Hamas: `We'll Take Over The West Bank In Autumn'

Senior Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan said today that Hamas will soon take over the West Bank from `moderate' Fatah.

"In the autumn Hamas supporters will be praying in the Muqata compound in Ramallah (site of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' offices)," he said during a rally in Gaza.

"We are now praying at the Presidential compound in Gaza, just as we said we would. Abbas' regime will fall like a leaf come autumn."

It's far from an idle threat. Abbas is laughingly referred to by Palestinians in the West Bank as `the mayor of Ramallah' since he and his forces control little else and Hamas and Islamic Jihad have a firm constituency there...as well as a lot of shooters, some of whom get a paycheck from the American taxpayers cappo del tutti Abbas as part of the al Aksa Martyrs Brigade.

Rayyan continued to say that "in the fall the man who kills his own people will be exposed, and we will annihilate him (Abbas) just as we have annihilated others like him."

As I've pointed out before, Fatah and Hamas are still engaged in delicate negotiations for a sulwah ( reconciliation) with Iran and the Saudis acting as midwives. If it happens, it will likely happen after the maximum in concessions is extracted from the clueless Olmert if Condi Rice still manages to put together her planned mugging of Israel peace summit in Annapolis this year.

What I think Rayyan was really saying, in between the lines is that Abbas had better no get delusions of grandeur, and if the Annapolis summit doesn't happen or doesn't go well, his days are numbered. It was also a warning to him not to target Hamas and Islamic Jihad personnel in the West Bank.

We are making a serious mistake spending millions of dollars to prop up Abbas. Anything we give him in terms of money and arms will end up going to Hamas or squirreled away in Europe or the UAE, one way or the other.

Ex-PLO `information minister' Yaser Abed Rabo, now a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, made the obligatory response that "Rayyan belongs in an asylum. These people are mentally and nationalistically backward.

"Rayyad, Mahmoud al-Zahar and that whole Hamas gang really, they don't deem Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank to be that important at all. All they want is to spread the Islamic mindset amongst Muslims worldwide. This group has nothing in its arsenal but threats; this gang does not know the meaning of dialog, all they can do is curse," the PA official told the Ma'an news agency.

Rabo, for those of you who've forgotten, famously got in trouble with his old boss Yasir Arafat for letting the cat out of the bag that the second intifada was not `spontaneous' or caused by the failure of the Camp David talks or Ariel Sharon's littl walk on the Temple Mount, but had been planned months in advance by Arafat and his cronies...including, of course Mahmoud Abbas.

The Democrat Debates..Twilight Zone Edition

`The amazing thing about the Clintons is that they lie so easily.' - ex-Clinton supporter David Geffen.

Y-A-W-N.

For the handful of people that managed to stay awake to watch it, the latest debate by the Democrats only outlined the fact that for the most part, the Democrat's current choices are between a front runner who is, ummmm, shall we say severely credibility challenged and a bunch of second raters with very little substance.

The debate, oddly enough was structured around front runner Senator Hillary Clinton.The audience on the debates has consistently ranged between 1 and 3 million, or about 4% of the first Bush-Kerry debate in 2004 so this may have been a deliberate attempt to get some ratings.

It was only notable because Clinton, who's been very careful to tell any given whatever they want to hear got caught out in an exchange, of all things on a proposed New York state bill pimped by Democrat governor Elliot Spitzer to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens ` for identification purposes'.



After Clinton said it was ` a good idea' a couple minutes later, she's saying she doesn't agree with it, and Tim Russert and Senator Chris Dodd, of all people hung her out to dry on it. Interestingly enough, Clinton, the avowed feminist went and hid behind her own skirts when she was cornered, accusing Russert of playing `gotcha'!

In case you're wondering what all the fuss is about, remember that thanks to Federal legislation, anyone applying for a driver's license is also automatically given a voter registration form. In my home state, they don't even check ID's when you go to the polls, nor do they in New York State or a number of others. So driver's licenses for illegal aliens are a guaranteed fool proof scam for voter fraud, especially in urban areas.

Which is why a lot of Democrats are for it.

The other huge loser, of course, was Barack Obama. Given a softball by Russert to be assertive in attacking Clinton's record, he wimped out, along with telling a racial joke that even got boos and mumbles from a partisan audience:



Not ready for primetime in the least, this one. Barack Obama was probably the guy who bunted when he was playing tee ball as a kid...if he played at all. And just look at Stalin-in-a-pantsuit glaring at him!

John Edwards actually put on the best show. When he wasn't beating the class warfare drum, he got in a number of attacks on Hillary Clinton.

Even funnier was ex-Clintonista Bill Richardson, who made an obvious bid for th evice presidentcy by decrying ` all the personal attacks.'

And then we have Joe Biden, who took a nasty swipe at GOP frontrunner Rudy Giuliani by saying that what he says `consists of a noun, a verb and 9/11'. WHich of course is more than Biden or any of the others on the podium could say, even if it were true.

To a lot of Democrats, of course, Biden's rehearsed little sound bite was the highlight of the evening, which is well and good. That's what politics is about, although I have a feeling that Hizzoner might just have had a pretty devastating comeback had he been present.

I doubt this was a major fall for Hillary...just a stumble, though it could be the start of something, especially if a couple of these people drop out. She's got far too much money and momentum, and it will take a lot more to seriously slow her up and overtake her.

But at least it gives us one more clear example of who she really is, deep down.

I can't imagine any serious person wanting to turn the country over to the leadership of any of these people.

Israeli Interior Minister Wants To End Israel As A Jewish Refuge

Just when you think the Olmert government's Malice-In-Wonderland quality can sink no lower, they surprise you.

Here, we have the Olmert governments' Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit coming up with a nifty idea..ending the idea of Israel as a homeland and refuge for Jews.

Appearing at the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Sheetrit said he believed "Israel should no longer grant automatic citizenship for Jews".

What Sheetrit is talking about is changing one of Israel's core principles, the Law of Return which says that any Jew world wide can look on Israel as a refuge and be granted immediate asylum and citizenship. This is a direct outgrowth of the experience of the Holocaust, where the death toll was as great as it was because Britain cut off immigration to Palestine, and Jews trapped in Europe were unable to get visas to other countries to escape the Nazis.

Sheerit also had a few choice remarks to make about `filtering out' those allowed to enter the country. "Don't go finding me any lost tribes, because I won't let them in anymore," he declared. "We have enough problems in Israel. Let them go to America."

Sheetrit directly mentioned organizations such as the North American Conference for Ethiopian Jewry and Shavei Israel, which finds groups of Jewish descent around the world like the Bnei Menashe in India and brings them to Israel...which gives you an idea of Sheetrit's agenda.

Oddly enough, Sheetrit's family hails originally from Morocco, and if what he favors had been in effect back in the 1950's,he'd have been locked out of Israel...just like he wants to do to those so-called `lost tribes'.

Thankfully, Sheetrit's little screed attracted the scorn and disdain it deserved.

Several participants in the Board of Governors meeting walked out of the hall in protest during the speech, which also included criticism of the Jewish Agency, which is an umbrella organization that has attracting Jews from the Diaspora to emigrate to Israel as its core mission. According to a spokesman for Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews leader "walked out because of the comments about Ethiopians and the minister's calling the agency irrelevant. He wanted to express his disagreement and discomfort over the insulting content of the speech."

The Agency itself as a whole officially distanced itself from Sheetrit's comments...although they were fairly polite about it, given that he's the Interior Minister.

"The agency supports the continued existence of the Law of Return, which [has been] the soul of the State of Israel since its inception," read an agency statement.

Others weren't so discreet.

Shavei Israel head Michael Freund called Sheetrit's comments "post-Zionism in its ugliest form. They are an outrage. They show that he simply doesn't understand what this country is all about, which is serving as a homeland and a refuge for the entire Jewish people."

Regarding the comment on lost tribes, Freund said, "Mr. Sheetrit has never bothered to explore or even study the issue of the lost tribes, such as the Bnei Menashe, nor has he ever met with any members of the community, so I find it simply astonishing that he would so irresponsibly determine their fate without even bothering to investigate the issue."

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of Israelis are proud of Israel's record on redeeming Jewish populations from Ethiopia, the Soviet Union, Yemen and other areas where Jews have been subjected to harsh discrimination...and worse. it's part of what Israel has been all about from the start.

Best selling author, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel once said that to him, the holiest spot in Israel wasn't the Western Wall, but the little booths at Lod and Ben-Gurion airports with a Jewish customs officer stamping entry visas.

This foul Kadima apparatchnik has no conception of what that means,or indeed what Israel means. Yet, he'll stay in power, just like Olmert will because enough Knesset members - like Sheetrit - know that they'd get tossed out of office in a heartbeat if the country went to new elections right now.

But soon come, like the song says. Soon come.

One Of G-d's Small Miracles, 10/30/07

From time to time, I'm going to try and post items that may not have much to do with the overall theme of this site...or then again, they may everything to do with it.

This miracle concerns both the recent fires in California and a Rabbi of my acquaintance, Rabbi Yosef Brod.

While much of the media attention went to the Malibu, Orange County and San Diego fires, one of the worst fires to hit California in the recent outbreak was the Slide fire, in the Running Springs/Lake Arrowhead area. That fire burn out nearly 13,000 acres and wiped out 201 homes as it spread.

It's primarily a mountain area, with lots of log homes, trees and brush and the locale of a number of resorts and camps, including the one Rabbi Brod runs, Camp Gan Israel, a 75-acre Jewish camp.

When most of the residents in the area evacuated, Rabbi Brod, a Chabad Rabbi believed that G-d would protect the campsite, which Chabad bought for summer and winter camps and weekend retreats. So Brod called his wife and let her know that he was staying.One camp employee volunteered to stay with him,while the rest evacuated.

"She knew I'm so devoted to this place I wouldn't leave," he said.

By midweek, flames had reached the camp's northern edge, and a firefighting helicopter tapped the camp's swimming pool for water. Brod ran a hose from a fire hydrant to the pool to keep it full.

Like most orthodox Jews, the Rabbi prays three times a day, but that afternoon, "We prayed with a little more intensity," Brod said.

Obviously, G-d was listening. The flames were stopped only about 100 yards from the camp's wood-shingle main lodge.

Not only was the camp spared, but it became a haven for the firefighters , giving them a chance to rest and regroup while battling the flames.

When Rabbi Brod noticed a group of sooty, tired firefighters camping out on the narrow road that curves into the camp, he invited them to sleep in real beds on the campsite and use the facilities. Rabbi Brod fed and housed them.

Down the road from the camp, firefighters had been dozing in pop-up tents, on cots and on the asphalt between fire engines in a parking lot of the Snow Valley Mountain Resort in Running Springs, where a command center had been set up.

The rabbi invited them in as well. As the news spread, the campgrounds became a home away from home for dozens of firemen from all over the area and a dozen or so fire engines were parked by the giant menorah on the campgrounds.

On Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, Rabbi Brod was unable to work until after sunset and thus couldn't cook. So firefighters served themselves, eating cholent, a traditional slow cooking stew that had been prepared before Friday sunset the night before, when the Sabbath began.

As the men and women ate, Rabbi Brod chatted with them. "One match destroys a thousand homes just like that," he told firefighters. "If we have the power to destroy the world, we have the power to make it better."

After dinner, Brod went to check on his tired firefighter guests.

"So you own this whole place?" asked one firefighter.

"God owns the world," the rabbi replied.

Dogs Shoot Man On Hunting Trip

Oooh, this boyo gonna have some explaining to do when he calls into work and tries to tell them why he won't be in..shot by his own hunting dogs!

Apparently what happened is that James Harris was out hunting and put his gun down on the ground when he went to retrieve a bird..with the muzzle pointing at him and the safety off.

And while he was bending over picking up the birds, the hunting dogs stepped on his gun, and it went off and hit him in the leg.

Fortunately, he was with friends and they rushed him to the hospital.

The dogs in question declined to be interviewed, but I assume it was just an unfortunate accident.

Just to be on the safe side, I'd advise Harris to feed his dogs better, and avoid that pre-recall discount Chinese stuff an anonymous source told me he's been foisting on the hounds.

Best wishes from JoshuaPundit for a speedy recovery.

What's Wrong With America: You Won't Go See Our Movies!

`David Kahane' ( a pseudonym for a well known Hollywood writer) looks at the forthcoming Writer's Guild strike and lays it on the line...it's all our fault!

"Technically, we’re striking against the producers, the studios, and the networks — the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers — who have been trying to screw us out of our fair share of VHS and DVD residuals for years, and whose initial offer was to screw us even harder. With a brave new world of iPhone technology on its way, we want to make sure we don’t get fooled again.

But everyone knows we’re really striking against you, the ungrateful, reactionary, and probably crypto-fascist audience. You’ve let us all down by not going to see our movies.

The Kingdom? A disappointment at $46 million. Rendition? A huge antiwar belly flop for Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, and the guy from Brokeback Mountain playing in 2,250 theaters that hasn’t yet managed $8 million. Elizabeth: The Golden Age? The Catholic-bashing costume party with Cate Blanchett in high dudgeon and higher drag is a flopola at $14 million. In the Valley of Elah, from scribe du jour Paul Haggis? It’ll be lucky to make $7 million. At this rate, you probably won’t even go to see Brian De Palma’s Redacted.

Frankly, we’re tired of throwing our pearls before you swine. So we’re firing you."

Absolutely brilliant....read the rest here

UK Academic Delegation Seeks Research Cooperation... With Israel

No joke.

Believe it or not a major UK academic delegation is seeking research cooperation ... with Israel!

Now that the UK academic boycott is basically defunct, a delegation of senior British university heads were in Israel last week, looking to promote that very thing.

They were led by Professor Rick Trainor, president of Universities UK, the umbrella organization of all the UK universities, and the vice-chancellor of Kings College, London.

The group's mission was to find ways to enhance academic cooperation between Israel and the UK, and explore the possibility of joint research projects. The visit was organized by the British Embassy, the British Council in Israel and the International Advisory Board for Academic Freedom (IAB).

Representatives met with Education Minister Yuli Tamir, who said that "this visit symbolizes the desire to strengthen academic cooperation between the UK and Israel, a desire that we mostly welcome and definitely share."

"The visit serves as a counterpoise to the defunct academic boycott," said Prof. Yosef Yeshurun, IAB chair and Bar-Ilan University pro-rector. "Instead of threatening academic freedom, it represents a practical effort to generate academic cooperation for the benefit of all."

Ofir Frankel, IAB executive director, added that "the visit demonstrates the good relations between British universities and their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts. They are interested in promoting and encouraging research, not in boycotting or silencing those whose work contributes to the alleviation of human poverty and the improvement of welfare."

"British and Israeli universities already demonstrate high level collaboration in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and the social sciences; now there is an opportunity to strengthen and deepen these links for the benefit of populations everywhere," she added.

At the University of Haifa, Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze'ev commented: "I am pleased that the threat of a boycott has finally been removed; we now have to focus our efforts on research and scientific cooperation."

I suppose the Israeli academics are simply,thrilled, thrilled to be considered part of the club again. Then again, I can also see where the Israelis telling the Brits to get stuffed would have been rude, bad form, and counterproductive, especially since a number of the members of the delegation claimed to be against the boycott...at least while they were in Israel.

Trainor for his part talked about "the tremendous academic strength of Israeli universities" and said that Israeli academia is "something we want to interact with." He also let it be known that he didn't approve at all of the boycott attempt.

"There is an absolute contradiction between academia and a boycott," he said.

"We have come to talk about the importance of deepening academic ties between England and this part of the world."

Well, it's an improvement. Definitely.

And hopefully something worthwhile will come of it.

Saudi King Abdullah `The UK Isn't Doing Enough To Fight Terrorism.'

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah takes the prize for unmitigated gall this week. Speaking to the BBC in an interview, King Abdullah accused Britain of not doing enough to fight international terrorism, which he says could take 20 or 30 years to beat.

(Of course, that time period could be cut significantly if the Saudis stopped funding it, as well as the wahabi ideology that promotes it. Just a thought.)

Speaking through an interpreter, the Saudi monarch said he believed most countries were not taking the issue seriously, "including, unfortunately, Great Britain".

"We have sent information to Great Britain before the terrorist attacks in Britain but unfortunately no action was taken. And it may have been able to maybe avert the tragedy."

Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)investigated and then out and out denied that they hgad received any information from the Kingdom.

King Abdullah is due in the UK today for a state visit, the first by a Saudi monarch in twenty years.

One amusing thing that apparently came out during the interview - King Abdullah is peeved that his suggestion for a UN `clearing house' to share intelligence on terrorism hasn't met with a lot of support yet, except among the Muslim bloc.

The funny part is that he would wonder why!

How The FBI Used Mob Muscle to Break The `Mississippi Burning' Case

`And every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints...' - Mick Jagger

Yes, the line does get a little blurred at times...

Back in 1964, three civil rights activists - James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman - were beaten and shot by a gang of Klu Klux Klansmen and buried in an earthen levee near Philadelphia, Mississippi. The story of the case was made into a pretty decent movie awhile back called "Mississippi Burning."

Apparently the real story is even more interesting.Today, a Mob hitman's ex-girlfriend testified in court that the FBI used mob muscle to solve the 1964 case, making this the first official corroboration of a story that's been underworld legend for years.

Linda Schiro testified that that her ex-boyfriend, late Mafia tough guy and Columbo `Family' member Gregory Scarpa Sr. ( AKA `The Grim Reaper') was recruited by the FBI to help find the bodies of the murder victims, and that Scarpa later told her that he had terrorized an appliance salesman for details and then put a gun in a Klansman's mouth and threatened to pull the trigger unless he started singing and revealed where the bodies were hidden.

This testimony came to light as part of a corruption case against former FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio, who's been charged with four counts of murder in a major law enforcement corruption case. It's being alleged that DeVecchio was on Scarpa's payroll, revealing the identities of witnesses and informants in exchange for cash, jewelery and even prostitutes.

Schiro testified Monday that she and Scarpa traveled to Mississippi in 1964 after he was recruited by the FBI. According to her, they went directly to a hotel the FBI had commandeered for it's own use and an FBI agent later showed up in their room and handed Scarpa a gun.

She said Scarpa helped find the volunteers' bodies by "putting a gun in the guy's mouth and threatening him" and that afterwards another FBI agent returned to the room, gave Scarpa a wad of cash, and took back the weapon....badda bing, badda boom.

Syria's Assad Caught With His Hands In The Nuclear Cookie Jar

Syria's Basher Assad seems to have a unique genius for getting caught having his dirty deals come to light.

His latest fumble involves the clandestine nuclear deal with North Korea. And it might just have torpedoed Condi Rice's ambitious scramble for a personal foreign policy legacy no matter what the costs.

Apparently Assad has his personal fingerprints all over Damascus’ nuclear deal with North Korea, and a couple of sources are reporting that the Mossad and the CIA have documents signed personally by Assad relating to the illegal deal.

Apparently the Norks and Syria had a deal going on, annual shipments of 100,000 tons of Durham wheat for five years worth a total of $120 million in exchange for a reactor capable of producing plutonium which retails at about the same price.

This year, the price of wheat shot up in commodity markets, and the price of Durham wheat doubled...but the Syrians didn't demand any additional North Korean money or goods as compensation, as they would have in a normal trade transaction. Later, when the Syrian crops had a shortfall, Assad personally signed orders to Syrian trade officials to fill the North Korean orders no matter what.

The final shipment of the reactor, disguised as cement, was carried by the North Koreans via ship to Tartus, after which it was sent directly to Al Tibnah in the Syrian Desert, the site the Israelis hit.

Especially revealing was the appearance of Syria's ambassador to the US, Imad Moustapha at a roundtable at The Institute on Religion and Public Policy October 23rd in Washington, DC.

After the usual anti-Israel and anti-American tirades, the questions got around to Syria's relationship with North Korea in light of Israel's strike against the Syrian-North Korean nuclear facility. The ambassador apparently got pretty heated up and said that Syria is free to have relations with any country it wants, and that they had relations with North Korea just like with any other country... trade, cultural exchanges, whatever. The ambassador then said that Syria gives North Korea "wheat, oil and other products" but kept dodging and refused to answer questions on what Syria got from North Korea in return. Finally, the exasperated ambassador said: "Stuff. We get stuff." (!!)

That's bad enough, but Ambassador Moustapha, like his boss, doesn't know when to leave well enough alone. He proceeded to dig an even deeper hole for himself:

"Hypothetically, suppose that North Korea built sophisticated jet fighters. We could buy them legitimately, legally, and have every right to do so!"

It remains to be seen how much farther any action against Syria on this will go. After all,Assad and company have been getting away with being a financier and haven of terrorism for years, sabotaging Lebanon's fledgeling democracy by assassinating political opponents, ignoring UN resolutions against rearming Hezbollah and operating a transport office for homicide bombers in Iraq ever since we invaded the country.

With all that on the table, the Bush Administration has yet to take any major action against the Assad regime. And this may end up more of the same.

Among other things, US Secretary of State Condi Rice is heavily involved on several counts. For openers, this reflects poorly on one of her most highly touted `achievements', the expected finalizing of the US-North Korean accords, something the Bush Administration has touting as part of its foreign policy legacy.

It especially looks bad since Rice, a major proponent of bribing Syria to try and wean them away from their alliance with Iran was leading the charge to try to stall Israel's strike on the Syrian nuclear facility because it would `damage regional stability'!

Also, this could further affect that lovely mugging of Israel peace summit she's been desperately trying to put together at Annapolis, Maryland which still lacks a firm date, agenda or any major Arab participants.

Rice is apparently so desperate to make this happen that's she's even taken to taken to conferring with Jimmy Carter , Yasir Arafat's favorite president and Bill Clinton, Mr. Oslo, the man who was responsible for empowering Arafat and the rest of the Fatah Mafia by pressuring Israel to let Arafat and his cronies create a terrorist enclave right next to Israel's borders, with the results we see today.

Part of the fallout (pun intended)of the Israeli raid and Assad's direct complicity with North Korea could very well be a downplaying of both the North Korean agreements and Rice's summit..especially since President Bush has reportedly cooled to both ideas.

But given his close relationship with Condi Rice, it will likely be that they simply falls through the cracks with little fanfare, so as not to embarrass Secretary Rice if President Bush decides to nix the agreement with North Korea and the proposed summit shows little promise.

AyaanHirsi Ali: " The Trouble Is The West"

Reason magazine has an interview with best-selling author ( `Infidel'), former Dutch legislator and Muslim refusenik Ayaan Hirsi Ali that, like Ali herself pulls no punches whatsoever. Here's a few tidbits to whet the appetite:

Reason: Should we acknowledge that organized religion has sometimes sparked precisely the kinds of emancipation movements that could lift Islam into modern times? Slavery in the United States ended in part because of opposition by prominent church members and the communities they galvanized. The Polish Catholic Church helped defeat the Jaruzelski puppet regime. Do you think Islam could bring about similar social and political changes?

Hirsi Ali: Only if Islam is defeated. Because right now, the political side of Islam, the power-hungry expansionist side of Islam, has become superior to the Sufis and the Ismailis and the peace-seeking Muslims.

Reason: Don’t you mean defeating radical Islam?

Hirsi Ali: No. Islam, period. Once it’s defeated, it can mutate into something peaceful. It’s very difficult to even talk about peace now. They’re not interested in peace.

Reason: We have to crush the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims under our boot? In concrete terms, what does that mean, “defeat Islam”?

Hirsi Ali: I think that we are at war with Islam. And there’s no middle ground in wars. Islam can be defeated in many ways. For starters, you stop the spread of the ideology itself; at present, there are native Westerners converting to Islam, and they’re the most fanatical sometimes. There is infiltration of Islam in the schools and universities of the West. You stop that. You stop the symbol burning and the effigy burning, and you look them in the eye and flex your muscles and you say, “This is a warning. We won’t accept this anymore.” There comes a moment when you crush your enemy.

Reason: Militarily?

Hirsi Ali: In all forms, and if you don’t do that, then you have to live with the consequence of being crushed.

Reason: Are we really heading toward anything so ominous?

Hirsi Ali: I think that’s where we’re heading. We’re heading there because the West has been in denial for a long time. It did not respond to the signals that were smaller and easier to take care of. Now we have some choices to make. This is a dilemma: Western civilization is a celebration of life—everybody’s life, even your enemy’s life. So how can you be true to that morality and at the same time defend yourself against a very powerful enemy that seeks to destroy you?

Reason: George Bush, not the most conciliatory person in the world, has said on plenty of occasions that we are not at war with Islam.

Hirsi Ali: If the most powerful man in the West talks like that, then, without intending to, he’s making radical Muslims think they’ve already won. There is no moderate Islam. There are Muslims who are passive, who don’t all follow the rules of Islam, but there’s really only one Islam, defined as submission to the will of God. There’s nothing moderate about it.

Read the whole thing here.

As for me, while I agree with Ali that the moderate wing of Islam is in retreat, I also would say that part of the reason for that retreat is the West's relationship with people like the Saudis an dour tolerance for radical Islam under the guise of `multiculturism'. We can reverse this trend without having to `defeat Islam'... provided we're willing to make certain choices.

If that doesn't happen, ultimately it is peace loving decent Muslims who have the most to lose - which is why they need to be in the forefront of this war.

Nevertheless, much of what Ayaan Hirsi Ali has to say bears listening to here in the West, and offers a unique look into the mindset of our enemies.

Two other Ayaan Hirsi Ali articles featured on this site: J O S H U A P U N D I T: Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Why Muslims deny the Holocaust.

J O S H U A P U N D I T: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: `Islam is a religion.. with violence and oppression at its heart.'

Watcher's Council Results 10/26/07

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

This week's winner is Bookworm Room: The MSM's Rush Limbaugh Horror Story
A fine post by Ms. Bookworm about the attempt to smear broadcaster Rush Limbaugh for something he didn't say by Democrats in Congress, how Limbaugh masterfully made lemonade out of this lemon, and how the dinosaur media ended up looking silly..again.

In second place, there was a tie between:

Big Lizards: An Inconvenient Demographic Truth In which Daffyd examines charges of racism against John Tanner, head of the Department of Justice civil rights division, because of remarks he made about racial disparities in live expectancy.

And :

Soccer Dad: Walking Back The Cat X 2 in which Soccer Dad does an interesting analysis using an old intel device called `walking back the cat' to ferret out the truth behind the recent assassination attempt on Israeli PM Olmert and the Israeli strike on a Syrian nuke facility.

For non-Council, there was also a tie, which the Watcher decided so the winner was the winner was Michael Yon: Resistance Is Futile

In second place for non-Council, the winner was Daled Amos: The Niggers Of Palestine

Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

The US Imposes Unilateral Sanctions Against Iran

The Bush Administration imposed a slew on new sanctions against Iran today,emphasizing something I've said for some time...that relying on the UN to do anything is simply wishful thinking.

The sanctions were announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. They name Iran's Revolutionary Guard ( The Pasdaran) as a terrorist organization, and also take into account that financing for groups like the Revolutionary Guard and the Qods Force (not to mention Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Hezbollah) are a part of Iran's economy, and can't be separated out.

The Revolutionary Guard "is so deeply entrenched in Iran's economy, that it is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran you are doing business with the IRGC," Paulson said.

Gee, I wonder how long it took him to figure that one out.

The banks involved in the sanctions are Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat. The first two are being designated for helping finance Iran's proliferation program, and Saderat is being specially designated for financing terrorism. In addition, five Revolutionary Guard leaders are included under the new restrictions, as well as nine businesses and the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. There's supposed to be a list of proscribed individuals as well to be announced later.

The new sanctions essentially empower the United States to financially isolate a large part of Iran's military and business structure, as well as anyone inside or outside the US who does business with it. Or, in other words, foreign banks, individuals and businesses who do business with say, Bank Melli will be prohibited from doing business with US banks and businesses.

The hope, of course is that US allies in Europe and Asia will impose similar sanctions. "The international community's got to get a lot tougher if it's going to be resolved diplomatically," Rice said about Iran's suspected nuclear program.

While sanctions alone are not going to stop the mullahs from building nukes, and countries like Russia and China (or for that matter, Germany) are not going to go along, this will have a certain effect, given that the world's banking system runs through New York.

My only question is, why now? Why not three years ago?

Nevertheless, a step in the right direction.

Turkey's PM Erdogan: US Won't Stop Iraq Invasion

Turkey's PM Erdogan continues to ramp up the rhetoric again saying that the US won't stop Turkey from invading Iraq.

"They (the Bush administration) might wish that we do not carry out a cross-border offensive, but we make the decision on what we have to do," Erdogan said during a visit to Romania. "We have taken necessary steps in this struggle so far, and now we are forced to take this step and we will take it."

Just today the Turkish military got into a firefight with the Kurdish PKK, claiming (depending on whom you believe) that they've killed between 30 and 60 of the PKK fighters.

Erdogan also had the bald nerve to say that the U.S. should repay Turkish assistance for the invasion of Afghanistan with support for Turkey's fight against the Kurds.

"Right now, as a strategic ally, the USA is in a position to support us. We have supported them in Afghanistan," he said.

`Support' translates as allowing Incirlik airbase, which the US leases from Turkey to be used to resupply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Erdogan seems to have conveniently forgotten not allowing the 4th ID to deploy from Turkey in the Iraq invasion in 2003, as well as this little item.

This over the top rhetoric,of course would not be possible without Nancy Pelosi and her allies in Congress and their back door attempt to cripple American efforts in Iraq with their ill-timed Armenian Genocide resolution. The problems between Turkey and the Kurdish PKK have been around for years, but this gave Erdogan and the Islamists the issue to unite the country and particularly the Turkish military behind his government, when there was substantial opposition to him before.

The Turks have given the Kurds an ultimatum: the only way to avoid an invasion is for Iraq and U.S. forces to destroy the PKK bases and turn the PKK leadership over to Turkey.

Both of these are impossibilities. The Turkish military itself hasn't been able to root out the PKK guerillas for years, even though they've made several border incursions, the latest one as recently as this June. And even finding them in the first place is problematic, given that the PKK guerillas know the mountainous terrain intimately.

For their part the Kurds have been fairly straightforward in trying to mollify the Turks and settle things reasonably.

Massoud Barzani, the leader of Kurdistan said that the Turks need to come to a political solution with the PKK.

"If Turkey comes up with a peaceful solution, and the PKK refuses it, we are ready to do anything against the PKK. But if Turkey is using the PKK as an excuse to fight with us, we are ready to defend ourselves," Barzani said.

If the Turks come across the border in force, they may be able to bomb Kurdish cities and towns, but I have a feeling that the Kurdish Pesh Merga might give them a bloody nose, in spite of the Turks' advantage in heavy weaponry. And the Turkish air force and armor depend on US spare parts - it's inconceivable to me that even the Bush Administration would continue the flow of supplies to Turkey if they invaded Kurdistan.

I have a feeling that Erdogan knows this very well, and that the tough rhetoric is exactly that, designed to prop himself up politically. But I could be wrong.

It's a mess, but a mess with a clear solution,albeit longterm: it's high time the US started building bases in the territory of our true allies in Iraq,the Kurds. A base equivalent to Incirlik, but situated in Kurdistan would solve our resupply problems, give us a base in the region handy to Iraq,Afghanistan and yes, Iran with a firm and loyal ally in control.

I've only been saying this for a couple of years now. We should have supported a strong independent Kurdistan from day one, and of all the mistakes we made in Iraq at the beginning, I think that's been one of the most damaging ones.

Iran: The Jigsaw Puzzle Begins To Come Together As Larijani `Resigns'

The surprise `resignation' of chief Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani caused a lot of reaction in the western press. What, if anything does it signify and how does it fit in with other developments? Here's how the puzzle appears to be shaping up.

Larijani, a so-called `moderate' with a high profile in the west was replaced by Saeed Jalili, an unknown diplomat in the foreign ministry who is a supposed hardliner and ally of President Ahmadinejad. Both al-Reuters and the AP took this as a sign that the hardliners in Iran had triumphed and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had come down on Ahmadinejad's side of the standoff with the west.

They forget that in a place like Iran, the Mullahs reign supreme and western political norms don't apply. Everyone dances to the mullah's tune in a fascist theocracy like Iran or they don't dance at all.

If Larijani has suffered such a loss of influence, it's interesting that he's still the Supreme Leader’s representative on the Supreme National Security Council, and thus will participate in the meetings of Khamenei’s inner circle. And according to IRNA, Larijani will still participate in talks with the EU's appeaser-in chief
UN negotiator Javier Solana.

The truth of the matter is that Larijani and Ahmadinejad may be involved in a certain amount of political and personal jockeying as part of the coming change in Supreme Leader as the Ayatollah Khamenei continues to defy his doctors by staying alive, but in terms of actual policy there's maybe a rial's worth of difference between them, especially on the core issue of Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Most of what small differences there are involve tactics. Larijani, who famously wrote an article entitled `How I fooled the West' is an unctuous, oily type who favors lying and dissembling to his gullible fellow diplomats until it's too late for the west to do anything about an Iranian nuclear program, while Ahmadinejad likes to gin things up and energize the troops at home by confrontation. Needless to say, Larijani is very popular personally with the likes of Javier Solana, Mohammed El Baradi and the rest of the round of western diplomats fencing with him over the last four years.

This doesn't represent a change in policy so much as a simple personnel change. And Khamanei or whoever replaces him when he dies is still calling the shots. What's more, by replacing Larijani with Jalili, Iran just bought another month or six weeks of time from the west's diplomats while Jalili, the new guy settles in to his new position.

This may very well connect to two other related developments; Putin's visit to the Ayatollah in Iran and a sudden surprise reversal of US policy on missile shields in Europe.

No one's quite sure what Putin had to say to Ayatollah Khamenei in Teheran, but it's important to remember that it occurred just after Israel's raid on Syria's nuclear site, so I think we can speculate.

New contracts for the Russians to complete the Bushehr atomic reactor and supply the fuel for its activation weren't signed during that visit as they were expected to be, even though they'd already been drawn up previously between Larijani and the head of the Russian Nuclear Energy Commission Sergei Kiriyenko in Moscow.

In addition, I'm sure the Iranians wanted to discuss Russian backing in the UN and possibly the failure of the vaunted Russian made Pantsyr missile defense system in Syria.

The Russians may very well have had a proposal for the Iranians, either in terms of solving the ongoing nuclear crisis with some kind of oversight for Iran's nuclear program on the Russian's part or a simple upping of the price demanded for the Russians to complete Bushshehr or upgrade Iran's defenses, something the Russians have successfully pulled off before.

Whatever it was, I have a feeling it didn't fly. And this little item is another clue that the relationship between Putin and the Mullahs might be changing.

Almost directly after Putin left Iran, Putin and President Bush reportedly had a long and in depth phone conversation on Monday, October 22nd.

The very next day, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gave a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Topolanek in Prague, suggesting that the Bush Administration was open to the idea of a possible delay in activating the proposed US missile interceptor project in Poland and radar station in the Czech Republic - until an Iranian threat was "definitely proved."

Gates added that the US would proceed with plans to build the sites, but possibly wait before putting them in working order.

"We would consider tying together activation of the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with definitive proof of the threat — in other words, Iranian missile testing and so on," Gates said.

On the same day, President George Bush spoke at the National Defense University, in Washington. He said the US-led missile defense system in Europe is urgent, but mentioned the Russian offers of missile defense facilities in Azerbaijan and southern Russia, something the Bush Administration had previously not been interested in. The entire project, said the US president, is “part of a broader effort to move beyond the Cold War” that could lead to “an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation” between Russia and the United States.” He referred to Iran as “an emerging threat that affects us all."

This represents a major concession on the part of the Bush Administration to Putin, and question that comes to mind is - what did Putin offer in return?

Will Russia support toughened sanctions in the UN? Is Putin offering to look the other way if there's a military showdown between the US and Iran?

Added to the mix was Israeli Prime Minister Olmert's visit to Putin. The Syrian raid has apparently ramped up the pressure on the situation, simply because it showed that Israeli aircraft were both able and willing to penetrate state-of-the-art, Russian-supplied air defenses with impunity to get at what they perceived as an existential threat.

I smell the beginnings of a deal. We should know more fairly soon.

DREAM Act Defeated In The Senate!!

You did it!

The Senate rejected the DREAM Act yesterday, as the motion for clothure got 52 votes, eight short of the 60 needed.

A number of the Senators who voted against it had a little something in common..they are up for re-election next year. Among them was Max Baucus (D-MT), who faces an election next year.

He said the Dream Act was “huge, huge” issue in his home state.

“People are very upset, they’re outraged; it’s like amnesty, it’s virtually the same” he said after casting his `no' vote.

Mail, phone calls, and e-mail on the issue pouring into his office were “off the wall,” Baucus said.

Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan from North Dakota also voted `no'.

Conrad said, "I was hearing, ‘wait a minute, this is more generous than what we’re doing for people who were born in this country.’ And it’s certainly commendable to want to give this kind of educational assistance to people. But how can you justify that when we don’t do it for people who were raised in our country?"

From North Dakotans, Conrad said, "What I hear is, ‘look, you’ve got to secure the border. That’s got to be priority number one.’"

Don't count on them getting the message anytime soon..we're going to have to keep on them.

Meanwhile, a high five to all Joshua's Army members who help overwhelm the politicians in Washington with your outrage....well done!

Harry Reid's DREAM act is America's Nightmare...Joshua's Army Alert!!

Behind our backs, Harry Reid has filed for cloture on S.2205 – Senator Dick Durbin’s stand-alone DREAM Act – which could bring it to a vote either today or tomorrow.

The DREAM Act authorizes the Department Of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, or adjust to lawful permanent resident status (in other words, grant amnesty to), an alien who is inadmissible or deportable in cases where the alien demonstrated that he/she:

* has maintained continuous presence in the United States for five years and was not yet 16 years old upon initial entry, but is no older than 30 years of age;

* is of "good moral character" and is not inadmissible or deportable on certain criminal grounds or on the basis of being a risk to national security; and

* has been admitted to an institution of higher education, has attained a high school diploma, or has obtained a GED in the United States.

This nonsense would grant amnesty to illegal aliens who satisfy these criteria as of enactment, and would be a rolling amnesty drawing more illegal aliens here in the future to apply for amnesty...I mean, who's going to bother to check whether someone's papers are authentic as far as being here for five years?

Virtually any illegal alien up to age 30 can still walk into any U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office, declare that he is eligible, and be granted amnesty with any minimal documentation. He could even claim that he illegally entered the United States when he was 15, and there's is no requirement that the alien prove that he entered the United States at the claimed time by providing particular documents. The proposal would merely require him to "demonstrate" that he is eligible, which in practice could mean simply making a sworn statement to that effect!

In addition, the illegal alien then would have six years to adjust his status from a conditional green card holder to a non-conditional one, and use his green card as a platform to sponsor parents and other family members.

It amazes me, the contempt Senator Reid and his ilk have for the American people.

These weasels need to hear from you N O W !

The Senate Switchboard line is 202-224-3121.

Or you can find the home office number and contact info of your senator or representative by clicking U.S. Senate: Senators Home.

DO IT TODAY...and forward this info to every blog you know!

Stark Apologizes On House Floor; Censure Vote Falls Short

Rep. Pete Stark apologized on the house floor today to his fellow members of Congress and to President Bush and his family for his outrageous remarks during the SCHIP debate yesterday,when he said that President Bush was sending troops to Iraq to get their "heads blown off for his amusement."

Stark made his remarks after a vote to censure him in the House failed, 196-173 with eight members voting `present' to table the resolution introduced by House Minority Leader John Boehner.The vote was entirely along party lines, with 5 Democrats joining the House Republicans to vote for censure.

"I want to apologize first of all to my colleagues, many of whom I have offended, to the president. his family, to the troops that may have found (offense) in my remarks as were suggested in the motion that we just voted on, and I do apologize. ... With this apology I will become as insignificant as I should be and we can return to the issues that do divide us but that we can resolve."

Rudy Speaks Giuliani Speaks at the FRC Values Voters Summit

GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani made what I thought was an amazing speech st the Family Research Council Values Voters Summit.Rather than relying on the dinosaur media, I suggest you listen to the whole thing and see what you think...definitely recommended.

Turkey Begins Moving Troops Towards Kurdish Border As Turkish PM Issues Ultimatum

Tensions are definitely ramping up, as the Turkish Army began moving troops towards the Northern Iraq border and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan issued what amounted to an ultimatum to the US and the Iraqi government.

According to my sources, Kurdish PKK insurgents and Turkish army units are already skirmishing,and the PKK killed 12 Turkish soldiers yesterday in an ambush and reportedly took 8 prisoners, which the Turkish Army has confirmed.

The capture of the Turkish troops was also conformed by PKK commander Bahoz Erdal, said the soldiers were in PKK hands, according to the Firat News Agency.

"Right now, these soldiers are hostages in the hands of our forces," Firat quoted Erdal as saying."Their health condition is good. One of them was slightly injured but was being taken care of by our medics."

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had urged the US and Iraqi governments repeatedly to deal with the PKK, but they had done nothing. "Whatever is necessary will be done," he declared in an interview with the Times in Britain today. “If a neighboring country is providing a safe haven for terrorism . . . we have rights under international law and we will use those rights and we don’t have to get permission from anybody."

(side thought..if that's true,does it mean that the US has rights under international law to go after Syria and Iran? And what about the Israelis?)

Erdogan said that a “serious wave of anti-Americanism” was sweeping Turkey, because of the proposed resolution accusing the Ottoman Turks of genocide against Armenians during the First World War, and that the US “might lose a very important friend”.

Of course, some of us might question whether the current Islamist government of Erdogan and Gul could properly be considered `friends', as opposed to certain elements in the Turkish military. True, Turkey is a member of NATO and the Incirlik Air Base is vital to US resupply in Iraq and Afghanistan, but after all, we do lease it from the Turks....it's a business arrangement, unlike the arrangements we have with certain other nations.

He likewise claimed that the PKK was hiding behind the US and the Iraqi government and said he wanted `quick action' to expel the PKK, with its members expelled, its camps closed and its leaders handed over to Turkey...something that would probably prove difficult even if the Kurds wanted to do so. Otherwise, the Turkish army will invade.

If the Turks invade, they will not only be facing the PKK but Kurdistan's Pesh Merga, estimated at between 100,000 and 150,000 fighting men. The Kurds lack tanks and heavy weaponry, but they would be fighting in the mountains on their home turf and might prove to be a surprisingly difficult foe if it came to that.

And of course at that point, the US would have a decision to make.

Holy Land Foundation Case Ends In Mistrial

The Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing trial ended in a mistrial Monday after the jurors deadlocked on most of the counts.

I suspected something like this was in the works after one of the jurors refused to deliberate or vote on a verdict in the case. In my opinion, Judge Joel Fish should have declared a mistrial then and there.

A government prosecutor, John Jacks said the Justice Department would retry the case.

What apparently happened is that jury verdicts were recorded to acquit the three defendants: Mohammad El-Mezain, the Holy Land's original chairman and endowments director, Mufid Abdulqader, a top Holy Land fundraiser and former Dallas public works supervisor and Abdulrahman Odeh, the foundation's New Jersey representative of a number of the charges but were hung on others. And when polled, three of the jurors said they disagreed with the verdicts as read, which is when Judge Fish declared a mistrial.

The defendants and their attorneys were cheered as they emerged from the courthouse. Amid cries of "Allahu Akbar," an attorney for Mr. Odeh, Greg Westfall, was hoisted into the air by those celebrating.

One thing that a lot of Holy Land supporters were incensed at was that the pivotal witness for the government was an Israeli intelligence official who testified under a pseudonym and in a courtroom cleared of spectators at the request of the American and Israeli governments.

"This was an Israeli trial tried on American soil," the spokesman for a group supporting the defendants, Khalil Meek of the Hungry for Justice Coalition, said.

Frankly, with all the evidence available, One has to hope that in the next go-around, the US attorneys will be much more forceful in presenting their case and much better at weeding out problem jurors.

This is the largest terrorism financing trial in US history, and we can't afford to blow it.

UPDATE: Blogpal Debbie Schlussel has a fine post on this..and being a lawyer, she knows of whence she speaks.

Watcher's Council Results, 10/19/07

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


An interesting situation this week, as we had ties in both the Council and non-Council categories, which meant that the Watcher cast the deciding vote. By coincidence, both my entry and the non-Council one I nominated wound up in second place that way.

This week's winner is Done With Mirrors: Carroling In which Callimachus takes apart the historical inaccuracies and posturing of a James Carrol column.

In second place was JoshuaPundit: Texas Gang Rape and Murder Case Puts America's Sovereignty In Jeopardy

Also getting votes were The Colossus of Rhodey:NY Times, Al Gore and the "Stolen" 2000 Election , Soccer Dad : Private Anti-terror Efforts and Cheat Seeking Missiles: Gore Derangement Syndrome?

For non-Council, the winner was Dumb Still Looks Free: The Problems and Course of Rebuilding In Iraq

In second place for non-Council, the winner was ShrinkWrapped:MSM Bias and Pallywood: Incompetence or Malice?

Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

Kicking Out The Black Sheep: The Swiss Elections

Is it racist to object to the very structure of your national culture being altered? Is it xenophobic to resist becoming a minority in your own society? That's the question Europeans are going to have to increasingly address.

As I predicted some time ago when I wrote about Europe's options, the pushback by native Europeans against Islamism is beginning in a number of places.

The latest is Switzerland,where the nationalist Swiss People's Party is running on an populist, `anti-immigrant' platform was projected to increase its lead in parliament with a gain of six seats..while the Leftist Social Democrats, who largely favor Muslim immigration ended up dropping nine seats.

The parliamentary elections attracted attention worldwide because of the the SPP campaign poster, shown above, with three white sheep kicking a black sheep out of their pasture, which led the Social Democrats to levy charges of racism.

"To call that poster racist is ridiculous. The poster shows and everybody understands that we do not accept criminal foreigners in Switzerland," said the SPP Party's charismatic leader, Christoph Blocher . "And, the criminals are really not a race."

The issues the way the SPP saw it SPP were not race but fraudulent asylum seekers, the cost of welfare benefits, the loss of Switzerland's national character and the large percentage of crime committed by Muslim immigrants.

The Swiss come from a somewhat different place than most of Europe, being a non-EU country, and thus not answerable to some of the ridiculous diktats the EU has put in place concerning immigrants and political correctness. Switzerland is also historically one of the most independent nations in Europe.

The Swiss, however, were haunted to a degree by their refusal to allow Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust inside their borders and were also influenced by the NGOs and Human Rights organizations that have their headquarters in Switzerland, so under the Social Democrats Switzerland pursued a relatively relaxed asylum and immigration policy. As many of these immigrants came from the Muslim parts of Southern Europe and from the Middle East, their society has been overwhelmed and they are apparently now having some second thoughts...as are most native Europeans, even if a lot of their politicians, many whom depend on Muslim votes to get re-elected are behind the curve.

The Swiss People's Party's radical idea? To deport imigrants who commit crimes in Switzerland with their families, and to be much stricter when it comes to granting asylum and handing out welfare benefits to non-citizens.

It will be interesting to watch how this plays out in the rest of Europe. Different countries will, of course, have very different responses and some may be surprising. France for instance, a country that essentially did nothing to stop Le jihad Francais and the car-B-ques under Chirac has now turned increasingly conservative under Sarkozy. In Britain, the response has been mixed.

What are Europe's options? Essentially, to solve Europe's Muslim problem or to become Islamic. Peaceful assimilation of their Muslim populations is possible but highly unlikely in much of Europe, as Islam generally doesn't `play nicely' with others.

That leaves peaceful expulsions and cutbacks in immigration, or civil war in the streets, especially in areas where leftist politicians depend on Muslim votes or money, or where Muslims decide to up the ante with domestic terrorism and riots.Especially, as we've seen in Britain and other countries since there are nation states and Islamist organizations willing to provide Muslim extremists with training, weapons and support.

I see the Swiss and French elections as a signpost for the future. Only time will tell.

Israelis Claim Fatah Terrorists Tried To Assassinate Olmert

Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told the cabinet Sunday that on June 6, a group of gunmen affiliated with Fatah attempted to hit Olmert's convoy as travelled from Jerusalem to Jericho for a meeting with Palestinian President Arafat II Abbas. Thye were likely from the al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigade, `moderate ' Mahmoud Abbas' own terrorist militia and were also apparently members of the Pa security forces, so they knew the convoy's route in advance.

The Israelis apparently brought the story to light when the Palestinians released the three suspects they had arrested as part of the plot.

To give you an idea of exactly how loose Abbas' hold on the West Bank is, a seperate Fatah spokesman, Ahmed Abdul Rahman denounced the story as `false' and urged the media to ignore the Israeli story even after Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and PA Intelligence Chief Tawfiq Tirawi confirmed it!

Personally, I think Ahmed Abdul Rahman may be onto something. I mean, why would the Palestinians want to kill Olmert when he's helping them as much as he can to destroy Israel?

Olmert,of course has his own problems to deal with aside from getting whacked. Not only is he the subject of three seperate criminal investigations ( he's already been indicted) but he's having coalition problems, to the point where he was forced to go public today and announce that the forthcoming Annapolis `peace' conference was "not meant to be an event on its own or an event for an agreement or a historic breakthrough".

Which of course leads to another question: why bother?

Apparently the revelations by Olmert's top negotiator,Haim Ramon about displacing thousands of Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria, re-dividing Jerusalam and giving the Arabs control over Judaism's most sacred sites including the Western Wall is meat too strong even for the stomaches of even Shas and the Israel Betainyu parties, who warned both Olmert and US Secretary of State Condi Rice that the type of far-reaching strategic surrenders the Palestinians are demanding would cause the government to fall as they pulled out of it and Isreal to go immediately to new elections.

For that matter, given Olmert's lack of any significant support at home, I doubt that the current government would dare to commit to anything major without going before the Israeli people for a referendum...which essentially means new elections anyway.

Far better for Shas and Avigdoer Leiberman's Israel Betainyu to pull out now and end this farce. It's long past time.

One Of G-d's Small Miracles, 10/19/07

From time to time, I'm going to try and post items that may not have much to do with the overall theme of this site...or then again, they may everything to do with it.

From Tuscola County in Michigan comes this story of a baby miraculously surviving a major storm while trapped beneath the rubble of his home.

When a major storm approached their home, Joe Soyring and Nichole Opperman went to gather their family and flee their home to safety.

Before they could get their kids out, the couple fell into the basement of the house.

"Next thing you know, the house started shaking. Both of us thought it was an earthquake. And the next thing you know, I got sucked down into the basement...and I watched the tornado go that way," Soyring recalled.

When the storm passed and they were able to crawl free from the wreckage, Soyring and Opperman found three-year-old Makayla, but couldn't find their 15-month-old son, Blake, who had been sleeping in a crib when the storm hit.

Neither they or their neighbors,who came to help could find the baby. Jeff Hawks came running when he heard the screams for help.

"We're looking all over the baby. I mean, we scoured the whole three acres over here, the whole three acres on my side, and we couldn't find the baby.

"All of a sudden, I heard this little whimper and I told everybody to be quiet so we could hear it. And the baby was under this huge pile of debris, probably about this deep (motioning about five feet high) -- floor rafters, you know, everything."

They pulled off the wreckage to find Blake very much alive. "The crib had flipped over, and the mattress was the only thing that saved the baby. The mattress was on top of the baby, but I mean there was thousands of pounds of stuff wrapped over this baby. I don't know how he made it."

The crib and Blake were thrown about 25 feet from the house. He suffered minor cuts and bruises, but is otherwise fine.

"We're lucky to be alive," said Joe Soyring. "Look at it. That's where the house sat."

One of G-d's small miracles.

CounterJihad Conference in Brussels

There was a major convention October 18 and 19th in Brussels, Belgium for one express purpose - to oppose the increasing Islamization of Europe:

On October 18 and 19, over 70 organizations and individuals joined together in the European and Flemish Parliaments to create a European network of activists from 14 nations to resist the increasing Islamisation of their countries. Keynote speakers included Bat Ye’or, author of Eurabia and Dhimmitude and Robert Spencer, author of Religion of Peace, Why Christianity is and Islam Isn’t. Additional speakers included David Littman, Dr. Arieh Eldad, member of the Israeli Knesset, Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, Director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity, Sam Solomon, Director of Fellowship of Faith for Muslims and author of the Charter of Muslim Understanding, Dr. Marc Cogen, Ghent University, Dr. Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, and Laurent Artur du Plessis, author of a forthcoming book on shariah finance. Many participants worldwide also attended the first day of presentations online through webex conferencing.

Armando Manocchio of the Italian organization Una Via per Oriana (“A Way For Oriana”) presented an award to Bat Ye’or in honor of Oriana Fallaci, including a 5,000 Euro scholarship for young journalists.

counter_jihad_brussels_015b.jpg

Additional anti-islamisation experts and activists from the fourteen European countries presented reports on the current state of Islamisation and jihadism in their nations, and citizen efforts to mount a defense of constitutional liberties and national sovereignty, including:

Austria: Elizabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff

Belgium: Filip Dewinter

Czech Republic: Matyas Zmo

Denmark: Lars Hedegaard

Finland: Not disclosed publicly

France: Nidra Poller

Germany: Stefan Herre

Italy: Adriana Bolchini Gaigher

counter_jihad_brussels_004_.jpg

Netherlands: Dr. Johannes J.G. Jansen

Norway: Jens Anfindsen

Romania: Traian Ungureanu

Sweden: Ted Ekeroth and Reinhard

Switzerland: Dr. Arnaud Dotezac

United Kingdom: Gerard Batten

The worm is beginning to turn....

On a side note, it's important to note that not all of the above have the most honorable of motives...Flip Dewinter, for example, of the ultra-nationalist Vlaams Belang part. But this is an important first step in organizing what I can only characterize as resistance.

Radio Appearance

For any of you interested in hearing my dulcet tones, I will be reappearing on WC's and Always on Watch's show, `The Gathering Storm' on BlogTalkRadio - via the internet at 12:30 PM PST on 10/19/07.

If you happen to miss it, you can listen to an archived version at the same link.

You can also call in live at (646)915-9870 - I hope to hear from some of you!

Britain's Tory Muslims Favor Iran Nukes, Anti-Israel Policy and `anti-Democracy' Imams

Ummmm..it appears that David Cameron and Britain's Conservative Party stepped in the nasty stuff,big time.

Cameron and the Tories set up a body of Muslims to advise the Conservatives on Muslim issues, sort of a `shadow' advisory board to the one Tony Blair set up for Labour. Like Blair, Cameron underestimated exactly how radicalized, and even arrogant many of Britain's Muslims have become.

The Conservative Muslim Forum works out of the Conservative Party headquarters in London and is chaired by Lord Sheikh, a Tory party donor who was got a peerage last year. They recently issued a statement in response to a report by the Tory National and International Security Policy Group chaired by new adviser, Dame Pauline Neville-Jones.

So what does the Conservative Muslim Council `advise'?

Well, for starters, they like the idea of Iran having nuclear weapons `for defensive purposes' especially to defend themselves against the country Iran has repeatedly threatened to attack and destroy, Israel. And of course, they criticize whatthey refer to as `unqualified support given to Israel by the current government' because `it is not conducive to British national interests as this could damage Britain's relationships with 15 billion Muslims worldwide, including those in Britain.'

Given that the Blair government has hardly demonstrated `unqualified support' for Israel, what this amounts to is a threat that any support for Israel whatsoever would make Britain's Muslims really really, angry...and someone could get hurt.

They also demand that Britain amend the compulsory history curriculum in schools to give "full recognition to the massive contribution that Islam has made to the development of Western civilization".

And they also want imams and Muslim clerics who advocate a rejection of democracy and its institutions to be allowed entry into Britain.

Needless to say,this is a little bit of an embarrassment for David Cameron, especially since it goes against a number of his statements on these issues and conventional Tory policies.

It would seem that while most Muslims vote Labour or Liberal, there's not much difference between them and the ones who vote Conservative when it comes to issues like Israel, Islamic terrorism,Iran, Islamism and national security.

My mother had a saying "Don't ask unless you can handle the answer."

My mother is a very wise woman.

Rush Limbaugh Has The Last Laugh

Does he ever!

You'll recall that the Senate Democrats tried to used a perfectly factual remark by Limbaugh on Jesse Macbeth and other `phony soldiers' to divert attention from their endorsement of MoveOn's outrageous 'Petraaues - Betray Us' ad. It was an unprecedented instance of sitting Congressmen hiding behind their congressional immunity to insult a private citizen for something he did not say, solely for political purposes.They even wrote and signed a letter to his employer, Mark Mays the CEO of Clear Channel calling for him to be disciplined and censured.

So what did El RushBo do? He put the original Harry Reid/Rush Limbaugh smear letter for sale on eBay!

Not only that, but the proceeds of the sale go to benefit a charity Rush Limbaugh himself has been fairly generous to in the past, the Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation , which specializes in providing scholarship funds for children of serving personnel who are killed in the line of duty.

And the high bid as I write this is..hang on...$851,100!!

A superb example of turnabout..and one that was richly deserved.

UPDATE: The bidding is now over $2 million!!

`US Troops Heads Blown Off For Bush's Amusement' - Congressman Goes Insane

Congressman Pete Stark ( D-CA) is a long time wacko, but this time he surpassed himself.

In the middle of the S-Chip debate, he went off on a tangent about the Iraq War and accused President Bush of getting amusement from seeing our troops heads blown off..and no, I'm not kidding.

"Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

I doubt his fellow Democrats will vote for censure, but they should....if they have any decency left.

Bhutto Returns to Pakistan - And Is Nearly Assassinated

Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who fled the country to avoid corruption charges returned to Pakistan today..and was nearly killed as a result.

As regular members of Joshua's Army know, Bhutto's return was part of a deal to share power with Pakistan's General Musharraf in an effort to strengthen his regime, and the corruption charges were quashed as part of the bargain. She's expected to assume the premiership.

In her procession from the airport, two bombs exploded near a truck carrying her, killing between 50 and sixty people and wounding over 150. The blast shattered windows in her vehicle and set a police escort vehicle on fire.



Bhutto was reported as safe and unhurt.

She had been traveling in a large convoy on a truck equipped with a bulletproof glass cubicle to the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, to give a speech. The Musharraf government had asked to use a helicopter to reduce the risk of attack,but Bhutto had refused.

Although Bhutto has a lot of enemies in Pakistan because of certain things that occurred during her regime,her chief opposition comes from Radical Islamists, the Taliban and al-Qaeda because she's relatively pro-Western. Not only that, but by taking her out of the picture the Islamists probably hoped to deny Musharraf an ally.

The Pakistani Supreme court is scheduled to rule on both Musharraf's new term as president and Bhutto's amnesty within the next two weeks.

UPDATE: The death toll has now climbed to 150, witho ver 300 reported injured.

"The elections will go ahead as planned and we will ensure the road to democracy isn't disrupted,'' Tariq Azeem, deputy information minister, said in a telephone interview from the capital, Islamabad. ``If terrorists think they can derail the election process, they are wrong."

Refreshing to hear a Pakistani official refer to these people as terrorists for a change...