From Canker in Britain: `Not Forgetting the Basilisk'

Brit blogpal Canker has a superb bit entitled Not forgetting the basilisk that should ring a resounding chord in view of what's happening over there right now:

"We were six
(Not forgetting the basilisk).

How did he join us?
Hedgehog says we asked him,
Badger say he just came.
Basilisk says he flew
On the wings of the injustice
Our forefathers
Did to his.

We five voted,
The day he looked at fox,
With his special look.
Badger said `go'
Hedgehog said `stay'
And Basilisk got three votes,
Because of the vote denied his father.

After he ate Hedghog,
Basilisk said
That his practices
Were not to be criticised

They are' he said,
`The result of profound
Cultural differences,
Not to be comprehended
By stupid woodland creatures'"....

Click on the link to read the rest....

Al Gore to run???Cancels all personal appearences

We may be in for some major entertainment with the return of the one and only AlGore.

A litte birdie told me that he has suddenly canceled at least six months worth of lucrative personal appearences as the poster boy of global warming...and somehow, I don't think he did it just to reduce his carbon footprint by saving jet fuel.

Big Al never really got used to the idea of losing to Dubbyah in 2000..I mean, here he was, the Veep in a popular administration who had payed his dues... I mean just ask the Riyadis, Charley Tri or the Sultan of Brunei about who was on the other end of the phone half the time from the White House arranging the details on funneling the cash when Mr. Bill was otherwise engaged.

It should have been all greased, in AlGore's mind,especially running against a knuckle dragger from flyover country. Against AlGore's brilliant persona, Bush should have had problems even carrying Texas.

Now with Dubbya's poll ratings in the toilet and heading for the sewer, the GOP badly divided and Dem frontrunner Hillary Clinton scoring the highest negatives of any of the candidates on either side, AlGore may just be figuring that his time has come.

We'll have to wait and see.....

London Mayor Ken Livingston: Saudi Wahabism `A Major Problem"

Be forewarned...I don't agree with London's Lord Mayor, `Red Ken' Livingstone on much, and he's frequently a fatuous ass, but he's 100% right on this one.

While `Red Ken' made the expected remarks calling for his fellow Brits not to demonize Muslims over the recent bombing attempts, he also had no problem in seeing where a huge part of the problem lies...in the jihad mosques and madrassahs imported into his country and funded by the Saudis.

"We have got to understand that when we talk about the Wahabi strand of Islam, which is very intolerant, our major problem in dealing with it is that it flows out of Saudi Arabia," he said.

He said Wahabi was the official religion of the Saudi royal family, and noted that Riyadh was one of the main buyers of British arms.

"For a very long time, politicians at national level were refusing to be sufficiently critical of the fact that the Saudi regime didn't clean up its act," he said.

"Now we are assured that they have, but there's been decades of literally hundreds of millions of pounds flowing out of Saudi Arabia with official backing into the most intolerant strand of Islam, buying influence all over the world for it.

"I think we have to be absolutely clear that that is not still going on. I don't have access to the sort of MI6 briefing to say whether that's come to an end or not," he said.

Please take notes, Dubbyah. The most unlikely people are realizing what your Saudi and UAE pals have been up to for years, while you and others just winked at it.

Another British bombing...this time at Glasgow Airport.

Two men identified as `South Asians' ( the Britpress euphemism used for `Pakistanis' in articles about Islamic terrorism) drove a flaming SUV into a Glasgow airport terminal Saturday in what British police called a terrorist attack linked to those two car-bomb plots foiled in London the previous day.

"I can confirm that we believe the incident at Glasgow airport is linked to the events in London yesterday," the chief constable in the Glasgow area, Willie Rae.

"There are clearly similarities and we can confirm that this is being treated as a terrorist incident."

A dark green Jeep Cherokee ( notice the color,Islam's holy hue) was used like a battering ram to force open the glass doors of the main entrance to the airport terminal and then exploded in flames.

A witness to the attack said on BBC television that both men had gotten out of the jeep and doused it with gasoline after it crashed into the building, that one of the car’s occupants had been ablaze from head to foot, and as he struggled with the police, "was throwing punches and shouting ‘Allah, Allah.’ "

One of the passengers in the terminal, Stephen Clarkson was one of the first to get his hands on the flaming jihadi before police intervened.

He said: "I managed to knock the Asian fellow to the ground and four police officers got on top of him...his whole body was on fire. He was quite a big fellow and was disorientated otherwise I wouldn't have been able to knock him down."

(Slanje, Jimmy...good work!)

Later the wanna be homicide bomber was taken to Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition with severe burns. When they examined him , the police found him wearing what they describe only as a `suspicious device', most likely a bomb belt. Part of the hospital was immediately evacuated until that `suspicious device' could be removed safely and disposed of.

The UK is now on "critical" alert - its highest terror threat level.

Gordon Brown, a native Glaswegian has warned the British people to be vigilant and told them to remain "united, resolute and strong".

"The first duty of the Government is the security and safety of all the British people. So it's right to raise the levels of security at airports and crowded places.

I want all British people to be vigilant and support the police. I know the British people will stand together united, resolute and strong."

Liverpool's John Lennon airport and Blackpool airport have been closed and security tightened at other UK airports. The US has also installed extra security at its airports.

This comes in the the same week that Gordon Brown became Britain's new Prime Minister, and exactly seven days before the second anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London.

Weekend Monkey and Freedom Fighter do the weekly round up!

Now, here's an exciting new feature for Joshua's Army members...a weekly rundown of the news, featuring me and my close personal friend, Democrat presidential candidate Weekend Monkey!

FF: Hi Monkey...you're in South Carolina today?

WM: Yeah, doing a fundraiser in Columbia with the local PETA chapter.

FF: I knew you could get those people on board, Monkey..good work. I notice that you were, uh...not invited to last night's Democratic debate at Howard University...

WM: @#$@!!!

FF: Umm, from that I take it you're not pleased.

WM: They're a bunch of species-ist,gutless bastards.

FF: So,what did you think of the debate?

WM: Are you kidding, ff? That wasn't a debate, it was a lap dance! Hey, I was waiting for Hillary to break into her black mammy dialect! It was like, who can be more politically correct and wiggle better...I'm surprised nobody wore blackface.

FF: Yeah, a lot of people called it a real pander-fest.

WM: Funny thing is, I can out pander all of `em, with my education plans. That's why they blacklisted me..because they know I stand for something and that scares the bananas right out of them. Anyway, it was a real snoozer, besides.

FF: Y'know,Monkey, they all mentioned pulling out of Iraq, but not one of them mentioned fighting the war or protecting the country...am I wrong?

WM: Nah, you're not wrong. Those schmucks are all in denial. Me, I know how important it is to protect your piece of the jungle.

FF: Especially when you see what happened in London today. What do you think about that?

WM: I think you got it right...it was home grown British jihadis.

FF: Hey, Monkey, you're tight with these people..why are they so crazy, anyway? You ever talk to Ibn Habish and Ali Boobah about it?

WM: I think it's basically turf, ff. The Rushdie thing was like a real insult to them, because they're nervous about losing power and prestige over something like that. It's like a house made out of blocks..pull one out and the whole thing caves in. Next thing you know, women will be voting and driving cars. To them, it's all about power and who's the boss..and agreements are for suckers. That's why they don't work so well in that part of the world.

FF: We should talk about the big news..the amnesty bill crashing and burning.

WM: Well, I think my plan is looking better and better. I knew the primates wouldn't put up with that kind of bogus poop. Nobody with opposible thumbs woulda bought that nonsense. Maybe we should outsource Bush, and find someone to do the jobs the president and congress isn't doing....

FF: Oh, I think some of the congress did pretty good..Jeff Sessions and Jim DeMint for instance. And the others were scared to death..you know that the entire senate phone system shut down?

WM: Whoo!

FF: Did you hear Ann Coulter on TV ? `Hey, he really is a uniter! The whole country can't wait for that nincompoop to leave!'

WM: Hee hee! I tell yah, FF, you may end up being right about them impeaching him. You poop on your friends in the branches below one too many times, they just don't squawk when you fall outta the tree and the hyenas get you...

FF: Well, we'll see...

WM: Hey, FF, I gotta go..time to meet n' greet the primates...

FF: OK, I'll let you get to it..say good bye to Joshua's Army,OK ..By the way, did you know we're up past 100,000 visitors?

WM: Wow,in a year and a half?

FF: Yup. And that includes the early days when 20 visitors a day was a huge turnout.

WM: Not bad, FF. You couldn'ta done it with out me! Bye bye everybody, have a great weekend,and if you can't be good , be careful! Take it easy, FF.

FF: Take care Monkey. And dittos to all of you from me. Have a good one, see you in 24 or so..

Democrats try to close Club Gitmo

The House Democrats, emboldened by the Supreme court decision to consider whether to allow Gitmo detainees to appeal their `convictions' in US courts are moving rapidly. They want to cut President Bush's budget for Guantanamo Bay prison in half, thus beating the Bush administration in shutting down the little tropical resort we have there for Islamic terrorists and POWs.

The White House has already said that Bush plans to close the resort and move the prisoners to, say Fort Leavenworth.By forcing the issue, the House Democrats can thus take credit.In July, the House Appropriations Committee is expected to propose funding only half of Guantanamo's budget in the military's annual spending bill.

"What I'm most concerned about is that we uphold a rule of law and not give our enemies a compelling talking point that we are not true to our principles," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va.a member of the panel's subcommittee that oversees military funding. "As long as we detain people indefinitely without charging them, it's a potent weapon in the propaganda war against this country. And that's what Guantanamo has become."

( Moran actually admitted we have enemies??!!??)

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, declined to confirm details of the House funding proposal. But he said: "Do I think it should be closed? Damn right I do."

Our old friends Senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, are working on similar legislation to close Guantanamo from the Senate end.

In a June letter to the president, congressman and presidential candidate Duncan Hunter, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee weighed in with his usual common sense saying that any plans to close Guantanamo were "misguided" and "dangerous."

"Once these detainees are brought onto U.S. soil, the detainees may acquire minimal rights under the Constitution, including the right to protest their detentions in court" said Hunter "This change in status will inevitably spawn a completely new round of litigation."

Let's all get a clue, shall we? These creeps are not `detainees' or `prisoners' or `convicts'...most of them are POW's taken on the battlefield. Since when are we giving POW's the rights of American citizens?

And what's more, they are an intelligence resource, which is what Club Gitmo is really all about.


Club Gitmo has been around five years, and in that time, a certain numbers of the jihadis incarcerated there have been `turned'. it's not only what they know, but their knowledge of how al Qaeda and other jihad organizations work, their knowledge of the players.

Just like Mob informants, they are a resource to help our intel figure out who's who and what's what as new information comes to light. And with them jailed, we don't have to worry about them being hit, or revealing the lines our investigations are proceeding along.

As Duncan Hunter said, this is `misguided and dangerous'..to say the least.

Clinton trashes missile defense plan on the eve of US -Russian summit

True to form, Mr. Bill came out and derided the U.S. missile shield plan... right before Putin and Bush are scheduled to have a summit on the matter.

What a class act. Perhaps the Russians are paying his `consultant fees' nowadays instead of Dubai or the Chinese.

Hamas TV has `Jew' kill off Mickey Mouse double

You all remember `Farfur' the Mickey Mouse Hamas look alike given the job of teaching Palestinian children to hate Jews and become jihad `martyrs'?

Well, Hamas TV Killed him off .

Guess how?

In the final show, little Farfur was beaten to death by an actor posing as an Israeli. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a "terrorist."

"Farfour was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed "by the killers of children," she added.

Station officials said Friday that Farfour got the axe to make room for new programs. Station manager Mohammed Bilal said he did not know what would be shown instead.

Maybe Jews killing Palestinian children to make matzoh?

These freaks don't need a state...they need mass psychiatric care and a well guarded asylum.

Car bombs found in the middle of London

Two London car bombs loaded with gas and nails were found today in London's West End.

Whole blocks of central London and famous landmarks like Piccadilly and Hyde Park were cleared after the first car bomb was found early today. Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Clarke linked the two bombs, and said that the cars, packed with gasoline cannisters, two gas cylinders and nails would have caused significant loss of life if it had detonated.

Hours before London's bomb squad dismantled them, a message appeared on one of the most widely used jihadist Internet forums,"al Hesbah" chat room, the saying: "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed."

The posting mentioned the knighthood of Salmon Rushdie, along with other `grievances.'

"We say to Britain: The Emir of al Qaeda, Sheikh Osama, has once threatened you, and he carried out his threats. Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed," the message reads.

This attempted Islamist bombing in London's Haymarket area came one week before the second anniversary of the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people on London's transportation network...

Also a London jury was expected to hand down a verdict in the case against the five jihadis charged with trying to blow up city buses and trains in 2005. This was the second bombing, the one that failed to come off.

The car bomb devices were crude,but effective and had a fairly amateur look to them.

If that's true, I'd guess that they're the work of Britain's home grown jihadis, and not professionals.

One thing I noticed about a lot of the press reports, particularly in the Beeb and CNN was an attempt to connect this with Iraq, such as saying that devices of this type were `perfected in the Iraq insurgency.'

The context,of course, is that if we weren't in Iraq, none of this would be going on.

Actually, these reporters are wrong. Tactics like these, as well as virtually every tactic used by Islamic terrorists against civilians were first tried out against Israel, long before 9/11 or the Iraq invasion.

Watcher's Council Results, 6/29/07

The Council has spoken! A complete list of results can be found at the site of our fearless leader, the infamous Watcher of Weasels


Both winners this week focused on the foibles of the dinosaur media, a never ending source of material it seems.

The winner this week was Bookworm Room: A Stunningly Dishonest Piece of Advocacy Writing About the Supreme Court Ms. Bookworm's outstanding evisceration of one of the dinosaur media's jackals' agenda driven attack on three decisions of the Roberts Supreme Court that involve outright dishonesty and a total disregard for journalistic standards..no new tale to tell, eh? Congrats to Ms. Bookworm for an outstanding piece of writing and a well-deserved win.


In second place, for the second week in a row was was Cheat Seeking Missiles: The Most Ridiculous Story of The Year (2) Laer's extremely well written dissection of a piece of drivel masquerading as serious analysis of the Iraq War. Congrats Laer!

For non-Council, the winner was The Rupture: Seraphic Secrets One of my choices (Dr. Sanity's was my other pick). Robert J. Avrech corrects some of the recurrent myths on Gaza and provided some needed clarity in a fine bit of writing.


In second place for non-Council was Muslim Speaks at My Church, Calls Me “Naive.” Also “Tough.”- Anwyn's Notes in the Margin. Anwyn pens an extremely revealing first hand account of experiencing Islamist taqiyya (lying to non-believers to advance Islam) at an event involving a Muslim speaker at her church. As Joshua's Army members know, most Muslims can justify being two-faced and lying to non-Muslims in any circumstances with taqiyya.

Of course, the bridge building always only works one way. Non-Muslims would rarely be allowed to enter a mosque(unless they're propective reverts), let alone speak at one about their faith.


Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

Fairness Doctrine voted out of existence!!

Yeah, the hits just keep on coming.

Enraged at the thought that their inferiors might actually have the audacity to voice their opinions on Congress' sleazy backroom dealing and ticked off beyond measure at the failure of their attempt to push amnesty for illegal aliens down the country's throat, a number of politicians vented about the sinister influence of talk radio and declared that they were interested in reviving an antique piece of claptrap known as the Fairness Doctrine.

This would involve foisting a whole slew of Leftist talk shows on the airwaves whether they got ratings or not, in an effort to shut down - and shut up - the new media.

Among the miscreants who voiced approval of this blatant attempt to defy the First Amendment were John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi.

One time talk show host Mike Pence,now in Congress deserves major credit for nipping this in the bud. he quickly crafted a bill barring the FCC from imposing the Fairness Doctrine in the future...and the House voted in favor, 309-115.

CORRECTION: The Pence amendment does not kill off the Fairness Doctrine forever..just for the duration of this congress, since it was attached to a spending bill. He's working on legislation to make it permanent.

Bush and the Congress head towards a Constitutional showdown

Nasty stuff in Washington today for President Bush.

Aside from the crashing and burning of the amnesty legislation he wasp ushing so hard for, it looks he's headed for a real fistfight with Congress over executive privilege.

As you know, the Democrats in control of Congress have been feverishly searching for something, anything to hang on the president that might spell i-m-p-e-a-c-h-m-e-n-t.

The president today asserted executive privilege today and flat out rejected congressional demands for documents related to the firing of those eight federal prosecutors.

Bush's attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor. Congressional panels want the documents to continue their investigations of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"With respect, it is with much regret that we are forced down this unfortunate path which we sought to avoid by finding grounds for mutual accommodation," White House counsel Fred Fielding said in a letter to the chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. "We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege. Instead, we are at this conclusion."

The deadline for surrendering the subpoened documents was today. The White House also said that Miers and Taylor would not be allowed to testify next month, as directed by the subpoenas, which were issued June 13. This could end up with contempt citations and a much wider battle in federal court over separation of powers.

"Increasingly, the president and vice president feel they are above the law," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. He called the president's actions "Nixonian stonewalling."

His House counterpart, Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said Bush's assertion of executive privilege was "unprecedented in its breadth and scope" and displayed "an appalling disregard for the right of the people to know what is going on in their government."

Well, at least unprecendented since Mr. Bill left office. Conyers and Leahy both have a livid,pulsing personal hatred of Bush, and they will not be dislodged without a fight.

In his letter, Fred Fielding tried to make the case that Bush had "attempted to chart a course of cooperation" by releasing more than 8,500 pages of documents and sending Gonzales and other senior officials to testify before Congress. The White House also offered a compromise in which Miers, Taylor, White House political strategist Karl Rove and their assistents would be interviewed by Judiciary Committee aides in closed- door sessions, without transcripts.

Leahy and Conyers rejected that offer out of hand. I mean, why accept soemthing like that when you can give the impression of official `corruption'?


In his letter, Fielding explained Bush's position on executive privilege this way: "For the President to perform his constitutional duties, it is imperative that he receive candid and unfettered advice and that free and open discussions and deliberations occur among his advisors and between those advisors and others within and outside the Executive Branch."

The Democrats are looking to pick off Gonzales and say that firing the prosecutors last winter was improper. The White House says U.S. attorneys are political appointees who can be hired and fired for almost any reason.

And this isn't all, folks.

Just yesterday, Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's office, demanding documents pertaining to the warrantless surveillance program the New York Times outed, to the delight of our enemies.

The Judiciary Committeess also subpoenaed the National Security Council. Leahy added that, like Conyers, he would consider pursuing contempt citations in the event of a refusal.

As I predicted right after the 2006 elections,Washington is becoming a town to settle personal scores rather than a town to actually do anything constructive since the Democrats took control of the committees.

The Democrats want Bush's head, especially as the 2008 elections draw closer. And remember that Nancy Pelosi is number three on the list to take the presidentcy after Bush and Cheney.

I give President Bush no more than a 60% chance of finishing out his term. He may live to regret being so cavalier towards the people that put him in office.

The Rats Eat their Own; Fatah falling apart in mutual recriminations

It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of thieving, murderous thugs.

Fatah is apparently rife with accusations and counter accusations on `who lost Gaza'..and it's splitting them even further into factions.

Hani al- Hassan is an old line Fatah gangleader, an adviser to Palestinian Authority capo del tutti Mahmoud Abbas and an ex PA interior minister. He was fired from his job today after a particularly harsh interview with Jihad TV al Jazeera in which he criticized a number of other Fatah gang leaders for the Gaza debacle.

Apparently there is a lot of dissension among the natives, who see Abbas, quite rightly, as a really weak leader who could end up getting them killed and losing them their West Bank turf.

Hassan and some of the Fatah old guard from the Arafat days want to talk to Hamas,have a mob sitdown and try and work things out so they can go back to concentrating on their favorite sport of killing Jews..except Abbas and his closest pals, stuffed with hubris from the embrace ( and cash) they've gotten from the Americans, the EU and the Olmert government absolutely refuse.

According to a long time source of mine in the Palestinian Authority, Abbas is also not sharing the booty around properly, and some of the younger Fatah guys are screaming for `reform' - which in this context means a fair share of the swag and some new faces in positions of power.

And Abbas didn't improve things by appointing his old crony Zakariya al-Agha to the largely ( at this point) ceremonial job as Fatah's top boss in charge of Gaza...or by threatening to disarm some of the shooters in the al Aksa martyr's brigade if they didn't follow his orders.

Hassan, in his interview put the blame for what happened in Gaza squarely on Fatah gang boss and Gaza kingpin Muhammad Dahlan.

"He [Dahlan] exploited the strong political influence he wields to implicate all parties, and is fuelling the situation in the West Bank now" he said.

Hassan said Dahlan only had influence because of backing by the United States and Israel. ( probably true, actually..)

"Dahlan used the money he received from Israel and the US to pay the salaries of up to 2,000 officers and thus control security apparatuses," he said.

Remember last week when I told you that Dahlan was skimming off part of the aid money for himself?

"He [Abbas] named Dahlan as his national security adviser and a supervisor of the security forces despite the fact that he's a member of parliament," he said. "Abbas also took for granted Dahlan's advice to isolate Hamas, which gave the impression that the Palestinian Authority has forged an unholy alliance with Israel to isolate and punish the Palestinian people for voting for Hamas."

After the interview, Fatah gunmen went over to Hassan's house in Ramallah and shot it up...which kinda gives a uniquely `Palestinian' twist to the term `being fired.'

Abbas also got rid of General Abu Nidal Maz'al, the commander of the Abbas' Presidential Guard in the Gaza Strip, for surrendering to Hamas, which brings the total up to seven `generals' and `commanders' who've been bounced off the payroll for their antics in Gaza against Hamas. These guys are basically sacrificial lambs for Dahlan, who is still US General Keith Dayton's mainsqueeze. All of them did the same thing, directing the so-called `fighting' from the safety of the West Bank via cellphone.

And all of them have their own clan followings, who can be expected to not take this kind of demotion lightly.

Abbas' Fatah followers,of course, had nothing but the ol' badmouth for Hassan after the interview.

"Hani al-Hassan has plunged to the level of the Hamas murderers, who staged a bloody coup in the Gaza Strip," said Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a top Abbas aide. "By making such remarks, Hassan has distanced himself from Fatah and has chosen to side with the murderers."

Azzam al-Ahmed, head of Fatah's parliamentary list in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said "We will form a commission of inquiry to investigate Hassan," he said. "President Abbas has decided to dismiss Hassan from his job. What Hassan said does not represent Fatah."

Ahmed also decided to bad mouth Al-Jazeera, describing the network as a "mouthpiece for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood." Now,Joshua's Army members, where have you heard that before, hmmm?

Samir Mashharawi, one of Dahlan's boys, accussed Hassanof being a traitor, no less.

"Hassan was one of the Fatah leaders who gave Hamas a lot of information," Mashharawi said. "He was in touch with [Syria-based Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal and convinced him that Fatah was preparing to wage war against Hamas."

Bottom line: Abbas seems to be alienating a lot of the Fatah mob lately.

He may not end up being around long enough to be `supported' bythe likes of President Bush, Condi Rice and Ehud Olmert.

Guess where your president was Wednesday morning...insh'allah

... rededicating the Saudi funded Islamic Center of Washington D.C.

That's right..our war president took a little time off from hawking the amnesty legislation to the senate to participate in ceremonies honoring a wahabist outpost within spitting distance of the White House.

To get a good sense on what the Saudis push in mosques like this, here's an excerpt from the report on hate literature found in Saudi Mosques, courtesy of Freedom House:

* Various Saudi government publications gathered for this study, most of which are in Arabic, assert that it is a religious obligation for Muslims to hate Christians and Jews and warn against imitating, befriending, or helping them in any way, or taking part in their festivities and celebrations;

* The documents promote contempt for the United States because it is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law. They condemn democracy as un-Islamic;

* The documents stress that when Muslims are in the lands of the unbelievers, they must behave as if on a mission behind enemy lines. Either they are there to acquire new knowledge and make money to be later employed in the jihad against the infidels, or they are there to proselytize the infidels until at least some convert to Islam. Any other reason for lingering among the unbelievers in their lands is illegitimate, and unless a Muslim leaves as quickly as possible, he or she is not a true Muslim and so too must be condemned. For example, a document in the collection for the “Immigrant Muslim” bears the words “Greetings from the Cultural Attache in Washington, D.C.” of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, and is published by the government of Saudi Arabia. In an authoritative religious voice, it gives detailed instructions on how to “hate” the Christian and Jew: Never greet them first. Never congratulate the infidel on his holiday. Never imitate the infidel. Do not become a naturalized citizen of the United States. Do not wear a graduation gown because this imitates the infidel;

* One insidious aspect of the Saudi propaganda examined is its aim to replace traditional and moderate interpretations of Islam with extremist Wahhabism, the officially-established religion of Saudi Arabia. In these documents, other Muslims, especially those who advocate tolerance, are condemned as infidels. The opening fatwa in one Saudi embassy-distributed book, published by the Saudi Air Force, responds to a question about a Muslim preacher in a European mosque who taught that it is not right to condemn Jews and Christians as infidels. The Saudi state cleric’s reply rebukes the Muslim cleric: “He who casts doubts about their infidelity leaves no doubt about his.” Since, under Saudi law, “apostates” from Islam can be sentenced to death, this is an implied death threat against the tolerant Muslim imam, as well as an incitement to vigilante violence;

* Sufi and Shiite Muslims are viciously condemned;

* For a Muslim who fails to uphold the Saudi Wahhabi sect’s sexual mores (i.e. through homosexual activity or heterosexual activity outside of marriage), the edicts published by the Saudi government’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and found in American mosques advise, “it would be lawful for Muslims to spill his blood and to take his money;”

* Regarding those who convert out of Islam, the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs explicitly asserts, they “should be killed;”

* Saudi textbooks and other publications in the collection, propagate a Nazi-like hatred for Jews, treat the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion as historical fact, and avow that the Muslim’s duty is to eliminate the state of Israel;

The Washington DC Islamic Center is identified specifically in the report as a center of this kind of hatred.

Aside from the incongruity of a president who has sworn to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land speaking at a place like this, especially on religious tolerance, the current occupant of the White house has big plans...he wants to appoint a US envoy to one of the world’s most bigoted groups, the Organization of the Islamic Conference:

"To underscore America’s respect for the Muslim faith here at home, I came to this Center six days after the 9/11 attacks to denounce incidents of prejudice against Muslim Americans. (Applause.) Today I am announcing a new initiative that will improve mutual understanding and cooperation between America and people in predominately Muslim countries.

I will appoint a special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. This is the first time a President has made such an appointment to the OIC. (Applause.) Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives from Muslim states and will share with them America’s views and values. This is an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate to Muslim communities our interest in respectful dialogue and continued friendship...."

For those of you not familiar with the OIC, let's revisit a few highlights:

• The conference is the place where Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed received a standing ovation for a keynote speech delivered on October 16th, 2003 that was nothing less than a declaration of jihad against the west. In it he declared that `Jews run the world' and essentially said in so many words that the destruction of Israel was a goal towards a larger pan-Islamic caliphate, and that essentially, the US and Europe will only accept Islam as their master after their current masters, the Jews, are destroyed.
  

• In 2004, just after the massacre of children at Beslan, the OIC famously defined Islamic terrorism as `legitimate resistance' and refused to cooperate with the UN in condemning it.
  

• In 2005, the OIC called for universal application of sharia and demanded a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
  

• Also in 2005, Iranian president Ahmadinejad got a standing ovation speaking at the OIC in Mecca, denying that the Holocaust occurred, calling Israel a `tumor' and demanding that the world 'move the Jews to Germany'. And in 2006 Ahmadinejad called for “the elimination of the Zionist regime,” and recieved widespread applause in a speech at the OIC that year. Needless to say, the OIC failed to condemn this is the least.
  

• In 2006, during the Danish cartoon seethefest, the OIC passed a resolution demanding that the UN pass a resolution bannning `attacks on religion' ( read `Islam) with sanctions for violators.
  

• This same organization, the OIC has an office, the Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel, entirely devoted to enforcing a boycott contrary to US law. And they recently passed a resolution condemning Islamophobia and `insults to Islam' as `worst form of terrorism’. And they have never unequivocally condemned the terrorism that occurred here in America on 9/11, in Britain, in Madrid or indeed, anywhere else.
  

• The OIC, as one of the largest voting blocs in the UN has repeatedly obstructed any actions against Sudan for the genocide in Darfur.

• The OIC consistently supports Hamas, and Hezbollah, groups identified as terrorist organizations under US law.

This is the racist, anti-American group our president legitimized and wants to send an envoy to, `to listen and to learn'.

So, let's reiterate: the president of the United States shows up to make some sort of statement on moderate Islam and religious tolerance, in a wahabist mosque with representatives of unindicted terrorist co-conspirators CAIR , the Saudi Islamic Society of North America ( ISNA) that's used as a front to fund and export this kind of jihad to America present. And concludes his remarks by stating that he's going to send an American envoy to the Heart of Darkness `to listen and to learn.'

This is apparently President Bush's latest foray into influencing Muslim hearts and minds..by dealing with the same people that are spending millions to radicalize Muslims world wide and undermine our society.

I still remember what President Bush said on September 20th, 2001 in his speech to Congress and the nation.

He told us that Islam was a religion of peace, which was untrue. And he also made a point of saying ( and perhaps he truly believed it) that al-Qaeda was `a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics.' And as we've seen, that was also untrue. While there are many Muslims who reject what al Qaeda stands for, there are also a significant number of Muslims who think otherwise.

The president made a point of telling Muslims how much we respect them...but he did not once call for America's Muslims to come forward and out the jihadis in their midst or provide even so much as an `800' tip line as a framework for them to do so. Instead, the president preferred to enable people like CAIR and the Wahabi institutions here in the US....like the Washington DC Islamic Center.

The president once also said this:

" We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime." (emphasis mine)

Remember the Bush doctrine?

Had President Bush actually done this, with no equivocating, this war would have been over long ago and the president's reputation very different from what it is today. The fact is, he didn't,and he continues along the same path.

Unfortunately, that nuanced response to naked aggression has merely exhorted our enemies in the Religion of Peace to even greater efforts. You have to remember, the president just wasn't heard, or judged, by us....then or now.

While we're exporting Coca cola and I-Pods to our enemies, they're exporting jihad ideology here. And we're enabling them.

The irony is, in a word monstrous. But obviously, not for this president....

Amnesty Bill Chrashes and Burns...

Well America, you did it! The US Senate this morning voted 4 against advancing the amnesty bill to a vote.The tally was 46 to 53, 14 votes shy of the 60 needed to end debate. Here's the role call:

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Akaka (D-HI), Yea Alexander (R-TN), Nay Allard (R-CO), Nay Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Yea Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Nay Boxer (D-CA), Yea Brown (D-OH), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Nay Bunning (R-KY), Nay Burr (R-NC), Nay Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Cardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Clinton (D-NY), Yea Coburn (R-OK), Nay Cochran (R-MS), Nay Coleman (R-MN), Nay Collins (R-ME), Nay Conrad (D-ND), Yea Corker (R-TN), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Nay Dodd (D-CT), Yea Dole (R-NC), Nay

Domenici (R-NM), Nay Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Yea Ensign (R-NV), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Nay Feingold (D-WI), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Nay Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea Levin (D-MI), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Nay

McConnell (R-KY), Nay Menendez (D-NJ), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Nay Murray (D-WA), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Nay Obama (D-IL), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Yea Reid (D-NV), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Nay Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay Smith (R-OR), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Nay Sununu (R-NH), Nay Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay Warner (R-VA), Nay Webb (D-VA), Nay Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Yea

And here are the 18 senators who switched their votes between Tuesday and Thursday, thanks to your phone calls, e-mails and faxes...the Senate actually had to shut down its' phone system and limit access!

• Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico
• Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Missouri
• Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
• Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas
• Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina
• Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota
• Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine
• Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico
• Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada
• Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa
• Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky
• Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
• Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas
• Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska
• Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio
• Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia
• Sen. James Webb, D-Virginia


This should be a clear message to Washington and the political elites that the American people want the borders fixed and to see concrete evidence of enforcement of our laws before they start worrying about immigration issues. Here's one senator who gets it, Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who said his "no" vote sent a crystal clear message "that the American people want us to start with enforcement, both at the border and at the workplace, and don't want promises. They want action, they want results, they want proof, because they've heard all the promises before."

The sheer arrogance in the way this bill was rushed through the Senate in an attempt to shove it down America's throat before anyone knew what hit them is mindboggling.

And the effort to mix the idea of border security with immigration and economic issues in a post 9/11 world amazes me.It deserved to be defeated.

As with all victories, there will be some consequences. The fact that proponents of this flawed legislation chose to go below the belt by playing the race card and painting those who legitimately questioned this folly as bigots may resonate with part of the Hispanic electorate..and of course, those politicians that threw this garbage into the mix, especially the Republicans, will of course blame the victims of their vitriol if there are any consequences at the polls. And given whose running the senate election campaign committees in both parties, those senators who had the courage to defy the elites and listen to their constituents can expect some spiteful retaliation.

Moreover, the same spitefulness will likely ensure that nothing gets done in terms of border security until the next president takes office...and Dianne Feinstein,Harry Reid, Mel Martinez, Ted Kennedy and Lindsay Graham have promised us as much.

Another thing we can probably look forward to is a real attempt to muzzle talk radio and the internet.The elites dislike it when the light is shined on their attempted back room dealings.

That attempt will undoubtedly be unsuccessful, but as always, freedom carries the burden of watchfulness.

For now, however, we can congratulate ourselves on a well-deserved victory.

Iran prepares for war with gasoline rationing and troop incursions into Iraq

Iranians torch a gas station in protest against rationing.


We may be in denial here in America about whether we're at war or not, but our Iranian friends certainly aren't.

Amid rumors of various troop incursions in parts of Iraq, the mullahs took the concrete step of immediately instituting drastic gasoline rationing, which led to an outbreak of rioting that included the torching and vandalizing of a number of gas stations. The rationing was announced just two hours before it went into effect:

"From midnight tonight, gasoline for all motor vehicles and motorcycles will be rationed," state television said in an announcement quoting the Oil Ministry.

This has received a fair amount of coverage, with a lot of speculation that this is the beginning of some kind of revolt against the mullahs. It's nothing of the kind.

The regime instituted this for one reason and one reason only...as a preparation for war. And it wouldn't do this unless it was confident in its ability to control the Iranian `street'

Iran is a major crude oil producer, albeit with declining output, but gasoline is another matter. Corruption and antiquated refineries mean that Iran needs to import over 40% of its gasoline, making this a major Achilles heel for the regime in any military confrontation, as I've noted before.

To try and counteract this, the Iranians are feverishly trying to convert military vehicles to natural gas, and have now instituted rationing in a desperate attempt to build up some reserves to try and provide the Republican Guards with enough fuel to perform in what they feel is an imminent attack by the US to curtail their nuclear program and keep their power stations and water supplies running in case of a war.

That's the Iranian bogeyman we're so afraid of confronting..scrounging for gasoline!

The Republican Guard is also apparently deploying troops in or near Iraq, with one of my sources reporting on a concentration adjacent to the Iranian province of Khuzestan:

The region, right near the Shatt al-Arab, contains a number of oil fields and Republican Guard bases and would likely be one of the first fronts in a US - Iran war. The Republican Guards reported in the region would attempt to repel US attempts to sabotage and destroy those facilities.

While a number of people have rightly been skeptical of the British Sun's account of Iranian forces crossing the Iraqi border and attacking British forces there, it's worth noting that the Republican Guard has deployed troops and operatives in Iraq before, some of whom we have in custody...and in conjunction with the abrupt rationing, the crackdown on dissidents and the various deployments and training going on with their military, it's obvious that the mullahs feel that something is right around the corner.

Let's hope so. The time to stomp these cockroaches is now, before they get the more advanced toys they're so fervidly seeking.

Suicidal...

The Latest on the Amnesty legislation

As most of you know by now, the initial vote to continue to debate this bill passed in the Senate 64-35, which means that the initial effort to kill this horror of a bill has failed.

A number of Senators who previously voted to kill this switched sides, including Kit Bond
( R-MO), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Here's the roll call:

Akaka (D-HI), Yea Alexander (R-TN), Nay Allard (R-CO), Nay Barrasso (R-WY), Nay Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Yea Bingaman (D-NM), Yea Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Yea Brown (D-OH), Yea Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Nay Burr (R-NC), Yea Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Yea Cardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), Yea Casey (D-PA), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Clinton (D-NY), Yea Coburn (R-OK), Nay Cochran (R-MS), Nay Coleman (R-MN), Yea Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Yea Corker (R-TN), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Nay Dodd (D-CT), Yea Dole (R-NC), Nay

Domenici (R-NM), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Yea Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), Nay Feingold (D-WI), Yea Feinstein (D-CA), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Nay Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Yea Hatch (R-UT), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay Inouye (D-HI), Yea Isakson (R-GA), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Not Voting Kennedy (D-MA), Yea Kerry (D-MA), Yea Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea Kohl (D-WI), Yea Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea Leahy (D-VT), Yea Levin (D-MI), Yea Lieberman (ID-CT), Yea Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea McCaskill (D-MO), Nay

McConnell (R-KY), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Yea Mikulski (D-MD), Yea Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Yea Nelson (D-FL), Yea Nelson (D-NE), Yea Obama (D-IL), Yea Pryor (D-AR), Yea Reed (D-RI), Yea Reid (D-NV), Yea Roberts (R-KS), Nay Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Yea Sanders (I-VT), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Yea Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay Smith (R-OR), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Yea Sununu (R-NH), Nay Tester (D-MT), Nay Thune (R-SD), Nay Vitter (R-LA), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Yea Warner (R-VA), Yea Webb (D-VA), Yea Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Ye

Simply disgraceful.

A number of the flipfloppers had various reasons for jumping the fence, mostly geared around pet amendments they were promised if they allowed this to go to debate. A couple of these amendments have already bitten the dust today ; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's (r-Tx) to require that illegal immigrants go home within two years in order to qualify for one of those renewable Z visas and Jim Webb's (d-VA), that would have allowed only those who had been in the country for at least four years to gain lawful status.

Once again, the amnesty proponents in the Senate are trying to rush through this flawed legislation. Votes on key amendments will continue today - but under a complex and controlled procedure designed to overcome objections by opponents of the bill. It will allow votes only on a limited list of 26 amendments before the next crucial vote on the bill tommorow, which needs 60 votes to cut off a filibuster.

President Bush is reportedly manning the phones non-stop, and Homeland Security Chief Nicholas Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Guttierez have reportedly virtually taken up residence on Capitol Hill, since they apparently have nothing better to do but lobby for this nonsense no matter what the majority of the American people think.

If you care about preserving our Republic, don't wait another minute. Call, fax and e-mail your senators and let them know that if they pass this abomination, not only will you not vote for them, but you will work for and give money to their opponents.

This transcends Liberal vs. Conservative and Democrat vs. Republican - DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!

Syria openly reinforcing and re-arming anti-government forces in Lebanon

Nahr el-Bared battleground...


The proxy war between the US-backed Siniora government and the Iranian/Syrian backed Palestinian Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon continues, with no end in sight.

The Syrian Army is openly sending reinforcements, arms, fuel and food to Fatah al-Islam in its main base at Nahr el-Bared, with the reinforcements mainly Palestinian fighters under their control.

In addition, the Syrians have sent forces into northern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, the mountains north of Tripoli and south of Beirut.

UNIFIL is doing absolutely nothing to stop the Syrians from doing this, or to prevent the ongoing Hezbollah buildup - except maybe lying about it.

UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano went on record a week or so ago telling the world that 'Hezbollah not rearming in south Lebanon' and that all is well, no matter what the Shin Bet and the IDF are saying...and then an independent UN report came out a week later that said in no uncertain terms that arms smuggling into Lebanon is unstoppable, and advised Lebanon to `quickly establish a mobile force to intercept any flow of weapons',something UNIFIL was supposed to do!

It was also a fairly frank admission that UNIFIL has failed utterly in enforcing UN Resolution 1709.

Iran's proxy Hezbollah is not involved in the assault on the Siniora government at the moment, except covertly and politically. They are likely saving up for a confrontation with Israel this summer.

The `objective' BBC employs Hamas terrorist in Gaza

Here's a nice bit...the Beeb has at least one Hamas terrorist on its payroll!

Last week, at the specific request of the BBC, Israel let a Hamas member enter Gaza , against the advice of the Shin Bet, who identified the employee as a Hamas operative.

The Beeb wanted him to enter Gaza because they believed he could assist in negotiating the release of pro-Palestinian British reporter Alan Johnston.

"We did not want to be blamed for holding up Johnston's release," one official said, explaining the decision to allow the Hamas member into Gaza.

"If we had rejected the request the British would be able to use our decision as an excuse for why Johnston is not being released."

Now, Hamas is officially a proscribed terrorist group under British Law, and the Beeb denies that it employs any Hamas members.

But if that's so,then why would the Beeb have reason to believe that he would have influence with Hamas?

In view of the BBC's frequently demonstrated credibility, I think I prefer to go with the Shin Bet's version of things.

Truly despicable.

Well,it's official -Tony Blair named `Middle East Peace Envoy'

As I predicted, Tony Blair was named as the special Middle East peace envoy for the so-called Quartet..the US, the EU, Russia and the UN.

"Following discussions among the principals, today the quartet dealing with the Middle East is announcing the appointment of Tony Blair as the quartet's representative," said UN spokesperson Michele Montas.

Apparently representatives of the `Quartet' - clinched the deal offering Blair the post yesterday.If the UN and Russia went along with it, that pretty much says it all.

Of course, Blair repeated the mantra and the cathecism of the Quartet:

"The absolute priority is to try to give effect to what is now the consensus across the international community that the only way of bringing stability and peace in the Middle East is a two state solution.... this means a state of Israel which is secure and confident in its security, and a Palestinian state that is not merely viable in terms of its territory but in terms of its institutions and governance".

This is a ridiculous choice if the envoy is supposed to be impartial and work for a real and lasting peace between the parties, considering the historically pro-Palestinian and pro-Arab stance of Blair's Labour government in Britain, the de facto arms embargo on Israel that even extended to ejection mechanisms designed to save the lives of Israeli pilots and the Labour Party's dependence on Muslim votes to stay in power.

Of course, it's not at all ridiculous if the idea is to have an `impartial' envoy aiding in squeezing Israel on dangerous and one sided strategic concessions in exchange for Arab assurances.

That's certainly worked well for Israel and the US in the past, hasn't it?

Watcher's Council Nominations, 6/27/07

Every week, the Watcher's Council members 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




Some excellent pieces this week, as usual...OK, here's this week's Council lineup:

1. JoshuaPundit: General Petraeus: Fighting On Two Fronts, Winning..and Playing For Time Most of youknow my views onthe sadly mismanaged Iraq War, but something astonishing is going on lately in Iraq, and it's a story the dinosaur media is ignoring, except for the daily casualty lists. For the first time since our original invasion, we are fighting a sustained offensive, with a detailed, meticulous strategy - and winning decisively.

The architect of this is General David Petraeus, and, with a little luck, and perhaps some corresponding moves by the Bush Administration to finally confront Iran, we have a fighting chance, just maybe, after 4 years of mismanagement and lost opportunities to turn this into a decisive victory.

The other side of this, of course, is the second front in this war, the home front...and here, General Petraeus is in real trouble, with President Bush's political opponents inserting arbitrary time limits and doing their very best to impede and obstruct Petraeus' efforts.

I examine the progress on these two fronts, what's at stake, and why General Petraeus deserves an honest chance to succeed.

2. Done With Mirrors; Back America Callimachus writes about the "Take Back America 2007 conference" for netroots bloggers, in particular a speech by `digby' - and finds it an amazing window into American political thought...where we differ with these folks and where we agree.

3. Soccer Dad: Abbas Over Easy Charles Krauthammer is normally right on the money. But when, as Soccer Dad writes he starts yakking about giving the Fatah mob's capo Mahmoud Abbas `one last chance', it's eerily reminiscent of the sort of horse manure they used to write about Abbas' old boss, Yasir Arafat. Soccer Dad does a superb job of debunking this myth.

As he writes, the trouble with `Palestinian nationalism' ( something that mysteriously didn't even exist until after the Six-Day War)is that it's essentially built on destroying Israel, Or as Arafat put it on Jordanian TV, a few days after signing the Oslo Accords, `Either we will drive the Jews into the sea or they will drive us into the sea.'

The so-called `Palestinians' have made horrendous choices, but thanks to the Arab World's desire to keep them as a smokescreen and an excuse to avoid dealing with Israel, gullible westerners will continue to pour good money after bad. And until the fallacy of a second Arab `Palestinian' state goes into the dustbin of history, any real chance for Middle East Peace remains elusive.

4. The Glittering Eye :A sort of haunted look This week, The Glittering Eye's Dave Schuler has a sneaky piece this week, and in true Dave fashion asks more questions than he answers.

He uses an old Rod Serling script to raise the question about whether US foreign policy is consistent and evolutionary rather than revolutionary, and thus whether what he considers the failure in Iraq was inevitable,no matter who was president..

I think it depends on the man, and on the times...although I see evidence of certain patterns.

5. Bookworm Room: A Stunningly Dishonest Piece of Advocacy Writing About the Supreme Court Ms. Bookworm does a fine job of pointing out the latest travesty of journalism by the dinosaur media, using Jeffrey Toobin's attack in the New Yorker on the Roberts Supreme Court, especially his outright disinformation about three recent decisions.

Leftists like Toobin, frankly, have a problem with simply interpreting the Constitution. What they like is activist judges ( provided they're down for the agenda) who will usurp their Constitutional responsibilities by creating legislation.


6. Rhymes With Right:Is Tinker dead? Greg has a good `un this week, as he looks at the `Bong Hits For Jesus' SCOTUS decision and ponders its effect on Tinker vs Des Moines, the seminal case dealing with student First Amendment rights.

7. The Colossus of Rhodey: SciFi Channel: Humans as invaders Hube looks at an upcoming show on the Sci Fi channel with a cute twist on the old `aliens attack a peaceful world to plunder its resources after destroying their own' plot: this time, the invaders are humans from Earth invading an alien planet! He then goes on to muse about the likelihood of this happening in real life, and expands to write about the history of this theme in sci fi/fantasy literature.

8. Right Wing Nut House : Tinkering with the immigration bomb will only set it off Rick looks at the Amnesty Legislation, and correctly points out that it `solves' absolutely nothing.

And some people have the nerve to ask me why I'm so hard on the president...

9. Cheat Seeking Missiles:The most ridiculous story of the year (2) Laer has a contest over at his site, for the most ridiculous story of the year. The criterion is that it must be something serious writers `present in all seriousness that goes far, far beyond the sublime and settle heavily into the imbecilic.'

This particular entry, a WAPO piece entitled `We've lost. Here's how to handle it' fits the criteria quite well, and Laer shows you why.


10. Big Lizards: Dividing and Conquering, or Dancing With the Devil? Dafydd Ab Hugh
ponders the idea of the US entering into relations with the Muslim Brotherhood (and by extension, with Hamas) as opposed to the other three alternatives he proposes: constantly propping up Islamic `strongmen', what he refers to as `Incessant military intervention in every potentially troublous (sic) Moslem country' or retreating to Fortress America.

The idea that we can `dance' with the likes of the Muslim Brotherhood or that they will take sides with us as a counterweight to their jihadi brothers is a dangerous and foolhardy notion, simply because their game is most decidedly not ours, they have no interest in merely co-existing and they are NOT TO BE TRUSTED.Such beliefs are typical for `realists' who in reality have no idea of the mindset they're dealing with.

Nor are we limited to the other options, all of which are passive, defensive and reactive.

Frankly, we inflate these bogeymen into far more than they actually are. We will win this war by confronting one or more of the players forcefully...after which the others will become surprisingly accommodating. That's historically how things work in the Muslim world, with its honor/shame culture.

11.The Education Wonks:The NEA: Boondoggle or money well spent?
EdWonk ponders the value of the NEA,in view of both the investment in our cultural heritage as opposed to some of the questionable projects they've funded.

Ehh! Art is increasingly anything you can get away with....

12.‘Life With An Old Dog’ -- Hard Lessons Learned Hard - at ‘Okie’ on the Lam Okie writes a moving tribute on the passing of a dear friend and companion, and the meaning of life an death. You'll like this one.

That's this week's lineup..enjoy

Fried Mohammed, Danish style!

As promised, my pal the Baron over at Gates of Vienna has a link to a video of the Mohammed effigy burning in Denmark.

It's a must see...among other things,there's an ultra-cheesy version of `Light My Fire' as the soundtrack - talk about Mr. Mojo Risin'!!

Here's a translation of the commentary in the beginning of the video:

We declare:

Saint Hans’ Eve has always celebrated the tradition of burning away the evil, in earlier times symbolized by the witch, who was supposedly directly connected to Satan. And if the witch was not burned then the harvest could not be safely brought into the house.

Now a new evil has arrived in Europe, an evil that lies and kills in the name of their so-called God. An evil that springs from the so-called Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, in our time, it is he who symbolizes evil and it is not just one harvest that will disappear, but all of Western Europe’s future that will vanish if this evil is not dispatched to Hekkenfeldt [i.e. Hell, literally the Hekla volcano in Iceland — BB].

Therefore will we burn the so-called Prophet Mohammed, on June 23, 2007, in three nameless places.

We burned Mohammed in three different places across the country. We now release the video from the first burning. The next videos will be released on July 23 and August 23.

For a Mohammed-free Denmark!!!



Kind like one of those Islamic fascist hostage videos, isn't it? Except the jihadis use live people, not effigies.

Kudos to the Baron for this one....

Quote O' the Day, from Lord Ahmed

“This honour is given in recognition of services rendered to Great Britain. Salman Rushdie lives in New York. He is a controversial man who has insulted Muslim people, Christians and the British. He does not deserve the honour."


“Two weeks ago Tony Blair spoke about constructing bridges with Muslims. What hypocrisy. What would one say if the Saudi or Afghan governments honoured the martyrs of the September 11 attacks on the United States?“

- The Labour peer Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, quoted in an interview in Le Figaro in France....a fish n'chips magnate, Lord Ahmed is one of those questionable `honours for cash' knighthoods pioneered by Labour's Tony Blair.

Note the emphasis by Lord Ahmed on referring to the 9/11 terrorists as `martyrs'.

Is this is the sort of Muslim Britain thinks of as mainstream? Cousins, you're in more trouble than I thought.

Maybe we Americans should hold a seethefest protesting this garbage!

The offensive in Iraq continues..

It irritates me ( to put it mildly) that the dinosaur media is totally ignoring how well the offensive in Iraq is going. About all we ever see from them is casualty lists announcing American dead, and frankly that is a disservice, as far as I'm concerned, to the brave men and women who are accomplishing an amazing feat of arms under incredibly difficult conditions.

In the so-called Baghdad Belts, in the north, in Baqubah, in Mosul, in Diyala and in Baghdad itself US and Iraqi forces are making major progress. Al-Qaeda jihadis are being captured and killed, weapons caches discovered and IED factories destroyed. Upwards of 60 percent of Baquba city is now under Iraqi and Coalition control, with portions of the western section of the city still need to be cleaned out.

In the north, our guys took out the al-Qaeda's so-called `emir' of western Mosul, Khalid Sultan Khulayf Shakir al-Badrani, also known as Abu Abdullah. Abu Abdullah was an old hand at this business, who was in charge of operations resulting in kidnappings, extortion, assassinations, homicide bombings and attacks on US troops. U.S. and Iraqi forces also uncovered and dismantled an IED factory in Mosul after it was ratted out by some of the locals...most likely for a little baksheesh.

Meanwhile, in and around Baghdad, the raids continue, focusing on cleaning out the al-Qaeda network in central Iraq.Forty-three al-Qaeda jihadis were captured during today's raids, and an undetermined number killed. Our troops are now focusing on clearing out the Rashid district in Baghdad, historically a major trouble spot.

Al-Qaeda isn't taking this pressure lying down. Today, they hit back with five coordinated suicide attacks in Baghdad, Babil and in northern Iraq, which ended up resulting in about 45 deaths. The biggest an dmost deadly one was directed against members of the Anbar Salvation Council who were meeting in Baghdad at the Mansour Hotel.

The Anbar Salvation Council consists of the leaders of Sunni tribes in Anbar who have been fighting with the US against al-Qaeda. Four tribal shieks were killed, including former Anbar governor Fassal al-Guood, sheik of the al-Bu Nimir tribe, Sheik Abdul-Azizi al-Fahdawi of the Fahad tribe, Sheik Tariq Saleh al-Assafi and Col. Fadil al-Nimrawi, both of the al-Bu Nimr tribe.

Unfortunately, the fact that al-Qaeda was able to penetrate security and pull of this attack in the middle of Baghdad shows that there is still plenty of work to be done...but this bombing, launched against a relatively `soft' target shows that al-Qaeda is also feeling major pain and that our offensive is having a definite effect.

Ah, those Danes...

It's traditional in Denmark to burn the effigy of a witch on Midsummer's Day in order to banish evil from the country and ensure good luck for the people in the coming year.

My pal Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna reports that this year, a group of Danes added a variation to the ceremony..they burnt an effigy of Mohammed, to symbolize the need to rid Western Europe of a new and different type of evil.

Apparently this was taped, and the video and photos should be coming out fairly soon. I'll keep you posted. No word yet on whether anyone provided marshmallows.

Lining up to `honor' Salmon Rushdie

Some of you might enjoy Mark Steyn's latest on this....Societal Suicide

Olmert gets nothing for something at Sharm el-Sheik

I would love to get Ehud Olmert into a poker game. He'd be lucky to leave with as much as a handkerchief to bind up his dessicated, shriveled peanuts.

To start with, he's already pushing the Israeli government to release tax monies to Abbas and Fatah, without considering the fact that a portion of that money is like ly to go to Hamas or go to pay the al-Aksa brigade and the Tanzim, Fatah's own terrorist arm.

Given Abbas' strength on the ground, it's the equivalent of putting money inside a leaky rowboat that's already half sunk and filling rapidly.

But wait...there's more! Apparently Olmert committed to releasing 250 Fatah terrorists now held in Israel's custody. And one of them is reportedly none other than Marwan Barghouti, who was tried in an Israeli civilian court and convicted of the murder of five Israelis in terrorist attacks.

If Barghouti gets out, maybe Olmert can buy some more `goodwill' by releasing some of his pals and associates, like this one.

That `goodwill' of course does not extend to Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit. Hamas released a taunting audio tape today from him, in which the Israeli prisoner said his health is deteriorating and that he's disappointed in the Israeli government's lack of interest in his fate.

"Mother and father, my sister and brother, my friends in the Israel Defense Forces. I greet you from prison and miss you all," he said.

"I have spent a full year in prison, and my health is still deteriorating, and I need a prolonged hospitalization. I regret the lack of interest on the part of the Israeli government and the Israel Defense Forces in my case and their refusal to meet the demands of the al-Qassam brigades."

Olmert replied to that by devoting considerable time to the `humanitarian issues' in Gaza, and pledged that Israel would make sure that Hamas remained well nourished and had plenty of water and electricity. Hey, it takes a village to launch Qassams at Israel's civilians..

In addition, Olmert asked the Egyptians to pretty please close the Philadelphi Route on the Egypt-Gaza border and stop the flow of weaponry and Iranian trained terrorist fighters.

A good indication of how `seriously' Egypt is taking this was the aboutface by Mubarakon isolating Hamas. On Saturday, June 23rd Mubarak was raging at Hamas for staging ` an illegal coup'. The very next day, June 24, a convoy headed by Hamas’ interior minister Siad Sayam – was allowed to openly leave Gaza with 15 senior Hamas commanders. while Egyptian security units provided an escort from Rafah to Cairo's airport, where the Hamas delegation left for Damascus.

In other words, the Egyptians will devote as much time and energy to controlling the border as they have in the past...which is to say, absolutely nothing.

And speaking of which, that's what Olmert walked away from Sharm el-Sheik with in the way of concessions or quid-pro-quo from Egypt or Fatah - absolutely nothing.

Amazing that the Israelis haven't sent Olmert singlehanded to Gaza to negotiate with Hamas in person - or something. I'm sure that gesture would be much more productive and beneficial than the ones Olmert has planned for Israel.