The UN Human Rights Commission appoints Desmond Tutu to demonize investigate Israel

Never mind Darfur...it's the Jooos, always the Jooos...

The UN Human Rights Commission continued its obsession with Israel by appointing none other than South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu to head its `investigative commission' to the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun to investigate `human rights violations' by those wicked Israelis in trying to stop the peaceful Palestinians from shooting Qassam rockets at Israeli civilians.

Tutu, of course, has already expressed his views on this: "It is an outrage that cries out to heaven and we must condemn it unequivocally..."

The good Bishop has long been noted for his friendliness with Palestinians like Yasir Arafat (the Palestinians supplied the ANC boys with weaponry and terrorist training) and his frequent comparison of Israel with apartheid South Africa. During the last UN Human Rights Commisiion meeting in Durban a couple of years back, the blatant racism and Jew hatred inside and outside were so bad that the envoys of the US and the EU actually left in the middle.

Some of those demonstrations were led by none other than Desmond Tutu.

Here's a few choice Tutuisms uttered at a conference in Boston back in 2002:

"Israel is like Hitler and apartheid."

"The Jewish lobby is very powerful..People are scared in this country [the U.S.], to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful—very powerful."

There's lots more ,if anyone's interested..the UN certainly had no problem with putting an anti-Semite and Israel hater at the head of an `impartial' commission.

Hey, no sense leaving anything to chance, right?

Earlier this month, the Council condemned an IDF artillery attack that killed 20 civilians in the northern Gaza Strip and ordered an on-site investigation by UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour.

Of course, the UN made no reference to Palestinian Qassam attacks. But when Arbour visited Israel last week, she and her party were nearly hit by a Qassam that slammed into the Negev town of Sderot, in a salvo that killed a local factory worker.

The UN Human Rights Council has been in existence almost six months since its first meeting, and held one regular session and three special sessions. They have yet to even address a single state besides Israel.

Figures.

Bush meets with King Abdullah in Jordan..but not with Maliki

This gets more and more interesting the longer it goes on.

President Bush is en route back from Amman, Jordan for what was supposed to be a 3 way summit between him, Jordan's King Abdullah and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki..except it didn't go down that way.

Maliki came to Amman,but stayed away from the Bush- Abdullah meeting, which launched a whole bunch of speculations..who snubbed who?

The background of this is a confidential memo and leaked by the New York Times, of course..who cheerfuly admit the thing was marked top secret It's from Stephen Hadley, Bush’s National Security Adviser, and is highly critical of Maliki.

The memo is astounding in it's own right, and warrants separate treatment. I could scarcely come up with a better example of how the Bush Administration has been simply clueless in its pursuit of `Arab Democracy. You can read it here, along with my comments.

Maliki's official reason for not meeting as a trio was that King Abdullah was going to put the hammer down on Dubbya to squeeze those lousy Israelis for all their worth in favor of the Palestinians, and that wasn't part of his agenda just now. These are the same Palestinians Abdullah
doesn't want in his country, even though Jordanian law says they're Jordanian citizens!

The real reason, I think, is that, aside from being in a snit about the memo which characterizes him as ignorant and ineffectual in so many words, Maliki is worried about which way to jump.

The US holds the purse strings, but Maliki, like a lot of other Arabs, has a feeling we won't be around too much longer.

On the other hand, Moqtada al-Sadr and the ministers beholden to al Sadr (and Iran) have said that if Maliki goes through with the summit with Bush, they're boycotting his government. And aside from the parlimentary and electoral problems that would cause, it might just impact severely on Maliki's personal safety, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him suddenly resign and bugger off to Europe or the Carribean with his share of the skimmed US aid millions he more than likely has squirreled away somewhere.

The two finally met, and performed the usual antics at a press conference, as pictured above. Bush's material included praising Maliki as `a strong leader' and pledging that there will be `no graceful exit from Iraq' but that we will continue to stay there for the time being, doing exactly whathas worked so well in the past 4 years.

"I was reassured by his commitment to a pluralistic society that is politically united and a society in which people are held to account if they break the law, whether those people be criminals, al-Qaeda, militia, or whoever," Bush said.

Maliki was a bit more non-commital, saying that he and Bush had agreed have agreed to speed the transfer of more responsibility to Iraqi security forces. (read my comments on the memo that was leaked to see exactly how ridiculous that statement was).

They've apparently set a target date for June, 2007 for complete transfer of what passes for security to the Iraqis. Which means either President Bush gave an ultimatum to maliki or Maliki gave one to Bush.

In other news, the US is reportedly considering abandoning Anbar province to the Sunni insurgents, pulling the troops in the mostly Sunni province out and sending them to Baghdad in a last ditch effort to try and control the capitol.

This of course ws immediately denied by General Peter Pace, Chairman of the JCS, but..well what else would he say?

Castle in the Sand - that leaked confidential memo reveals the depth of folly on Iraq

By now,most of you know that the New YorkTimes cheerfully leaked a confidential memo it admits was marked `Top Secret' from President Bush's National Security Advisor on Iraq, dated Nov. 8 and prepared for cabinet-level officials.

The release of the memo, which was a frank assesment of Iraqi prime Minister Maliki and the situation in Iraq was, of course, released bythe Paper of Refuse in time for a planned summit by Bush withmaliki and Jordan's King Hussein so as to cause the maximum embarrassment and damage to our country's interests.

This is just one more episode showing the dinosaur media's blatant contempt for our government, our country and national security - for which they have yet to face any consequences from the Justice Department or a gutless administration.

That said, the memo is astounding in what it reveals about the depth of the folly in Iraq, and the likelyhood of picking up the pieces.

The New York Times has no problem stealing other people's confidential data, but they usually tend to close down links quickly so that no one can`borrow' theirs. Here's the memo in it's entirety, along with my comments.

A long read, but worth the detour, as they say...and a real window into what's going on and what's not going on in Iraq.

"We returned from Iraq convinced we need to determine if Prime Minister Maliki is both willing and able to rise above the sectarian agendas being promoted by others. Do we and Prime Minister Maliki share the same vision for Iraq? If so, is he able to curb those who seek Shia hegemony or the reassertion of Sunni power? The answers to these questions are key in determining whether we have the right strategy in Iraq.


{You mean, you put this guy in power and don't know the answer to this question already?}


Maliki reiterated a vision of Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish partnership, and in my one-on-one meeting with him, he impressed me as a leader who wanted to be strong but was having difficulty figuring out how to do so. Maliki pointed to incidents, such as the use of Iraqi forces in Shia Karbala, to demonstrate his even hand. Perhaps because he is frustrated over his limited ability to command Iraqi forces against terrorists and insurgents, Maliki has been trying to show strength by standing up to the coalition. Hence the public spats with us over benchmarks and the Sadr City roadblocks.


{If Maliki isn't incommand of that expensive army and security forces we built up for him, than who is? Isn't that who we should be dealing with, rather than Maliki the straw man? And, by the way,who allowed the army and the security forces to slip out of the government's control?}


Despite Maliki’s reassuring words, repeated reports from our commanders on the ground contributed to our concerns about Maliki’s government. Reports of nondelivery of services to Sunni areas, intervention by the prime minister’s office to stop military action against Shia targets and to encourage them against Sunni ones, removal of Iraq’s most effective commanders on a sectarian basis and efforts to ensure Shia majorities in all ministries — when combined with the escalation of Jaish al-Mahdi’s (JAM) [the Arabic name for the Mahdi Army] killings — all suggest a campaign to consolidate Shia power in Baghdad.


{Well duh! Why wasn't Maliki told in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable if he wanted to continue to have our support long before it got to this point? And aren't these actions contrary to that vaunted and hyped Iraqi `constitution' we've heard so much about? Who was minding the store?}


While there does seem to be an aggressive push to consolidate Shia power and influence, it is less clear whether Maliki is a witting participant. The information he receives is undoubtedly skewed by his small circle of Dawa advisers, coloring his actions and interpretation of reality. His intentions seem good when he talks with Americans, and sensitive reporting suggests he is trying to stand up to the Shia hierarchy and force positive change. But the reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action.


{In other words, Hadley is admitting that in typical Arab fashion, Maliki is telling the gullible Westerners what they want to hear when he's in front of them and doing what his Iranian and Sadrist bosses want the rest of the time. Once again, these are developments that happened over months. Who was minding the store?}


Steps Maliki Could Take

There is a range of actions that Maliki could take to improve the information he receives, demonstrate his intentions to build an Iraq for all Iraqis and increase his capabilities. The actions listed below are in order of escalating difficulty and, at some point, may require additional political and security resources to execute, as described on Page 3 of this memo. Maliki should:

¶Compel his ministers to take small steps — such as providing health services and opening bank branches in Sunni neighborhoods — to demonstrate that his government serves all ethnic communities;

¶Bring his political strategy with Moktada al-Sadr to closure and bring to justice any JAM actors that do not eschew violence;

{And exactly how is he supposed to do that, when Moqtada al-Sadr and Iran own Maliki and the Dawa party? And Maliki doesn't control the army or security forces??}


¶Shake up his cabinet by appointing nonsectarian, capable technocrats in key service (and security) ministries;


{So, he's going to fire al-Sadr's guys, just like that..and expect no repercussions!}


¶Announce an overhaul of his own personal staff so that “it reflects the face of Iraq”;

¶Demand that all government workers (in ministries, the Council of Representatives and his own offices) publicly renounce all violence for the pursuit of political goals as a condition for keeping their positions;

{Once again..Maliki is going to fire the people that own him when he doesn't control the army or the security forces? Brilliant.}

¶Declare that Iraq will support the renewal of the U.N. mandate for multinational forces and will seek, as appropriate, to address bilateral issues with the United States through a SOFA [status of forces agreement] to be negotiated over the next year;

{So..the guy has already proven himself to be duplicitous, incompetent, and unpopular even with the Shias. So let's make a deal with him to keep him in power. Ri-ight!}

¶Take one or more immediate steps to inject momentum back into the reconciliation process, such as a suspension of de-Baathification measures and the submission to the Parliament or “Council of Representatives” of a draft piece of legislation for a more judicial approach;

¶Announce plans to expand the Iraqi Army over the next nine months; and

¶Declare the immediate suspension of suspect Iraqi police units and a robust program of embedding coalition forces into MOI [Ministry of the Interior] units while the MOI is revetted and retrained.

{Lessee..the Iraqi government, or at least Maliki already doesn't control the Army and the security forces we spent millions to arm and train. And we've already seen that Maliki, or whomever is running things is basically vetting the security forces so that the Shias control them. So let's spend even more money adding to this force.

Sounds like a winner to me.

And those suspect police and military units that we've already armed and trained? Let's just fire them outright. They'd never do anything like joining the sectarian violence or one of the militias, now would they?}

What We Can Do to Help Maliki

If Maliki is willing to move decisively on the actions above, we can help him in a variety of ways. We should be willing to:

¶Continue to target Al Qaeda and insurgent strongholds in Baghdad to demonstrate the Shia do not need the JAM to protect their families — and that we are a reliable partner;

{a partner to whom? And who is going to `reassure' the Sunnis that they don't need their militias and death squads or al Qaeda to protect them?}



¶Encourage Zal [Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador] to move into the background and let Maliki take more credit for positive developments. (We want Maliki to exert his authority — and demonstrate to Iraqis that he is a strong leader — by taking action against extremists, not by pushing back on the United States and the Coalition.);

{ `Demonstate to Iraqis that he's a strong leader?' Moqtada al Sadr and the Iranians already know that he's their puppet who'll do what he's told. The Shias already know he's incompetant. And the Kurds and Sunnis already know they can't trust him!}

¶Continue our diplomatic efforts to keep the Sunnis in the political process by pushing for the negotiation of a national compact and by talking up provincial council elections next spring/summer as a mechanism for Sunni empowerment;

¶Support his announcement to expand the Iraqi Army and reform the MOI more aggressively;

¶Seek ways to strengthen Maliki immediately by giving him additional control over Iraqi forces, although we must recognize that in the immediate time frame, we would likely be able to give him more authority over existing forces, not more forces;

{'Additional control' ? Considering what he's already demonstrated, I dunno. And since the memo earlier calls for dismissing some of those forces he supposedly has control over, that DOES mean we're going to give him `additional control' over expanded forces. In other words, let's keep doing what we've done up to now, only more so, and expect a different result.}


¶Continue to pressure Iran and Syria to end their interference in Iraq, in part by hitting back at Iranian proxies in Iraq and by Secretary Rice holding an Iraq-plus-neighbors meeting in the region in early December; and

{And just why would Iran and Syria do that? What are we planning on offering them, and what kind of price are the likes of Ahmadinejad and Assad going to ask? The Golan Heights
and hands off in Lebanon for Syria? A free hand to Iran for more political interference in Iraq, and no more twaddle about sanctions or interference with Iran's nuclear program? Is that price worth paying? And that `hitting back' at Iranian proxies in Iraq, like Moqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army...after Maliki has already said he won't allow it? The mind boggles...}

¶Step up our efforts to get Saudi Arabia to take a leadership role in supporting Iraq by using its influence to move Sunni populations in Iraq out of violence into politics, to cut off any public or private funding provided to the insurgents or death squads from the region and to lean on Syria to terminate its support for Baathists and insurgent leaders.

{We can't even get the Saudis to stop funding jihad here in America, let alone in Iraq. A lot of the mess in Iraq has been caused by trying to accomodate the Saudi desire to keep the Sunni minority viable power-wise anyway. As for Syria, see my comment above.}

Augmenting Maliki’s Political and Security Capabilities

The above approach may prove difficult to execute even if Maliki has the right intentions. He may simply not have the political or security capabilities to take such steps, which risk alienating his narrow Sadrist political base and require a greater number of more reliable forces. Pushing Maliki to take these steps without augmenting his capabilities could force him to failure — if the Parliament removes him from office with a majority vote or if action against the Mahdi militia (JAM) causes elements of the Iraqi Security Forces to fracture and leads to major Shia disturbances in southern Iraq. We must also be mindful of Maliki’s personal history as a figure in the Dawa Party — an underground conspiratorial movement — during Saddam’s rule. Maliki and those around him are naturally inclined to distrust new actors, and it may take strong assurances from the United States ultimately to convince him to expand his circle of advisers or take action against the interests of his own Shia coalition and for the benefit of Iraq as a whole.

If it is Maliki’s assessment that he does not have the capability — politically or militarily — to take the steps outlined above, we will need to work with him to augment his capabilities. We could do so in two ways. First, we could help him form a new political base among moderate politicians from Sunni, Shia, Kurdish and other communities. Ideally, this base would constitute a new parliamentary bloc that would free Maliki from his current narrow reliance on Shia actors. (This bloc would not require a new election, but would rather involve a realignment of political actors within the Parliament). In its creation, Maliki would need to be willing to risk alienating some of his Shia political base and may need to get the approval of Ayatollah Sistani for actions that could split the Shia politically. Second, we need to provide Maliki with additional forces of some kind.

{Hmmm...`difficult' is putting it mildly.

If we weren't sure of Maliki's intentions, why did we push him as a compromise candidate to take power in the first place? Again, who was minding the store?

We've already seen that Maliki is unwilling or unable to `fracture the Shia politically' or to try and go against the interests of the Shia to cultivate a more moderate and balanced base that includes Sunnis and Kurds for the benefit of a unified Iraq. Why would he change now? And why wouldn't the Shia majority in Parliament toss him out if he tried? And notice, if you will that this part of the memo once again contradicts the part where it talks about giving Maliki more control over existing forces, not new ones, even though we're still not sure who is controlling the `forces' we've already spent millions on. Remember all the happy talk about how well the training of the Iraqi army and security forces was coming along?

This means we're going to pour more money down this particular rathole.}



This approach would require that we take steps beyond those laid out above, to include:

¶Actively support Maliki in helping him develop an alternative political base. We would likely need to use our own political capital to press moderates to align themselves with Maliki’s new political bloc;

¶Consider monetary support to moderate groups that have been seeking to break with larger, more sectarian parties, as well as to support Maliki himself as he declares himself the leader of his bloc and risks his position within Dawa and the Sadrists; and

¶Provide Maliki with more resources to help build a nonsectarian national movement.

{ So, let me get this straight. We have this Shia leader who ever the Shia despise..and we're going to bribe people to form a new political party behind him that doesn't exist yet? Ahh, the wonderful aroma of Arab democracy is in the air...}

• If we expect him to adopt a nonsectarian security agenda, we must ensure he has reasonably nonsectarian security institutions to execute it — such as through a more robust embedding program.

• We might also need to fill the current four-brigade gap in Baghdad with coalition forces if reliable Iraqi forces are not identified.

{Hey....more US troops! But with the same lackof objective and handcuffing rules of engagement, and no permission from Maliki to go after the Shia militias}

Moving Ahead

We should waste no time in our efforts to determine Maliki’s intentions and, if necessary, to augment his capabilities. We might take the following steps immediately:

¶Convince Maliki to deliver on key actions that might reassure Sunnis (open banks and direct electricity rebuilding in Sunni areas, depoliticize hospitals);

¶Tell Maliki that we understand that he is working his own strategy for dealing with the Sadrists and that:

• you have asked General Casey to support Maliki in this effort

• it is important that we see some tangible results in this strategy soon;

{And what strategy is that? Something new and amazing? I'd love to know,and so would lots of other people.}

¶Send your personal representative to Baghdad to discuss this strategy with Maliki and to press other leaders to work with him, especially if he determines that he must build an alternative political base;

¶Ask Casey to develop a plan to empower Maliki, including:

• Formation of National Strike Forces

• Dramatic increase in National Police embedding

• More forces under Maliki command and control

¶Ask Secretary of Defense and General Casey to make a recommendation about whether more forces are need in Baghdad;

¶Ask Secretary of Defense and General Casey to devise a more robust embedding plan and a plan to resource it;

¶Direct your cabinet to begin an intensive press on Saudi Arabia to play a leadership role on Iraq, connecting this role with other areas in which Saudi Arabia wants to see U.S. action;

{translation - lean heavy on Israel and the Jews.. they don't vote for us anyway}

¶If Maliki seeks to build an alternative political base:

• Press Sunni and other Iraqi leaders (especially Hakim) [Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Maliki rival] to support Maliki

{For the record, Hakim and Maliki hate each other. And Hakim is even more of a tool of Iran than Maliki is}

• Engage Sistani to reassure and seek his support for a new nonsectarian political movement."

{We're going to get a Shia Ayatollah to support a `nonsectarian political movement'? Let me know how that works out)

I will admit, I've been pretty rough on Mr. Hadley. It's obvious that he had an extremely difficult job in trying to make a policy recommendation, given what's there on the ground and had to avoid stepping on too many toes with this particular memo..particularly since it seems like, these days, even top secret confidential papers like these are happily outed by people like the New York Times with no regard for the consequences.

But I'll say this...if ever a short memo revealed a totally failed policy, this does.

If we're not willing to depose Maliki, impose a military government, take out the militias and confront Iran and Syria we need to bring the troops home as soon as possible..or better, much better, deploy them with our allies in a free Kurdistan, form a strategic base there for the coming conflict with Iran and let whatever happens in the rest of Iraq happen.

We have a war to fight and win, and a continued wasting of resources in what we've cobbled together in Iraq does nothing to advance that.

Weekend Monkey's `The Real Banana' 11/29/06

Hoo, primates! Welcome to Weekend Monkey's Real Banana!

Let's talk about victims, shall we? I mean, everybody's a victim!

Lately, the big noise is all about this so-called comedian Michael Richards losing it and dissing some yokels in a club in Los Angeles when they trashed his act, and using the `N' word...because they were both Black. And I ain't talking about calling somebody a nectarine!

And of course, they're now victims of racism.

Man, you'd think they never heard that word in a comedy club in Los Angeles before or in a rap record or on the street...and from all the brew-ha-ha you'd think this guy Richards was caught molesting a sheep in the middle of Sunset Boulevard! As a matter of fact, it might have been better for him if he had.

Ok, ok so this guy Richards is apologizing profusely..I mean he opens the refrigerator and apologizes to the leftover pasta in the tupperware on the shelf for being this horrible person.He's apologizing to everybody.



Therapy and rehab is next, right? I mean,why shouldn't Richards be a victim as well?






I don't buy it for a second, since this guy has a history of racist rants. This is
not the first time this creep has gone nutso in public...apparently he doesn't like Jews either. But that's not the point. What bothers me is how race pimps like Reverend Al and Jessie Jackson are rolling in this like an orangatang in some fresh dung. You just know that this gives them a fresh reason to shake down their fellow primates and pump up their lifestyles.

I mean, I get a real chuckle out of one racist groveling and aplogizing to a coupla career racists, y'know? Richards is just a dumb amateur compared to these guys... professional victims.

Apparently the professional victims had this big ol' meeting and decided that their new hook to Easy Street is a campaign to ban using the `n' word. It's sort of like making it a crime to have this in your brain. That's stupid, because if someone is thinking about calling someone a nectarine, or even if they do, it's attitude and actions that count.

Anyway, the thing is, the idiot shoulda kept his trap shut and Jesse and Al should get an honest job instead of being parasites. And enough with the `victims' poo-poo. That's how this monkey sees it.

***************
And speaking of idiots and things you shouldn't do..one of them is run from cops. FF's buddy Canker sent him a little something about what can happen if you're dumb enough to do that! A warning...we're talking graphic stuff here. I wouldn't look if I were you.

Yikesee!

Told you not to look. Now clean up the coffee from your desk.

What's more interesting is Canker's article about this. Aparently a bunch of British cops were circulating these pix with the caption `Moral: Don't run from the police' and were officially reprimanded for being racist..because the primate in the photos happened to be black! In other words, this guy wasn't a criminal running from the cops..but a victim! And even worse was the head of the Black policemen's Association in Hertfordshire who complained about the racism in showing the pictures and said the cops weren't disciplined enough. He got to be a victim too. Like Canker sez, it's like a thought crime.
But to me, the worse crime is the constant victim mindset.

I mean, are we all grown-ups here or what?

You gotta wonder whether the cure is worse than the disease, hmmmmm?

********************

Now, I got a coupla e-mails about the golf game I had with OJ Simpson. Some of you think he cheated. I mean, OJ's a celebrity..he'd never do a thing like that, would he? Of course, OJ's thing, what we discussed while we were playing was..you guessed it. OJ as a victim getting his book and his tv show cancelled and everything.

Even the stupid publisher, the one that put up all the money for OJ's book saying how he woulda killed those people and gotten away with it IF he had done it...she's a victim too!

Weekend Monkey's motto is never to be a victim.

Next time I play OJ ,maybe I'll hire Kato as my caddie. Or get my intern to do it.

Well, that's this weeks Real Banana..as always, send all offers for paid university lectures and public appearences, free goodies, comments, naughty pix and ideas to WENDMONKEY@Yahoo.com

And please, no more e-mails from Nigeria offering to split stolen money with me.

W's Presidential library..at $500M, set to be the most expensive in history!

President Bush and his admirers are planning to break the record on spending when they put together his presidential library...at an expected price tag of half a billion dollars!

The library and the accompanying think tank are expected to be built at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where First Lady Laura Bush is an alumna and sits on the board of trustees.

Donations are expected to come from what the fundraisers call "megadonations" of $10 million to $20 million a pop.

Sources already identified include wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential "mega" donors and fundraisers are pressing for a formal site announcement - now expected early in the new year.

For the record, both Bush senior and Bill Clinton received 7 figure sums from people like the Saudis, the Sabah family (they run Kuwait) and the UAE for their libraries.

Apparently Dubbya will be getting funds from the same sources.

Nice.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 11/29/06

Every week, the Watcher's Council nominate two posts each, one from the Council members and one from outside for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week's Council nominations can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels




Sadly, AbbaGav is leaving the Council to attend to some personal matters. I'll miss him. Anyone interested in applying for membership to the Watcher's Council for the open seat should go here.


1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: Genocide? What Genocide? The ongoing events in Darfur would be ludicrous if they weren't so tragic. Sudan's `president' Omar Hassan al-Bashir is not only denying that there's any genocide in Darfur, in spite of estimates of 200,000 + people being murdered and a couple of milion ethnically cleansed...he says it the Jews fault, a `Zionist plot.'

And he's serious. To him,it's just jihad as usual.

And the useful idiots onthe Left are almost totaly silent about it...as well as all of the Muslim `civil rights' organizations like CAIR.

Kofi Annan's UN has once again proven its uselessness. They do well at demonizing Israel, but that's about all. I write about why we shouldn't sit back and remain silent in the face of yet another genocide.


2. Gates of Vienna: Human Rights Watch Says “Poor Saddam” Dymphna writes about the absurdity of Human Rights Watch criticizing the trial of a monster like Saddam Hussein. And like me, she wonders, given who Saddam persecuted, where all the left's useful idiots are.

3. Done With Mirrors: After the next attack Calimachus has an extremely interesting piece this week..Heck, he's always interesting, just more so this time out. In this short piece, he details the steps he'd like to see the US undertake after the next terror strike on our shores.

Unfortunately, as I commented on his site, would that it were that simple as simply isolating these people in the hopes they'll leave us alone.


4. Soccer Dad: The problem with hate crimes Soccer Dad writes an interesting essay on the nature of hate crimes...is a murder any more or less of a murder because the motivation was bigotry?

5. Right Wing Nut House : THE ART AND ARTIFICE OF WAR REPORTING Rick has a fascinating post this week in which he writes about the responsibilities of war correspondants and the line between reporting the news and making the news, especially when it comes to repeating enemy disinformation and propaganda.

He cites the wartime BBC reply to Hitler's 1940 `peace speech' in the Reichstag after Dunkirk and scompares with reporting from Iraq and Lebanon utilizing blatant enemy propaganda and the use of stringers who may or may not have an agenda in what they report on.

6.The Sundries Shack: They May Not Mean To, But They Are Killing Our Soldiers. Jimmie likewise writes a neat essay about the MSM - in this the the AP - is repeating terrorist disinformation from our enemies and endangering our troops. I still think the classic deer-in-the-headlights moment for the MSM was when Duncan Hunter (r-CA) asked CNN's Wolf Blitzer point blank about Iraq `Do you want us to win this thing?'..and Blitzer couldn't answer.

7. Rhymes With Right: The Right To Elect A Convicted Felon? Here, Greg writes about the case of local Councilman Hoskins, who, it was discovered, is a convicted felon ineligible for the office he was elected to. Should he be removed by the judiciary?

8. ShrinkWrapped: Mythology and War ShrinkWrapped how the mythology of victimhood affects our actions...and uses it to make a number of totally accurate points about the Palestinians.


9. The Glittering Eye: Would you rather be hanged or shot? Dave examines what he sees as our alternatives in Iraq and the Middle East..he also speculates, probably with some accuracy thatthe upcoming Iraq Study Group Report will be a whitwash of major proportions.


10. The Education Wonks: Students Making A Mockery Of Racial Preferences
Here, EdWonk looks at the case of studets at Boston U setting up a `whites only' scholarship and revealing the bankruptcy of race based preferences in the process.

11. AMERICAN FUTURE-Iraq, Iran, Syria and the Realists: Part I Marc writes an interesting piece on the so-called `realists' now preparing the Iraq Study Group Report and looks at some of the players and their probable stances on various points. Excellent analysis, even if I somewhat disagree in a few areas.


That's this week's lineup..enjoy!

Genocide? What Genocide?

Sudan's President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir

Remember when the UN's Kofi Annan was preening himself a little while ago over a supposed agreement with Sudan's jihadi government to accept a UN/ African Union force to protect Darfur's civilians from genocide?

Well, it seems that's Mr. Annan's self-congratulation was a mite premature. Al-Reuters reports today that not only isn't the President al-Bashir going to allow any UN or AU troops in, but now he denies there's any problem!

What's more, Darfur is just a Zionist Conspiracy anyway.

Or to quote al-Bashir, "You cannot at all rule out the Israeli role in any problem that any Arab country is facing because the security of Israel is based on weakening Arab states," he said.

"Israel would do everything through their media and their different mechanisms - you can't deny they have such influence in circles all over the world so they can do what they want."

To date, even conservative estimates are that more than 200,000 people have been killed by the Sudanese `janjaweed' militias and the government's armed forces and that over 2 million people have been displaced and ethnically cleansed by the Arabs since 2003. Rapes in Darfur are widespread and endemic and slavetrading is a booming industry.

12 year old Darfur rape victim

Our own government calls it genocide...something the UN hasn't quite gotten around to, though they do refer to `Human rights violations' and "heinous crimes". Not that they're prepared to actually do anything meaningful about it, even if it violates the UN Charter.

And this foul, murderous little man has enough contempt for every norm of civilized humanity,enough smug confidence in the backing he's receiving from Russia, China and the Muslim bloc in the UN to go before the cameras and say the jihad against Darfur is `no problem'.

Of course to him, it isn't. It's simply jihad, and the way things ought to be.

It is sickening how the norms of what most of us would call basic human decency fall by the wayside when someone has oil to sell.

Meanwhile, the ethnic cleansing of Darfur continues without a letup.

And I'm still wondering - where's all the outrage and protests over this? Where are all the hundreds of TV cameras and network talking heads like there were following the Israel/Lebanon war? Where are the marches?

If Islamic 'values' really are so much higher than the decadent West's,if Arabs really are "the best of peoples" [Qu'ran 3:100], then where's the outcry from CAIR, the MPAC, the Muslim council of Britain?

And these, of course, are the same people who have an absolute fixation on Israel and the Jews.

Is anyone else but me sick and tired of the hypocrisy and double standards of much of the Muslim world?

Are we prepared to continue to ignore this genocide just because the amoral hypocrites at the UN and in the Muslim world are?

If we want to stop this, and we're unwilling or unable for whatever reasons to intervene directly,the best thing we could do would be to airlift arms to the people in Darfur and the Black separatist movement in the South Sudan so that they can defend themselves. And we should do it N O W.

Darfur is one of the keys to the ongoing jihad in East Africa.

Once the mopping up of what's left of Darfur is completed by the Sudan's Islamist government, Christian Ethiopia will be faced with the prospect of jihad on two fronts, from Somalia (with Iranian sponsorship) and from the Sudan.

These people have nothing but rape, enslavement and ethnic cleansing facing them. But if they succeed in defending themselves, they stall the jihad in East Africa, and strengthen the anti-Jihad forces there. And we might just end up with a non-Muslim, oil producing ally.

After all of the wasted billions we've spent chasing the mythical `Arab Democracy' and trying to bribe the hearts and minds of people who hate us regardless, perhaps it's time we put some money and metal where it could actually benefit America.

If we're serious about fighting the War Against Jihad, we need to ally ourselves with people like the Kurds and the people of Darfur.

This is, yet again, an opportunity for the US to combat jihad on the ground...will we take it?

Same old story....

The Pope takes the dhimmi road

Pope Benedict Pope Benedict XVI picked his words very carefully in Turkey today and spoke of the "great benevolence" of Islam.

His visit to Turkey was marked by massive, violent protests,mainly caused by remarks he made in Germany in a speech at the University of Regensburg on September 12th against jihad and `fanaticism in religion'. In that speech, the Pope cited a text which quoted criticisms of the prophet Mohammed by a 14th century Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II, during a debate with a learned Persian where the two debate the merits of reason in Christianity and the Muslim concept of holy war:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," Benedict quoted the emperor as saying.

"The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable," the Pope said.

"Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul," he added. God is not pleased by blood, he said.

That bit of self-evident truth,of course, enraged the Muslim world.

Listen to Pope Benedict today:

"This noble land has seen the blossoming of the Islamic civilization in the most diverse of areas, including literature and art, as well as institutions," Benedict said in an address today to Turkish religious affairs chief Imam Ali Bardakoglu.

"The best way forward is via authentic dialogue between Christians and Muslims, based on truth and inspired by a sincere wish to know one another better, respecting differences and recognizing what we have in common."

Somehow, this call for dialogue and mutual respect seems to be what the Pope was originally calling for in his Regensburg speech. It didn't get him very far. And I would be very interested to know what the Pope's fellow Christians in places like Nigeria, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Middle East thought about his remarks today.

Bardakoglu, who fanned the flames of wide spread protests against the Pope and who accused Pope Benedict at the time of behaving 'thoughtlessly,' spoke before the pontiff and voiced his concern about the spread of `Islamophobia' and made an implicit reference to the text the Pope used.

'Islam was spread over the world by swords and Muslims were the potential users of violence,' Bardakoglu said. "Such accusations and claims are not based on any scientific and historical researches and data."

Talk about irony...a heavily scrutinized portion of the four-day trip will occur on Thursday when the Pope visits Haghia St. Sophia, a 1,500-year-old site that was originally a Byzantine Cathedral and one of the largest Christian edifices in the world...until it was forcibly and bloodily converted into a mosque when the Muslims conquered Istanbul - then Constantinople - in 1453.

Of course, here's a clue to the real story. Turkey's Islamist prime minister said at a press conference today that Pope Benedict XVI has changed his initial opposition to Turkey's EU membership and now has told him he wanted Turkey to join the European Union.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan originally said he was `too busy' to meet the Pope, but changed his schedule to greet Benedict when he arrived in the Turkish capital on a flight from Rome, and the two men had a private discussion at the airport.

Now, here's what I wonder...we know what Turkey got out of the bargain. What did the Pope get?

Scotland on its own?

My dear friend on the other side of the pond Canker offers up an interesting post, and something I was not aware of.

Is it truly to be Bye bye, Scotland for the UK?

Apparently the upcoming May elections could feature a choice in government between Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP) who have already announced that if elected they plan to introduce an independence bill within 100 days.

I'm familiar with the history and with the arguments for Scottish independence, but given the dangers the West faces, this is surely no time to break apart!

'Fan còmhla, bàsaich fa leth'

Update: Olmert gets some answers from the Palestinians

The Palestinians gave a multiple group of answers to Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's stupidity. But unlike Olmert, at least they were honest.


To Abu Abir, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, a Hamas-allied terror organization in the Gaza Strip responsible for many of the recent rocket attacks against Israeli civilians the ceasefire that isn't a ceasefire means a chance to reload.

"The ceasefire offers a period of calm for our fighters to recover and prepare for our final goal of evacuating Palestine," he said.

"We will keep fighting Israel, but for the moment we will postpone certain parts of the military struggle."

And Abu Abdullah, a senior leader of Hamas' so-called "military wing," the Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades said thatD Hamas agreed to the cease fire "because we need a period of calm to recuperate. This lull in fighting will not bring us to speak about peace."

He spoke about Hamas' official doctrine, which calls for the destruction of Israel and which refuses to recognize the Jewish state.

"The political leadership (of Hamas) will never compromise on these values," he said.

"All the Palestinian people and all the Muslims will launch a direct confrontation with Israel. This may come soon or it may take some time."

Meanwhile Saeb Erekat, the right half of his old boss Yasir Arafat's forked tongue, welcomed the `ceasefire' as a step forward. Of course.

Abu Luay, one of the senior leaders of Islamic Jihad in Gaza, said Israel's call for a cease-fire "proves our rocket attacks work. The Zionists know there is now remedy for our rockets."

The Islamic Jihad leader said Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel would resume "at a time of our choosing."

The IDF reportedly presented multiple military plans to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to dismantle the terror infrastructure in Gaza, minimize rocket attacks and stop the rampant weapons smuggling from neighboring Egypt into Gaza, and both IDF military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin and Yuval Diskin, director of Israel's Shin Bet Security Services warned in recent speeches to the Knesset if Israel doesn't launch a major offensive in Gaza, Palestinian groups there will soon have military capabilities similar to those of the Hezbollah guerilla organization in Lebanon.

It didn't sway Olmert in the least. He went right ahead and pulled the IDF out of Gaza,committing the same blunder he did in Lebanon.

Its one thing to be defeated..but it's something quite different to hand your avowed enemies the tools for the job.

Olmert finally goes insane in public

Seriously.

I'm surprised they didn't cart him off to an asylum, right then and there.

First of all he makes the same mistake that he made in Lebanon, grabbing on to a bogus ceasefire and allowing a beaten enemy to regroup and rearm.

And now, he makes what he calls a `major policy address', at a memorial service commemorating the death of David Ben-Gurian, no less....and offers, essentially to surrender to the Palestinians!

In a nutshell, here's what Olmert said he's in favor of:

• He wants to repeat his disasterous `disengagement' strategy that worked so beautifuly in Gaza in Judea and Samaria, creating more homeless Jews and putting the Palestinian rocket launchers even closer to Israel major cities.

• He wants to release hundreds of terrorist murderers in exchange for one Israeli hostage, corporal Gilad Shalit, to make sure that the Palestinians get the message that attacking Israel and kidnapping hostages pays off bigtime.

• He wants to dismantle Israel's series of security checkpoints and border safeguards, and reward the Palestinians by releasing the millions of tax dolars Israel froze after Hamas took over so that they can buy more and better weaponry to kill Jews with.

• He mentioned, for the first time, a formal positive Israeli response to parts of the genocidal 2002 Saudi `peace plan', and he said that he would invest efforts in furthering relations with Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf nations...never mind that none of those countries will even sit in the same room with an Israeli, do not recognize Israel, and spend millions of dollars every year demonizing Israel and financing its enemies. And never mind that the Saudi plan calls for swamping Israel with so-called `refugees' and re-dividing Jerusalem.
  

Carl in Jerusalem at Israel Matzav has a savagely funny take on this..as well as some information on Olmert's family that I'm aware of, but many may not be.

If the Israelis don't get rid of this pathetic clown quickly and get some real leadership, they are in serious, serious trouble. He's already done major damage and is on the verge of doing even more.

Death sentence for Akbar

It's been a long time coming, but Sgt. Hasan Akbar will finally face justice.

The death sentence for this convicted murderer was approved late last week at Fort Bragg, N.C., by Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander o the XXVIII Airborne Corps and court martial convening authority in the case.

For those of you who don't remember, Akbar was sentenced to death in April 2005 by unanimous vote of a military panel for the March 23, 2003, grenade attack that killed Capt. Christopher Seifert and Maj. Gregory Stone.

The grenade attack, which also wounded 14 others, took place at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, where the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, was preparing to cross into Iraq.

Akbar lobbed grenades into three tents while members of the brigade slept, and then fired shots at those who emerged from the smoky blasts.

Unfortunately, this isn't the end of it.

Approval of the death penalty means that Akbar’s case will automatically go to appeal and be reviewed by the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and ultimately could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“He can’t be executed until the president gives a firm OK,” said military law expert Eugene Fidell, who is not involved in the Akbar case.

Once this process is over, this man, who murdered two of his comrades while they slept for jihad needs to be made an example of.

I think a hanging and a pigskin burial would be appropriate..if small compensation to the families of the men he murdered.

Flying Pigs moment; The Washington Post asks, `Will the West fight back?'

I still can't believe that the editors of the Washington Post wrote Needed: A Big Stick , subtitled 'Iran and Syria are waging war in the Middle East. Will the West fight back?'

There may be some hope for the dinosaur media after all!

My friend Canker in Britain offers his take on this: Wonders in The Washington Post

Crowds stone Iraqi PM Maliki's convoy as the violence continues

Members of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.

Iraq continues to spiral towards anarchy.

Today crowds stoned Iraq PM Maliki's armed convoy and jeered at him as he went through the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad to pay respects to some of the 200 who died there last week in the deadliest attack since the U.S. invasion.

Maliki's fellow Shiites are not happy with him to say the least. Sadr City is the stronghold of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, the premier Iran trained and armed Shiite militia. The anger is palpable.

Maliki's fellow Shiites surged around him, screaming "It's all your fault" pelted Maliki and his convoy with stones and garbage and jeered at him as his convoy left the area.

The Shiite miitia reprisals have involved burning Sunni mosques and homes as well as three days of sporadic mortar fire in Baghdad neighborhoods.The city-wide curfew, which ends Monday, has very little to quell the violence.

Some of those rounds hit a U.S. military post in eastern Baghdad today, setting buildings on fire. The rounds came from just outside nearby Sadr City.

Maliki is the target of heavy criticism both in Iraq and from Washington. He is scheduled to meet President Bush for a summit in Jordan on Wednesday.

Shiite politicians loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr have threatened to boycott parliament and the Cabinet if Maliki goes ahead with the planned summit. Maliki is dependent on Iran's proxy, Moqtada al-Sadr, for his position as prime minister. If the Shiite Bloc boycotts parliament, the government falls.

Sadr wants an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq....so his Iranian bosses can move in, of course.

In a fitting touch of low comedy, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that he was ready to help -- if the US left now: "The Iranian nation is ready to help you get out of that swamp on one condition ... You should pledge to correct your attitude," he said on television.

"Go back, and take your forces to behind your borders."

Considering how much Iran has contributed to the violence in Iraq, one can hardly cry for laughing.

Russia sells Iran state of the art missile defence systems

Russia delivered the first contingent of 29 Tor-M1 missile defence systems to Iran as part of a $700m deal.

Some Iranian and Russian air defense experts are claiming that the full deployment at Iran’s nuclear installations could make them virtually invulnerable to American or Israeli attack in the foreseeable future. No more than six months remain until all the Russian Tor-M1 systems are in place.

The first batteries to be delivered include Iranian crews trained by the Russians. The Tor-M1 system is supposed to be designed to simultaneously destroy two targets traveling at high speeds in any weather, day or night. It also sports a specially designed powerful, jamming-resistant radar. The Tor-M1 is widely considered to be state of the art equipment.

The fact that the delivery of the Tor-M1 systems by Russia was announced at this time, right after President Bush agreed to allow Russia in the WTo pretty much reveals that Russia has decided not to go along with any US requests or clandestine arrangements between Russian leader Putin and President Bush not to sell sophisticated arms to Iran, to aid in sanctions or to curtail Russian building of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Putin, of course brushed objections off by saying that these are `just defensive weapons.' And of course, ignored the fact that they would be deployed to protect offfensive weapons..like nuclear missile sites.

Certainly, they'd never be needed to protect a mere civilian power station, no would they? But of course, that's not what Iran has in mind.

So much for diplomacy, Mr. President.

Not good.

Israel foolishly accepts a Palestinian ceasefire offer

Israel announced that it would accept the Palestinian factions' offer of a ceasefire today, following a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Abbas phoned Olmert and told him he had received an agreement from all the different Palestinian factions to the cease-fire, and in response "requested that Israel would stop all military operations in the Gaza Strip, and withdraw all its forces from there."

It remains to be seen whether the Palestinians abide by this. Islamic Jihad and Abu Reish, an armed faction of Abbas' Fatah, both announced early Sunday that they were not part of the ceasefire agreement. Of course, they did so after the Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza!

According to the statement, the two "agreed to continue the dialogue to bring about an end of violence in the West Bank, and agreed to talk again soon." No mention was made in the statement about kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Like the soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, he's apparently no longer in the picture.

The agreement, according to Israeli officials, only applies to Gaza and not Judea and Samaria (The West Bank).

Palestinian terrorist groups announced the offer on Saturday, saying that they would stop firing rockets at Israel at 6 a.m. Sunday. "We have set 6 a.m. tomorrow morning to stop firing rockets toward Zionist towns in our occupied land in return for a mutual cessation of the aggression committed against our people," said Abu Mujahed, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees.

This is a major strategic error on Israel's part, since it allows the Palestinians to regroup and rearm. They would never have sued for a ceasefire if they weren't desperate and on the losing end. The IDF's pinpoint targeted strikes in Gaza have been fairly effective.

I sense the fine hand of James Baker and his pal Condi Rice in this.

A White House spokesman said that it viewed the joint announcement as "a positive step," adding that the US hoped the agreement would diminish the bloodshed between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Important in this picture is the ultimatum given to Israel by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who OK'd the ceasefire after talks with Egyptian intelligence minister Omar Suleiman. At the news conference announcing the ceasefire offer, Meshaal gave Israel an ultimatum to either pull back to the June 4, 1967 lines within six months and cede these areas to the Palestinians or face war.

Six months is probably the time needed for Hamas and Hezbollah to rearm, train and plan for another war. And war is coming in any event, no matter how far the Israelis pull back.

The idea is for Hamas to buy itself some time, free from the IDF incursions that were making it more difficult to prepare for the next jihad against the Jews. In the meantime, it's a win-win for the Arabs: If Israel waits and allows them to attack at a time of their choosing, armed with the new Iranian weapons and aided by Hezbollah to the North, the results will be deadly. If the Israelis balk and decide not to simply wait to be attacked, the Palestinians and their willing accomplices in the West can accuse Israel of breaking the ceasefire.

Well done, Olmert.

`Find the right partner' in Iraq

Mohammed at IRAQ THE MODEL has a poignient piece on exactly what's wrong with Iraq and how to fix it...and of course he's right. The Maliki government has to go.

"The government stinks—that’s the overwhelming impression that is undermining the public's support for the government and its institutions.

People are tired of criticizing and there's frustration about the government's ability to take serious measures to contain the conflict or improve performance.

Frankly speaking, the ordinary citizen lost faith in his government—worse than that would be the prospect of living with it for another four years and that sounds like a very bad idea if incompetence remains at the current level, or gets worse.

Each episode of escalation brings to the surface the argument that the government must resign or be made to resign but that is not an easy option because even if it was technically possible to force a resignation there would be no better choices ready at our disposal.
{....}

The idea of a 'palace coup de tat' may look tempting and it's one of the popular ideas among many of the people these days as a cure for the deadly instability. But I'm not sure the advocates of this option realize the possible consequences lying beneath the sugarcoating but I understand their attitude because previous coups were mostly smooth and "stability" was regained in relatively no time.

...Iraq is no longer a centralized state and changing the head of the state from within-or from outside-won't be enough to make the entire country accept the change or pledge allegiance to the new administration.

Now, our real problem in Iraq is that we do not have leaderships with patriotic agendas ...the bitter fact is; it was us who brought them to power and gave them legitimacy through elections. But…regret is useless now.

I believe that America would like to see Iraq emerge as a model for the region and is working hard to find a way to solve the current crisis. But that cannot be done without having a cooperative Iraqi partner on the ground who shares similar views for Iraq and the middle east. And that's the point; that partner does not exist, at least not in the government.

And I don't think Iraq's neighbors would instruct their representatives (their servants in Iraq) to give America a hand, even though they pretend to be heading in that direction because their vision for Iraq and the region are fundamentally in conflict with that of America. They want to see America defeated in Iraq and that's of course at the expense of Iraq.

So, to start looking for solutions, America must first start looking for an Iraqi partner, a partner that is devoted to building a model state in Iraq and that favors building a strategic alliance with America instead of grave alliances with rogue regional powers that want to throw Iraq back to the ages of despotism or settle old accounts with America through a proxy war.

{..}

Dismissing Maliki's government, whether under a constitutional cover or not, will not be a fruitful act unless before that a fresh patriotic front capable of filling the vacuum is established. {..}

How can that front be assembled?

The only means is explicit, direct support from the United States to this future partner.

Everything is allowed in war and since Iran or other countries support this or that harmful party then America has the right, and the moral obligation, to support a party of its choice.

America is in Iraq now and in order to create a cover of legitimacy to any political or military solution, a strong Iraqi partner must first exist.

My heart goes out to Mohammed and others like him who got caught between the hammer and the anvil. They deserved better.

After all the wasted effort, all the billions of dollars and the lives that have been squandered, all the gratuitous rush to elections the Iraqis were not prepared for and the reluctance of the US leadership to confront Iran and Syria, I wouldn't bet on the chances of the Bush Administration admitting its mistakes and trying to salvage Iraq by dissolving the Maliki government.

In many ways, even if the US did so, at this point it would create more problems then it would solve, since most of the Shiites would erupt into open warfare against the US troops. Aided, of course, by our enemy Iran.

I still say, again and again, that our best option is to team up with the Kurds, our only real allies in Iraq, deploy our troops and our bases there and aid them in the formation of a strong, independent Kurdistan.

By doing so, we maintain our strategic presence in the region for the coming conflict with Iran, and effectively double our combat strength by utilizing the superb Kurdish Army, the Pesh Merga without sending a single additional American soldier or marine there.

Watcher's Council Results, 11/24/06

The winners are in for this week's Watcher's Council.








This week's winner was AMERICAN FUTURE - Our Rules of Engagement in Iraq a highly informative piece on how we have attempted to fight a `civilized' war against people who have totally lack the concept of what that means. Congratulations, Marc!

In second place was Callimachus' fine piece at Done With Mirrors: Media Icons In which Callimachus explores the true story behind a Pulitizer Prize wining photo.


For non-Council, the winner was Daled Amos: Congressman Conyers and Islam Yes, John Conyers is definately CAIR's shill.

Second place for non-Council was American Thinker: Democrats' Bait and Switch Election Strategy, which compares the 1992 election and the 2006 election. It just edged my own nominee, All Things Beautiful: Lost In Translation (Weekend Thread) which talks about sharia and how US courts may be actually helping it along.

A complete list can be found at the site of our fearless leader, Watcher of Weasels


Hearty congratulations to all the winners!

Iraq continues to spiral out of control - 160 dead in coordinated car bombings

Iraq continues to bleed with no end in sight.

Today, a series of coordinated car bombings ripped through crowded intersections and marketplaces in the Shiite district of Sadr City, killing at least 160 people and wounding 206.

The coordinated bombings followed a two-hour siege by dozens of Sunni gunmen against the headquarters of the Shiite-run Health Ministry in northeastern Baghdad, about three miles west of Sadr City. The gunmen, shooting from nearby buildings and surrounding streets, hit the ministry with mortar shells and automatic weapons fire. They were only driven off when Iraqi troops and American military helicopters arrived.

The Shiites of course struck back...though with death squads fully operational from both the Mahdi Army and the Badr Force as well as the Sunnnis, figuring out who hit who first is impossible. The Shiite militias fired about a dozen mortar shells into the predominantly Sunni Arab neighborhood of Adhamiya in northern Baghdad, wounding at least 10 people. Five more mortar shells were aimed at the former Mother of All Battles Mosque commissioned by Saddam Hussein in Ghazaliya, according to the mosque’s imam, Sheik Mahmoud al-Sumaidaie.

What passes for Iraq's Political leaders held an emergency meeting after the attacks and to broadcast an appeal for calm and national unity.

"In this painful tragedy, I call on everybody to practice self-restraint and stay calm," Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said in a separate televised address. "I hope that all political and civic powers will stand together to protect the citizens from criminal action."

The government immediately imposed an indefinite curfew on Baghdad, banning all vehicles and pedestrians from the streets, and closed Baghdad International Airport as well as the airport and seaport in the southern city of Basra. The Iraqi Army is supposedly on high alert, with checkpoints throughout the city and a cordon around Sadr City.

The bombings today will probably harden attitudes on both sides.

"We blame the government for the attacks," said Said Adel al-Nuri, a spokesman for Shiite cleric and Mahdi Army leader Moqtada al-Sadr. "We have no trust in the government or in the Americans. We have completely lost faith in the government."

According to the Iraqi police, the Sadr City attacks today began when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at about 3:15 p.m. at a checkpoint leading into the area. That was obviously a signal, since the initial blast was followed in quick succession by that of two other suicide car bombers and two unattended car bombs, which exploded at different locations along a main avenue crowded with commuters and shoppers.

The car bombings set off dozens of other vehicles in the crowded streets, and scattered burnt and and mangled corpses and body parts through the air. Panicky crowds clawed through the wreckage, searching for survivors and pulling bloody bodies out of vehicles and buildings.

Look for this to get worse before it gets better...if it ever does.

Weekend Monkey and Freedom Fighter wish you the very best Thanksgiving ever!

Human Shields? Naw, useful idiots...and cowards as well

What you see above are two `peace activists', Father Peter Dougherty, 65, left, and Sister Mary Ellen Gundeck, 55, right. Both, not coincidentally are from Michigan, the heart of Islamist America and home base to a number of anti-Israel congressmen like John Conyers.

They're sitting on the roof of the house of Mohammed Weil Baroud, leader of the so-called `Popular Resistance Committees' affiliated with Hamas in Beit Layiha, the source of many of the qassams that are being launched against Israeli civilians.

The Israelis had it targeted for an airstike. They're are the first foreigners to join a parade of `human shields' for Palestinian terrorists.

Aside from being morally deficient and anti-Semitic, they're also cowards. They're squatting in Beit Lahiya because they know the Israelis won't fire into a crowd of women and children.

They'd never dare go to Sderot and act as a human shield for the Jews there... because they know the Palestinians have no problem killing civilians.

Bush pardons turkeys for Thanksgiving

President Bush fulfilled an annual White House tradition by pardoning two turkeys, Fryer and Flier, who will be on their way to an honerable retirement in Southern California's Disneyland theme park.

They got a much more considerate sendoff than Donald Rumsfeld.

Weekend Monkey interviews..OJ Simpson

Today,the Real Banana welcomes as its guest none other than author, celebrity golfer and noted famous person OJ SIMPSON!! Can I call you OJ?






Yes you can, Weekend Monkey.



















Just to let the primates in on how this all came about...I had already contacted you through ex-celebrity gofer Kato Kaelin about shooting a few holes of golf before you went back to Florida. And when that TV special on Fox sorta fell through, things opened up and you became available..and it was nice of Kato to agree to caddy for you, I think.







Mmmfff?!


















Yeah, Kato's cool..and besides, he needs the money and I promised him a nice tip if he did a good job....(takes a swing and hits the ball)















Oooh, nasty slice!
















#@!$!!


















So, what do you think really happened with the Fox thing, OJ?















Just them reacting to a lot of pressure, Weekend Monkey.


















They cancelled the book too, huh?















Nice shot, monkey! You're pretty good at this. Yeah, (chuckles) but they still gotta pay me. I delivered, I get the money.

















Sweet! What a scam...















That's all I did it for anyway...I just wanted to make some money for my kids.

















Did you worry that the kids would be upset about you going on TV and writing a book about how you would have killed their mom and gotten away with it if you had really done it? Weren't they upset over revisiting the whole thing?












Uhh.............Naw,not really. (swings)


















Woo, another nasty slice! You must be off your game today, OJ.














......Well, it was upsetting, the Fox thing, you know.

















Does it bother you that there are a lot of people who still think you did it? Can I make this putt a gimmee?















I don't play gimmees, Monkey. Make it or eat the stroke.


















Damn, I didn't think you could make that! I dunno what's with my game today...just can't seem to concentrate. What say we make this interesting, say $150 a hole?















OJ, you're on! Y'know, talking about what happened..I was yakkin' with my friend Freedom Fighter about this. He's pretty sure you didn't do it, but that you know who did and are protecting somebody. He said they should have tried you as an accessory after the fact....












Well, everybody's got a theory, y'know (swings)

















Damn... lookadat! That's a sure birdie, Juice!
















Musta got lucky, Monkey (chuckles)..your shot. Oooh, into the bunker! Too bad!
















#@!!##!! Anyway, ff says that you would never have done it because you knew the kids were upstairs and you wouldn't have taken a chance on them coming down during the murder. Plus, he says you would have planned it better so you wouldn't have been squeezed for time and been late for that limo driver back at your mansion. Or been that sloppy about getting rid of the clothes and shoes and stuff. He figures you were there and know what happened, but are keeping your mouth shut.









Man, I shoulda hired your friend as my lawyer. Woulda been cheaper than Cochrane and that Jewish guy, that's for sure. (swings) How `bout that - Ace!















Wha'? You got a hole in one! !!#$$!! I didn't even see it go into the cup...















Got to get into the game, Monkey. I'd use a sand wedge there instead of a nine iron there if I were you.
















Yeah, yeah. So, anyway..what was the hardest part about being in jail?














Being very, very careful not to drop the soap. Heh heh.But then, I'm a big guy, never really had to worry too much. And I pretty much knew I was gonna get off when I got a good look at the judge and jury. Hell, towards the end of the trial it got to the point where all I had to do was sign a football or somethin' for Ito to get those sidebar rulings going my way...and did you read about the party I threw for the jury for voting the right way? (swings)











Ouch..another killer drive...I'm gettin' murdered here...uhhh, no offense...yeah, I read about that party.















Man's got a right to celebrate being not guilty of murder, doesn't he? Anyway, the whole thing was racist anyway. Not the Mark Fuhrman thing, that was Cochrane's schtick. But it was because I was a black guy and Nicole was this blond white chick.

Hey, Klaus Von Bulow went through the same thing, didn't see anybody calling him a murderer after he got acquitted. (Swings)










I can't believe how much your game picked up! And how did that golfball get over there where Kato's standing? One more thing...there was another trial, the one in Santa Monica. They slapped you with this huge multimillion dollar judgement. How do you make money without them getting their paws on it?











heh! schnort!


















Oooh,I got my ways. That's game, Monkey..and $1,200 you owe me.
















Ouchie! Thanks for the interview OJ..I think.
















Oh, the pleasure was most definitely mine, Weekend Monkey. Later.... Kato! Heel!

















Well, that's this week's Real Banana, primates. As always, send any comments, offers for paid appearences, university lectures and free stuff and any other communications to Wendmonkey@Yahoo.com

Have a nice Thanksgiving, primates!