October 29, 2009

Two More Reasons For US To Quit, Expel, UN

Set aside the fact that the body frequently tries to impose international restrictions on rights protected by the US Constitution – rights like freedom of speech and the right to keep and bear arms.

Set aside the regular anti-Semitism of the organization in its approach to peace in the Middle East and Islamic terrorism.

No, now the UN is investigating housing prices and mortgage foreclosures in the US.

[The UN Human Rights Council] sent its "special rapporteur on adequate housing," Raquel Rolnik, on a whirlwind tour to sniff out these "violations" -- not to say, crimes -- against humanity.

Rolnik launched her US visit last week in the city and is also traveling to places like Chicago, New Orleans and South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
At issue: whether adequate housing is too hard to come by amid the economic downturn.

Set aside the fact that this issue is entirely an internal matter of the US (something the UN supposedly cannot meddle with, according to its charter), this is a body filled with nations ruled by tin-pot dictatorships and others that are impoverished hell-holes. Where do they get off coming here over this? It would be laughable if it were not so offensive.

But then there is this utterly insane perversion of the laws of war and customary international law that is now being directed at the US.

US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.

"The problem with the United States is that it is making an increased use of drones/Predators (which are) particularly prominently used now in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan," UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston told a press conference.

"My concern is that drones/Predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law," he said.

It is a long-established part of warfare to target civilian and military leaders. Is this moron really arguing that doing so constitutes an execution, and that the near-surgical precision of American methods constitutes a violation of international law? Perhaps he would prefer, and have his conscience salved by, having the US resort to WWII-style bombing raids like those carried out at Dresden. Or maybe the use of more less precise weapons, perhaps of the variety unleashed against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While my moral sense finds our current methods preferable, I won’t lose any sleep if we return to the days of “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out” in order to please the UN weenies – after all, we are finding that way too many folks in certain parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan are in sympathy with al-Qaeda and the Taliban to the point of lending them aid and comfort, so I consider them to be legitimate targets (a principle that also applies to Hollywood as well).

As an American, I’m offended by the UN’s involvement in both of these matters, and I think it is high time to spend the money that pays for 25% of the UN’s annual budget and apply it here at home – and give the organization 72 hours to vacate the country.

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October 10, 2009

Maybe Obama Is A Fit Recipient Of The Nobel Peace Prize

After all, he is joining this list of allegedly worthy recipients whose contributions to world peace appear to be fraudulent or non-existent -- or who support causes that make the Birthers and Truthers look legitimate. Scott at Powerline notes these recipients over the last four decades -- some of whom were obviously unworthy when they received their awards, though others did not prove their unworthiness until years later.

2007
AL GORE The award to Al Gore and the IPCC "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change" fits in with a subset of cosmopolitan frauds, fakers, murderers, thieves, and no-accounts going back about twenty years.

2005
MOHAMED ELBARADEI (joint winner). He's done such a nice job with Iran.

2004
WANGARI MAATHAI The Kenyan ecologist peacefully teaches that the AIDS virus is a biological agent deliberately created by the Man.

2002
JIMMY CARTER JR., former President of the United States of America. A true cosmopolitan, he has undermined the foreign policy of his own country and vouched for the bona fides of tyrants and murderers all over the world. Commenting on the award, Nobel Committee Chairman Gunnar Berge emphasized that the award was meant as a denunciation of American policy toward Iraq. "It should be interpreted as a criticism of the line that the [Bush] administration has taken," Berge said. "It's a kick in the leg to all that follow the same line as the United States."

2001
UNITED NATIONS, New York, NY, USA.
KOFI ANNAN, United Nations Secretary General. Among other things, they respectively served as the vehicle for, and presided over, one of the biggest scams in history.

1994
YASSER ARAFAT (joint winner), Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, President of the Palestinian National Authority. He was a cold-blooded murderer both before and after receiving the award.

1992
RIGOBERTA MENCHU TUM, Guatemala. She is the notorious Guatemalan faker and author, sort of, of I, Rigoberta Menchu. Like President Obama, she is a memoirist of distinction.

1988
THE UNITED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCES New York, NY, U.S.A. Notwithstanding rapes and sex abuse committed by the team in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and the Congo, still doing fine work all over the world.

1976
BETTY WILLIAMS, United Kingdom, founder of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement (later renamed Community of Peace People), who in later years repeatedly called for the assassination of President George Bush. How peaceful can you get?

1973
LE DUC THO (with Henry Kissinger) for the 1973 peace with honor bequeathed to the fortunate people of Vietnam.

Of course, there have been many worthy recipients during that time as well -- Andrei Sakharov, Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa, Elie Wiesel, the Dalai Lama (recently snubbed by this year's recipient in an effort to curry favor with the not-so-peaceful Red Chinese dictators), Aung San Suu Kyi, and Doctors Without Borders. Indeed, in 1972 there was no award made -- an option that would have been preferable in my eyes to debasing the award even further by giving it to someone whose only qualification is that he isn't George W. Bush.

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October 09, 2009

The Best Serious Comment About The Nobel Prize Committee

This should be engraved into the walls of the room where the committee meets to select the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Prize Committee should be in the business of conferring celebrity on unknown human-rights and peace activists toiling in the most god-forsaken parts of the world; the people who really need the attention (and even the money). It should be in the business of angering powerful tyrants by giving their victims a moment in the sun. Choosing Barack Obama, who practically orbits the sun already, accomplishes the exact opposite of that. LetÂ’s hope Obama eventually deserves this award. And letÂ’s hope the Nobel CommitteeÂ’s decision meets with such a deafening chorus of chortles and jeers that it never does something this stupid again.

Bravo to Peter Beinart for so clearly illuminating the reason that people with moral decency are outraged by the decision to give the award to this president at this time.

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TheyÂ’re Not Worthy!

But apparently Barack Obama is – so the selection committee passed them over and gave the award to an accomplishment-free novice who gives nice speeches as long as the teleprompter is working.

Sima Samar, women's rights activist in Afghanistan: "With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women's Affairs."

Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.

"Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence."

Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: "These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon."

"Hu Jia, a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for 'inciting subversion of state power.'"



"Wei Jingsheng
, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system. He now lives in the United States."

Seems appropriate that two of the individuals kicked to the curb are human rights activists in China – I guess the committee was just following Obama’s lead in appeasing the Red Chinese dictators by ignoring the gross violations of human rights in that communist dictatorship. And since Obama seems prepared to ignore the ugly human rights record of the Taliban, the selection committee decided to overlook those who have actually worked for human rights in Afghanistan.

All around, IÂ’d say this is a pretty sick situation. Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize while these much more deserving nominees with remarkable records of accomplishment receive the Nobel Piss-Off Prize.

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October 04, 2009

Is Mahmoud The Mad Also Mahmoud The Jew?

Could be -- which would certainly help to explain his intense anti-Semitism.

The evidence is here.

A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Yeah, that's right -- if the official document he is holding is correct, the Iranian leader was born a Jew and became a Muslim only later wehnhis fatehr converted to Islam. And much like at least one American neo-Nazi leader, that would seem to explain his need to disassociate himself from his own beople throught the expression of violent hatred -- especially since Islam itself is thoroughly infused with anti-Semitism.

UPDATE: Guess not.

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September 24, 2009

Netanyahu Makes It Clear Why The UN Is No Longer Worthy Of Respect -- Or Existence

The US should not allow leaders like Mahmoud the Mad to come to the US.

The US should not allow the UN on American soil.

The US should quit the UN and allow it to whither and die of its own bloated inefficiency.

Any successor organization should exclude those nations that stuck around to hear the Iranian dictator's speech.

But that certainly isn't likely to happen under the Obama Regime -- especially after a speech by Obama in which he was so accommodating to the Arab nations and their terrorist proxy groups that he couldn't even bring himself to insist that Israel's enemies accept Israel's right to exist as a starting point for any negotiations -- while laying down the law as to what he expected Israel to do in response to American demands.

Would that Prime Minister Netanyahu had gone a step further in this speech and explicitly added Barack Obama to the list of those whose deeds at the UN were nothing less than shameful.

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August 24, 2009

Just A Reminder On Honduras UPDATED: US Shows Contempt For Constitutional Government In Central America

That Central American nation is valiantly choosing fidelity to its constitution over capitulation to international pressure.

Honduras's supreme court has rejected a Costa Rica-brokered deal to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya to power and ordered his arrest if he returns.

The ruling also affirmed the legitimacy of the government of interim leader Roberto Micheletti.

* * *

The court reminded Mr Zelaya that he faces several charges - including crimes against the government, treason, and abuse of power - and would be subject to trial if he re-entered the country.

It said Mr Micheletti's government had been installed as part of a lawful "constitutional succession".

Remember -- Zelaya violated the Honduran Constitution by illicitly seeking to extend his term in office. Under terms of that document, he automatically forfeited his office, and was removed from power pursuant to the directives of that nation's supreme court. It was no more a coup than would be the impeachment and removal of an American president. -- but left-leaning Latin American neighbors have tried to argue otherwise, and have deceived other members of the international community into accepting their argument. Cheers to Honduras for remaining strong in the face of this pressure.

UPDATE: The Obama Regime again weighs in on the side of the Latin Leftists and against the constitutional government of Honduras. I wonder -- will Obama be similarly contemptuous of the decisions of the US Supreme Court pursuant to our Constitution?

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July 14, 2009

Chavez Announces Next Obama Administration Foreign Policy Initiative

Given that ol' Barry Hussein has been following the lead of Hugo Chavez in attempting to overthrow the legitimate Honduran government and reinstall the legally-removed former president of that nation, we can only presume that this is the next step for the Obama Regime.

MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called on the United States to withdraw its "gringo" troops from its airbase in Honduras to protest the recent coup in the Central American state.

* * *

"If the U.S. really was against the coup it would have already withdrawn its troops from the Palmerola military base," Chavez said in his Sunday TV program, Hello President.

The U.S., which has repeatedly condemned the coup, has some 350 soldiers deployed at an airbase in Honduras.

"Obama, pull your gringo soldiers out of Honduras, deprive the rebels of aid, freeze their accounts, stop giving them visas, and you will see how their rule ends," Chavez went on.

The dictator of Venezuela has spoken. Obama should be falling in line shortly -- especially if Fidel Castro makes a similar call. Supporters of freedom and constitutional government should tremble.

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June 30, 2009

NorKs: How Dare US Prepare For Our Missile Launce Towards Hawaii!

Apparently the US is supposed to sit back and let the little tyrant in Pyongyang do whatever he wants -- including launch missiles at the US on the Fourth of July.

North Korea criticized the U.S. on Monday for positioning missile defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the deployment of a ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii amid concerns the North may fire a long-range missile toward the islands, about 4,500 miles away.

"Through the U.S. forces' clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.

The paper also accused the U.S. of deploying nuclear-powered aircraft and atomic-armed submarines in waters near the Korean peninsula, saying the moves prove "the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear war" on the North is imminent.

The commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said the North will bolster its nuclear arsenal in self-defense.

Yeah, that's right -- it is all the fault of the US that the NorKs are violating international law by building an illegal nuclear arsenal. And the fact that the US is responding to that illegal activity is grounds for more illegal activity! Kim Jong-il had better hope that the US doesn't decide to act against him -- his forces are likely to be wiped off the map in under 24 hours if we do.

It's inevitable.

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May 18, 2009

Once Again, Israel Embraces Palestinian Self-Determination

And no doubt it will again be rejected by the Palestinians, who are unwilling to accept IsraelÂ’s perfectly reasonable precondition for making it happen.

Netanyahu did say Palestinians should govern themselves and he is ready to start talks right away as long as Palestinians immediately recognize the Jewish state.

"We don't want to govern the Palestinians, we want to live peacefully, we want them to govern themselves absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel. And to this end there is a clear goal, the goal has to be an end to conflict," Netanyahu said.

But interestingly enough, Obama tried to make it sound like Israel, and not the two terrorist organizations that serve as the voices of the Palestinians, is the problem. In this he is merely parroting the opinion of an international community that has never really rejected anti-Semitism and therefore fails to note that Israel has been in a 60 year battle for its existence against Arab aggression. To insist that both sides begin with a recognition of the other’s fundamental right to exist and govern itself is not a burden – it is a minimum precondition for good-faith discussion of every other point.

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April 06, 2009

NorK Rocket Launch – Success or Failure

It all depends on how you look at it. Kim Jong Il claims it is a great success. Others call it a failure, since the satellite did not reach orbit. And it certainly highlights the fecklessness of ObamaÂ’s foreign policy. But was the launch really a failure?

North Korea's rocket may have fallen into the sea, but military experts cautioned Monday against calling it a complete failure, pointing out that it traveled twice as far as any missile the country has launched.

Although the distance was still far short of showing North Korea could reach U.S. territory, it rattled the North's neighbors and countries around the globe, with the U.S. and its allies pushing for quick punishment at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting held hours after the launch.

The launch, which demonstrated progress, is a particularly worrying development for a belligerent country that says it has nuclear weapons and once threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

What the NorKs demonstrated was their ability to launch missiles that threaten most of Asia – including American military forces and strategic allies. What’s more, it is precisely the sort of test we would have expected, with precisely the sort of trajectory, if they were doing work on an ICBM rather than trying to launch a satellite. Think about that – and ask yourself if you really feel all that secure with the US merely seeking a UN condemnation of the NorK regime. Did Obama just fail that test that Joe Biden warned us would come early in his administration?

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March 31, 2009

Watcher's Council Results

Please enjoy all of this weekÂ’s winners (and share, share, share!!!!!)


Winning Council Submissions



Winning Non-Council Submissions


February 20, 2009

ItÂ’s Bibi!

It appears that Israel will have a government serious about its security.

Israeli President Shimon Peres chose hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new Israeli government on Friday, ending days of speculation and giving Netanyahu six weeks to put together a ruling coalition.

The question now is whether Netanyahu will form a narrow government with his hard-line allies or a broad government along with his centrist rival, Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni. His choice will have serious ramifications for the Mideast peace process.

Peres made his announcement early Friday afternoon after holding meetings with Netanyahu and Livni. An official ceremony appointing Netanyahu was to be held shortly afterward.

My hope is that Netanyahu forms a government without Kadima, given that Israelis rejected the left-wing and voted strongly for conservative parties. A centrist regime would not really meet the needs of Israel, either -- especially since Livni demands that Netanyahu agree to a rotating premiership.

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February 11, 2009

Who Wins In Israel?

Too close to call, given that this is a parliamentary system and the two top parties each have less than 50% of the number of seats needed to form a government.

Inconclusive election results sent Israel into political limbo Wednesday with both Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hard-line leader Benjamin Netanyahu claiming victory and leaving the kingmaker role to a rising political hawk with an anti-Arab platform.

Livni's Kadima Party won 28 seats, just one more than Netanyahu's Likud, in Tuesday's election for the 120-member parliament, according to nearly complete results. With neither party winning a clear majority, neither can govern alone. Gains by right-wing parties give Netanyahu a better chance of forming a coalition with his natural allies.

"Political Tangle," read the headline on the front page of the daily Yediot Ahronot, alongside photos of the two smiling candidates.

The results set the stage for what could be weeks of coalition negotiations, with Israeli media reporting the first meetings already scheduled for Wednesday.

Given that the third place Yisrael Beiteinu party, which took 15 seats, has indicated it will not form a coalition with Kadima but would with Likud, that effectively gives Netanyahu 42 seats to Livni’s 28 (41, if one presumes that Labor would only join with Kadima) That puts Netanyahu in the lead – and with a host of other right-wing and religious parties holding an additional 23 seats, it would appear that the next Prime Minister of Israel is more likely to be Netanyahu. That is especially true in light of the fact that any Kadima-led coalition would have to include Arab parties that would be rejected as partners by conservative and religious parties.

My speculation on the matter is that we are likely to see whatever government emerges here serve for only a short time, with elections coming whenever the first serious crisis confronts the government. It could be Passover before the government is formed – and I don’t know that it will live to see next Passover.

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January 25, 2009

Not As Bad As they Made It Sound

During Israel's incursion into Gaza to stop missile attacks on civilians, we heard a lot of reports that made it sound as if not one stone was being left upon another in Gaza. Indeed, one of the worst perpetrators was the New York Times. That's why I find this little tidbit in an article today to be fascinating.

Most of Gaza, especially the capital, Gaza City, remains largely intact. This is not Grozny after the Chechen war or Dresden after World War II. The hospitals are coping; shops are reopening; traffic is becoming a problem once again. Israel has tripled the amount of goods flowing in here since before the war.

In other words, Israel went to great lengths to avoid areas that were not being used by Hamas for military purposes. Israel did not engage in indiscriminate attacks upon the whole of Gaza. And only now, after shilling for the terrorists, does the new York Times bother to tell us that. Sure doesn't sound like Nazi-style genocide to me.

H/T Commentary's Contentions

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January 16, 2009

Quote Of The Day

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev has this to say about calls for Israel to declare a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza.

"I don't believe that there's a logical expectation in the international community that Israel unilaterally cease fire while Hamas would continue to target cities, trying to kill our people."

How true. However, such calls are not based upon logic or common sense. They are based upon a malignant belief that Israel has no right to peace and security, that it lacks the right to self-defense that every other nation has – and that Arabs who would murder Jews are never to be held accountable for their murderous actions.

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January 13, 2009

About That Humanitarian Aid

Why should Israel let it through when it won’t get to the innocents for whom it is intended – but will instead be diverted by Hamas and sold at a profit?

Hamas on Monday raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole their contents and sold them to the highest bidders.

The IDF said that since terminal activity is coordinated with UNRWA and the Red Cross, Israel could do nothing to prevent such raids, Israel Radio reported.

Between 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the army had ceased all military activity in Gaza and once again established a "humanitarian corridor" to help facilitate the transfer of the supplies.

Funny, the anti-Semites with UNRWA havenÂ’t offered a word of condemnation of this Hamas misdeed. After all, since those involved are not Jews, there is nothing to condemn.

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January 14, 2009

Time To De-Nazify Berlin Police?

It certainly looks that way to me. After all, rather than make arrests disperse a crowd of anti-Semites seeking to create a new Kristallnacht, they instead chose to suppress the free speech of residents of an apartment who dared to display an Israeli flag in their window.

israelflaggermany.jpg

Yeah, that's right -- rather than actually take action against the criminals, the police instead kicked down the door of someone's home to silence the legal speech law-abiding supporters of Israel.

Today, 10.000 people demonstrated against Israel here in my hometown Duisburg (Germany) and to express their solidarity with Hamas. So, my girlfriend and me put two Israel flags out of the windows of our flat in the 3rd floor. During the demonstration which went through our street the police broke into our flat and removed the flag of Israel. The statement of the police was to de-escalate the situation, because many youth demonstrators were on the brink of breaking into our apartment house. Before this they threw snowballs, knifes and stones against our windows and the complete building. We both were standing on the other side of the street and were shocked by seeing a police officer standing in our bedroom and opening the window to get the flag. The picture illustrate this situation. The police acquiesced in the demands of the mob.

Have these people already forgotten the lessons of the Hitler era? Where is the world condemnation of this act? Heck -- where are the press reports? Seems to me that German authorities once again have sided with those who seek the death of Jews over Jews and their supporters. This video documents the assault on freedom to appease Jew-haters.

Of course, it isn't just Germany where we are seeing assaults on Jews and their institutions. In England there are calls for the beheading of Jews in response to Israel's defensive measures in Gaza. Pro-Hamas hatemongers (a redundant term, I know) have vandalized and attempted to burn multiple synagogues in Chicago. Pro-Hamas rallies worldwide have featured calls for the completion of the Holocaust.

When I was a child, I was taught that the world would never again permit such things, and that civilized people would not stand silent in the face of actions like those which led to the Holocaust.

How quickly that commitment has lost its force when the world is confronted with radical Islam and its fellow-travelers.

UPDATE: This report from one of Germany's most prestigious newspapers shows that this incident is worse than first reported -- and that it is causing quit a stir in Germany.

Police in the western German city of Duisburg have admitted they removed flags a student had hung in his apartment in support of Israel during a pro-Palestinian protest march in the city. Officers broke down his door and removed the flags. The city's police chief has issued an apology, but outrage is spreading.

* * *

P. said he was "shocked" by the incident. Afraid to return to his apartment, he first went to a friend's place nearby. Around two hours later he returned with his girlfriend and an acquaintance -- but he claims youths were still throwing things at the house.

He said he didn't return to the apartment until they had left. A police car passed by and P. asked the officers to come to his apartment. The officers warned that P. and his girlfriend should stay away from the window and that police would watch the house for a few hours.

"I was beside myself," P. said, "I was afraid." Two hours passed without any incident. Then P.'s acquaintance, also in the apartment, went out to the balcony for a smoke and claims he was immediately cursed as a "shit jew".

Two minutes later, the police returned to P.'s door -- and for the second time they did something unexpected. They ordered the acquaintance to leave the apartment.

So let's be clear -- not only did these cops violate the rights of the occupants of the apartment by suppressing their freedom of speech, they also made them virtual prisoners in their home, effectively placing them under house arrest and denying them the the free use of their home.

Here's a novel concept -- instead of going after the non-criminals, why don't cops start arresting the criminals and terrorists who practice the Religion of barbarism.

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January 09, 2009

Humanitarian Aid?

This is what Hamas and its supporters believe is “humanitarian aid”.

As for the coverage: One of my contacts with The Israeli Army called me today and said “You gotta see this.” Hidden in one of the emergency aid shipments supposed to go into the Gaza strip during the 3 hour lull in fighting, were 38 pallets of camo uniforms, green military sweaters and black fatigues.

This is one of the emergency shipments intended to bring medical supplies and food to the people who need it so badly. Half the trucks bringing the stuff in are UN. Half the trucks are private. IÂ’m not certain which trucks were hauling the uniforms. They had been off loaded when I got there. The whole thing is under investigation.

Sounds like humanitarian aid to me – if by “humanitarian aid” you mean “military supplies”.

I’m really starting to think that we need to see a “Deuteronomy 7:1-2” type solution imposed with regard to the residents of Gaza.

“When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.”

After all, weÂ’ve seen what good negotiations and agreements with the Palestinians are. Perhaps it is time to utterly smite them.

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January 08, 2009

Anti-Semite Blames Israel For Defensive War

carterhamas.jpg

Why on earth the Washington Post would publish a piece by this disgrace is beyond me – his is the worst presidency (for either foreign or domestic policy) of my lifetime. And given Jimmy Carter’s clear history of anti-Semitism when it comes to dealing with Israel, I would think that rational folks would consider him effectively discredited on the matter.

His conclusion – the entire conflict is Israel’s fault for failing to give into all of Hamas’ demands.

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January 05, 2009

Status Quo Ante?

That seems to be the proposal of former UN Ambassador John Bolton – return Gaza to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan because the two-state solution has failed.

nstead, we should look to a "three-state" approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty. Among many anomalies, today's conflict lies within the boundaries of three states nominally at peace. Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries. "International observers" or the like cannot come close to what is necessary; we need real states with real security forces.

Of course, neither government wants to deal with the Terrorstinians that the Arab world spent the last six decades radicalizing with a visceral hatred of Israel (not that the residents of the region were not frighteningly anti-Semitic before there even was an Israel – anti-Zionist Arab leaders were even funded by the Third Reich before and during the Second World War). Thus, I don’t believe the three-state solution is viable.

Maybe Israel ought to expel every Palestinian from Gaza and the West Bank in precisely the same way that Arab states expelled their Jewish populations following the creation of Israel in 1948. Call it the one-state solution -- the least desirable option, to be sure, but could it really be any worse than the stated policy of Hamas?

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January 01, 2009

On The Conflict Against Hamas

After doing a pretty good job of serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas for the last week, it is good to see the Washington Post start 2009 with some information about the current Israeli military action in Gaza that provides a bit of balance. Bet of all, Professor Robert Lieber of Georgetown points out some important details about the reasons for the Israeli attacks and how they have been conducted.

Let's break down his main points.

First, despite the tragic deaths of civilians, Israeli's airstrikes have been precisely aimed at Hamas fighters, installations and rocket launchers. Inevitably, the use of force causes injury and death to innocents, but from initial figures announced by U.N. personnel, it appears that more than 80 percent of those killed were Hamas security personnel or other militants -- a ratio that might compare favorably with the use of force by U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. In view of Hamas's practice of deliberately placing missile launchers and other weapons in the midst of densely populated areas, the precision is remarkable. It also reflects the fact that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) seek to minimize civilian deaths, while Hamas deliberately targets civilians.

Indeed, one of the reasons that Israel has shown extreme forbearance is because of the concern abut civilian casualties. However, the decision of Hamas to unilaterally end the six month truce with Israel and to step up attacks on Israeli civilians led Israel to act -- while still seeking to minimize civilian deaths.

And then there is this important consideration.

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Second, what we are witnessing is not a "cycle" of violence. The IDF airstrikes are a reaction to the unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks against the Jewish state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 in the hope that the Palestinians would use the opportunity to prepare for an eventual agreement and a two-state solution in which they would live side by side in peace with Israel. Since then, there have been more than 3,500 such attacks aimed at areas of southern Israel, including over 200 launches since Dec. 19, after Hamas chose not to extend a six-month truce. The expanding range of these missiles now covers an area populated by as many as 700,000 Israelis.

That's right -- Gaza is as Judenrein (translation: clean of Jews) as Hitler's ideal Germany would have been (the only Jew in Gaza is kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad_Shalit). Israel forcibly removed the last recalcitrant Jewish residents of Gaza (which had had a continuous Jewish presence for the previous three millennia) and turned it over to the avowed enemies of Israel in 2005 in a vain and foolish attempt to implement a so-called "two-state solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Since that time, there have been regular attacks from Gaza. And while Leiber says that there have been 200 launches since December 19, I'd like to suggest that the number is higher -- I've received text-message updates in the last two days indicating that at nearly that many rockets have been fired into Israel in the last 48 hours.

Lieber also makes another point -- Hamas rejects any two-state solution to the current conflict. As long as it maintains a hold on power, there can be no peace. Israel has acted in good faith to bring an end to six decades of instability in the region -- some of us would argue recklessly and foolishly so -- while having never had an actual partner for peace willing to act to actually bring about peace. Only by completely undermining Hamas might Israel create a situation in which the two-state solution might work -- and then only if Fatah is prepared to finally step up and act as a government rather than a terrorist organization or criminal gang.

Maybe the outcome of this military action will, finally, be peace.

supportisrael.jpg

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Green Zone In Iraqi Hands

One more sign that the US has acted as a liberator in Iraq rather than an occupier or colonizer.

The walls of the majestic Republican Palace in Baghdad's Green Zone have been stripped bare. The vaults that secured American cash and classified documents are gone, and the cement blast walls that protected the front entrance were taken down this week. The U.S. military dining facility inside what was once the American Embassy served its last meal New Year's Eve.

"This is the end of the world as we know it," said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick McDonald, 47, who co-authored a guide to historic sites in the Green Zone. "It's not like everyone is shredding documents and fleeing Saigon. But we are stepping away from a building."

Saddam Hussein had the palace compound's main building decorated with giant busts of himself to demonstrate his hold over Iraq. After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the palace came to symbolize the American role in the country, first as the headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority and later the U.S. Embassy. American civilians and troops held "salsa night" dances around the pool behind the palace before retiring to trailers sheathed in sandbags.

When the clock struck midnight on Wednesday, the U.S. returned the palace to the Iraqi government and relinquished formal control over the Green Zone, a heavily fortified six-square-mile enclave on the Tigris River where key U.S. and Iraqi bureaucracies are situated.

This move is as it should be -- it was never teh goal of teh United States to stay in Iraq indefinitely. Since the invasion, it was always American policy to place control of all of Iraq in the hands of the Iraqis. This is simply one more step in the process -- one that has seen millions of Iraqis freed from the yoke of Saddamite tyranny.

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December 29, 2008

A Sign Of The Intellectual (And Moral) Bankruptcy Of The Hamas Supporters

Sixty years ago, at the establishment of the state of Israel, the civilized world was united in the cry of "Never again!" in response to the Holocaust. Today, as Israel seeks to guarantee the end of near-daily attacks upon its territory and people, there are too many folks who cry out "Do it again!" as they support the Hamas-led government of the Terrorstinian Anarchy.

I think the sign says it all.

20081229NYDeathJuice[1].jpg

So not only does this low-life support terrorism, he supports genocide against an ethnic group he cannot even spell. And yet this is the side that the liberal elite and the UN seems to think operates from the moral high ground.

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Barak Quotes Barack

Last July, Barack Obama made an important point about the right and obligation of Israel to defend itself in the face of attacks from Gaza by Hamas.

Today, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak quoted Obama in his remarks to the Knesset regarding Israel's action against the Terrorstinians.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said upon completing his daily briefing that the Israel Defense Forces will use every resource to bring about an end to Palestinian rocket fire.

Speaking at the end of the third day of deadly aerial assaults on the Gaza Strip, Barak said "if the criminal rocket fire aimed at Israeli civilians does not stop immediately, Israel will use all its resources and all the legal tools it possesses to force the enemy to stop this aggressive, illegal behavior," Barak declared.

* * *

Barak also cited a comment made by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, who visited Sderot during his election campaign earlier this year.

"Obama said that if rockets were being fired at his home while his two daughters were sleeping, he would do everything he could to prevent it," Barack told the plenum.

Let's consider precisely what Obama said during his World Tour on Unicorn One last summer.

obama-unicorn[1].jpg

In reference to the rocket attacks, Obama said that "I think that no country would accept missiles landing on the heads of its citizens."

Obama emphasized Israel's security, saying, "I came to Sderot with a commitment to Israel's security. Israel has the right to defend itself, and peace should not undermine its security."

He expressed his admiration for the citizens of Sderot who remained in place even though their homes had come under fire. "Israelis must not suffer a threat to their lives, to their schools," he said, adding that "if missiles were falling where my two daughters sleep, I would do everything in order to stop that."

Now this raises an interesting point three weeks before the inauguration -- once again there is the possibility that Obama's campaign rhetoric may come back to haunt him as president. Obama recognized the legitimacy of Israel defending itself from rocket attacks directed against its civilian population -- which is precisely the course of action that Israel is engaged in today. To follow a different policy after his inauguration would be worse than a betrayal of (another) campaign promise, it would be a sign that Obama expects Israel to accept and endure things that he has publicly stated no nation should accept, ant that he would not accept if directed at his own children. As such, Ehud Barak may have backed the president-elect into a policy corner.

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Israel NOT Targeting Civilians

Not only that, but the Israeli government is warning civilians away from likely military targets.

RESIDENTS at certain addresses in the Gaza Strip have been receiving unusual phone calls since the Israeli air assault began on Saturday -- a request that they and their families leave their homes as soon as possible for their own safety.

More unusual than the recorded message is the Arabic-speaking caller, who identifies himself as being from the Israeli defence forces.

Dipping into their bag of tricks for the updated Gaza telephone numbers, Israel's intelligence services are warning Palestinian civilians in Gaza living close to Hamas facilities that they may be hurt unless they distance themselves from those targets.

In some cases, the warning comes not by telephone but from leaflets dropped from aircraft on selected districts.

So much for the notion that Israel is being indiscriminate in its attacks. they know where they are going to attack and are trying to get the civilians out -- a tricky task given that Hamas has located its facilities of military value in the midst of the civilian population.

And Israel has done a pretty good job of avoiding those civilian casualties, based upon the statistics here.

But there are conflicting reports about how successful the air force has been avoiding civilian casualties. On Sunday, Israeli officials, citing Palestinian sources, said of the almost 300 fatalities reported until then in Gaza, all but 15 were members of Hamas. Hamas officials said yesterday that one-third of fatalities were civilian.

Last night the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said at least 51 civilians had been among those killed.

I'd be willing to guess that the actual number is probably somewhere between those put out by Israel and the staunchly anti-Israel UN group, which is often little more than a mouthpiece for the Terrorstinians. In other words, only about 10% of the casualties are civilians, while the rest are legitimate military targets -- predominantly members of the military wing of Hamas and Hamas-controlled police forces that have been involved in terrorist activities. Even the attack on the Islamic University of Gaza was intended to pinpoint military research being conducted in laboratories at the school -- another legitimate goal for a nation that has decided to put an end to military attacks on its people.

Hamas, of course, offers no such warnings to the civilian population of Israel before launching unguided missiles into civilian areas -- but those who support the terrorist government of Gaza don't want to address that little detail.

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Why Israel Fights -- The People Of Sderot

Let us remember the people people who Israel defends when it acts against the Terrorstinians in Gaza.

Larissa Yaakobov stands before me sobbing. Her young daughter and nine-year-old son look on helpless. “I can’t do it anymore,” she says in broken Hebrew, “I can’t live here.” “Here” is Sderot, an Israeli border community adjacent to the Gaza Strip where Larissa has lived since she emigrated from Russia fifteen years ago. Larissa ’s son does not say a word. He hasn’t said much, she tells me, since the two watched a Qassam rocket slam into a woman a few feet away killing her instantly.

Less than twenty four hours before Israel unleashed its air-force on the Gaza Strip, I sat with four families in Sderot who have been injured and traumatized by Hamas rocket fire. In the hours before Israel ’s incursion, the mood was tense—even by Sderot standards. The streets were barren; everyone is bracing for new waves of rockets.

Sderot has no shortage of children’s playgrounds—twisty blue and yellow slides, swings and handle-bars. But children are no where to be seen. I do see plenty of bomb shelters. Every bus-stop in Sderot has been turned into a lime-colored enforced shelter with a single shrapnel-proof window. I enter one of these rooms to see what it is like inside. A car screeches to a halt and the driver dashes out to join me in the shelter. He is panicked and out of breath. Seeing me enter the shelter, he mistakenly thought a rocket was headed our way. I apologize sheepishly for the confusion as he returns to his car and speeds away.

I scan the looming gray clouds above for any indication of incoming rockets or mortars. A single fish-shaped white balloon sitting high off in the distance is my sole source of comfort. It is the Israeli armyÂ’s preferred method of identifying incoming rockets. It triggers an alarm which gives residents a few seconds to find shelter. I cannot shake the feeling that at any moment a rocket will fall from the sky and strike me directly. I note the location of every bomb shelter along the way in case I must make a mad dash to safety.

This feeling of unremitting and ubiquitous terror is the norm in a community of 20,000 residents.

Remember -- these are people in a town that is indisputably a part of Israel. After all, it is part of the pre-1967 territory of the Jewish state. It was missile barrages against Sderot and other Israeli towns near Hamas-controlled Gaza that led to the blockade of Gaza -- and despite the cease-fire that began six months ago, the attacks from Gaza continued. Homes and schools are regularly hit by the unguided missiles lobbed across the border between Israel and the Terrorstinian Anarchy. Yet somehow the world community expects Israel to continue to "take it" rather than act to root out the terrorist threat from within Hamas-controlled territory.

Pray for the people of Sderot, who have endured eight years of aggression from within Gaza -- and for the success of the military operations designed to protect them and their fellow Israelis from Hamas-sponsored terror attacks.

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December 28, 2008

What It's All About

There are a great many ways to explain what is going on right now between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Terrorstinian Anarchy. However, I found the clearest explanation in this editorial in the Jerusalem Post.

On Friday, a Hamas spokesman made Israel the following proposal: You keep the stream of humanitarian aid and supplies flowing into Gaza and we will keep launching rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians.

It was an offer Israel had little choice but to refuse.

For weeks Israel has been imploring Hamas to stop shooting across the border, to stop tunneling in preparation for the next round of violence, and to allow our farmers to tend their fields. The Islamists responded that they were not afraid of the IDF and that they reserved the right to resist "the occupation" - meaning the existence of a Jewish state. They brazenly told Israel to get used to the idea that no amount of humanitarian gestures would stem their behavior.

At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Israel finally told Hamas that it would not be bled, slowly, to death. Thanks to excellent intelligence and superb training, a haughty enemy was caught off-guard. Targets up and down the Strip were hit and large numbers of Hamas personnel including senior military figures were killed. Key facilities were turned into rubble; well-camouflaged equipment was destroyed.

Imagine, if you will, that Canada was lobbing missiles into the US on a daily basis. Imagine that decades of attempts to negotiate a settlement to the conflict and years of foreign aid to the attackers had done little or nothing to stem the tide of the attacks, nor regular suicide bombings in our nation's cities. And what's more, imagine that the Canadians informed us that it was expected that the US lay back and take it while continuing to cough up ever more foreign aid to the Canadian government even as the Canadians continued to express the intent to continue attacks and ultimately destroy the United States.

How long would the people of the United States be prepared to accept the attacks? How long would it be until they demanded that the government respond militarily to crush the attackers? We know the answer to those questions -- and we know that the United States government (whether in the hands of Republicans or Democrats) would act to crush the Canadians via military force -- hopefully disproportionate force designed to forever neutralize the ability of the Canadians to do attack and kill Americans.

Last week a truce between Israel and the Hamas-led government of the Terrorstinian Anarchy that began on June 19, 2008 came to an end. During that time of truce, Israel faced regular missile attacks from within Gaza in violation of the truce. Israel faced a number of terror attacks originating from Gaza. A blockade intended to protect Israel's citizens from such attacks was implemented -- and received international condemnation from those who sympathize with the Terrorstinians and their stated desire to murder Jews and destroy Israel. Israel was expected to stay its hand because of the truce, even as the other side violated it with impunity.

And when the truce ended, Israel said "No more!" Indeed, it acted in precisely the manner that Americans would demand in the scenario I outlined above -- though with less force than Americans would demand in that scenario.

And that is the problem.

Israel has, over the years, failed to kill a sufficient number of Terrorstinians.

The evidence of this?

The obvious lack of deterrence of the relatively merciful policies followed by the Israeli governments over the last 60 years.

Until Israel responds in a manner that is sufficiently ruthless to lead the Terrorstinians to fear Israel more than they hate Israel, thereby leading them to reject terrorism in order to preserve their lives and those of their children and grandchildren, the Terrorstinians will continue to make the rational choice to engage in aggression against Israel because the cost (a relative handful of dead compared to what they desire to inflict upon Israel) is sufficiently low to allow them to continue to practice terrorism.

In short, the solution to Terrorstinian attacks on Israel is for the Israelis to continue the military response and to step it up -- adding a ground component to the air component. While I'm not -- quite -- suggesting that the Terrorstinians be driven into the sea (a favorite and oft expressed dream of the Terrorstinians with regard to the people of Israel), I do suggest that the Israeli response be truly disproportionate, regardless of the sentiments of the world community. When one's enemy interprets mercy and proportionality with weakness, massive retaliation (and massive enemy casualties) becomes the only way to stop them -- and that is the situation in which Israel finds itself today.

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December 15, 2008

Obligatory Shoe-Thrower Post

Yeah, IÂ’ll post about it.

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush in a supreme insult has suddenly become the talk of Iraq, hailed by marchers as a national hero but blasted by the government as a barbarian.

* * *

Zaidi shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," at Bush in a news conference he held with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki during a farewell visit to Baghdad on Sunday.

The journalist then flung one shoe at Bush, forcing him to duck, followed by another, which sailed over Bush's head and slammed into the wall behind him. Throwing shoes at someone is the worst possible insult in the Arab world.

Zaidi was dragged struggling and screaming from the room by security guards and could be heard shouting outside while the news conference continued after momentary mayhem.

Now apparently the Iraqi government is charging him with crimes against the Iraqi state. I think this is the wrong move for them to make, for it turns him into a political prisoner. Rather, he should be charged with assault – for after all, this piss-ant is nothing more than a common criminal.

His employer is demanding he be released, claiming that his actions are merely free speech. They are wrong – his actions were assault (assault and battery, actually, as I understand that one individual may have been struck by one of the shoes). He isn’t being punished for his words – he ought to be punished for his actions.

The Insane Left is, of course, all in a tizzy over the incident, proving their fundamental moral and mental inferiority to even single-cell life forms. Consider a few of the comments documented by the folks at NewsBusters:

Here is a sampling of the the reaction from the Daily Kos:
    Is the Iraqi reporter eligible for a Pulitzer?
  • What will happen to this reporter? Do we need to send money for his representation in court or is he dead already? My concern is for this guy. I understand that Dana Perino got a black eye from a microfone in the melee. I'm sorry but retribution is sweet! If we could help this shoeless person I would.
  • We can throw 9000+ combat boots at him as he waddles to Marine 1 for the last time.
  • Michael Ware Was Grinning From Ear to Ear! Iraq journalist Michael Ware was shown on CNN telling Blitzer about the shoe throwing incident. He was positively gleeful.

And it wouldn't surprise me if quite a few other American journalists, whether based in Iraq or not, were also grinning from ear to ear in solidarity with the Kossacks over this incident. Meanwhile the Huffington Post comments were very similar to those of the Daily Kos:


  • All I can hope for is that bubble boy takes a real good look at what he has wrought. He should rot.
  • Find out who it was the guy deserves a medal of honor.
    you go iraqi guy! wooohooo! we should all be chuckin our shoes at him! lmao!!!! the shoebomber! lmao!!!
  • I would love to throw something at Bush.. not a shoe though.. maybe a brick.. or cinder block.
  • Give that man who threw his shoes at the shrub an award...or better yet a statue built in his own likeness.
  • Shall we say thank you Al-Jazeera?
  • The next time you see Bush's motorcade rush by, don't let anyone keep you from giving him your shoe, too...
  • does anybody know the name and address of the man who threw the shoe? I'd like to buy him a new pair and throwing lessons.

And finally, last but least, we have the input from the loons at the Democratic Underground:


  • F---ing shame he missed.
  • Too bad Shrub didn't get his teeth knocked out, that guys a true hero!
  • *sigh* why can't anyone ever hit their targets? is it asking too much too see Bush hit in the face with a shoe, or Coulter with a pie, or Rove with flaming poo?
  • I soooooo wish I could throw something at the idiot too.

Now I wonder if these folks will be so receptive to the first time “. . . a shoe, or. . . a pie, or. . . a bag of flaming poo” is thrown at Barack Obama? Or will these same morons apply a different standard to their new god (whose tin idol is already tarnished by the Blagojevich connection), demanding harsh treatment of the offender?

By the way, the idiot KOSsack who asked if Zaidi was already dead ought to consider something – if this were the Iraq that existed prior to the US liberation of that country, his actions would have earned him and his entire family prison and probably death by some barbaric methodology. If this were the Iraq that the Left’s beloved terrorists want, Zaidi would already have been decapitated for his crime. For that matter, what would have happened anywhere in the rest of the Arab/Muslim world if he had tried that with one of their leaders? The question answers itself. Instead, this semi-talented journalistic hack will be something of a hero to a certain segment of the Iraqi populace, while being excoriated by others – and he may face a short time in jail or a fine for his clearly inappropriate action.

After all, there are limits to freedom of expression – and Zaidi needs to learn that it ends where assault begins.

By the way, I have to agree with this point by Talking Points MemoÂ’s Josh Marshall:

But watching the video of the Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush, I could not help but notice that it took an uncomfortably long period of time for anyone to get to the assailant and, even more, much longer than I would have expected for anyone who looked like Secret Service to get to the president and block his body or get him out of harm's way.

I guess the point here is that this was a very confined space. Presumably the Secret Service controlled access to the degree that they were confident there were no unauthorized weapons in the room. And they wouldn't have to worry about someone with a gun at a greater distance. So they may have been less worried about jumping in front of the president, etc.

Maybe I'm just over-analyzing this. And obviously a president can't be under lock and key at all moments, with Secret Service agents ready to throw him to the floor at a moment's notice. But for an American president, any moment in Iraq has to be considered a very high risk situation. So it did make me wonder.

That was, in fact, my first reaction to the incident.

UPDATE: Here's the best reaction I've seen from an Iraqi:

“I spent five years in Saddam’s jails,” said Saman Qadir, a 51-year-old mechanic. “This journalist has to throw flowers on Bush, not a shoe, because Bush saved the Iraqi people from a bloody regime. Malaki has to raise a case against this journalist.”

But then again, for some it all comes down to the shop-worn "Bush=Hitler" meme.

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November 20, 2008

Barbary Pirates Redux?

Could be – if the lame duck incumbent or the president-elect decides that protecting shipping from piracy on the high seas is important.

US Marines have been singing about their exploits on the "shores of Tripoli" ever since President Thomas Jefferson sent them to scour out the world's most dangerous pirates, the Barbary corsairs, from their bases in North Africa in 1801. Now President Barack Obama may have to give the Corps the chance to add a new line - by sending Marines to destroy the newest generation of pirates, this time on the other side of Africa.

* * *

Stopping the pirates at sea is almost impossible. The time that lapses from when the crew of an innocent ship spots the approach of a high-speed pirate boat until it is boarded is less than 15 minutes - not enough time to get a US frigate to come to the rescue.

Even when a warship manages to catch up with a captured vessel, its options are limited: It can't sink the target without endangering the crew and cargo. And boarding ships under hostile fire is a vanished art in modern navies - as is handling hostage situations

The solution? Send in the Marines!

Here's a past piracy related post.

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September 03, 2008

Love Them NorKs!

Looks like the little pissant from Pyongyang is at it again.

North Korea, after halting the disassembly of a key nuclear center, is now putting the facility back together in violation of the United States' conditions for improved diplomatic relations between the countries, U.S. officials told FOX News on Tuesday.

The motive isn't clear but sources say North Koreans likely are reassembling nuclear facilities at Yongbyon partly to protest the United States' delay in taking the country off its list of terror-sponsoring nations.

"They've been threatening this move for some time," one U.S. official told FOX News, adding that until now the threats were seen as merely a way for North Korean officials "to express their anger."

I’ve got to wonder what they are going to want this time – and if they will again be rewarded.


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August 26, 2008

Shall The West Recognize An Independent Chechnya?

Not, mind you, that I think it would be a good idea -- but if Russia is correct in recognizing breakaway areas of Georgia as independent, shouldn't the rest of the world recognize the independence of those who don't want to be under Moscow's thumb?

Russia on Tuesday recognized the independence of two enclaves that have long sought to secede from neighboring Georgia. The action deepened strains with the West over the conflict in the economically vital crossroads of the Caucasus and roiled a broader debate over how to respond to separatist movements around the world.

* * *

The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, declared in a nationally televised address that South Ossetia and the other pro-Russian enclave, Abkhazia, would never again have to endure what he described as oppressive Georgian rule.

“This is not an easy choice, but it is the only way to save the lives of people,” Mr. Medvedev said.

Hey -- Russian actions in Chechnya have been pretty heavy-handed and oppressive. Why shouldn't the rest of the world start adopting the logic of Medvedev and Putin and recognize the independence of a part of Russia that has been fighting for independence for years -- and any other part of the country that wants to break away as well?

And after all, Russia seems to be welcoming a new Cold War.

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August 17, 2008

Musharraf Quits

As much as I despise the man, I'm worried about the future of Pakistan without him.

Bowing to pressure from Pakistan's newly-elected civilian government, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, once a top U.S. ally, said Monday that he will resign from office immediately, effectively ending nearly nine years of military rule in the country under his leadership.

Musharraf announced his decision to step down in a nationally televised public address 10 days after leaders of Pakistan's two ruling coalition parties called for his impeachment. Demand for his resignation became increasingly vocal last week after Pakistan's four provincial assemblies voted overwhelmingly for his ouster.

Who will succeed Musharraf? Will that successor be an ally in the war on terror, or an ally of the terrorists? And what of Pakistan's nukes? Until I see some clear answers to those questions, I'm not ready to celebrate.

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August 15, 2008

Musharraf Resignation Coming -- Likely Not Good News

I've made it clear that I am not a fan of Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf. That said, I'm not sure that his impending resignation is good news.

While it appeared almost certain that Mr. Musharraf would leave before facing impeachment, there was great uncertainty over what would follow. Many Pakistanis believe the country could suffer even greater instability after Mr. Musharraf goes.

The coalition partnership between Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif has been deeply troubled from the start, and the current accord on ousting Mr. Musharraf is likely to fragment as soon as he is gone, politicians say.

There is little agreement, for example, between the two men on the choice of the next president.

Mr. Zardari, head of the Pakistan Peoples Party, would like the post, according to his party supporters and senior members of the Pakistan Muslim League-N.

Mr. Sharif, his rival and coalition partner, is opposed to Mr. ZardariÂ’s ascendancy to the presidency, but would go along with it if the presidency were stripped of many of its current powers, Pakistan Muslim League-N officials said.

So, the result of the impending change will be a fragmenting of the parliamentary coalition that exists in Pakistan, and the probable weakening of the Pakistani executive branch. Will the remaining government be able to deal effectively with the Islamist question along the Afghan border -- or perhaps I should ask if it will be able to deal with that problem any more effectively than Musharraf has, given the failures of the current regime which has at least had the support of the military and has at least somewhat responded to the terrorist threat as an ally. At least one of the two major opposition parties is openly sympathetic to the Islamist cause, which could make for a less effective response from the new government of Pakistan.

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August 03, 2008

The Beast Eats Itself Again...


Just when it seemed like the mob bosses who run Fatah and Hamas were all set for a cozy sitdown to resolve their turf wars and get on with the important business of killing Jews, their inner nature got in the way and they turned on each other.

It started with a breakdown of talks mediated by the Egyptians between Hamas and Fatah,with the principles and their various spokesmouths calling each nasty and perfectly accurate names. Then it escalated with arrests and crackdowns in both Gaza and the Palestinian occupied areas of Judea and Samaria (AKA The West Bank)with Fatah and Hamas rounding up members of the opposition in their respective gang territories and subjecting them to a little Palestinian-style 'justice'...nothing too terminal Mohammed, just a quiet little chat between you and me and my pals in a quiet little cell with baseball bats, electrodes and a few lit cigarettes to keep the party fun and interesting.

The real fireworks started at the end of last week when a bombing took out five Hamas members in the Gaza Strip.

It's fascinating observe how Hamas reacted to a terrorist bombing as opposed to the way Israel does...Chicago rules all the way. The Green Hat boys went berserk and started arresting and questioning everyone associated with Fatah they could lay their greasy hands on and soon fingered the Fatah allied Hilles clan. They then attacked the clan's stronghold in Al-Shuja'iyah district in eastern Gaza, killing nine people and wounding more than one hundred,including the clan's leader, Ahmed Hilles.

Over 180 members of the Hilles clan and their assorted allies, including the wounded clan leader fled to - get this - Israel, of all places. And believe it or not, once the Israelis disarmed them and searched everybody and made sure no one was carrying a bomb under their clothing, the hated Jews actually allowed them in and hospitalized the wounded Fatah fighters!

In a bizarre twist, when the Israelis attempted to repatriate the non-hospitalized Fatah clansmen, Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept them into the Palestinian occupied territory in the West Bank and told the Israelis to return them to the tender mercies of Hamas in Gaza...where they were all promptly arrested.Abbas' rationale for this was that he didn't want to eliminate a powerful group of Fatah loyalists from Gaza,but there was apparently something else involved, since that makes no sense whatever, even to a Palestinian. I have a feeling that the real reason Abbas didn't want them in the West Bank is because he was nervous about importing yet another group of fighters into the area whom weren't under his complete control.

It's important to remember that the Palestinians are not a nation as we think of it, but a feudal collection of frequently warring clans.

Meanwhile,Fatah continued its own clean up of the rival mob's gangsters. In Nablus, Fatah gunmen seized the senior Hamas operative on the West Bank Muhammad Ghazal and his family and threatened to execute them all unless Hamas ends the crackdown on their followers in Gaza and releases the Fatah goons Hamas has in its jails.

And in Gaza, Hamas arrested Fatah operatives Ibrahim Abu an-Naja and Zakaria al-Agha, who were put in charge of Fatah's people in Gaza by Abbas with the same rationale..to put pressure on Abbas to release Hamas prisoners he's holding on the West Bank.

This will probably end up with another mob sitdown and a return to the status quo,believe it or not. Abbas isn't strong enough to oust Hamas from the West Bank,and Hamas needs Fatah to continue forwarding to Gaza The Green Hat Mob's share of the aid money doled out by gullible infidels like the US State Department.

-Robert@Joshuapundit-

Crossposted at JoshuaPundit

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July 19, 2008

Iran: Talks A Waste Of Time

After all, if the point is to get uranium enrichment suspended, this statement negates the entire purpose of the meeting.

Iran on Saturday ruled out freezing its uranium enrichment program, casting doubt over the value of its talks with six world powers less then an hour after they started.

The talks _ with the U.S. in attendance for the first time _ had raised expectations of possible compromise on a formula under which Iran would agree to stop expanding its enrichment activities. In exchange, the six powers _ including the five permanent U.N. Security Council members _ would hold off on passing new U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

But the comments from Keyvan Imani, a member of the Iranian delegation, appeared to indicate that his government was not prepared to budge on enrichment _ at least going into the talks.

"Suspension _ there is no chance for that," he told reporters gathered in the courtyard of Geneva's ornate City Hall, the venue of the negotiations.

Time to put away the documents, lock the briefcases, and return home. Iran just isn't interested in progress towards disarmament.

Looks like the Israelis may have to handle this matter after all.

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July 16, 2008

Hey! World Court!

I hear you don't like the way we deal with murderers down here in Texas -- giving them the justice they deserve, especially when they rape little girls. I've got a message for you.

The World Court ordered the United States on Wednesday to do all it could to halt the imminent executions of five Mexicans until the court makes a final judgment in a dispute over suspects' rights.

The row, which has strained relations between the neighbors, centers on the fact that the United States failed to inform 51 of its citizens sentenced to die in U.S. jails of their right to consular assistance.

One of the five Mexicans on death row, Jose Medellin, is due to die on August 5 in Texas.

My personal solution? Daisy-chain the other four Mexican murderers (César Roberto Fierro Reyna, Rubén Ramírez Cárdenas, Humberto Leal García, and Roberto Moreno Ramos) to José Ernesto Medellín Rojas on August 5 and make the entire matter moot. And should the World Court decide to send the World Police to take Texas officials to the World Jail, we'll show them all what Texas justice looks like.

Oh, and to the government of Mexico that is struggling to keep these despicable pieces of garbage alive, I repeat my earlier message.

But then again, that's my attitude towards Mexico in regards to most everything.

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July 03, 2008

Diplomacy With Iran?

Over the last three decades, one of the regimes least amenable to diplomatic pressure from the West has been Iran.

Which is, of course, why there is such pressure to solve the problem of the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy.

President Bush, in an appearance before reporters at the White House earlier Wednesday, was asked about increasing speculation that Israel will attack, saying all options remain on the table but that military action would not be his first choice.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message — and that is, you will be isolated, and you will have economic hardship, if you continue to enrich" uranium for a bomb.

Sorry -- with oil at $146 a barrel, it is unlikely that Iran is going to be facing economic hardship any time soon. And given the fungibility of a commodity like oil, it is very possible for Iran to sell its oil to other countries despite an embargo -- indeed, the US has not bought oil from Iran for three decades, yet the Iranians have never had any difficulty selling oil on the world market.

What's more, the Israelis have an indisputable right to defend themselves from Iran -- and given the repeated threats with nuclear overtones made by Mahmoud the mad against Israel, it seems to me that there is a clear basis for Israel to believe that the program is intended to develop nuclear weapons with but a single target -- Israel.

So it is all well and good to call for a diplomatic solution to the current situation. It isn't our survival as a nation at stake. On the other hand, for Israel this is a matter of life and death.

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June 13, 2008

UN Body Interferes In UK Internal Affairs

The toothless, symbolic British monarchy violates the human rights of the British and should be abolished? This would be some sort of joke were it not a something that the UN Human Rights Council has recommended.

The UN Human Rights Council said the UK must "consider holding a referendum on the desirability or otherwise of a written constitution, preferably republican".

The council has 29 members including Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Sri Lanka.

It was the Sri Lankan envoy who raised concerns over the British monarchy.

The resulting report said Britain should have a referendum on the monarchy and the need for a written constitution with a bill of rights.

Now let's consider some of the hypocritical complaints put forward.

The UN report was also critical of the UK's treatment of immigrants from Sudan.

Syrian representatives accused the UK of discriminating against Muslims and Iran complained about the UK's record on tackling sexual discrimination.

Hold on -- Iran is complaining about sex discrimination? That complaint from Burqa-ville should have been laughed out of the hearing room.

But then again, consider the human rights records of the participating nations. What the heck is Saudi Arabia doing recommending a constitution and the abolition of a monarchy? And what is Cuba doing on any body that is tasked with judging human rights?

US out of UN -- UN out of US

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June 07, 2008

Mugabe Seeks To Strong-Arm His Way To Victory

And if that means imprisoning his opponent and banning all election activity by the opposition party, that is how it has to be. Oh, and he is requiring all food distribution to go through government programs -- where he can have government employees sing his praises to the poor and deny assistance to opposition supporters.

With only three weeks to go before ZimbabweÂ’s presidential runoff, the police briefly detained the oppositionÂ’s standard-bearer, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Friday for the second time this week and directed his party to cancel political rallies, effectively preventing him from addressing voters.

At the same time, the Zimbabwean governmentÂ’s requirement that all nongovernmental organizations suspend their aid operations, which grew out of the authoritiesÂ’ allegations that some were supporting the opposition, was condemned Friday by officials in the United States and Europe, as well as the United Nations.

Relief agencies said the order, issued this week, would deprive millions of desperately poor Zimbabweans of food aid and other basic assistance. Unicef, for example, depends on 25 nongovernmental organizations to provide education, health care and food to 185,000 orphans in Zimbabwe.

“It’s a horrible situation,” said James Elder, Unicef’s spokesman in Zimbabwe. “The children and their families continue to find stoic means of surviving, but this is a profoundly disturbing blow to them. We can’t reach these children today.”

I don't know which disturbs me more -- this attempt to starve those who might vote for the opposition, or the campaign of outright murder that has gone on since the first round of the election that Mugabe's thugs tampered with to give him a second shot at winning.

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