Lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced Monday to 28 months in prison for helping a terrorist client communicate with his followers, a far less severe sentence than the 30 years sought by federal prosecutors.As U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl delivered his sentence in a packed federal courtroom in Manhattan, Stewart lifted her glasses and dabbed at tears while her husband gave a tight hug to their daughter. An hour later, the 67-year-old lawyer emerged from the federal courthouse holding hands with her granddaughter and grandson and, to loud cheers and applause from hundreds of supporters, declared a victory of sorts over the Bush administration.
What is disgusting is that this "victory over the Bush administration" comes despite the fact that the judge acknowledged that Stewart's offense was reat, severe, and potentially lethal.
n fact, Koeltl made it clear that Stewart had committed a serious offense by smuggling messages between her client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, and his followers in the Middle East, including a statement withdrawing the sheik's support for a cease-fire with the Egyptian government. Stewart's actions, Koeltl said, constituted "extraordinarily severe criminal conduct" and material support for terrorism, and could have had "lethal consequences."Koeltl noted, however, that neither Stewart's actions nor those of her co-defendants, translator Mohammed Yousry and Rahman aide Ahmed Abdel Sattar, resulted in violence in the United States or overseas.
It seems, though, that the judge in this case was a fan of her prior legal work, and allowed his admiration for her previous public service to be the basis for this absurdly low sentence -- and therefore wildly departed from federal sentencing guidelines.
Stewart should have spent the remainder of her life rotting in prison. Instead, the judge sent a message that terrorists and their associates who act out of what are perceived as noble motives can expect leniency.
And you wonder why many of us have argued against treating terrorism as a criminal matter and not a military one. Judge Koeltl proves that the courts are ill-equipped to handle such matters.
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October 15, 2006
t least 50 Sri Lankan navy sailors were feared killed when an explosives-laden truck driven by a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel rammed into their convoy in a north-central district on Monday, a military official said.``There were about 15 buses and 13 were damaged in the explosion. About 50 bodies have been taken to hospital,'' a navy official in Colombo, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.
One more group that needs to be dealth with by the world. Terrorists are like pirates -- the enemy of all mankind.
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Mr. Bush ignored that fact after 9/11, when he tried to put the prisoners of the war on terror beyond the reach of American law and the Geneva Conventions.
If these folks are really prisoners of war, they are then not entitled to any trial. Indeed, trying them at all is a violation of the Geneva Convention. Furthermore, it would be within the province of the President to order them held until the conflict is ended by treaty or victory. Given that the War on Terror will last for many years (possibley beyond our lifetimes), the NY Times has conceded that the captured terrorist may be detained for life without any trial whatsoever.
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October 14, 2006
But now we have a guilty plea to confirm that the organization was supporting terrorists.
The imam of a northern Georgia mosque pleaded guilty to providing material support to the militant group Hamas in a case in which the agreement, charges and even the plea hearing were handled in secret.The U.S. attorney's office said Friday that the charges and plea agreement involving Mohamed Shorbagi were filed Aug. 28 in federal court in Rome, Ga., a division of Atlanta's federal court, but were sealed until Friday.
Shorbagi, 42, agreed to a maximum of 15 years in prison, prosecutors said. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3.
According to prosecutors, between 1997 and 2001, Shorbagi provided financial support to Hamas, a group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. He also was accused of conspiring with unnamed others to provide material support to Hamas.
The donations were passed through the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, prosecutors said.
"It was not for a large amount of money," U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said. "But that goes to show you it doesn't take a large amount of money to get 15 years in prison."
What did Imam Shorbagi and the Holy Land Foundation do to support terrorism?
Nahmias's office said Shorbagi was a Georgia representative of the Holy Land Foundation and knew money provided to the foundation was actually funneled to Hamas.He had attended Holy Land Foundation meetings at which high-level Hamas officials made presentations condemning Israel, and had hosted high-level Hamas officials at the Rome mosque where he served as imam, prosecutors said.
So it appears that there was more than charity work going on out of the offices of the Holy Land Foundation (a name intended to trick American Christians into giving money to support Muslim terrorism against Israel and the US), and more than religious activities going on at the mosque. Is it any wonder, then, that many of us believe that the FBI should be monitoring mosques and other Muslim organizations for ties to terrorists as we continue the Crusade Against Jihadism?
Of course, the usual suspects are up in arms over the fact that their fellow jihadi Islamists have been investigated, charged, and in this case determined to be guilty of support for terrorism.
“The facts of these cases are never actually released,” said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, based in Washington. “There’s no public scrutiny except what the government chooses to release. The perception is that they’re being heavy-handed and the Muslim community is being unfairly targeted.”
The reality is that Imam Shorbagi could have had a trial in open court in which his crimes and those of the Holy Land Foundation would have been laid out for all to see. Instead he cut a deal to save his own skin, tuning on his fellow jihadi-wannabes. There will be plenty of time for all the evidence to be laid out in court when the principals of the Holy Land Foundation are put on trial. And by the way -- I can't wait for charges to be filed against CAIR, which I understand has its own Hamas connections.
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October 13, 2006
The Israel Air Force scored a direct hit on a car carrying a three-man terrorist cell Friday morning in northern Gaza. All three terrorists were eliminated.The IDF reported that the cell was involved in many Kassam rocket attacks, including the five rockets fired at the Jewish town of Sderot on Thursday. The fifth rocket hit an electric power line in the evening, leaving the Jewish town in darkness. Power was gradually restored to the city over the next several hours.
The car carrying the terrorists was laden with Kassam rockets. The cell was on its way to launching them at Jewish targets when it was liquidated. Among the three dead is the commander of a northern Gaza branch of the Al-Kassam Brigades, Imad Al-Makusi, 32.
The death of such terrorists is always good news. So is this additional defensive move by the Israelis.
In a counter-terror aerial attack Thursday night, the IDF, targeted a weaponry manufacturing facility in Sajaiya, in southern Gaza. The weapons factory was located in the home of Ashraf Faruna, a senior Hamas terrorist. According to the IDF spokesman, Faruna was involved in numerous attacks as well as the manufacturing and distribution of weapons to terrorist cells. The PA claimed that several people were killed in the offensive; the IDF was unable to confirm or deny the claim.The IDF spokesman noted that prior to the offensive, the IDF warned the population not to stay in structures that are used by terrorist organizations for storing weaponry. A statement from the IDF read: "Terrorist organizations operate from within civilian populations, while cynically exploiting uninvolved civilians and using them as human shields, exploiting their homes to store weaponry and launching rockets at Israeli towns from populated areas."
And just to clarify, Hamas has not changed its stripes, nor does it accept the right of Israel to engage in such defensive actions.
Hamas warned Israel that it would "painfully avenge" the recent deaths, and says it has "surprises" for Israel if the IDF tries to invade Gaza. "The enemy entangles itself when it merely infiltrates a few meters into Gaza," a Hamas spokesman said, "so what will happen if it infiltrates into all of the Gaza Strip?!"
Has the time come to exterminate the Hamasroaches?
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October 08, 2006
A MALE suspect in a major anti-terrorist investigation in Britain escaped capture by allegedly disguising himself as a Muslim woman dressed in a burka, The Times can reveal.The man, who was wanted in connection with serious terrorist offences, evaded arrest for several days as police searched for him across the country.
The fact that a fugitive remained at large after disguising himself in an Islamic dress which covered his face will further fuel the debate sparked by Jack Straw, Leader of the House of Commons, about the wearing of the veil.
Details of the manÂ’s true identity were circulated to ports and airports to try to prevent him leaving the country.
He was eventually caught and is now one of more than 90 suspects in British prisons awaiting trial on terror charges.
The suspectÂ’s name and the detail of the offences he is accused of cannot be revealed because of the danger of prejudicing his forthcoming trial.
It is the first time that a male suspect has allegedly disguised himself as a Muslim woman in Britain. However, the tactic has been used frequently by Islamist fighters — including suicide bombers — in Iraq and Afghanistan. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, often dressed in a burka to evade American forces hunting him.
If it can be done there -- and it has been done elsewhere in the world -- then it can be done here. Such full face coverings are therefore a danger to national security and law enforcement.
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October 04, 2006
On Yom Kippur, Oct. 2, 24 hours after the last Israeli soldier left South Lebanon and the day before UNIFIL published its rules of engagement, Hizballah placed roadblocks on all the approaches to the central sector of the South and the entrances to the towns and villages reoccupied by its forces and their rocket units.These enclaves were declared “closed military zones.â€
DEBKAfile’s exclusive military and Western intelligence sources report that neither the Lebanese army which moved south nor the international peacekeepers of UNIFIL venture to set foot in these enclaves. Nor did they raise a finger to block the first broad-daylight consignment of advanced Iranian weapons to be delivered in Lebanon via Syria since the August 14 ceasefire.
This coordinated Hizballah-Iranian-Syrian ploy has brought into question the point of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which was to prevent the resumption of hostilities and Hizballah’s rearmament while helping the Beirut government and army assert its sovereignty in the South. It has also made a mockery of the UN Force and its missions.
These developments effectively assign UN Security Council resolution 1701 to the same dustbin as resolution 1559 which ordered Hizballah disarmed.
It is especially noted that the Israeli government has made no military or diplomatic response to these violations, or even informed the public that Hizballah has redeployed in the precise positions from which it blitzed Haifa, Nahariya, Carmiel, Acre and W. Galilee for more than a month.Tuesday, Oct. 3, after Hizballah completed its redeployment, the southern commander who orchestrated the rocket bombardment of Israel, Sheikh Nabil Qauq, made his first appearance since the war. He announced that his forces had regrouped, fully armed and in command of rocket supplies, in exactly the same positions facing the Israeli border as they had occupied when they went to war on July 12.
As I states back at the time of the Israeli incursions into Lebanon, it appears that an insufficient number of terrorists were killed by the Israelis to guarantee their security.
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On Yom Kippur, Oct. 2, 24 hours after the last Israeli soldier left South Lebanon and the day before UNIFIL published its rules of engagement, Hizballah placed roadblocks on all the approaches to the central sector of the South and the entrances to the towns and villages reoccupied by its forces and their rocket units.These enclaves were declared “closed military zones.”
DEBKAfileÂ’s exclusive military and Western intelligence sources report that neither the Lebanese army which moved south nor the international peacekeepers of UNIFIL venture to set foot in these enclaves. Nor did they raise a finger to block the first broad-daylight consignment of advanced Iranian weapons to be delivered in Lebanon via Syria since the August 14 ceasefire.
This coordinated Hizballah-Iranian-Syrian ploy has brought into question the point of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which was to prevent the resumption of hostilities and HizballahÂ’s rearmament while helping the Beirut government and army assert its sovereignty in the South. It has also made a mockery of the UN Force and its missions.
These developments effectively assign UN Security Council resolution 1701 to the same dustbin as resolution 1559 which ordered Hizballah disarmed.
It is especially noted that the Israeli government has made no military or diplomatic response to these violations, or even informed the public that Hizballah has redeployed in the precise positions from which it blitzed Haifa, Nahariya, Carmiel, Acre and W. Galilee for more than a month.Tuesday, Oct. 3, after Hizballah completed its redeployment, the southern commander who orchestrated the rocket bombardment of Israel, Sheikh Nabil Qauq, made his first appearance since the war. He announced that his forces had regrouped, fully armed and in command of rocket supplies, in exactly the same positions facing the Israeli border as they had occupied when they went to war on July 12.
As I states back at the time of the Israeli incursions into Lebanon, it appears that an insufficient number of terrorists were killed by the Israelis to guarantee their security.
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October 03, 2006
A man described by police as a Turkish-born Muslim was charged yesterday with destroying a Queens memorial to a fallen 9/11 cop while screaming, "This is political!" The Post has learned.Adnan Emre, 26, tore down a portion of Officer Paul Talty's tribute attached to a light post at 50th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, police sources said.
It consisted of 5-inch-by-7-inch picture of the late officer, a cross, a plaque and crossed American and Irish flags. The plaque is inscribed, "Rest in Peace, Paul. We miss you. God Bless."
Emre ripped down the cross at about 7:52 a.m., cops said, and announced his deed by screaming, "This is political!"
"There are so many deranged people," said the officer's mom, Barbara Talty. "This doesn't surprise me, but it's sad."
Talty's sister, Patricia Dougan, said the suspect must be unstable.
"I just have to think whoever would do this isn't right in the mind," Dougan said.
A passing MTA booth clerk witnessed the vandalism and called cops, who responded from the 108th Precinct station house just down the block.Emre was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, said a spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. He faces a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
I don’t think this guy is unstable – simply evil. We don’t need evil foreigners in this country, so box him up and ship him back to Turkey.
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Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Monday that Israel had offered to release up to 1,000 prisoners in exchange for captured soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, but Hamas had turned down the proposal."[There was] a deal that could have freed 900 to 1,000 prisoners, but sadly they have decided to keep holding him," he told Al-Arabiyeh Television.
Egypt has been mediating between Israel and Hamas over the release of Shalit, who was abducted at Kerem Shalom on the Gaza border on June 25.
So there you have it – a thousand Terrorstinian fighters are worth less than one Israeli soldier. So says Hamas.
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October 01, 2006
Two American citizens of Pakistani descent returned to the United States on Sunday, five months after they were denied permission to fly home to California unless they submitted to an interrogation by F.B.I. terrorism investigators.The men, Muhammad Ismail, 45, and his son, Jaber, 19, of the Northern California farming town of Lodi, returned from Pakistan on a flight that landed at Kennedy Airport in New York around 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. They were scheduled to arrive in California on Sunday night or early Monday on a connecting flight, their lawyer said Sunday.
The Ismails are an uncle and cousin of Hamid Hayat, a Lodi man who was convicted in April in federal court of providing material support to terrorists. Mr. Hayat told investigators he had attended a terrorism training camp during a long stay in Pakistan and intended to carry out unspecified attacks in the United States. Mr. HayatÂ’s father, Umer, was convicted on a lesser charge of lying to investigators about the amount of cash he carried to Pakistan on a 2003 trip, but a jury deadlocked on terrorism charges.
The Ismails were not charged in the case. They attributed their predicament to being related to the Hayats, the only people to have been charged in what federal prosecutors have described as an investigation into possible terrorism links in Lodi.
Julia Harumi Mass of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, who is representing the Ismails, said the pair had no terrorism connections. In a complaint in August to the Department of Homeland Security, she urged the authorities to explain any accusations against them and why they had been denied permission to fly home.
Legal experts said the matter raised questions about balancing terrorism investigations against American citizensÂ’ right to travel freely without having been charged with a crime or detained as a suspect.
This was the proper move by the FBI. The federal government has no legitimate right to strand its citizens in a foreign country as a means of coercing them to waive their right to not speak to law enforcement officials.
Now we need to investigate how such an over-broad order was issued in the first place, and guarantee that such an attrocity never happens again.
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