Weekend Monkey & Freedom Fighter say:"Happy New Year!"

FF: Howdy Weekend Monkey! Ready to greet the New Year?

WM:You betcha, Freedom Fighter..let's lay one on the primates!

FF: Must you use that term? Anyway, the last time we did this, Monkey, was right before the `06 midterms.

WM:Yeah, and I took your money bigtime, didn't I?

FF: That you did, Weekend Monkey...and then got hustled out of all of it and more by OJ Simpson at golf!

WM: Hey, it wasn't my best moment, OK?

FF: Hopefully you learned from the experience...I warned you about gambling and sucker bets. And I hope you've resolved to cut down on the drinking and carrying on a little bit.

WM: Hey, a little Bushmills' and banana extract occassionally never hurt anyone. It's always five o'clock somewhere.

FF: By the way, did that camel ever get shipped to Jersey? You know,the prize for the winner in the `You're the Qadi ' contest?


WM: Hey, I put the winner in touch with Ibn Habish. Now it's out of my hands.

FF: Getting back to the elections, I must admit, you surprised me with how savvy you were about the `06 midterms..you called pretty much every race right. What do you say we try some predictions for `07?

WM: Wheee! I am so there..tell you what. Let's do multiple choice and let the primates weigh in with their predictions as well as ours. At the end of `07, we'll check back and see who got the most right. Can I have some champagne?

FF: Hey, why not?...it's already 2007 in a lot of places.

Ok...You members of Joshua's Army can make your own picks, and Weekend Monkey and myself will make our predictions for 2007 at the bottom. Here goes:


1) On 12/31/2007, the Dow will stand closest to

a) 12,000

b) 13,000

c) 10,500

d) 14,000


2) The main accomplishments of the new Congress in 2007 will be:


a) an amnesty bill for illegal aliens

b) a comprehensive change of income tax legislation

c) suppoenas and investigations

d)a military draft act

e) all of the above

f) none of the above


3) In Iraq, at the end of 2007, pick the most likely scenario:


a) The US will be completely disengaged, with few if any troops there.Iraq will have dissolved into open civil war, with the US and Iran each having proxies.


b)The US will still be in Iraq. The country will remain as a shaky democracy. Troop levels will be higher than now.


c)US troop levels will be down, with most if not all of them deployed in an independent Kurdistan. The Shia and Sunni will be fighting over what's left.

d) US troops will be gone from the region.Iraq will split more or less peacefully, with the Kurds maintaining their territory and the Shia taking over most of what's left, with Iran's help.


4)At the end of 2007, the two front runners for the Democratic nomination will be :

a) Clinton and Obama

b) Clinton and Edwards

c) Obama and Edwards

d) Clinton and Kerry

e) No clear frontrunners, or someone else.


5) At the end of 2007. the frontrunners for the Republican nomination will be:

a) Giuliani and McCain

b) Giuliani and Romney

c) McCain and Romney

d) Gingrich and Giuliani

e) Gingrich and McCain

f) Someone else, or no clear frontrunners.


6) The Supreme Court will issue important rulings on:

a) Roe v Wade

b) eminent Domain

c) School desegregation

d) all of the above

e) none of the above


7) The best picture of 2006 will be:

a) Dreamgirls

b)Letters from Iwo Jima

c)The Departed

d) The Queen

e) Babel

f) Apocalypto

g) none of the above


8) Best Actor will be:

a)Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

b)Peter O'Toole, Venus

c)Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed

d)Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

e) Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat

f) someone else


9) Best Actress, 2006:

a)Helen Mirren, The Queen

b)Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal

c)Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada

d)Kate Winslet, Little Children

e)Penélope Cruz, Volver

f) Cate Blanchett, The Good German

g) Someone else


10)Major political figures like to die in 2007: (pick three or less)

a) Mahmoud Abbas

b)Ismail Haniyeh

c) Ariel Sharon

d) Arlen Spector

e)Queen Elizabeth II

f) Fidel Castro

g) Kim Jong Il

h) Hosni Mubarak

i) none of the above


11)The following developments will occur concerning Iran:

a)A US pre-emptive strike on Iran.

b)The Islamic Republic successfully tests a nuclear weapon while the US continues ineffective sanctions, becomes more isolationist and learns to live with a nuclear Iran.

c) Iran gradually becomes less paranoid and more reasonable due to the sanctions. Negotiations occur between the US and Iran.

d) With US clandestine help, the Iranian government is overthrown and a Western friendly government takes over in its place


12) The politicians most likely to be out of power in 2007: (pick three)

a) Hugo Chavez

b) Tony Blair

c) Ehud Olmert

d) Mahmoud Abbas

e) Hosni Mubarak

f) George W. Bush

g) none of the above




13) The big surprise story of 2007 will be:

a) George W. Bush is impeached

b) A major global recession

c) New cures for cancer and diabetes using adult stem cells.

d) A major terrorist strike on US and/or UK

e) A major breakthrough in energy production that cuts back significantly on petroleum use

f) Prince Charles becomes King of England and announces that he's a Muslim.



Well, there you have it JA members. Scroll down for Weekend Monkey and my predictions. And fromboth of us, have an absolutely wonderful New year, blessed with health, wealth and happiness!!






















Weekend Monkey's predictions:

1)B, 2)E, 3)B, 4)B, 5)A, 6)D, 7)C, 8)C, 9)E, 10)A,C,F, 11)B, 12)B,C,D, 13)D


Freedom Fighter's Predictions:

1)B, 2)E, 3)A, 4)B, 5)A, 6)D, 7)D, 8)E, 9)A, 10)A,C,F, 11)B, 12)B,C,D, 13)D

See you next year!

Saddam Hussein in Hell.

Saddam Hussein was hung for his crimes at dawn Saturday.

The whole deal went down fairly quickly once the US released him to the Iraqi government's custody.Unfortunately for the Kurds, Saddam's hanging took place in the middle of his trial for that particular bit of genocide. Apparently, the Iraqis wanted to get it over and done with fairly quickly.

His last words, shouted as they put the hood over his head were `Palestine is ours'! Saddam remained a true Arab leader to the last - whether its raining outside, the car won't start or the numbers on the national budget don't add up, it's the Jews. Always el-Yahudi in this neck of the woods, and don't you dare forget it.

I must confess, I really don't truly believe in the traditional Bruegel/Dante Hell. But if it exists, there must be a special level for truly failed leaders who've spent their lives feeding on their own people like a vampire at midnight. And cheerfully murdering anyone who had the least problem with it.

Papa Doc Duvalier is there, Pinochet is there, Sukarno is there, Nero leads the band and Evita Peron is Mistress of Ceremonies. Yasir Arafat, of couse is the eminence gris, revered by all the inhabitants as one of the truest examples of the type. Even Stalin looks up to Arafat, though Uncle Joe undoubtedly has a great deal more blood on his hands. Hard to surpass that record...but Arafat tried, albeit on a smaller scale and with a more limited canvas to work with.

Saddam Hussein has had a spot reserved for him in this particular neighborhood of Hell for over two decades. Had he made the trip beforehand, there are a lot of people whom would be walking around today, instead of being mere dessicated skeletons in places like Najaf.


It is an interesting commentary on our age to note the dinosaur media's coverage of this event. From the lachrymous ink given to this monster's `farewell letter' to the acounts of the actual execution and the outcry in certain predictable circles about `barbaric death sentence' and `victor's justice', it speaks volumes about the debasement of standards of what I can only call common decency.

Certainly, Saddam recieved eons more justice than any of his victims ever did. And as for the cries of `victor's justice', I would expect that kind of propaganda from al-Arabiya or al-Jazeera, but I would think that the west's dinosaur media would have the common sense to note that the US didn't execute Saddam - the government of Iraq did, after a lengthy trial that documented and proved him a murderer.

Saddam Hussein has left the building, and the Earth is a bit more salubrious for his absence.

Saddam due for a swingin' time this weekend

The US is scheduled to hand Saddam Hussein over to the Iraqi authorities today so that his death sentence can be carried out over the weekend.

Amazingly, the dinosaur media has been reprinting his weepy `farewell letter', which I won't dignify by linking or repeating here. Ahhh, the human side of Saddam..

Weekend Monkey actually was working on an interview with Saddam, but now that Saddam's scheduled to do what our friends across the pond jovially refer to as `The Tyburn Jig' that's highly unlikely.

My only regrets are (a) that it took as long as it did and (b) that we weren't able to interrogate Saddam forcefully and find out exactly what was in all of those trucks that transported what was undoubtedly an interesting load o' stuff to Syria during our 19 month run up to war.

Have a swingin' time, Saddam. That last step is a real killah.

Watcher's Council Results, 12/29/06

The Council has spoken!

This week's winner is Done With Mirrors: Follow Your Surges, Callimachus' excellent essay supporting troop surges in Iraq. Congrats. Callimachus!

In second place we have AMERICAN FUTURE - The Coming of Neo-Multilateralism, Marc's interesting piece on the probable fallout from Iraq on US foreign policy...an excellent read by Marc.

For non-Council, the winner was Matthias Küntzel: From Khomeini to Ahmadinejad, another sample of some of the fine german writing on Iran.

In second place was The Volokh Conspiracy - Is Federalism Tainted by Slavery and Jim Crow?.

Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

Olmert ready for `peace'

You have to wonder why the general Israeli public hasn't tossed PM Ehud Olmert out of the country, let alone out of office. Do they have a collective death wish or something?

During the last month of a `ceasefire' during which Israel was hit by close to 70 Qassam missiles, Olmert tied the IDF's hands to keep the `peace'. Moreover, he just released over $100M to Mahmoud Abbas from impounded Palestinian funds and apparently has promised to release of 100 murderous terrorists from Israeli custody, including convicted murderer Marwan Barghouti-in exchange for absolutely nothing at all, not even a whisper about Israeli captive Gilad Shalit.

In response to widespread public outcry over the brutal rocket attack on Sderot that left two youngteenagers badly injured, Olmert finally intimated that he might allow the IDF to do `pinpoint strikes', but only under very select conditions.

The IDF was, to say the least, not very pleased at all with not being allowed to defend Israel's civilians adequately. What the IDF wanted was to re- enter the Gaza Strip near the security fence and create a buffer zone that would prevent qassam launching cells from getting close enough to hit Israeli territory. Olmert turned them down flat.

Now to top it all off, Olmert today, in reference to Syria said that he was open to "any murmur of peace" from Israel's enemies!

Syria has recently signaled that it would like to reopen peace talks with Israel, Olmert originally rejected the offers, citing Syria's support for Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Now, all of a sudden,this lunatic (and I'm being charitable) is talking about perhaps dealing the Golan Heights to Boy Assad in exchange for a few whispers of `peace'.

Behind this, of course, is arm twisting via the Iraq Study Group and James Baker protege Condi Rice. And of course, Olmert's own inclinations.

One wonders how many more Israelis will die before the fallacy of Olmert's approach is fully realized.

Somali jihadis flee Mogadishu

Somali Government troops rolled into Mogadishu today along with their Ethiopian allies, as the jihidi Islamic Courts troops fled from the capitol.

The Ethiopian troops stopped on the outskirts of town, after doing most of the fighting in an offensive that defeated the Islamic Courts militia, which had been backed by Iran and Hezbollah.

"We are in Mogadishu," Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi declared.

It remains to be seen how the interim government is able to deal with the various warlord clans.

Gedi's government was set up in 2004 with U.N. backing.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said that his army would leave Somalia once it defeated the jihadis. He said that the war would continue until the Somali and foreign jihadi armies were destroyed.

"We need to pursue them to make sure that they do not establish themselves again and destabilize Somalia and the region," he said, predicting that would take a few more weeks.

Speaking in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, he said 2,000 to 3,000 Islamic fighters had been killed and 4,000 to 5,000 wounded, and that his forces had suffered minimal casualties.

The Islamic militiamen retreated toward the southern port of Kismayo. There they have reportedly been recruiting children as young as 12 to make a last stand for jihad, according to a confidential UN report.

The front lines are now in the town of Jilib, 65 miles north of Kismayo, where Islamic Courts leader Hassan Dahir Aweys arrived with his troops riding in 45 pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.

Islamic leaders had declared a jihad against Ethiopia and had issued a call for foreign Muslims to join their "holy war" against the Ethiopians. Somalis living on the coast reported seeing hundreds of foreigners entering the country.

When Islamic troops advanced on the interim government's stronghold in Baidoa, Ethiopian troops and fighter aircraft went on the offensive and threw them back in disorder.

This can be seen, like the Hamas/Fatah struggle as a proxy war between the US and Iran, who was backing the Islamic Courts.

A few words on Gerald Ford, 1913-2006

By now, most of you are aware that ex-President Gerald Ford died yesterday. He was 93.

To my mind, Gerald Ford's presidency, which capped a lifetime of public service is proof in G-d's providence when it comes to the United States of America.

As our only unelected president, Gerald Ford inherited a mess that would have daunted most politicians. He took over after Richard Nixon's resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal, when the country had been ginned up to a frenzy by the national press and a president they loathed (and who loathed them in return) had been forced out of office, partly by his own misdeeds and partly by the unremitting press coverage. Unlike today, there were no alternative news sources and the big three networks and a couple of major newspapers pretty much governed what the American people saw and heard.

Faith in the American government and in politicians was at an all time low. One of my friends remembers being in Paris at the time and hearing people talk excitedly about `un coup de etat aux Etats-Unis.'

President Ford stepped into the wind without a second thought. By the simple force of his essentially honest, decent persona, he calmed the country down and reassured both our friends and our enemies that our system worked, that the country would go on and that our institutions would survive. That was no small accomplishment, and there are any number of people who could have had that job who would have failed utterly.

He was, in simple terms, exactly the right man in the right place at the right time.

What's more, he had the personal courage to risk that achievement by issuing a pardon to his predecessor, Nixon `for any crimes and misdemeanors he may have committed while president.'

I was quite young, but I still remember the firestorm that touched off. It undoubtedly cost Gerald Ford the 1976 election, and I'm sure President Ford was quite aware that it might end his political career when he did it. To him, his personal ambition came second to what he felt was best for the country - to, in his words, `put our long national nightmare behind us.' And in fact, it was exactly the right thing to do.

One doesn't find that kind of selflessness or heroism often in politicians.

Lately, Bob Woodward has surfaced with an interview he did with the ex-president in which he apparently voiced some major criticism of the Bush Administration's handling of Iraq. According to Woodward, Ford did so with the provisio that those remarks would only be released after his death.

He apparently wanted to be on record about something he felt strongly about, but had too much class to be seen as getting mileage or personal publicity by meddling and criticizing a sitting president, a tradition that all ex-presidents followed until recently. That in itself should provide a yardstick on how different he was from two of the men that followed him in office.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 12/27/06

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




Watcher's Council News: We've had another change in the Council. My dear friends Dymphna and Baron Bodissey from Gates of Vienna have gotten increasingly involved in other projects and have resigned from the Watcher's Council...which means another seat is UP FOR GRABS. In spite of what's been going on recently, these opportunities don't normally come along this often. If you are interested in the vacant seat, go here to apply.


Here's this week's lineup:

1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: IRANIAN military seized in raid on Iraqi insurgents - (and the NYT Times depolores it) In my piece this week, I examine both the capture of Iranian military in Iraq as well as what's revealed by the current Iraqi government's attitude as well as the NYT's.

I also - for the umpteenth time - suggest a solution for Iraq that would allow us to keep our strategic position, actually promote Muslim democracy as a model, double our effective combat strength without sending a single extra US soldier over there and give our troops a secure base to strike at our enemies with a loyal, appreciative ally.

Of course, the Saudis are agin' it..which means that nobody in Washington, especially in the White House, will even discuss it.

2. Done With Mirrors: Follow Your Surges Callimachus makes a compelling case for a very different solution to Iraq - he likes the idea of a surge of troops with the idea of winning a victory there. I see his point...I just don't think it's possible given the Iraqi government we've allowed to take power there, unless we plan to depose them, like my friend Omar at Iraq the Model has suggested.

3. Soccer Dad: Two red herrings out of three ain't bad Soccer Dad writes a fine essay about a Washington Post editorial on Middle East peace. As he points out, the writer correctly identifies two non-causes (otherwise known as lies)in the continued Arab-Israeli conflict, the Bush administration's passivity or Israel's `bstructionism.'

Unfortunately, as he points out, people still think of Mahmoud Abbas, who was along for the entire Arafat ride and has never found a single terrorist murderer worthy of jail time as a `moderate'.


4. Right Wing Nut House: THE DARK SIDE OF “TRADITIONAL VALUES” here Rick writes about Congressman Virgil Goode, Jr's letter to his constituents about newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison, which essentially stated that unless we control immigration, we are going to get a lot more Muslims inthe country and thus a lot more Congressmen lie this ex-Nation of Islam member and CAIR lackey.

I normally love Rick's stuff, even when I disagree. This isn't one of those occasions. Aside from his gratuitous and uncalled for bashing and name calling of blogger Debbie Schlussel, who's a friend (and linked on this site)I also disagree with his central premise.

Congressman Goode was simply stating a fact, and anyone who looks at the situation in say, Europe ought to get a clue about that. As I stated in a comment on Rick's site, to many Muslims their first loyalty is to the Muslim umma and sharia, and for a congressman who describes himself as a devout Muslim to swear to defend the Constitution is a contradiction in terms.

I also mentioned the fact that the Qu’ran not only allows Muslims to lie to kuffars (non-believers), but encourages it when Islam is being advanced.The Islamic term is taqiya. And that where Congressman Goode gets it wrong is on stupidly focusing on Ellison’s choosing to swear on the Qur’ran (since it doesn’t matter), rather than the fact that this ex-Nation of Islam member and CAIR poodle is a congressman at all.

He won the election and he's entitled, but I see nothing wrong with voicing an opinion that we need to take steps to make sure there's not more of the same.

5. The Sundries Shack: Islamists on the Run! Here, Jimmie Bise writes about a story I've been covering at Joshuapundit, the Ethiopian victory against the jihad declared on them by the Somali Islamic Courts. he draws some great parallels on how we can extend that to our own war on
jihad.

6.Rhymes With Right: NY Times To Terrorists: Bomb The Tunnels! Bomb The Tunnels!Here, Greg writes about the New York Times highlighting a vulnerable terrorist target with exact and dangerous intel. Ah, the New York Times...I can see an ad with Osama in it, holding up the paper and saying `Hey, it's all the news I need!'

7. The Glittering Eye: Negotiating with Iran Here. Dave talks about negotiating with Iran in a well written piece - which I unfortunately disagree with.

In order for negotiations to proceed, two important things have to be present. One, each side must have the perception that they have something to gain from negotiations. And two, both sides must be convinced of the other sides' integrity and willingness to abide by agreements.

Neither is present in this case. And I would also say that the US has tried a number of times to negotiate with Iran - most noticeably with the `incentives' offer this last year, and received nothing but lies and insults and outright acts of war in return.


8. AMERICAN FUTURE - The Coming of Neo-Multilateralism Marc has an extremely well written and interesting article here about the fall out from the mismanagement of the Iraq war...and makes a number of predictions as to where this will lead future US foreign policy.

9. Andrew Olmsted: Why Facts Don't Matter This week, Major Andrew Olmsted writes about what he calls `a disturbing trend in modern political discourse... the substitution of beliefs for facts.' His example here is on blogger hilzoy's partisan argument that Democrats are fiscally responsible while Republicans are not.


10.The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY: Robot Rights Ah, how appropriate right before Isaac Asimov's birthday! Here, Hube writes about an issue that will undoubtedly surface in the future...especially if lawyers find a way to get taxpayers to pay the legal bills!

11.The Education Wonks: Is A Teacher's "Classroom Coming-Out" Protected Speech? Here, EdWonk writes about a lesbian teacher who successfully sued a school district for firing her for acting out in class during gay `Day of Silence' protest. The judge was a Carter appointee, of course.



That's this week's lineup..enjoy

Watcher's Council Results, 12/22/06

I'm a leetle tardy on this, but here are the winners for last week's Watcher's Council:








This week's winner was The Glittering Eye:Directions on Iraq: a Blogging Colloquium (updated) Dave's very interesting extended cross-blog conversation on Iraq with various views represented. Dave made a real effort here and it is well worth checking out. Congratulatons, Dave!

In second place was my piece, J O S H U A P U N D I T: Ex-president and Jew hater for sale - Jimmy Carter's dirty little secret in which I reveal what's really behind his his anti-Semitic ideas...and who's paying the bills.

For non-Council Post the winner was The ROC (The Fourth Rail) a live report from Iraq that is well worth reading.

In second Place was The Y Files: One Muslim voice on the Holocaust, unheard the fascinating story of an Israeli Arab who was `disinvited' to the Tehran Holocaust denial conferencew when he made it clear that he planned to confront the delegates with the truth.

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


Hearty Kudos to all the winners.

Jihadis on the run in Somalia

It appears that the Islamic Courts declared jihad on the wrong people.

The Islamist militias have been forced to retreat from frontline positions after a series of Ethiopian air strikes and a major ground offensive.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister claimed today that the offensive, launched yesterday by the Somalian interim Government and its Ethiopian allies, had killed up to 1,000 Islamic Courts jihadis.

Ethiopia says the Islamic Courts has recruited foreign jihadists, and that a handful of almost 300 prisoners taken after one battle for a central Somali town held British passports.

"A joint Somali government and Ethiopian force has broken the back of the international terrorist forces ... These forces are in full retreat," Meles Zenawi said. "A few are Somali but the majority are foreigners."

They are closing in on Mogadishu, the capital. Yesterday, Ethiopian combat aircraft attacked Mogadishu airport and a second airstrip in the south of the country in Islamic Courts held territory.

The Islamic courts insisted their withdrawal and re-grouping was a tactic in what they vowed would be a long-lasting war against Ethiopia.

"We will fight to the last man until we ensure there are no more Ethiopian troops in our country," said Abdi Kafi a spokesman for the Islamic Courts.

Speaking at a news conference, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, leader of the Union of Islamic Courts, said: "The war is entering a new phase. We will fight Ethiopia for a long, long time and we expect the war to go everyplace."

IRANIAN military seized in raid on Iraqi insurgents - (and the NYT Times depolores it)

The American Military captured four Iranians in raids against terrorists targeting American and Iraqi forces, including Iranians described as senior military officials.

Apparently,Iran's arming the jihadis and training them has now progressed to getting Iran's military directly involved. I frankly don't know what else it's going to take to convince some people that Iran is at war with us...even if we haven't acknowledged it for some bizarre reason.

Speaking of bizarre, here is the NYT's take on this dated 12/24/06, in it's entirety..with my comments. Notice also, if you will, how the Iraqi government is shilling for their jihadi brothers and pushing the US to release them.

I wouldn't give another dime or a single drop of American blood to these ingrates.

"By JAMES GLANZ and SABRINA TAVERNISE
BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 — The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington.

The Bush administration made no public announcement of the politically delicate seizure of the Iranians, though in response to specific questions the White House confirmed Sunday that the Iranians were in custody.

(`Politically delicate'? According to whom, Pinch Sulzberger? Ahmadinejad?)

Gordon D. Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. The two had papers showing that they were accredited to work in Iraq, and he said they were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued, and he said, “We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees.”

(Huh? Why would the Iraqi government have a problem with men involved inkilling their security forces - not to mention OURS? And what is this `detainees' horse manure? These are POW's)

It was unclear what kind of evidence American officials possessed that the Iranians were planning attacks, and the officials would not identify those being held. One official said that “a lot of material” was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included arms or documents that pointed to planning for attacks. Much of the material was still being examined, the official said.

(Given the jihadi friendly nature of the Maliki government - not to mention a certain New York based newspaper - our government is better off not revealing anything)

Nonetheless, the two raids, in central Baghdad, have deeply upset Iraqi government officials, who have been making strenuous efforts to engage Iran on matters of security. At least two of the Iranians were in this country on an invitation extended by Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, during a visit to Tehran earlier this month. It was particularly awkward for the Iraqis that one of the raids took place in the Baghdad compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite leaders, who traveled to Washington three weeks ago to meet President Bush.

Over the past four days, the Iraqis and Iranians have engaged in intense behind-the-scenes efforts to secure the release of the remaining detainees. One Iraqi government official said, “The Iranian ambassador has been running around from office to office.”

Iraqi leaders appealed to the American military, including to Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American ground commander in Iraq, to release the Iranians, according to an Iraqi politician familiar with the efforts. The debate about what to do next has also engaged officials in the White House and the State Department. The national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, has been fully briefed, officials said, though they would not say what Mr. Bush has been told about the seizure or the identity of the detainees.

(Like I said, I N G R A T E S who are just waiting to stab us in the back the moment it is turned.)

A senior Western official in Baghdad said the raids were conducted after American officials received information that the people detained had been involved in attacks on official security forces in Iraq. “We conduct operations against those who threaten Iraqi and coalition forces,” the official said. “This was based on information.”

A spokesman for Mr. Hakim, who heads a Shiite political party called Sciri, which began as an exile group in Iran that opposed Saddam Hussein, declined to comment. In Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, had no comment about the case on Sunday other than to say it was under examination.

( Hakim..like Maliki, yet another Iraqi leader who spent the Saddam years cuddled up with our enemies)

The action comes at a moment of extraordinary tension in the three-way relationship between the United States, Iran and Iraq. On Saturday, even as American officials were trying to determine the identity of some of the Iranians, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution imposing mild sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Meanwhile, the Bush administration has rejected pressure to open talks with Iran about its actions in Iraq.

Much about the raids and the identities of the Iranians remained unclear on Sunday. American officials offered few details. They said that an investigation was under way and that they wanted to give the Iraqi government time to figure out its position. A Bush administration official said the Iranian military officials held in custody were suspected of being members of the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. It has been involved in training members of Hezbollah and other groups that the Americans regard as terrorist organizations.

American and Iraqi officials have long accused Iran of interfering in this country’s internal affairs, but have rarely produced evidence. The administration presented last week’s arrests as a potential confirmation of the link. Mr. Johndroe said, “We suspect this event validates our claims about Iranian meddling, but we want to finish our investigation of the detained Iranians before characterizing their activities.”

( Another blatant lie. Both Iran, al Sadr and his Mahdi Army and the Badr force have publicly acknowledged receiving arms, financing and training from the Mullahs. And explosives and arms used in the attacks are clearly marked as coming from Iran. Not to mention Iran's involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing, with Hezbollah, and a bunch of other attacks on US citizens.)

He added: “We will be better able to explain what this means about the larger picture after we finish our investigation.”

In the raids, the Americans also detained a number of Iraqis. Western and Iraqi officials said that following normal protocol, the two Iranian diplomats were turned over to the Iraqi government after being questioned. The Iraqis, in turn, released them to the Iranian Embassy. An Iraqi official said his government had strained to keep the affair out of the public eye to avoid scuttling the talks with Iran that were now under way.

The raids and arrests were confirmed by at least seven officials and politicians in Baghdad and Washington. Still, the development was being viewed skeptically on Sunday by some Iraqis, who said that they suspected that the timing was intended to reinforce arguments by some in the administration that direct talks with Iran would be futile.

An administration official in Washington disputed that, saying, “When the military conducted the raids, they really didn’t know who they were going to find.”

(Oh, I think they had a pretty good inkling..or they wouldn't have risked upsetting our jihadi friendly allies))

The United States is now holding, apparently for the first time, Iranians who it suspects of planning attacks. One senior administration official said, “This is going to be a tense but clarifying moment.”

“It’s our position that the Iraqis have to seize this opportunity to sort out with the Iranians just what kind of behavior they are going to tolerate,” the official said, declining to speak on the record because the details of the raid and investigation were not yet public. “They are going to have to confront the evidence that the Iranians are deeply involved in some of the acts of violence.”

(Guess what, Mr. Not-on-the -record - the Iran-friendly Iraqi government your administration allowd to take power have already decided which side they're on...and it's not ours.)

The events that led to the arrests of the Iranians began on Thursday, although details are sketchy.

In one raid, which took place around 7 p.m. that day, American forces stopped an official Iranian Embassy car carrying the two Iranian diplomats, one or two Iranian guards and an Iraqi driver. Iraqi officials said that the diplomats had been praying at the Buratha mosque and that when it was stopped, the car was in the Allawi neighborhood, a few minutes from the Iranian Embassy to the west of the Tigris River.

All in the car were detained by the Americans. The mosque’s imam, Sheik Jalal al-deen al-Sageir, a member of Parliament from Mr. Hakim’s party, said the Iranians had come to pray during the last day of mourning for his mother, who recently died. He said that after the Iranians left, the Iranian Embassy phoned to say that they had not arrived as expected. “We were afraid they were kidnapped,” Sheik Sageir said.

But he said he was later informed that the diplomats, whom he said that he did not know well, were in the custody of Americans. “I had nothing to do with that,” Sheik Sageir said. “I don’t know why the Americans took them.”

The predawn raid on Mr. Hakim’s compound, on the east side of the Tigris, was perhaps the most startling part of the American operation. The arrests were made inside the house of Hadi al-Ameri, the chairman of the Iraqi Parliament’s security committee and leader of the Badr Organization, the armed wing of Mr. Hakim’s political party.

(`startling', oh clone of little Pinch? Why? When you're fishing, you go where the fish are. I realize that you and your pals would rather our military did nothing but July 4th parades, but this IS how a military normally operates during war time)

Many Shiite political groups are now suspected of having ties to Iran, and Sciri is no exception. Senior party leaders lived in exile in Iran for years plotting the overthrow of Mr. Hussein. Some married Iranians and raised their children there.

Mr. Hakim has emerged as the central Iraqi Shiite who is backing a new bloc made up of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds that would isolate more radical politicians. Americans back the new bloc, and Mr. Hakim traveled to Washington earlier this month to discuss its formation with Mr. Bush. It was not clear how the arrests, embarrassing to Mr. Hakim, would affect those political efforts.

( Meanwhile, that mythical bloc isn't happening. Both Iran and the Head Iraqi Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sistani said no - so it ain't happening. Keep up with the news, Mr. Professional Journalist..it's what you get paid for, at least nominally)

Hiwa Osman, a news media adviser to Mr. Talabani, said, “The president is unhappy with the arrests.” .

(I'll just bet he is - and so is his master Moqtada al-Sadr and al-Sadr's masters, the Iranians)

The politician familiar with the efforts said the Iranians in the compound had been in Iraq for four days. He said Iraqi officials expected that two more of the Iranians would be released soon.

The disagreement will further irritate relations between Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq and his American supporters. The Shiite-led government has begun to chafe under the control of the Americans, pressing for more control of its army and for greater independence from what it says is unilateral American decision making.

( I say give these scum T O T A L control of their part of Iraq - after we pull out, take everything that's not nailed down, redeploy our troops to Kurdistan and team up with our real allies in Iraq, the Kurds)

The Americans are concerned that the Shiite-led government would not respect the rights of the minority Sunni Arab population, and, in the worst case, would use the largely Shiite security forces as a weapon in this country’s deepening sectarian war.

Since the borders opened after the invasion, it has not been uncommon for Iranian pilgrims to visit Iraq. Many come to worship in religious places holy to Shiites."

(I see..so according to the Paper of Refuse, these military personel were just their as simple religious pilgrims?)

I'm frankly sick and tired of this kind of nonsense. The NYT is one thing. I expect them to endorse borderline treason, leak classified material and print nonsense. But the way the Bush Administration continues to play games in Iraq in an attempt to clean up the mess they've made there in a politically advantageous way is another.

Simply because they're afraid to confront Iran or the Iranian controlled Shiite Iraq government they stupidly allowed to take power is no reason for this futility to continue.

It's time we pulled out and did something that makes sense.

The Kurds look on us as liberators and love America and Americans. They are our loyal allies and would welcome our bases with open arms, as they've said many times. What's more, the Kurdish Pesh Merga has successfully defended the Kurdish borders and are the best fighting force in Iraq next to ours - one of my pals in the IDF spent three years there helping train and arm them.

If we help them establish a strong, independent Kurdistan that includes Kirkuk,our combat strength would double, without a single extra US soldier being sent over there. Our troops would have a secure base to fight our enemies from, and a strategic location within easy flying distance of Iran for that inevitable confrontation. Plus, it borders our ally Jordan and is close to our ally Israel.

What's more, a strong independent Kurdish nation would likely create a great deal of domestic unrest for Iran and Syria...a plus fo rthe `regime change' advocates.

The Saudis won't like it - which is probably why it hasn't happened yet - but in terms of strategy it is the best move we could make.

The War on Jihad has gone on for five years now, longer than World War II, largely because we have refused to clearly identify who our enemies are or to focus on victory.

It's high time we did.

Farewell to the Godfather

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, died yesterday at the age of 73, after being taken to the hospital on Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia with pneumonia.

Leave to James Brown to pass away on Christmas Day...and close to where his whole incredible journey started out.

James Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, on May 3, 1933. The first song he recorded with his group, the Famous Flames was `Please, Please, Please', which became an instant hit and sold more than a million copies in 1956.

Seeing him live was always an experience. The amount of energy that poured out of the stage made a lot of the competition look positively enemic, particularly
those performers that attempted to emulate him - you just couldn't look at Mick Jagger quite the same after watching a James Brown show.

For a little audio sample of what I'm talking about, see if you can get your hands on a copy of `Live At The Apollo' - one of the best live recordings ever released. I dare you to listen to it sitting still.

I remember watching in the wings once when Brown did the `Tonite' show. It'd been a good 15 years since I'd seen him perform, and I was interested mainly for sentimental reasons...I'm a sucker for the old blues and r&b masters.

James Brown hit that tired TV audience with every bit of the same effect as if a small h-bomb had gone off in the studio. The old spine n' leg was still there,and his energy level was every bit as intense as it was when I'd seen him back in the day.

Mr. Dynamite was in his fifties when he did that show. No jivin'.

James Brown had a career that lasted 50 years and became one of the most influential entertainers of our times. He melded the gospel music of his childhood and the rhythm'n'blues he heard in the juke joints of the Atlanta where he grew up and essentially helped create soul music and funk...which morphed into the hip-hop, dance and urban styles of today. Hits like `Please, Please, Please',`Poppa's Got A Brand New Bag', `Night Train', `I Got You (I Feel Good)' and `Living in America' simply changed what popular music was all about.

So long Godfather. When the Lord made you, he broke the mold.

Last Christmas in Bethlehem?

It may happen sooner than we think.

Here's a paradox in the War on Jihad; Muslims and their allies in the Main Stream Media demand tolerance of Muslims in western countries and denounce legitimate concerns about radical Islam as `Islamophobia'. Yet at the same time, Muslims practice the most extreme prejudice and bigotry towards Christians in the countries where Muslims are in the majority.

And the Main Stream Media largely ignores it.

Throughout the Muslim world, churches are regularly burned, Christians are kidnapped and murdered on a regular basis, and preaching Christianity or holding Christian religious services is not only dangerous but actually illegal in many Muslim countries.

Or Christians are simply driven out.

This could be one of the last Christmas seasons in the birthplace of Jesus. At least with Christians present.

Since the Palestinian Authority took over Bethlehem in 1995 under the Oslo Accords with Israel, Bethlehem has been transformed from a majority Christian city into a Muslim city. The few Christians left in the city now cling to their homes at the sufferance of the majority Muslim population.

The Palestinian Authority early on adopted Islam as its official religion, used sharia Islamic law codes and allowed officially appointed Palestinian Muslim imams and clerics to demonize both Christian and Jewish `infidels' in the mosques and the media. And Arafat and the Palestinian Authority took steps to eliminate any Christian majorities where they still existed.

In 1996, as an example, Arafat totally redistricted Bethlehem, redefining its municipal boundaries so that they included many nearby Moslem villages. Overnight the Christian population found itself reduced from an 80 percent majority to a minority, with little control over anything. Arafat placed Christian sites like the Church of the Nativity under the direct control of the Islamist Palestinian Authority rather than under the control of Palestinian Christians.

Bethlehem has gone from an 80% Christian population to a mere 8% since the Palestinian Authority took over jurisdiction.

In the British Daily Mail of December 16th presents a stark picture of what Bethlehem has become in its article, O, Muslim town of Bethlehem...

"...Joseph Canawati is not looking forward to Christmas.

The expansive lobby of his 77-room Hotel Alexander is empty and he says: "There is no hope for the future of the Christian community.

"We don't think things are going to get better. For us, it is finished."

Life for Palestinian Christians such as 50-year-old Joseph has become increasingly difficult in Bethlehem - and many of them are leaving.

The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006.

There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs. {..}

The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.

A mosque on one side of Manger Square stands directly opposite the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, while in the evening the muezzin's call to prayer clashes with the peal of church bells.

Shops selling Santa Claus outfits and mother-of-pearl statuettes of the Virgin Mary have their shutters painted a sun-bleached green, the colour of Islam. {...}

Samir Qumsieh is general manager of Al-Mahed - Nativity - which is the only Christian television station in Bethlehem.

He has had death threats and visits from armed men demanding three acres of his land - and he is now ready to leave.

"As Christians, we have no future here," he says.

"We are melting away. Next summer I will leave this country to go to the States. How can I continue?

"I would rather have a beautiful dream in my head about what my home is like, not the nightmare of the reality."

International Human Rights Attorney Justus Weiner has researched the plight of Palestinian Christians for more than eight years. His findings were recently published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Weiner said Palestinian Christians are now living in fear because persecution against them is increasing, especially since Hamas took over the government.

"I think the situation has been on a steep downhill for at least 12 years," said Weiner, "since Israel withdrew from the Palestinian populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza …they fear for their own lives, they fear for their own family, they fear for the future of their community."

The Palestinian `constitution' is committed to an Islamic republic and has sharia as the official basis of law, and Islam is stated as the official religion of Palestine. And with Hamas in charge, any remaining Christians can depend on inferior dhimmi status for the foreseeable future unless they leave..which is exactly what's happening.

More mobile and generally better educated than their Muslim neighbors, they have simply gone elsewhere. Some are now living in Israel, where they have full freedom of worship and a growing community. Others found new homes in places like Toronto, Santiago and Sydney...and the US.

Of course, one of the most infamous cases of anti-Christian violence was when Palestinian terrorists in 2002 holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and refused to release the religious staff inside. Members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade looted the facilities, desecrated the church and even reportedly used the Bible as toilet paper.

One document later captured by Israel in Ramallah indicated the terrorists also demanded and got monetary support from Bethlehem Christians by threatening to destroy the church.

That is also a good explanation of why some Palestinian clergy have desperately pushed the Palestinian lie that Israel's security fence is responsible for the Christian exodus from Bethelehem and elsewhere.

The truth? More than 60% of the native-born Palestinian Christians had already fled the Arab controlled part of the Holy Land land long before the fence started going up four years ago. And most of the Palestinian Christian emigration occurred prior to Israel's entry into Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) in 1967, when the area was under Jordanian occupation. The last British census in Jerusalem, for example, found 28,000 Arab Christian residents in 1948, while Israel's first official tally after 1967 registered only 11,000. For those of you who are math challenged, those figures represented a 60% decrease in less than 20 years.

All over the Middle East,Christians are being driven out of `Muslim Lands', and places like the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus was born, may soon be converted into mosques with no regard for the sensibilities or rights of non-Muslims, just as Jewish Holy places were desecrated in places like Gaza and the West Bank as soon as the Muslims got their hands on them.

Remember that the next time some spokesmouth from CAIR, the Muslim Public Affairs Council or the Muslim Council of Britain starts complaining about `islamophobia.'

In the first major battle of the Somalia War, Ethiopia routs the jihadis

Ethiopia's armed forces met the jihadist Islamic Court troops in battle in Islamist-held Dinsoor, Belet Weyne, Bandiradley and Bur Haqaba.


Over 500 Islamic Court troops were killed in the fighting and almost 300 taken prisoner. Rest assured, Ethiopia won't be keeping these jihadis in the same luxury we keep our `guests' in Club Gitmo.

The prisoners themselves are reportedly an interesting mix - including fighters from Lebanon, Pakistan, Eritrea, and of course, the Sudan. Funny how that worked out.

Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zanami said his army was acting in self-defense against an Islamist militia who had declared jihad on his country, and that his forces were supporting the moderate Somali interim government. The jihadis had driven out the interim secular government out of most of the country, including the capital, Mogadishu.

As those of you whom are regular members of Joshua's Army know, the Islamic Courts jihadis have received heavy support from both Iran and al Qaeda, and a number of Somalis fought in the Lebanon War against Israel with Hezbollah.

The current conflict is an effort by Iran to control East Africa and especially the strategic Horn of Africa, and the Ethiopians, seeing what was going on to the North of them in Darfur decided to act decisively rather than wait to be attacked from two directions. Unlike another couple of leaders I could mention, Zanami was a leetle more realistic about diplomacy and the UN when it comes to stopping jihad.

We should be arming and training the Ethiopians and the Darfur rebels forthwith. This, like Israel, is simply another front on the global jihad.

The UN finally votes on watered down Iran sanctions

Well, the UN Security Council was finally able to dilute any sanctions against Iran to the point where the Russians voted for them - not that in the real world, sanctions against Iran will be any more effective than they were against Saddam Hussein.

The `sanctions' are supposedly aimed at Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and ballistic missiles.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who was successful in neutering any parts of the resolution that might actually have had an effect on Iran, emphasized that the resolution did not permit any use of force. The Russians made sure of that. The resolution is under Chapter 7 of under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to nonmilitary measures.

And, of course, the $800 million light-water reactor for Tehran at Bushehr that Russia is building for the Mullahs is exempted in the resolution.

The travel restrictions are gone. To replace the travel ban, the resolution now calls on all states ``to exercise vigilance'' regarding the entry or transit through their territory of the dozen Iranians on the U.N. list. I can certainly see the Russians and certain other UN members doing that.

The financial penalties and restrictions aimed at preventing Iran and Iranian companies from trading in nuclear materials, missile technology and weaponry were watered down as well, with certain individuals and companies being exempted at Russia's request.

The resolution also says the Security Council will review Iran's actions after they receive a report from the head of the IAEA on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment and complied with other IAEA demands.

In other words, it's all up to Inspector Clouseau IAEA head Mohamed el-Baradi, the man who couldn't find his behind with both hands in Iran for over a decade.

The US tried some basic face saving. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a statement saying: "The Iranian government, through its own actions, has further isolated itself and the Iranian people from the international community."

"This resolution is a strong signal to the government of Iran that it should accept its international obligations, suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and accept the negotiations path that the US and its Security Council partners offered six months ago," she said.

And Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns chimed in and said: "We don't think this resolution is enough in itself. We want the international community to take further action. We're certainly not going to put all our eggs in the UN basket."

I wonder what's next? Standing up in the UN, sticking their tongues out and making farting noises every time Ahmadinejad or Ali Laranji stand up to speak?

Whom do they think they're kidding?

Certainly not the Iranians.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told state-run television that the resolution "..cannot affect or limit Iran's peaceful nuclear activities but will discredit the decisions of the Security Council, whose power is deteriorating."

"Ratifying this resolution is an illegal measure outside the jurisdiction of the Security Council and contradicting the regulations of the United Nations charter...this decision cannot stand against the will of the Iranian nation."

In other words, they're going to keep right on going. Especially with that lovely new nuclear facilty schelduled to go online by mid-2007.

Stay tuned...

Merry Christmas!!

Weekend Monkey and I want to wish each and every one of you a merry and joyous Christmas...this is a special time of year and may it be blessed for all of you and yours.

Bush signs bill cutting off US aid to Palestinians

President Bush finally signed the law passed by Congress banning aid to the Hamas government.

The bill was passed in May by a majority of 361 to 37, with 9 abstentions.

"This legislation reflects our continued concern over the failure of the current government to renounce violence and terror, recognize Israel and respect its previous agreements and obligations," a White House official said.

Hey, it only took the Bush Administration 7 months to sign it into law!

According to the bill, for the Palestinian Authority to receive funding, The President must declare to Congress that :

No ministry, agency, or instrumentality of the Palestinian Authority is effectively controlled by Hamas, unless Hamas has publicly acknowledged the Jewish state of Israel's right to exist and "committed itself and is adhering to all previous agreements and understandings with the United States Government, with the Government of Israel, and with the international community," including the Road Map.

That the Hamas-controlled PA has made "demonstrable progress" toward purging individuals with ties to terrorism from its security services, dismantling all terrorist infrastructure with its jurisdiction, confiscating unauthorized weapons, arresting and bringing terrorists to justice, destroying unauthorized arms factories, thwarting and preempting terrorist attacks, and fully cooperating with Israel's security services.

Under this clause, they must also halt "anti-American and anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian Authority-controlled electronic and print media and in schools, mosques, and other institutions it controls, and (replace) educational materials, including textbooks, with materials that promote peace, tolerance, and coexistence with Israel."

Likewise, they must ensure democracy, the rule of law and an independent judiciary, as well as adopting democratic reforms such as financial transparency and accountability of government ministries and operations.

Considering that Abbas and Fatah have done none of these things, even before Hamas took over, it's interesting that the Bush Administration has continued to fund them.

This year, the United States has provided $468 million of your tax dollars in `humanitarian aid' to the Palestinians and Abbas.Including arms and training for Abbas, `presidential guard' and funding that ultimately went for terrorists like the al-Aksa brigades.

I suppose this was a good compromise with the Saudis for the President.

The Mullahs get sued..instead of bombed

A US federal has ruled that the Iranian government is `partly responsible' for 1996 terrorist attack that killed 19 Americans in Saudi Arabia.

The ruling by US District Judge Royce C. Lamberth allows the families of the victims of the Khobar Towers bombing to pursue a suit against Iran to the tune of $254 million in compensation.

This is the first time that a branch of the US government has officially connected Iran with the Khobar Tower bombings.

Former FBI head Louis Freeh, who investigated the bombings testified in the hearings.

Two Iranian government security agencies and senior members of the Iranian government itself provided funding, training and logistical help to terrorists who carried out the attack on a dormitory that housed US Air Force pilots and staff in Saudi Arabia, Freeh testified.

Now, here's the thing. First of all, why isn't this front page news across America? And second, it used to be that a foreign government deliberately targeting and killing our citizens - especially servicemen - was considered an act of war.

Am I missing something? Or do we simply need leadership that gives a damn and refuses to tolerate this?

Attack on London imminent?

According to ABC's The Blotter,British intelligence and law enforcement officials are saying that "It will be a miracle if there isn't a terror attack over the holidays in London."

British police have reportedly been quietly carrying out arrests as they continue to track what they are referring to as at least six active "plots" tied to what they call "al Qaeda of England."

Apparently there have been several foiled attempts previously, that this one has been inthe palnning stages for at least three years, and that the plots are all connected and track back to al Qaeda commanders in Pakistan who have been recruiting and training British citizens of Pakistani descent...just like the 7/7 bombings.

Stay tuned...

Short Takes, 12/21/06

Short takes is Freedom Fighter's way of cramming a lot into a small space..kind of like the young gentleman above. Here's a brief rundown of some of today's items of interest:

• A Virginia congressman refuses to knuckle under to CAIR for stating the obvious..that more immigration means more Muslims and thus more congressmen like ex-Nation of Islam member and CAIR functionary Keith Ellison.

Republican Rep. Virgil Goode's letter to constituents warns that without immigration overhaul "we will have many more Muslims in the United States."

"We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country.

"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America..."

The simple truth. I would only differ with him in solely blaming Clinton, rather than extending it to the current occupant of the White House. Kudos to Congressman Goode for sticking to his statement.

• This just formalizes the jihad already announced, but a Somali Islamic leader has issued a `war decree' against Christian Ethiopia. The jihad marches on in East Africa,just as I predicted.

• The US has apparently knuckled under and given its backing to an extremely watered down UN `sanctions' draft on Iran for its defiance in breaking the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and defying the UN.

The new draft eliminates most of the travel bans originally proposed, exempts the Bushehr plant from oversight and, while it contains language ordering UN members not to ship certain materials to Iran, is very flexible in allowing countries to determine what those strategic materials are and gives them 60 days to report on compliance...which makes that requirement meaningless.

Most of these changes were prompted by the Russians.

To summarize, this is mere bolshoi, a `feel good' piece of nonsense designed to do absolutely nothing...as Ahamadinejad and Iran have no problem in letting the rest of the world know.

I never thought I'd end up quoting Michael Moore, but `shame on you, Mr. Bush.'

• The Sudanese Army is now actively involved in mopping up what's left of Darfur, claiming that they killed 200 Darfur 'rebels' in the region. The toll is likely much higher, and the UN appears unable and/or unwilling to do a single thing about it except perhaps, as Mark Steyn wrote, to send a blimp over the region with a banner saying `you're screwed'.

• Al Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of Jamaah Islamiyah head Abu Bakar Bashir of conspiracy charges in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Jamaah Islamiyah is the local al-Qaeda offshoot.

Bashir only served a mere two years for helping plan the bombings. For more information on Bashir, go here.

• In an interesting development, a UK soldier has been accused of giving secrets to Iran.

Daniel James, was the interpreter for NATO commander in Afghanistan General David Richards, and is said to have communicated with a "foreign power" believed to be Iran, according to MI5 sources..

James has an Iranian mother and speaks fluent Pashtun, the main language of southern Afghanistan. And as an interpreter for the British general who commands some 30,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan, James would be privy to highly sensitive military and political information.

Maybe this explains a few things. Apparently Iran is in a defacto war with Britain as well. Not that the Blair government would want to ever admit that.

• Qassams continue to hit Israel but Olmert is still unresponsive... and that is driving his military and many of his countrymen meshugah, to use the local vernacular.

While Fatah and Hamas are fighting each other for power, nothing gets in the way of trying to kill a few Jews for the cause. Over fifty Qassams have been launched into Israel since the um...ceasefire announced by Hamas and Fatah with Israel.

And yet Olmert is still planning on meeting with Abbas before year's end and giving him even more concessions. Absolutely amazing.

Canada's Steven Harper- how a real leader acts

Canada's Prime Minister Steven Harper has to be on the short list of anti-Jihadi western leaders,along with Australia's John Howard.

He's made it clear that Canada's PM won't deal with 'genocidal' Hamas or Hezbollah.

In a forthcoming interview with CTVm Harper said quite plainly that Canada will not hold talks with Hamas and Hezbollah to try to secure Mideast peace.

"We will not solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem, as difficult as that is, through organizations that advocate violence and advocate wiping Israel off the face of the Earth," Harper said.

"It's unfortunate because with Hamas, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, it has made it very difficult to have dialogue -- and dialogue is ultimately necessary to have peace in the long term -- but we are not going to sit down with people whose objectives are ultimately genocidal."

"I think all of the civilized world is agreed -- and it's not just Canada -- we can't deal with organizations whose principle and only objective is terrorism and the eradication of the other side."

This, by the way, took a certain amount of political courage considering how many Lebanese Hezbollah groupies reside in Canada, particularly in Quebec.

Harper's Conservative government was the first to cut all financial aid and ties to the Hamas government in March, even ahead of the US.

Unlike the US, Canada also suspended its 7.3 million dollars in annual direct aid to the Palestinians...Harper apparently isn't bound to the Saudis like a certain President I could name.

But that's how a real leader acts. You voice your principles and make the actions fit the words.

Weekend Monkey announces the winner in the `You're the Qadi ' contest!!!

Hidey Ho, Primates!! It's time to announce the official winner in the Real Banana's `You're the Qadi' contest and award the prize.

This was a quiz that put you in the chair of an Islamic Qadi and allowed you to take a hack at testing your knowledge of sharia law based on actual cases, just like the real Qadis do...and we had a couple of real jihadis of jurisprudence in ibn-Habish and Ali Booba come up with the questions and answers.

There were a total of twelve entries on site and via e-mail, and the answers were given here.

The scoring catagories were as follows:

0 - 5 - Infidel dog, incapable of higher understanding

6-7 - You show some understanding, but need much instruction in the ways of Allah

8-10 - Ya Allah! Want to fill in for ibn-Habish or Ali Booba in court sometime?


I'm sorry to say it, but none of the entries made it past the Infidel Dog category.
Nevertheless, it is my pleasure to announce that Frankie M, with a score of 5, is the winner!

In awarding our prize, Weekend Monkey needs to provide a little clarification.To tell you the truth, my face is a little redder than usual.

At the Real Banana, we have certain budgetary considerations, and when we offered our prize, we figured that it would be won hands down by a Muslim from the Middle East, who would be able to fully appreciate it. In fact, the prize was actually donated by one of ibn Habish's relatives...scroll down....











TA DAH!!







Frankie, you have won a specially trained camel, Fatima, for your very own! Isn't she gorgeous? I'm not exactly sure what she's specially trained for, but ibn Habish told me that camels like Fatima are very much in demand for those long lonely desert nights.

He also said that according to the Qu'ran, you can't eat the meat afterwards. I have no clue what he meant by that..must be some Arab culture thing.Anyway, Frankie, she's all yours, you lucky infidel!

Like I said, we expected this contest to be won by someone in the locality, so the Real Banana did not budget for shipping costs and can assume no liability or responsibility in this regard...but send an email to me at Wendmonkey@yahoo.com and I'll put you in touch with ibn Habish's brother -in-law so that you can arrange transport for Fatima to your locale. Shouldn't be too expensive, he knows some people.

Like Ali Booba quipped, it's cheaper than getting married...what a jokester!

Congratulations to Frankie M..and to the rest of you, thanks for playing. I think we all learned a lot.

Sayonara, Primates!

Drool, Brittania - Dhimmi-itis in the UK

A number of disturbing items popped up today on the other side of the pond.

For a start, our old friend Muhammed Abdul Bari, head of the jihadi front group the Muslim Council of Britain compared the British government to the Nazis and claimed that it was "unfairly targeting" Muslims, and said that it was undermining their status as "equal citizens".

Bari also rejected Tony Blair's call for Muslims to do more to fight terrorism and essentially said that Islamic terrorism is Britain's fault: "The attempt to place the problem on one doorstep is unfair and counter-productive." He blamed the "relentless barrage" of anti-terrrorism laws, saying they were "hastily formulated responses masquerading as policy....Politicians have failed to consider underlying causes of Muslim disaffection and have reacted hastily by over-legislating."

So, as you see, cousins, it's all your fault when Muslims blow things up.

Even funnier is that you Brits subsidize this kind of blatant treason to the tune of £50,000 a year.

Bari has no actual problem with Nazis,of course..as long as they target Jews. When PM Tony Blair first formed the group and asked them for recommendations on what Britain could do to help British Muslims integrate better into British society, number one on the MCB's list was to abolish
the British Government's recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day...something the MCB still boycotts.

One of the Muslim Council of Britain's pet peeves is the problem British politicians, citizens and police have with the veil and the Muslim femme mask, otherwise known as the niqab.

Here's a little item that caught the eye - one of Britain peace loving Muslims wanted for the murder of a policewoman fled Britain in a veil!

Apparently, Mustaf Jama assumed his sister’s identity, wore a niqab and used her passport to evade the supposedly stringent checks at London's Heathrow airpor..and flew the coop, no doubt chuckling at how stoopid those dhimmis in Britain are. with21 criminal convictions,Mustaf was the most wanted man in Britain.

It's come out that the customs officers at Heathrow were routinely failing to unveil Muslim `females', not wanting to deal with the complaints or lawsuits. Since this dodge has been used before by Islamic terrorists, there's no telling who might be in Britain presently. Or, in the words of the OG, `War is deception'.

Of course, for a great many Brits, the real threat isn't those peace loving Muslims, but Israel.

Today, number of British artists, writers and musicians led by author John Berger wrote a letter to the Guardian (where else!) calling for an artistic boycott of Israel. The list included musician Brian Eno, film director Ken Loach, artist Cornelia Parker, writer Arundhati Roy and about 90 others.

The letter, of course, accused Israel of being an apartheid racist state, killing children, and `stealing Palestinian land' and calls on artists not to exhibit, show or allow their works to be published in Israel and to boycott and demonstrate against any Israeli artists performing or exhibiting in the UK.

Apparently, the boycott has already had a small effect. In August the Edinburgh International Film Festival refused a donation from the Israeli Embassy in London after pro-Palestinian groupies bombarded the organizers with hate mail and phone calls and threatened to demonstrate at the event.

The Irish Film Festival also canceled its sponsorship arrangement with the Israeli Embassy in Dublin for the screening of an Israeli film.

I wonder if the signatories are planning to boycott everything Israeli..including computers, cell phones and high tech medical procedures?

Somehow I don't think so.

The amazing hypocrisy, stupidity and cowardice of people like this shouldn't amaze me anymore..yet it still does.

Some of them simply hate Jews, others have no awareness of the facts and still others have swallowed the cowardly and facile notion that if Israel magically disappeared, the Islamist assault on Britain and the west would magically disappear and their own personal behinds would be protected at the expense of the Jews of Israel.

They couldn't be more wrong...but it is a waste of time to try to convince them of that.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 12/20/06

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




Watcher's Council News: The new seat on the Council has been filled by the fine blog The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY. Check `em out!


Here's this week's lineup:

1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: Ex-president and Jew hater for sale - Jimmy Carter's dirty little secret Ex-president Jimmy Carter has been making the rounds touting his latest book,` Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'. It is full of lies, distortions, outright falsehood and even plagiarism if you believe Carter's ex-aide.

Carter has refused to defend the book's merits or address any criticism, stating merely that he stands by the book and accusing his critics of not being objective because of `ties to The Jewish Lobby', simply being Jews or connected to universities with a high Jewish enrollment.

They won't mention it on the Sunday shows, but there are substantial reasons to question Carter's `objectivity' in this matter. Not only is he a bigot, but he's for sale. You can read about it here.


2. Gates of Vienna: We Live in Interesting Times In this week's essay, Dymphna writes about the burgeoning global middle class..and examines the threat of China in a way youvmight not have thought of before. In fact, she postulates that the US, focused on the Middle East is ignoring the Chinese threat. Good and interesting stuff.


3. Done With Mirrors: Right of Return Calimachus provides a new twist on the `right of return'. Apparently, some Germans have learned from the `Palestinians'. A group of Germans kicked out of what is now Poland after World War II have fled a complaint arguing that their human rights were violated when Eastern Europe's boundaries were redrawn after WWII and they were driven from their homes.

In many respects, this is exactly analogous to what the Arabs want, only more so.

The Germans tried to exterminate the Poles (and succeeded with a large part of the population)were defeated, and now want back what they tried to take by force.

As I pointed out in a comment onsite, in view of what these Germans supported and participated in when it came to Poland and the rest of Europe during WWII, they got off quite lightly. So did the Arabs....the genocidal intention was there, even if they weren't quite as successful as the Germans were.

4. Soccer Dad: What Moynihan and Kirkpatrick saw Soccer Dad writes a fine essay about our ambassadors, past and present to the UN. He focuses on certain `changes' to the UN charter and certain resolutions that were passed during Moynihan and Kirkpatrick's tenure specifically to delegitimize Israel and legitimize Arafat and the PLO, and draws some interesting parallels with today. A must read by Soccer Dad.


5. Right Wing Nut House: A LONG GOODBYE It's a funny thing about our pets - how they become part of our family, and how they become emotionally intuitive with us. Here, Rick writes about his friend Ebony, and reflects on he and his cat's 14 years together.


6. The Sundries Shack: So, Mr. President. What Will It Be? This week, Jimmie Bise examines a column by John Hindraker advising President Bush to follow the model of Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis:

" commandeer a half hour in prime time to tell the American people, and the world, that we have clear evidence of Iran’s involvement in killing American servicemen. Show the captured munitions. Explain exactly how they have contributed to American casualties. Display aerial photos of the training camps.

You should say that Iran’s supplying of weapons in order to kill Americans is an act of war. In the dramatic finale of your speech, announce that thirty minutes earlier, American airplanes stationed in the Middle East took off, their destination, one of the munitions plants or training camps of which you have shown pictures. That training camp, you say, no longer exists. You say that if Iran does not immediately cease all support for, and fomenting of, violence in Iraq, we will continue to strike military targets inside Iran."

Jimmy concurs, but adds the important caveat that the President must ask the American people for an `explicit sacrifice'.

IMO, this is what President Bush should have done after 9/11, and failed to do utterly.

We will have to confront Iran, but I honestly doubt if the American people have sufficient confidence in President Bush's leadership or decision making ability right now to provide the necessary backing...unless he goes to Congress for a declaration of war and puts the nation on a war footing.

And, in all candor, I don't think the president has the courage to be honest enough with the American people to pull something like this off anyway.

An important post by Jimmie, and one that we all need to think about.

7. Rhymes With Right: Should Executions Be Painless? Here, Greg writes about the flap over lethal injections as a method of execution as `cruel and unusual punishment' for murderers. I agree with his take here..let's limit injections to lethal doses of lead out of the business end of a firearm.


8. The Glittering Eye:Directions on Iraq: a Blogging Colloquium (updated) Dave pulls off something interesting here.... essentially, what he's done is to, in his words, set up an extended cross-blog conversation on Iraq with various views represented. Dave made a real effort here and it is well worth checking out.

9. The Education Wonks: One Principal's Pathetic Potty Policy Here, EdWonk writes about a Maryland principal who instituted a draconian bathroom breaks policy at his school.


10. AMERICAN FUTURE - Pinning the Blame on Iraq Marc writes about Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations and his stance on the Sunday Shows that if Iraq turns out badly, it should be seen as Iraq's failure, not as America's failure.

The CFR is a fairly dodgy and suspect group anyway, as far as I'm concerned, and I agree with Marc that mere propaganda is not going to change either the facts on the ground or the perception of them.


11. Andrew Olmsted : Tenets for a Useful Military Major Andrew Olmsted writes about what he thinks a military should consist of and how it should operate in today's counter insurgency environment. The right stuff from a professional..

12. The COLOSSUS OF RHODEY: Death of Pinochet In a debut piece as a member of the Watcher's Council, Hube compares how the Dinosaur media covered the death of Chilean dictator Pinochet with their probable take of Fidel Castro's impending demise... but of course, we know that Pinochet was a fascist and Castro a benevolent man of the people, right?


That's this week's lineup..enjoy