August 29, 2006

Do They Have To Take You In?

Home is the place, where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Well, that is what Robert Frost says.

But what if you are a naturalized citizen seeking to return to the United States after an extended stay in the country of your birth? Or the US native son of such a naturalized citizen, traveling with his father in the Old Country? That doesn't seem to be the opinion of the federal government in this case.

Federal authorities have prevented two relatives of a father and son convicted recently in a terrorism-related case from returning home to California from Pakistan unless they agree to be interviewed by the F.B.I.

It is unclear whether the men, Muhammad Ismail, 45, and his son Jaber, 18, have a direct connection to the terrorism case or if they have been caught up in circumstance.

The United States attorneyÂ’s office in Sacramento declined Monday to answer questions about the Ismails beyond confirming that the men had not been permitted to fly into the United States and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to question them.

The United States attorney, McGregor W. Scott, reiterated a comment he had made to The San Francisco Chronicle, which reported Saturday about the IsmailsÂ’ troubles.

“They’ve been given the opportunity to meet with the F.B.I. over there and answer a few questions, and they’ve declined to do that,” Mr. Scott said through a spokeswoman, Mary Wenger.

Part of the problem is the conviction of two family members from California on terrorism charges -- charges related to their activities during a visit to Pakistan. The Ismails, however, have not been charged with any crime. But they have been placed on the "no-fly" list, and have been told they will not be permitted to enter the US without an FBI interview.

But just a moment. Upon what theory can the Federal Government effectively exile American citizens? Is there not, as held repeatedly by the Supreme Court, a right for American citizens to travel, both within the United States and abroad? And while ertain travel restrictions may reasonably be imposed (such as the ban on travel to Cuba), shouldn't such restrictions be clearly spelled out in advance and generally applicable?

We are not the old Soviet Union, with internal passports and heavy travel rsetrictions placed upon enslaved citizens. This course of action does not feel right to me. Because these are Americans, when they seek to come home, we have to take them in -- and they cannot be required to surrender their rights under the Constitution of the United States as a condition of return, which is precisely what is being demanded of them.

A number of my conservative brother and sister bloggers take the opposite position, including Stop the ACLU, Woman Honor Thyself, Cigar Intelligence Agencyand Uncooperative Blogger.

Hammer of Truth Practical Nomad, and Volokh Conspiracy (sort of) are on my side of the issue.

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August 28, 2006

CAIR And Anti-Semite Profs -- A Match Made In Hell

Undermining American foreign policy AND promoting the dual-loyalty canard against American Jews. No wonder the terror-apologists from CAIR love Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt.

Yesterday, at the invitation of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), they held a forum at the National Press Club to expand on their allegations about the Israel lobby. Blurring the line between academics and activism, they accepted a button proclaiming "Fight the Israel Lobby" and won cheers from the Muslim group for their denunciation of Israel and its friends in the United States.

Whatever motivated the performance, the result wasn't exactly scholarly.

Walt singled out two Jews who worked at the Pentagon for their pro-Israel views. "People like Paul Wolfowitz or Doug Feith . . . advocate policies they think are good for Israel and the United States alike," he said. "We don't think there's anything wrong with that, but we also don't think there's anything wrong for others to point out that these individuals do have attachments that shape how they think about the Middle East."

"Attachments" sounds much better than "dual loyalties." But why single out Wolfowitz and Feith and not their non-Jewish boss, Donald Rumsfeld?

"I could have mentioned non-Jewish people like John Bolton," Walt allowed when the question was put to him.

Picking up on the "attachments" lingo, Mearsheimer did mention Bolton but cited two Jews, Elliott Abrams and David Wurmser, as "the two most influential advisers on Middle East affairs in the White House. Both, he said, are " fervent supporters of Israel." Never mind that others in the White House, such as national security adviser Stephen Hadley, Vice President Cheney and President Bush, have been just as fervent despite the lack of "attachments."

Yeah, but it is so much easier to play on the ant-Semitism of Muslims and their fellow travelers (like my old toll, Ken Hoop) by mentioning the officials of Jewish heritage. After all, to such folks everything is the fault of the Jews. And by highlighting them, it makes it easier to claim that other officials are puppets of the Jews and that the US is controlled by (as my troll regularly stated in emailed to me and Christian Identity militias often assert) a Zionist Occupied Government.

The association between these professors and the terrorist-supporting CAIR should be enough to discredit these pseudo-academics -- and to discredit the organizatation, which sponsored them despite their having been iscreditted as dressing up old anti-Semitism in new garments.

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A Time For Muslim Moderates To Speak Out

Davud Frum makes this point regarding the forced conversion to Islam of Fox journalists Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig.

Does not the gunpoint forced conversion to Islam of two Western journalists provide an opportunity for Western Muslim groups to condemn attempts to spread Islam by violence and to declare their support for the principle enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

CAIR? The Muslim Council of Britain? The Canadian Islamic Congress? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Do YOU hear crickets chirping?

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August 27, 2006

Stupid Government Tricks

Sometimes the government does really dumb things in the name of protecting us from terrorism. You know, like making 90-year-old quadraplegic Swedish nuns disassemble their wheelchairs to prove they are not al-Qaeda terrorists. Or giving heightened scrutiny at airports to military personnel in uniform carrying travel orders from the Department of Defense.

Or investigating this case.

Jim Bensman thought his suggestion during a public hearing was harmless enough: Instead of building a channel so migratory fish could go around a dam on the Mississippi River, just get rid of the dam.

Instead, the environmental activist found himself in hot water, drawing FBI scrutiny to see whether he had any terrorist intentions.

The case "shows just how easy it is to be labeled a suspected terrorist," he says.

It all started on July 25 in Alton, Ill., when the Army Corps of Engineers invited public discussion about options for improving fish movement at the nearby Melvin Price Locks and Dam, considered a major impediment to roughly three dozen species that migrate upstream.

During the 90-minute hearing that included on the agenda whether to build a fish channel, Bensman says, he reiterated he's no fan of dams, contending they're environmentally destructive and amount to billions of dollars in corporate welfare for boating interests.

He urged that the dam be torn out. He said he never mentioned blowing the dam up, though the corps' presentation of possible options included a picture of a dam being dynamited.

The next day, however, a local newspaper reported that Bensman "said he would like to see the dam blown up and resents paying taxes to fix dam problems when it is barge companies that profit from the dam."

Workers at the corps' St. Louis office "took a dim view (of the article) and questioned if it was a potential threat," and a security manager forwarded the clipping to the FBI, said corps spokesman Alan Dooley.

Now hold on here -- the guy gets words attributed to him in a newspaper -- words that can easily be refuted by listening to the tape of the public hearing (such things are recorded by the government, you know, to provide a full record of the public hearings). The only mention of blowing up the dam was in the Corps' own presentation ,not in Bensman's comments. But the FBI conducted a full-scale investigation?

What's more, the Corps of Engineers refuses to make any apology or even acknowledge that it had over-reacted in calling the FBI over a newspaper article without even checking its own records of the event.

I'm all for keeping America safe -- but this is ridiculous.

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August 26, 2006

America's Choice -- 'War On Terror' Or 'War On Wal-Mart'

Columnist Jack Kelley makes an important point about the inane and ungrounded ruling of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor on the rights of terrorists to attack America free from government interference. It highlights the decision we face this November.

We suffered on Sept. 11, 2001, the most devastating attack ever on our soil. It likely would have been repeated this month, were it not for the program Judge Taylor wants to terminate.

President Bush has made mistakes in his conduct of the war on terror. But thanks in part to Judge Taylor's ruling, voters this November will be asking themselves whether they would rather be governed by a political party that thinks Islamic terror is the greatest threat to Americans, or by a political party which is more concerned about Wal-Mart.

Let us hope the American people answer wisely.

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August 25, 2006

Congressman Danny Davis Must Resign

And I don’t say that lightly – but when a member of Congress is taking trips funded by a terrorist organization, it is inconceivable that he or she can remain in that body.

Illinois congressman Danny Davis and an aide took a trip to Sri Lanka last year that was paid for by the Tamil Tigers, a group that the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers, law enforcement sources said.

Davis' seven-day trip came under new scrutiny this week following the arrests of 11 supporters of the organization on charges of participating in a broad conspiracy to support the terrorist group through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of U.S. officials.

The five-term Democratic congressman said he was unaware that the Tigers paid for the trip and on his required congressional disclosure form he reported that the trip was paid for by a Hickory Hills, Ill.-based Tamil cultural organization, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America.

During the visit, Davis spent most of his time in a region controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the group is formally known, and visited the organization's political headquarters. He also met with a police chief for the region appointed by the Tigers.

The Tamil Tigers is a separatist group that has been fighting since 1983 for an independent state for 3.2 million ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, a tear-shaped island nation of 20 million off the southern tip of India. In addition to conventional guerrilla tactics, the group has used terrorist methods, including 200 suicide bombings, in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Though the violence between the government and the separatist group abated during the past several years, it recently surged again, threatening a renewed civil war.

Davis said he believed that the trip, from March 30 to April 5, 2005, was paid for by the Tamil federation, which in accordance with congressional ethics rules sent him a written statement of the travel expenses, more than $7,000 each for Davis and his aide, Daniel Cantrell. Davis said he knew that the group was "associated" with the Tamil Tigers but did not realize that the trip's costs were covered with funds controlled by the rebel group.

"I know who I got the trip from," Davis said. "I don't know if any clandestine group gave them money. All I know is what I saw and was told."

Sorry, Congressman, but that explanation does not cut it. Would you consider it appropriate to take a trip or money from an al-Qaeda “associated” group? Hardly! By your own admission, you have engaged in equivalent conduct. You have no place serving in any position of public trust.


MORE AT Wizbang & LankaWeb.

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But I Thought They Were Members Of The Religion Of Peace®

This just in from Denmark, where they understand that Islamic extremism is a threat to freedom and safety of everyone else.

A Danish prosecutor on Thursday charged four young Muslims with helping to supply weapons and explosives for a planned terror attack in Europe.

Five other suspects in the case have been charged in Bosnia, including two men accused of preparing to blow up an unidentified European target. Three other suspects have been charged in Britain.

Prosecutor Henning Fode said the four men arrested in Denmark last October helped the two main suspects in Bosnia get hold of "weapons and explosives with the aim of committing a terror act."

All four, who cannot be named under a court order, have denied wrongdoing. Danish investigators have released little information about the suspects, but said two of them are 17, and the others are aged 20 and 21.

If convicted they could face life in prison, although such sentences are commuted after 16 years under Danish law. A trial date has not yet been set.

The probe stems from the Oct. 19 arrests in Sarajevo of Swedish national Mirsad Bektasevic, 19, and Abdulkadir Cesur, an 18-year-old Turkish national living in Denmark.

Bosnian prosecutors said Bektasevic and Cesur were planning an attack in Bosnia-Herzegovina or at some other unidentified site in Europe with the aim of forcing the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police raiding their Sarajevo apartment allegedly found a suicide bomber belt, explosives, firearms and other military equipment, as well as a videotape showing masked men asking for God's forgiveness.

Where are the peacemakers from the Religion of Peace®? All I see are jihadi swine.

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Think Twice, Jihadi Fascists

Israel has the capability to nuke your camel-humping @$$. And that means you, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military experts say Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike back if attacked by nuclear weapons.

The purchases come at a time when Iran is refusing to bow to growing Western demands to halt its nuclear program, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

The new submarines, built at a cost of $1.3 billion with Germany footing one-third of the bill, have diesel-electric propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time than the three nuclear arms-capable submarines already in Israel's fleet, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The latest submarines not only would be able to carry out a first strike should Israel choose to do so, but they also would provide Israel with crucial second-strike capabilities, said Paul Beaver, a London-based independent defense analyst.

* * *

German officials have said the contract for the new submarines was signed July 6, and the Jerusalem Post reported this week the subs will be operational shortly.

If the Iranians really want to go there by hitting Israel with a primitive nuclear device, it seems to me that Israel would be more than capable of ensuring that Iran remains uninhabitable for approximately the next 25,000 years

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August 20, 2006

Which Will It Be?

Is it to be "Never Again"?

Or "Here We Go Again"?

Put differently, are Jewish lives less valuable than Arab lives?

Rabbi Jonathan Pearl looks at the issue, and does not like what he sees.

As we witnessed the incessant calls and declarations for “an immediate cease-fire" from Israel's detractors – whether politicians, journalists, religious and community leaders, or the United Nations with its resolution mandating a “cessation of hostilities” – I couldn't help but conclude that for all of these addressing the Middle East “conflict” boils down to this guiding principle: Jewish/Israeli lives are simply worth less than Muslim/Arab lives.

When missiles are blasted into Israel by Muslim/Arab terrorists living in their non-disputed Muslim/Arab territory, resulting in the murder of innocent Israelis/Jews, the world tells Israel to show restraint and refrain from retaliating with targeted responses against the origins of the rocket launches. Why? Because some Muslim/Arab civilians might inadvertently be killed.

And when Muslim/Arab suicide-bombing murderers steal into Israel and blow to smithereens innocent Jewish/Israeli civilians in pizza parlors and discotheques, Israel is admonished to show restraint and refrain from targeting the planners, facilitators, and future perpetrators of suicide-murder actions. Why? Because some Muslim/Arab civilians might inadvertently be killed.

Read the entire piece, for it shows pretty clearly that the international comunity clearly has not renounced the genocidal anti-Semitism that was pursued by the Third Reich. After all, if the jihadi terrorists stop shooting at and bombing Israel, Israel will have no need to respond with force in self-defense.

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ROPMA!

Lock this terrorist-supporting homicide-bomber wannabe away forever. His threat in this speech makes him too dangerous to remain free to do harm to the innocent.

The audience at a Muslim rally today were told that dying for your beliefs was "just" and the "greatest act of martyrdom".

Dr Azzam Tamimi, a firebrand Islamic academic and self-styled Hamas sympathiser, claimed he is prepared to become a suicide bomber.

Religion of Peace my ass!

UPDATE: Get this litle tidbit.

Dr Tamimi, a prominent member of the Stop The War coalition, is married with three children and lives in Willesden, North West London. After coming to Britain from the Middle East more than 30 years ago, he and his family have become British citizens and live in a council block.

This friggin' savage wants to "Stop the War" -- and is willing to blow up innocents to do it. Not one member of the so-called "peace movement" has denounced this jihadi swine, which makes it quite clear that "Peace" equals "Surrender" in their eyes.

Like I said -- Religion of Peace my ass!

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August 19, 2006

If Surveiling Al-Qaeda Is Unconstitutional...

If the current NSA program is unlawful, let us consider other eavesdropping programs when America fought foreign enemies.

Her outrageous ruling means that our past activities in Magic, in Ultra, at the Coral Sea, at Midway, at Bletchley Park, in Venona, were illegal also. Imagine the cheek we used in defeating the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Oh, let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin and the crying towels appear. Let’s revisit the unfair treatment afforded the Axis at Normandy, the Marianas, the Philippines, and the Battle of Britain — where radar and radio intercepts were unfairly used to outwit and outfox the wily Germans and the cunning Japanese.

That mean old Mr. Roosevelt didn't have the decency to respect the First and Fourth Amendment rights of the Axis powers and their supporters here in America. Just because they were our enemies didn't mean that Roosevelt could act like a hereditary king, did it judge? Surely such spying programs were indisputibly illegal -- just like the current NSA program.

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Jordan Times -- Get The Jews Out Of Israel

Well, more support for the pro-terrorist position from Western "intellectuals" writing for Arab sources.

Perhaps it is time, if not to rewrite, at least to redirect the Balfour declaration back to Europe from whence most Jewish settlers in Israel have come.

The animosity that is making the clash of civilisations a current reality is driven first and foremost by the unsettled issue of the division of Palestine. If this could be solved, Al QaedaÂ’s influence would sharply diminish. So would HamasÂ’ and HizbollahÂ’s. But left to stew as it is now, it is spilling over into Lebanon and perhaps in a few years into a nuclear confrontation between Israel and Iran, or even, if President Pervez Musharraf is assassinated and a more Islamic-minded president comes to power, between Israel and Pakistan.

As relations between Jew and Muslim deteriorate, not only Israel is becoming unliveable for ordinary people (read Israeli novelist Shifra Horn’s new book, “Ode to Joy”, if you want to smell the cordite and sense the everyday fear of being blown up deep in the soul), but also are parts of Europe and North America gradually becoming so. Just as Israel has “terrorists” in its midst so now do the UK, Spain, France, Russia, the US and Canada.

Power's solution? Get the Jews out of Israel and back to Europe. This disgusting piece of anti-Semitism is cloaked in feigned concern for the Israeli people, but not really.

But i have a better idea -- one which I am sure Mr. Power will support with his whole heart. If the Jews of Israel are to be uprooted, then let us settle them someplace where we know they will be safe -- the United States. We can put them in Dearborn and other areas currently occupied by Arab Muslims who support jihadi terrorism around the world. In return, we will ship the Arab Muslims in the United States -- regardless of their citizenship -- back to Middle East.

Now some may object that such a proposal is inhumane and racist -- "What about the rights of America's Arab Muslims?" some may ask. Well, if Jews who have settled in the Middle East over the last century and who have fought and died to create, maintain and protect a tiny homeland for themselves have no place in a Middle East dominated by Arab Muslims, then clearly Arab Muslims have no place in the West, and in particular not in the United States. After all, they and their relatives back in their homelands have shown their utter inablility to live at peace with neighbors who are different from themselves.

Outrageous? Sure. but then again, consider this justification for Power's exclusion of the jews from their own homeland.

Without such “out of the box” thinking we are all going to be sucked under by the maelstrom being unleashed by what is dangerously becoming a true “clash of civilisations”.

So why not consider my "outside the box" solution as a way of avoiding the "clash of civilizations" by separating the parties completely. After all, why should the Jews alone bear the cost of the capitulating to the jihadi terrorists? After all, if the Jews are not a good fit in the Middle East, why should the unassimilable Muslims be welcome in America?

And if my proposed solution -- excluding people from America based upon religion and ethnicity -- is unacceptable, upon what basis can anyone support the expulsion of Israel's Jews from the land given them by the international community in the 1940s and which they have defended time and again over the last six decades? The only possible answer is a rank, festering anti-Semitism which abides in the blackened souls of the opponents of Israel.

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August 15, 2006

One Group That Is Singled Out For Searches

Despite the fact that contemporary acts of terrorism are committed almost exclusively by Muslims, our government refuses to take the reasonable step of subjecting every Muslim to special scrutiny while flying.

There is, however, another group that gets singled out for searches -- and you will be outraged.

A little-known fact about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that the U.S. military requires soldiers to travel in uniform from theater. An even lesser known fact is that the Transportation Security Administration aggressively targets war veterans as they travel home to their loved ones.

At Baltimore's airport on my way back to Orlando from Iraq, there were about 50 soldiers in line, waiting to be cleared by TSA. I noticed soldiers taking off clothing, and then they assumed the position so commonly seen in police-chase videos, arms and legs spread wide as a screener passed a wand close to their bodies. Soldiers were asked to remove belts, boots and shirts, and their carry-on bags were ransacked.

"We're fighting a war. Do you guys think we're a threat?" I asked as I spread my legs and arms.

The screener replied, "I dunno," and kept his wand in motion.

Before long my leave was completed and I was at Orlando International Airport, standing in line, waiting to clear security again. This time my wife accompanied me through the checkpoint so we could spend every last minute together before I returned to Iraq.

I wore my desert uniform, and as I approached the gate, a TSA screener directed my wife and me to additional screening after my bag had been inspected and scanned. My wife was searched, making an already miserable event, my leaving for war a second time, even worse than the first time.

Travelers shook their heads in disgust. One man glared incredulously at the screeners and said, "Unbelievable."

I was humiliated, not because I was being searched, but because I was being searched while wearing the cloth of the nation -- a U.S. military uniform. While wearing the flag of our nation on my sleeve, enroute to fight a war to support my government's interests, I was categorized as suspicious.

The same government that employs both the TSA and U.S. Army sent me a contradicting message. It trusted me enough to train me, give me a weapon and send me to do its dirty work, but it didn't trust me enough to fly on commercial airplanes with other citizens without close scrutiny.

That's right -- damn near every Mohammad, Abdul, and Osama can get through the screening checkpoint without extra scrutiny by the screeners, because of concerns about profiling based upon race, ethnicity, or religion. On the other hand, American soldirs in uniform, traveling on military orders, are specially searched with frightening regularity.

Including these soldiers.

Since then I've been further dismayed to learn the TSA doesn't even exempt severely wounded war veterans. According to the TSA, it tries to gracefully screen soldiers wounded in battle by making sure security screening is conducted "with empathy and respect."

"We want to make sure the overall experience for the service member is as expeditious and pleasant," as possible, the TSA Web site states.

Odds are wounded soldiers will set off metal detectors, but the TSA won't find weapons intended for use in hijackings. Instead, the TSA will learn their detectors were set off by the shrapnel still embedded in the soldiers' bodies, or the metal components of prosthetics, or plates that now hold service members' bodies together.

Welcome home. Thanks for your service.

Incredible!

H/T Stop the ACLU, CanÂ’t Keep Quiet!, Bring It On!

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Cease Fire Doesn’t Apply To Hezbollah – Kofi Annan

At least that is my interpretation of this latest anti-Israel move by the Secretary General of the UN.

Anticipating Hizb'allah's failure to comply with a UN-brokered ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Jerusalem at the weekend, insisting Israel not respond militarily to any violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Annan said Israel should only respond in immediate self-defense, and not by relaunching a wider military offensive against the terror group.

In effect, the UN chief was saying that Israel should totally ignore Hizb'allah efforts to reestablish itself in southern Lebanon and Syrian efforts to resupply the group, and should only respond in a very pinpoint manner to any further firing of missiles at northern Israel.

Both the Lebanese military and French forces expected to bolster peacekeepers already on the ground in southern Lebanon have said they will not confront Hizb'allah with force if the terror group fails to go along with the ceasefire terms.

Israeli government sources said Annan's letter was unacceptable, and that a firm response was being drafted.

This is, of course, how the UN has always treated the Israelis – rules that apply to it do not apply to its enemies. In this case, Israel will be held rigorously to the letter of the agreement, but Hezbollah will be allowed to act with impunity – just as it was when it was required to disarm under resolution 1559 several years ago.

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Cease Fire Doesn’t Apply To Hezbollah – Kofi Annan

At least that is my interpretation of this latest anti-Israel move by the Secretary General of the UN.

Anticipating Hizb'allah's failure to comply with a UN-brokered ceasefire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Jerusalem at the weekend, insisting Israel not respond militarily to any violations of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Annan said Israel should only respond in immediate self-defense, and not by relaunching a wider military offensive against the terror group.

In effect, the UN chief was saying that Israel should totally ignore Hizb'allah efforts to reestablish itself in southern Lebanon and Syrian efforts to resupply the group, and should only respond in a very pinpoint manner to any further firing of missiles at northern Israel.

Both the Lebanese military and French forces expected to bolster peacekeepers already on the ground in southern Lebanon have said they will not confront Hizb'allah with force if the terror group fails to go along with the ceasefire terms.

Israeli government sources said Annan's letter was unacceptable, and that a firm response was being drafted.

This is, of course, how the UN has always treated the Israelis – rules that apply to it do not apply to its enemies. In this case, Israel will be held rigorously to the letter of the agreement, but Hezbollah will be allowed to act with impunity – just as it was when it was required to disarm under resolution 1559 several years ago.

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August 13, 2006

I Guess The Peace Is Over

And before it even went into effect.

Hezbollah, you see, refuses to comply with a major precondition for peace.

A meeting of the Lebanese government on the disarming of Hezbollah south of the Litani River was canceled on Sunday following an announcement by the Shi'ite organization that it was not willing to discuss the subject. Hezbollah informed the government of its stance through the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Beri, who serves as a conduit to the organization.

Beri informed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora of Hezbollah's decision, and Siniora decided to cancel the meeting.

This is the first time in weeks that a rift emerged in the official Lebanese stance. Officially, the government of Lebanon denied reports that any dispute has emerged.

Interesting, isn't it, that the government of Lebanon is taking directions from the terrorists? And that the jihadi swine are refusing not only to abide by UN Resolution 1701, but also by the earlier Resolution 1559, which required that the governmetn of Lebanon disarm the UN after Israel pulled out of southern Lebanon the last time the world community demanded that the Jewish state stop defending itself from Hezbollah attacks.

Olmert must go, and his successor must utterly destroy the terrorist bases in southern Lebanon.

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August 12, 2006

Ken Hoop Calls Hezbollah "God's Troops"

My troll Ken, who claims to love Jews (but only the ones he claims are real Jews -- the anti-Zionist ones) is thrilled that more "Yids" (his word) have been killed by "God's troops" (again, his term for Hezbollah).

Why post this? So that it will be on the record what a pathetic wretch this anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying, dhimmified apologist for terrorism really is.

Oh, yeah -- he also praised Hezbollah for killing Marines in Beirut in 1983 in a note today.

Update: I meant to include this wonderful comment about Hezbollah.

Aquinas' 'baptism of desire' easily includes Moslem warriors who fight antichrists

Gee -- this stuff comes right out the neo-Nazi playbook.

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Death Of A Fool

He opposed Israel and went to help Palestinian children -- only to be murdered by Palestinian terrorists. I wondered if he changed his mind as his life's blood drained from his body through a stab wound in the back?

Angelo Frammartino, a 24 year-old student from Italy who arrived in Israel as a human rights organization activist, was stabbed to death Thursday by an Arab knifeman.

"He believed in what he did and was always ready to help others," a friend described him.

The website of Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that Frammartino was working for the setting up of a children's supper camp for Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City, and was supposed to return to Italy on Friday.

The youth was stabbed in the back while walking with four friends in the Sultan Suleiman street in the capital, near the Prahim Gate.

The attacker left the knife at the scene of the crime and fled. Police set up checkpoints in the area and arrested three suspects for suspected involvement.

It is believed that the attack was a nationalistically motivated terror attack, and not an attempted robbery.

This guy opposed any Israeli effort at self-defense, and considered the various terrorist factions to be heroes.

In a letter sent a few months ago to a local newspaper, Angelo expressed his world view: "We must recognize that in a situation with no violence is a luxury in many parts of the world, but we are not seeking to prevent legitimate self defense operations. I never dreamt of condemning the resistance, the blood of the Vietnamese, the blood of nations under colonial occupation, or the blood of Palestinian youths from the first intifada," he said.

Well, they don't call them "useful idiots" for nothing.

H/t Israelly Cool, Jawa Report

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August 11, 2006

Another Terrorist Connection On The Loony Left

He is a hero to anti-war, anti-Semitic leftists on both sides of the Atlantic. He accepted bribes from Saddam. And now there seems to be a more explicit terrorist connection.

TERROR suspect Waheed Zaman met controversial MP George Galloway many times, his sister said last night.

Safeena, 24, said of her 23-year-old brother: “He saw it as his duty to stand up for his community and that’s what led him to know George Galloway. He has a lot of respect for him and has met him many times.”

A spokesman for MP Galloway, above, said: “Waheed Zaman is not a name that George is familiar with. He is not known to him on a personal level.”

There is no suggestion Galloway is an associate of Zaman.

Given GallowayÂ’s track record, I believe Safeeen Zaman.

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Who CAIRs?

The anti-American terrorist shills at the Council for American-Islamic Relations are up in arms at the President for correctly describing the terrorists who planned to blow planes out of the sky as part of their global jihad.

A Muslim group criticized President Bush for saying that America is "at war with Islamic fascists" after U.K. authorities arrested 24 British citizens of Pakistani origin in an attempt to bomb numerous flights to the U.S. Thursday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the president's "hot button" terminology puts the name of Islam and the Muslim community at risk.

Bush called the attempted terrorist attack "a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation."

Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, believes Bush should not even mention Islam when referring to the would-be terrorists.

"We have to isolate these individuals because there is nothing in the Koran or the Islamic faith that encourages people to be cruel or to be vicious or to be criminal," Awad said. "Muslims world wide know that for sure."

What a load of shit. Most terrorists in the world today are Muslims, operating with an explicitly Islamic agenda based in the Quran.

WhatÂ’s more, the group wants the media to withhold information and lie to the American people about the nature of the terrorist threat.

In addition to limiting the president's comments, CAIR wants the U.S. media to disassociate Islam with terrorists "to make sure we don't start a religious war against Islam and Muslims." The group says American reporters should adopt the policies of the British media when identifying suspected terrorists.

Most British media will not identify terrorists as "Muslim," "Islamic" or "Islamists" even when physical evidence shows they were motivated by beliefs based on Islamic teachings or writings.

In other words, they want the American people to be kept in the dark regarding the true nature of our enemy.

And letÂ’s not forget this demand.

"We also urge local law enforcement agencies to coordinate with Muslim leaders to deter hate crimes," Ahmed said.

Sounds good to me. Now if the Muslim leaders of the United States would only cooperate with law enforcement in order to stop their jihadi followers from committing hate crimes against the rest of us, the situation would be much better. After all, hate crimes against Muslims (as opposed to speech protected under the First Amendment) are very rare and normally not violent – and have often been found to be hoaxes perpetrated by Muslims themselves. On the other hand, Muslims are killing people.

But I will concede this point.

"It is also important that our fellow Americans understand that Muslims are law-abiding citizens who should not be targeted or singled out because of their faith or national origin."

On the other hand, tracking chips like those placed in pets might be useful, just so we can keep track of the violent bad seed in the Muslim community.

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A Muslim’s Lament

Seems like this is the constant complaint of the Muslim community.

``My first thought when I heard about this was that they are definitely going to blame us again," said Sima Mukhter, 27, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin who works in a McDonald's restaurant on Edgeware Road. ``They always blame us because of what happened in the past."

We’re so sorry, Sima – how could we possibly think Muslims are responsible for this horrific plot?

Umir Hussain, 24, London E14
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, London E17
Waheed Zaman, 22, London E17
Assan Abdullah Khan, 22, London E17
Waseem Kayani, 28, High Wycombe
Waheed Arafat Khan, 24, London E17
Cossor Ali, 24, London E17
Tayib Rauf, 21, Birmingham
Ibrahim Savant, 26, London E17
Osman Adam Khatib, 20, London E17
Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 36, Stoke Newington
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, London E17
Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, High Wycombe
Tanvir Hussain, 24, London E10
Umar Islam, 28, (born Brian Young) High Wycombe
Assad Sarwar, 25, High Wycombe
Abdullah Ali, 26, London E17
Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, London E5
Nabeel Hussain, 21, Waltham Forest

I wonder what common link these folks do have, Ms. Mukhter?

(H/T Malkin)

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A MuslimÂ’s Lament

Seems like this is the constant complaint of the Muslim community.

``My first thought when I heard about this was that they are definitely going to blame us again," said Sima Mukhter, 27, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin who works in a McDonald's restaurant on Edgeware Road. ``They always blame us because of what happened in the past."

We’re so sorry, Sima – how could we possibly think Muslims are responsible for this horrific plot?

Umir Hussain, 24, London E14
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, London E17
Waheed Zaman, 22, London E17
Assan Abdullah Khan, 22, London E17
Waseem Kayani, 28, High Wycombe
Waheed Arafat Khan, 24, London E17
Cossor Ali, 24, London E17
Tayib Rauf, 21, Birmingham
Ibrahim Savant, 26, London E17
Osman Adam Khatib, 20, London E17
Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 36, Stoke Newington
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, London E17
Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, High Wycombe
Tanvir Hussain, 24, London E10
Umar Islam, 28, (born Brian Young) High Wycombe
Assad Sarwar, 25, High Wycombe
Abdullah Ali, 26, London E17
Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, London E5
Nabeel Hussain, 21, Waltham Forest

I wonder what common link these folks do have, Ms. Mukhter?

(H/T Malkin)

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August 10, 2006

How They Were Caught

The Washington Post has a great piece on how the terrorists were caught before they could mount their "mega-9/11" attack.

It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings on London's transit system, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance.

From that vague but vital piece of information, according to a senior European intelligence official, British authorities opened the investigation into what they said turned out to be a well-coordinated and long-planned plot to bomb multiple transatlantic flights heading toward the United States -- an assault designed to rival the scope and lethality of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings.

By late 2005, the probe had expanded to involve several hundred investigators on three continents. They kept dozens of suspects under close surveillance for months, even as some of the plotters traveled between Britain and Pakistan to raise money, find recruits and refine their scheme, according to interviews with U.S. and European counterterrorism officials.

Precise details of the plot -- how many planes, their destinations and the date -- remain unknown. The shape of the operation changed regularly as the would-be bombers considered which transatlantic flights to target and prepared for a practice run, which was expected to take place in the next few days, U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Investigators eventually pieced together enough information from a blizzard of stakeouts, tips and wiretaps to make clear that something big was in the works, and that the plotters' preparations were nearing an end.

"It's not like three weeks ago all of a sudden MI5 knew about this plot and went to work," added a U.S. law enforcement official, speaking of the British security service. "They'd had a concern about these guys for some time -- for months. Details started to emerge, and it became clear over the last couple weeks the nature of the threat and the individuals," said the official, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity.

I encourage you to read it all -- and to note that the tip that started teh investigation rolling came from within the Muslim community. I'd love to know how many such tips are received by authorities, and how many of them turn out to be valid.

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NY Times Operates In A Fantasy World

Let's look at a couple of quotes from "mainstream Democrats" on yesterday's actions to prevent a "mega-9/11" attack.

"Five years after 9-11, it is clear that our misguided policies are making America more hated in the world and making the war on terrorism harder to win," Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts said.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Bush and Congress needed to change course in Iraq and ensure Americans are protected around the world.

"The Iraq war has diverted our focus and more than $300 billion in resources from the war on terrorism and has created a rallying cry for international terrorists," Reid said.

* * *

"This event exposes the misleading myth that we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here. In fact, the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction and a profound drain on our financial and military resources," Kerry said.

The first response? Attack Bush and seek to make political capital by denigrating the successful effort to stop the plot.

And let's not even get into quotes from the "netroots" Democrats who are claiming ascendancy.

You get the KOSsacks.

Today, we can see again what Britain gets for being a staunch ally of Bush. They get home-grown terrorists, bombings, and more terrorist plots.

You have to wonder what exactly are the benefits of hitching yourself to George W. It's like when you consider making an investment or major purchase. You look at the pros and the cons. We all know what the cons are: your people become a target for terrorists, and you breed your own terrorist cells.

So, what are the benefits? Ummmmm, well, uhhhh, okay not many. Blair has sold out his people so he can cozy up on Bush's lap. Tony is like any other man in power, he wants to more power himself, and be closer to those who have even more power.

And the DUmmies.

“Exactly—why now? Why is this major disruption being discussed NOW. What else is going on? This sounds lke another Bush diversion tactic...Get the media to discuss terror, because there is something else that they don't want us discussing. Bait & Switch technique.”

Heck, I even got a commenter here implicitly espousing a conspiracy theory for political purposes, arguing that the Bush Administration was manipulating national security for political purposes.

Curious that we're privvy to so much information. I wonder what's
REALLY goinbg on: what piece of news or bit of information is out there
that "they" want to divert us away from?

But the New York Times lives in a diffrent world -- which is the only way we can explain today's editorial.

Here is what we want to do in the wake of the arrests in Britain. We want to understand as much as possible about what terrorists were planning. To talk about airport security and how to make it better. To celebrate what worked in the British investigation and discuss how to push these efforts farther. It would be a blessed moment in modern American history if we could do that without turning this into a political game plan.

Fair enough -- except that the editorial was an attack on comments made by Dick Cheney on Wednesday and and others made by Joe Lieberman regarding ned lamon'ts weakness on terrorism issues.

I guess that only those who the editors oppose can be guilty of making tawdry political use of the terrorism issue -- it is fair comments when they agree with the comments.

But one Republican dared to pierce the Times' veil of hypocrisy.

A senior White House official on Air Force One, speaking on the condition of anonymity, dismissed the notion that there was anything wrong with these kinds of issues being mixed up in a political campaign.

“The issue is going to be discussed in the fall,” this official said. “Are you saying if the Democrats talk about the war, we shouldn’t? We will talk about the war, and we will talk about the consequences of the policies advocated by the Democrats.”

After all, the GOP has kept America safe since 9/11 -- despite the political calculations and games of the Democrats, who wouldn't mind a couple of successful terrorist attacks on American soil if it would help them take back Congress.

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August 09, 2006

Terrorists Abroad

Bravo to the Brits for breaking up this plot.

British authorities said today they had disrupted a "major terrorist plot" to blow up passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the United States, prompting a security clampdown at British and U.S. international airports and a cascade of delays in trans-Atlantic flights generally.

London's Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Stephenson said 21 people had been arrested in London and in Birmingham England after a months-long investigation into what he said was a plan for "mass murder on an unimaginable scale." He did not say why the announcement was made today.

That seems like a bit of hyperbole to me -- after all, we can all imagine mass murder on a pretty big scale after 9/11. The plot here seems to have involved bringing down AT LEAST 10 aircraft, and as many as 50 people may have been involved.

The result has already been a disruption of trans-Atlantic air service that is only a fraction of what we would have seen if the plot had succeeded.

U.S. officials raised the "threat level" for air transport to red, the highest alert.

Passengers at Dulles airport in Washington and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport were told to expect intensified searches, considerable delays and new restrictions on carry-on items, with particular attention to liquids of all types, especially liquids with a gel-like consistency.

Medicines and baby formula was permitted but at airports in Britain, passengers were being asked to taste these liquids in the presence of security guards.

American Airlines canceled six Thursday flights between the United States and London to accommodate the delays at Heathrow airport, spokesman John Hotard told wire services.

American held three London-bound morning flights, one each from Chicago, Boston and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. To balance those cancellations, the airline also dropped three afternoon or evening flights scheduled to travel from London to those U.S. cities, Hotard said.

The British response has been even more stringent.

London's Heathrow airport, the busiest airport in Europe, was closed to most European flights Thursday morning after officials raised Britain's national security alert to its highest level -- suggesting a terrorist attack may imminent. Huge crowds formed at security barriers.

Homeland Security has responded by banning even more common items from aircraft.

" Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane. This determination will be constantly evaluated and updated when circumstances warrant. These changes will take effect at 4:00 AM local time across the country. Travelers should also anticipate additional security measures within the airport and at screening checkpoints.

"These measures will continue to assure that our aviation system remains safe and secure. Travelers should go about their plans confidently, while maintaining vigilance in their surroundings and exercising patience with screening and security officials.

It appears that Muslims are still permitted on aircraft, however, despite their known connection with terrorist plots -- including this one.

More At Malkin, Hot Air, Jawa Report, Protein Wisdom, Captain's Quarters, Slapstick Politics, Sister Toldjah, Immigration Blog, Macsmind, Wizbang, Pajamas Media, It Shines For All

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Terrorists In The Heartland

That certainly seems to be the conclusion being drawn by law enforcement in this case.

Investigators in southeast Ohio said they were working to unravel how two Michigan men charged with supporting terrorism came to have airplane passenger lists and airport security information.

Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, 20, and Ali Houssaiky, 20, both of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, were being held at the Washington County jail on $200,000 bond each, which could be raised at a Thursday afternoon court hearing. Each was charged Wednesday with money laundering in support of terrorism.

Deputies stopped the two on a traffic violation Tuesday and found the flight documents along with $11,000 cash and 12 phones in their car, Sheriff Larry Mincks said.

It wasn't clear what significance the airline information might have. Assistant County Prosecutor Susan Vessels declined to comment on whether the manifests were for upcoming flights or those that already had flown. She also would not give the origin or destination of the flight or flights.

FBI spokesman Mike Brooks in Cincinnati said his office was investigating.

The pair have bought over 600 phones in recent months, phones just like thos being used in Iraq and other parts of the world by Cindy Sheehan's freedom fighters terrorists.

Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks said initially the men lied about their reasons for purchasing the phones, which led to the charges.

Abulhassan and Houssaiky are expected to appear for an arraignment this morning in Marietta Municipal Court.

“Eventually they indicated they would sell the chips inside the phones to another individual in the Dearborn, Mich., area for $5 more than they pay for the phone,” Mincks said.

Maj. John Winstanley said the sheriffÂ’s office has received notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warning individuals are purchasing the phones for terror related activity.

“It’s their belief that they send these TracFones overseas, and they use (the chips) against the troops, detonating bombs,” Winstanley said.

And if Dearborn, Michigan rings a bell with you, it might have something to do with recent rallies over teh war in lebanon -- rallies in favor of Hezbollah, a group with a history of killing Americans.

Mincks said Dearborn has a large Lebanese population and has been the site of pro-Hezballoh rallies recently. He said the department was not profiling, but admitted that because of the suspects’ descent the incident “caused a bit of a stir.”

Of course we wouldn't want to profile folks who look like terrorists, believe like terrorists, and speak out in support of terrorists, even if they are buying items that are used by terrorists. After all, we all know that Islam is a religion of peace, right, no matter what percentage of the world's terrorist acts are conducted by Muslims acting in the name of Islam. There is certainly no need to look at Muslim groups or houses of worship -- and certainly not to give them special scrutiny. We need to pay every other group the exact amount of attention.

After all, we all know that the cops always closely scrutinize the membership of Curves whenever there is a serial rapist, just to avoid concerns about profiling.

(H/T Schlussel, Malkin)

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August 06, 2006

Don't You Hate It When That Happens?

Premature detonation -- no virgins for you, jihadi pig!

A suicide bomber was killed early Sunday in southwestern Pakistan when the explosives belt he was wearing exploded prematurely, police said.

No one else was injured in the blast in Hub, an industrial town in Baluchistan province, local police official Munir Hussain said.

"This man was riding a cycle. He had strapped explosives to his body for a suicide attack and they exploded," Hussain said of the blast in Hub's Zehri Street neighborhood.

The man's intended target was not immediately known, and police were investigating, Hussain said.

That's one more dead terrorist in Hell with Allah.

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August 03, 2006

My Cease-Fire Proposal

Since everyone else is making proposals, why shouldn't I?

When every last jihadi in Lebanon is dead, Israel will cease firing.

And the nice thing about my proposal is that there is no ambiguity or opportunity for Hezbollah to rearm again.

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August 02, 2006

Record Number Of Rocket Attacks By Hezbollah

Looks like Hezbollah is trying to step up the terror.

Hezbollah rockets struck Israel in record numbers and deeper than ever Wednesday, pushing the three-week total over the 2,000 mark and killing a Boston-born man fleeing on his bicycle toward shelter.

The barrage, which followed a two-day lull, came despite the Israeli army chief's claim that the offensive in south Lebanon had eroded Hezbollah's firepower. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz also threatened to resume air raids against the Lebanese capital.

One missile fell near the Palestinian town of Jenin, leaving a 6-foot crater in a rural area of the West Bank. It caused no casualties, and Palestinians said the mistake would not change their support for Hezbollah.

Rockets also landed near the town of Beit Shean, 45 miles from the border — the deepest penetration so far. Hezbollah's satellite TV network, Al-Manar, reported the guerrilla group used its longer-range Khaibar-1 missiles, which Israel says were supplied by Iran. The Khaibar rocket debuted last week when the town of Afula was targeted.

The army said more than 230 rockets had hit Israel by Wednesday night. The highest previous daily total was 157 on Sunday.

Fortunately, Hezbollah's attacks caused only a single civilian fatality, though there were over thirty civilians wounded in the attack -- the hand of God is protecting his people Israel.

But unfortunately, this still leads some to argue that Israel should not be making such a serious attempt to root out Hezbollah. One person told me yesterday that Israel's actions in Lebanon were unwarranted since Hezbollah couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and was doing so little damage.

I urge my Israeli readers to share tehir experiences in the comment section for the benefit of my readers from the rest of the world. After al, the press won't tell us about the impact of these attacks on Israel.

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August 01, 2006

A Correction Of Sorts

Dan from Gone Mild chides me below for having been "fooled" by a chopped up transcript of an interview with Congressman Dingell. While I didn't initially believe him, I have since come across a more complete transcript of the interview, both at one of my original sources (PowerLine) and über-Left site Think Progress. But I think there are some areas that need to be highlighted here -- areas that make it clear that the original quote was not that dramatic a misrepresentation of Dingell's position.

DINGELL: First of all, our problem is that we must be a fair and honest broker and a friend to all parties. The resolution didn’t make us that. We have to have the trust of both of the people of Israel and the people of the Arab countries around it, in order to help resolve the problem. If we don’t, the possibilities of regional war, calamitous situation with regard to Israel which has 5 million people amidst a billion and a half Arabs are a real potential for calamity. Having said at that, what we have to do is to see to it that finally we begin to address the problems that exist to abate the difficulties that are preventing a–a honest solution to the problem and a negotiated end. It takes–it takes a lot of work to get the trust that it takes to do this. The resolution did not instill that kind of trust and the end result would be quite frankly, the real solution to the problems that exist in the middle east would probably have been and probably will be put off.

ANCHOR: Overall majority of your colleagues didn’t see it that way and some would suggest that if–even though there are obviously a lot of issues with Lebanon and with Palestinian cause wrapped up in this, that this largely boils down to Israel against Hezbollah and Hezbollah is a group that the United States has deemed a terrorist organization, that there’s only one side for the Americans to come down on in this fight.

DINGELL: Well, we donÂ’t, first of all, I donÂ’t take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.

ANCHOR: YouÂ’re not against Hezbollah?

DINGELL: No, I happen to be—I happen to be against violence, I think the United States has to bring resolution to this matter. Now, I condemn Hezbollah as does everybody else, for the violence, but I think if we’ve got to talk to them and if we don’t — if we don’t get ourselves in a position where we can talk to both sides and bring both sides together, the killing and the blood let is going to continue.

Now let's look at those highlighted sections. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. That is utterly beyond dispute. Their main stock-in-trade is violence. Yet despite is claim of opposition to the violence -- which has included the cold-blooded murder of American military personnel -- Dingell wants to treat Israel and Hezbollah as equals and find some middle ground. ABSURD!

And when asked if he is against Hezbollah -- a client of Syria and Iran which uses the intentional targetting of innocent civilians as a standard tactic -- Dingell clearly says that he is not. Oh, yeah, he says he opposes the violence, but he is apparently not opposed to the platform, which is the destruction of Israel.

PowerLine nails it.

If I have this right, Dingell's "actual view" is that the United States should be a friend of Hezbollah, though he condemns the organization for its "violence" even if he does not quite deem it a terrorist group. In other words, according to Rep. Dingell, the United States should serve as an "honest broker" between a murderer and the murderer's intended victim. Thanks to ThinkProgress for introducing the nuance necessary to appreciate Rep. Dingell's true view fully.

I guess I have a vision of Dingell and the ThinkProgress crowd coming upon a woman using a can of mace to defend herself from a would-be rapist and demanding that the woman drop the canister so two sit down and achieve a mutual understanding where they can both achieve their goals. The problem is that doing so in such a situation -- and in the case of Israel and Hezbollah -- means suspending all sense of justice and morality in order to materially cooperate with evil.

I repeat my earlier position on the issue -- one I feel is fully supported by the much longer transcript.

Utterly obscene!

And remember -- your vote for a Democrat Congressional candidate is a vote to make John Dingell Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee -- which has a lot to do with setting our policies vis-a-vis the Middle East.

Assigning moral equivalency to the two sides in this conflict is unacceptable. Demanding that we be an "honest broker" with terrorist groups is a position which is beyond reprehensible -- but apparently acceptable in the Democrat Party and on the Left in general.

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Terrorism Against Israel Does Not Violate Any "International Norm"

That is the argument made by a Jordanian bank seeking to have a lawsuit against it dismissed. The suit claim that the bank, which has a New York office and therefore is operating freely in the United States, facilitates the funding of terrorism.

The Jordan-based Arab Bank yesterday asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to dismiss a lawsuit brought by thousands of Israelis who claim the bank fueled terrorism by providing payments to the relatives of suicide bombers.

Lawyers for the bank said that the 4,000 foreign citizens who are plaintiffs should not be allowed to have their case heard in the American court system. They argued that terrorism against Israel does not violate any "international norm." Lawyers for the bank said that some 80 countries, most Islamic or African, do not consider Palestinian Arab suicide bombers to be terrorists.

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter — that holding is binding on this court," said an attorney for the bank, Kevin Walsh of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae.

The plaintiffs who are suing Arab Bank in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn are the victims of terrorist attacks during the second intifada and the relatives of victims. While the overwhelming majority are citizens of Israel, some plaintiffs are from Afghanistan, Moldova, and several other countries.

They claim that Arab Bank — which has an office in New York — used offices in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to distribute payments to people who could prove they were relatives of recent suicide bombers.

The plaintiffs are suing under a 217 year-old-law, the Alien Tort Statute, which has been used by foreign citizens to bring lawsuits in America's federal courts stemming from human rights violations that occurred anywhere in the world.

Got that, folks -- international law supports Jew-killing! Terrorism directed at destroying Israel is not terrorism -- it is freedom-fighting.

Time for the State Department to place this bank on the list of prohibitted terrorist organizations.

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Qana Massacre A Hezbollah Set-Up?

ZioNation, a website devoted to news aboutIsrael from the perspective of "Progressive Zionism" notes this from a French-language Lebanese news source.

The Lebanese Web site Libanoscopie reports that the massacre in Qana was set up by Hezbollah, in order to defeat the seven point plan of the Lebanese government, which would have disarmed the militia:

Knowing full well that Israel will not hesitate to bombard civilian targets, Hizbullah militants placed a rocket launcher on the roof of a building in Qana and brought disabled children inside, in a bid to provoke a response by the Israeli Air Force, to create a new situation, using the massacre of innocents to regain the initiative in the negotiations."

The report is believable because the place, Qana, where there had been an Israeli "massacre" in 1996, and also the timing were very very convenient for Hezbollah.

Both the original French text and an English translation are available at ZioNation.

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Dingell Won't Oppose Hezbollah

Yeah, they are terrorist. Yeah, they have murdered Americans -- including members of America's armed forces. But condemning them might make it look like he is taking sides!

"I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah; I don't take sides for or against Israel." Asked, "You're not against Hezbollah?" Dingell answers, "No..."

Utterly obscene!

And remember -- your vote for a Democrat Congressional candidate is a vote to make John Dingell Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee -- which has a lot to do with setting our policies vis-a-vis the Middle East.

H/T PowerLine, Right Wing News, Expose the Left

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