Not only is Condi meeting with terrorists - now, we're arming and training them!

Carl in Jerusalem has the story:Israel Matzav: US urging bigger force for Abu Mazen giving money to and fundraising for terrorists

Force 17, for those that don't know were Arafat's `enforcers' responsible for murdering and cowing the opposition.They fulfill the same function now for Abbas.

One of the infamous alumni of Force 17 is one of the prime links between the Palestinians, Hezbollah and al Qaeda, Imad Mugniyeh, who you may have heard me mention before. He started out in Force 17 as one of Arafat's muderous lieutenants, and later graduated to being one of Osama bin-Laden's Chiefs of Operations in al Qaeda.

Among his other accomplishments was being one of the prime organizers of the Karina A illegal arms shipment from Iran to Arafat via Hezbollah. And he was one of those terrorist al Qaeda leaders who had free run in Saddam's Iraq..where of course, no terrorists existed, right?

Typical for this Administration..fight `em with one hand, fund `em with the other...

CAIR and CNN team up to smear Congressman Peter King

Peter King (r-NY)

As some of you know, Steven Emerson is one of America's foremost experts on Islamic terrorism - had we been listening to him prior to 9/11,it might not have happened.

In Today's New York post, he writes a superb piece on how CAIR and CNN have teamed up in a jihad on THE NY congressman Peter King, an outspoken advocate for America in the war against Islamic fascism.

Unbelievable!

Condi Rice meets with terrorists..and the Bush Administration proves, once again that they're hypocrites on terrorism and `Arab democracy'

To be honest, this makes me spitting mad.

Today, our Secretary of State, Condi Rice is sitting down with the Palestinians. And not just ANY Palestinians, but the Tanzim, the so-called `military wing' of Abbas' Fatah...and the go-to guys since the days of Arafat when the murder of Israeli civilians is called for.The al Aksa Martyr's Brigade is part of this group.

These creeps don't just have innocent blood on their hands..they're awash in it.

Here's just a partial list of just some of their exploits:

April 12, 2002: The bombing of the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. The attack left 6 civilians dead and over 60 wounded.

March 29, 2002: The bombing of a supermarket in the neighborhood of Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem. Two Israeli civilians died and 22 were wounded in the attack.

January 27, 2002: Suicide bomber Wafa' Idris, a resident of Ramallah, perpetrated in Jerusalem the first suicide bombing attack planned and coordinated by the Fatah's Tanzim organization (assisted by the Palestinian General Intelligence). One Israeli civilian, a 62 year old grandfather was killed and 90 were wounded in the attack.

March 2, 2002: The Yeshivat Beit Yisrael massacre when ten religious students were attacked by al Aksa terrorists in their school and murdered.

January 5, 2003 The Tel-Aviv central bus station massacre in Southern Tel Aviv..23 were murdered

April 30, 2003 The `Mike's Place' club bombing in Tel Aviv - 3 dead.

January 29, 2004: The Jerusalem Bus #19 bombing, which murdered 11 Israelis.

February 22, 2004 The Jerusalem bus #14 bombing in Bell Garden, Jerusalem which killed 8

February 25, 2005 : The "Stage Club" bombing on the Tel Aviv sea promenade which murdered 5 Israelis.

August 28, 2005: Central Bus Station Beer Sheva bombing in Beer Sheva which had a toll of 50 injured, 2 critically.

April 17, 2006:the Old Central Bus Station massacre in Tel Aviv. 11 Israeli civilians died in that attack.This was the attack where Daniel Wultz, American citizen was mortally injured and later died for the crime of picking the wrong felafel resturant to eat at (Z"l). You know, the guy Abu Nasser, one of the leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades who helped plan his murder had this to say about:

"This is a gift from Allah. We wish this young dog will go directly with no transit to hell...we say to the Americans we wish you more Daniel Wultzs and more pain and sorrow because it seems that this is the only thing you deserve."

June 26th, 2006: the kidnap and murder of Eliyahu Asheri, 18, of Itamar (Z"l).
***********************
I could list literally pages of terrorist attacks perpetrated by these people. Some of their crimes, like the deliberate murder of a pregnant woman and her three young daughters in a drive by shooting, the deliberate firebombing of a two year old in a carset, or the home invasion and murder of a defenceless mom and her two young sons defy belief.

That's who Condi Rice is shaking hands with today.

Anybody remember a certain US president saying, `You're either with the terrorists or with us'?

ANYBODY?

Even worse, in some ways than our Secretary of State shaking hands with terrorist murderers is the Bush Administration's hypocritical approach to what they claim is a policy goal..the so-called `Arab democracy'.

The Palestinian election, if nothing else was a clear and fair mandate that showed exactly what the Palestinian people wanted.
They voted for Hamas for a lot of reasons, but among them was the simple fact that the vast majority of them have no intentions of living in peace next to Israel...in other words, this is a clear example of actual Arab democracy at work.

The Palestinians made their choice, but the Bush Administration refuses to honor it, because it means cutting off aid and contact.

Because the Bush Administration wants to look good and curry favor with people like the Saudis and the EU and continue to flush more taxpayer dollars down the Palestinian rathole without actually breaking US law by funding a terrorist government, they are actively working to subvert the Palestinian democracy by supporting Arafat II because he's better at hiding his real agenda - the elimination of Israel.

This kind of hypocrisy is disgusting on every level. Not to mention damaging to our war effort...because it makes the enemy realize we haven't gotten serious about fighting jihad yet.

The Palestinian turf war - the `families' are shooting it out to see who's boss

The Beast continues to eat itself,inch by inch.

For the last few weeks, the Palestinian areas in Gaza and on the West Bank have been experiencing a turf war, gangland style for final control of those pawns collectively known as the Palestinians and all those lovely aid dollars.

As regular members of Joshua's Army know, this has been going on for a while, but at a fairly low intensity - a hit here, a hit there, an office burning down in Ramallah, a staged `protest in Gaza...only now, its ramped up considerably.

Originally, as I reported here, Arafat II Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction had a sitdown with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and came up with a deal to parcel out the spoils with a so-called `unity government'.

That ended when Abbas, fresh from his meeting with President Bush and the EU overreached himself and began to put the squeeze on Hamas, using hit squads loyal to Gaza gang kingpin Muhammed Dahlan to take out members of the Hamas mob.

Hamas responded with a major pushback, the assasination of Jad Tayeh, Abbas' top intelligence officer and a senior figure in Fatah's Palestinian intelligence services, killing him and four bodyguards.

The Hamas `security forces' then went after the WAFA press office and even went after the Fatah death squads; in addition to killing 3 squad members, they took at least 30 officers prisoner including the squad’s commander, Sifwat Rahami, who was dragged screaming from his home. Two of his officers ran to Sinai via the Rafah Crossing and headed for Cairo. And the bodyguards of several Palestinian Fatah police chiefs were snatched, leaving them and their families unprotected.

In Ramallah, the Fatah goombahs were limited to shooting up and destroying what's left of Ismail Haniyeh's office as a retaliation..which means very litle since he can't even cross over from Gaza!

The `Unity talks' have collapsed and the body count is starting to mount up.

Abbas could, according to Palestinian law, dissolve the government and call for new elections. I have a feeling Hamas wouldn't go along with that in the least.

Watcher's Council Nominations, 10/04/06

Hi-de-ho, here we go!

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


1. J O S H U A P U N D I T: The horrors of Club Gitmo...and Camp Pendleton Ahhhh, to be in Club Gitmo at Ramadan..the balmy tropical breezes, the gourmet halal food, the rabid prayer sessions with sermons about killing the infidels, the joyful hijinks of assaulting the `help' with urine, feces and other substances...And then, of course, there's another group of 8 guests of the government being held in very different circumstances at Camp Pendleton, some people who were willing to die to protect us, rather than die to murder us. In the recent debate about treatment of Islamic terrorists, I think it's instructive to look at how the second group is being treated compared to the first. Nice pix, too.


2. Gates of Vienna: “Peace” and War on an Autumn Afternoon Dymphna, as usual, is always worth reading. Here, she explores the various sights and sounds seen at a park in her native Virginia at two very different celebrations. As she quite aptly puts it, they occurred`across a chasm so vast no bridge long enough could be engineered to span the differences between the two groups.'


3.Done With Mirrors: The Media We Deserve As a member of the Main Stream Media, Callimachus is in a unique position to point out exactly how the news in manipulated context and editing. Here, Calli gives a recent example for your edification.

4. Soccer Dad: Democratic Israel jujitsu One of the most loyal groups who reliably vote majority Democratic party are American Jews. But there are significant signs that this is changing, particularly as the Democratic party continues to move Left.Soccer Dad comes up with a fascinating post that compares the Democratic and Republican party stances on Israel.

5. AbbaGav :: AbbaGav Goes To Crossing-Guard School AbbaGav comes bouncing back from his site problems to write a very funny post about his time in *!gasp!* crossing guard school!


6. Right Wing Nut House: GOLDBERG ON TORTURE: SOPHISTRY ON A STICK Rick Moran takes exception to what he consider's the NRO's Jonah Goldberg's cavalier attitude on torture.

7. The Sundries Shack: So Whatever Happened to Ruthlessness? Jimmie, like me, takes some exception to Senator Bill Frist's comments on Afghanistan and the Taliban, and makes it a symptom of our unwillingness to fight this war to win or take it seriously. You go, Mistah B.... Bush F A I L E D us in that department, as far as I'm concerned.

8.Rhymes With Right: Sekula-Gibbs Supports Public Safety – Pro-Wetback Council Members Play Politics Greg gives a gen-u-wine Texas smackdown to Houston city council members who took PC exception to the remarks of councilwoman Dr. Shelly Sekula-Gibbs' remarks at the funeral of a police officer murdered by an illegal alien. Sekula-Gibbs is the GOP nominee in Tom DeLay's old district - she sounds like a worthy successsor.

9. ShrinkWrapped: There Are No Words ShrinkWrapped does it again. Here, he uses the tragedy of the Amish school killings to make a point about dealing withgrief and loss - and more importantly, how society is failing to socialize its children, especially males. Great job, Shrinks.


10. The Glittering Eye: For the sake of the fifty Dave takes on the Dean Esmay vs. Michelle Malkin/Charles Johnson blogging flap over what Esmay considers overgeneralizing in their condemnations of Islam and Muslims. Dave mostly agrees with him. I don't. And Esmay, in my experience is not someone I'd particularly defend in the least.

As for the issue at hand - overgeneralizing about any group is not too bright, but neither is closing your eyes and allowing a bus to run over you. Enough said.

11.Matt Barr : Is there a case for a libertarian Republican?Matt examines the the phenomenon of the Left's own Daily Kossak, Markos Moulitsas, posing as a `libertarian' and examines why that isn't so. He then explores the nature of libertarianism.

12. The Education Wonks: Wonkitorial: Artless, Spineless, and Clueless In Texas EdWonk takes on the case of a teacher fired for taking a class to an art museum..where they saw *!gasp!* representations of nude figures!!

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

The Arabs - They Think Differently than We Do'

Longtime Joshua's Army member Zeb Gardner earns a commendation and a mention in dispatches for unearthing another prime bit o' writing for your edification...Hoo-ah!

Stephen Brown at Rant's and Raves is an anthropology major who spent a great deal of time in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. Here, he reflects on the cultural differences between them and westerners...and lays out why in his words, he feels `Our civilization is destroying theirs. We cannot share a world in peace. They understand this; we have yet to learn it.'

Here's a sample:

"Journalist Jill Carroll is back home now, and detailing her experiences as a captive of the jihadists in Iraq in the Christian Science Monitor.
( http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0814/p01s01-woiq.html ) I'm sure the details will prove fascinating, but the upshot of what she has learned is that the Islamists are - gasp! - different from us! Furthermore, I believe that she's beginning to suspect that they are really not very nice people. Oh whatever will this poor old world be FORCED to endure next?

Since the beginning of the Iraq phase of this conflict of civilizations, I've experienced the teeth-grinding frustration of watching both pro- and anti- Iraq sides make the exact same mistake - that of supposing that these people are bascially Americans in funny costumes. In this respect, George Bush and Michael Moore are equally clueless, as was Jill Carroll apparently.

I went to live and work in Saudi Arabia in 1998, and I "made my year" as expats there put it. That phrase means that I actually stuck out the whole year, instead of "running" from my contract, an occurrence so common that you only have to say "he did a runner" to explain why someone isn't showing up for work anymore. And while my experience wasn't nearly as unpleasant as Jill Carroll's, I could have told her a thing or two before she went to Iraq armed with her overflowing good will.

In Eastern Europe and the South Balkans, whenever I have gone to live in a place which I had formed opinions about, the actual experience of living there has always radically changed those opinions, sometimes into a completely contradictory ones. Most often, my academic research led me to form a beautifully coherent model which experience turned into a semi-coherent collection of observations and tentative conclusions.

In the case of the Kingdom, I went there with a certain sympathy for Arab grievances, a belief that America had earned a lot of hostility from "blowback" from our ham-handed interventionist foreign policy and support for Israel etc.

I came back with the gloomy opinion that over the long run we are going to have to hammer these people hard to get them to quit messing with Western Civilization. And by the way, among "rational, fair-minded" non-interventionist libertarians, not a damn one of them has asked me, "What in your experience caused you to change your mind?" Instead what I get are gratuitous insults followed by insufferably condescending lectures about how wrong I am.

So, with the caveat that one of the first things I learned was that the term “Arab” covers a lot of territory, here are some observations and some tentative conclusions about Arabs, more specifically about Arabs from the oil states about why we have misunderstood each other to the point that we are fighting a war with some of them and are pissing off the rest of them.

They think differently than we do."

This is a must read...and you can find it here: Rants and Raves: Observations on Arabs

Another NorthKorean Nuclear test...

Guess what? Now we have to worry about another North Korean nuclear test!












North Korea has announced that it will conduct another nuclear test during a security council meeting tommorow.

Of course, the UN is `divided' on how to deal with it..

US Ambassador John Bolton raised the matter in a Security Council meeting today. After a brief discussion, members decided to meet Wednesday morning to decide how to deal with it.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a North Korean nuclear test would be "a very provocative act" and the US would have to assess its options if Pyongyang carries out its threat.

Yup. I'm sure we'll be just as forceful with the North Koreans as we've been with Iran. *sigh*

The `youths' ring in Ramadan with riots in Britain, France and Belgium

And with almost no mainstream media attention, I might add. And certainly no mention of the Muslim nature of the youths...which you can basically discern by noting the location of the riots and the careful avoidance of any mention of Ramadan or Islam!


In France, there was another attack on police after a previous ambush set up by the `youths' at the start of the holiday that badly injured two members of a CRS anti-riot unit in the southern Paris suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes.

Seven French police officers were hurt during clashes with scores of `youths' that broke out after a car chase in Les Mureaux, in the western Paris outskirts, police vehicles were damaged and at least one police car merited a car-becue, in the time-honored `youth' tradition.

The incident followed the arrest of a `youth' who drove his car into a police vehicle after being chased for a traffic offence. As he was being taken to the police station in another vehicle, it was attacked by a mob.

"There were around 250 people — very angry and very hostile," police officials said.

Qu'attendez-vous, mes amis ? After last year, with no response from the French government to weeks of rioting, did you expect anything different?


In Belgium, The Brussels Journal appears to be alone in reporting on three straight nights of Ramadan rioting.

The riots occurred on the Brussels Marollen quarter and the area near the Midi Train Station, where the international trains from London and Paris arrive. `Youths' stoned and assaulted passing pedestrians and cars, bus shelters were demolished, cars were subjected to car-becues, a youth club was burned down and a shop or two was looted.

Two molotov cocktails were reportedly thrown into St.Peter'’s hospital, one of the main hospitals of central Brussels. The local fire brigade was able to extinguish the fires at the hospital, but not before the `youths' managed to steal the keys to the fire engine!

During the month of Ramadan, for those of you who don't know, Muslims are required to fast during the day and are only allowed to eat after sundown. As the Journal points out "What should be noticed about the riots is that they start after sunset. Besides the fact that they start after dark, it also gives the rioters enough time to break their fast and enjoy the traditional family meal. Sunset is around 7:30pm."

The Belgian municipal elections are being held on Sunday October 8th. It'll be interesting to see what effect the rioting has on them.

And in Britain, the action centered on the Jamea Masjid mosque in Clarendon Street, Avenham,in Lancanshire, with massive street battles for two straight nights. It's uncertain whether Muslims were responding to an attack on cars parked outside a local mosque, whether it was a battle between Muslim factions, or simply some of the local `youths' rejoicing in British dhimmi-itis.

Here's the money quote from the article: `It resulted in one 16-year-old Asian youth being stabbed in the arm, but ambulance crews were turned back as the police felt it was too dangerous for them to enter the scene.

Almost sounds like the banlieus in France with their no-go zones, , doesn't it?

Hat tip to snapped shot and Charles at little green footballs.

Sharia, Ramma-Damma-Ding Dong!!

Short Takes, 10/03/06

JoshuaPundit has inagurated a new feature : Short Takes. This will encompass stuff I see that I think merits the attention of Joshua's Army members and that I will embellish with a few lines of the wit, wisdom, insight and written insurgency you've come to expect from your pal Freedom Fighter.

This is an attempt to cover more ground in less time and compress a lot into a small space, rather like the young gentleman seen above.


*Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist continues to exercise non-leadership, unfortunately. I say unfortunately because I genuinely admire the Senator's acomplishments and positions overall..but his leadership as senate majority leader leaves a lot to be desired.

Today, during a visit to a US-Romanian base, Frist made the statement that the Taliban are too numerous and have too much popular support to be defeated militarily, and should be included inthe Afghan government! Of course, he added that the decision to ask Taliban to join the government was up to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who just returned from a White House summit. Nice of him to acknowledge that.

In a further move, US CENCOM (Central Command) is turning over the remaining areas of Eastern Afghanistan to NATO control, giving NATO the responsibility for security in the entire country..something that's a fool's errand until they secure the borders with Iran and Pakistan.

FF wonders whether Frist was speaking for the Bush Adminstration. I hope not.


*The Iraqi parliament has extended the official state of emergency...and the sectarian violence continues, with no letup in sight.

In two days, at least 15 Iraqis were killed in attacks around the country, 28 people were kidnapped and another 50 bodies were found in the Baghdad area. In Anbar, 3 US Marines were killed September 30th, and in Basra, a British soldier died in a mortar attack on yesterday...probably by al-Sadr's Iranian backed Mahdi Army.

Iraqi PM Maliki announced a plan to form local committees in each Baghdad district with representatives of every party, religious and tribal leaders and security officials to consult on security operations, with a central committee made up of all the parties will coordinate the armed forces. "We have vowed to God to stop the bloodshed," said the prime minister.

Nothing's going to change there until we confront Iran and Syria over their interventions in Iran.


*Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra finally resigned from his Thai Rak Thai party Tuesday.

The billionaire politician had resisted months of calls from his opponents to step aside, but his forced removal by the royalist backed coup pretty much settled things.

"No more Thaksin means the end of TRT, because Thaksin was the party," said Prudhisan Jumbala, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. "Party members probably imagine that the brand is dead."

Indeed. Thai politicians pre-empted Thaksin yesterday when the party's largest faction, comprising about 100 lawmakers, left the party en masse.


*It looks like the frontrunner for Kofi Annan's job as UN Secretary General is South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon. He was the only candidate to escape a veto during an informal Security Council ballot.

The Security Council is expected to hold a formal vote to pick the eighth secretary-general in the United Nations’ 60-year history on October 9, making Ban Ki-Moon’s appointment almost assured.

The Foley Follies

AHH- we have an interesting situation here, to say the least.

By now, most of you know the story...a respected Republican Congressman from Florida, Mark Foley, was busted for sending some rather explicit e-mails to a 16 year old congressional page, and has since resigned his House seat (where he was a virtual shoe-in to be re-elected) and checked himself into rehab as an alcoholic.

Apparently the fun is just beginning, with the Republican House leadership being targeting as aiding and abetting Foley's little prediliction. Or as Democratic congresswoman Jane Harman put it `what did they know and when did they know it?'

I agree with the congresswoman. I merely think the inquiry should be asked on both sides of the aisle.

Some of these e-mails are three years old, and some of them are instant messages, which can only be saved if somebody cut n' pastes them and saves them via a word processing program. Yet, these e-mails were only released recently, a month before the election. Who was holding on to these for partisan purposes for use in an election campaign? What did they know and when did they know it?


The timing is suspicious, to say the least. Obviously, the Democratic National Committee has a hit list, and a lot of other nuggets in store for us before November in their quest to regain power.

Or to quote House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), in a letter to the Washington Times in response to the conservative paper's call for Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign his speakership. :

"We also need to know why these messages surfaced only last week, on the final day of legislative business before the November elections. If this evidence was withheld for political purposes, one can only speculate as to how many additional children may have been endangered before this information was finally revealed."

I'd also be interested in how the Leftist group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) who first released the e-mails got copies of them, and from whom.

Foley may or may not have committed a criminal act. Ages of consent differ in different states. But what he did, in terms of utilizing his position to solicit sexual favors was wrong and disgraceful. He deserved to lose his seat, and anyone who covered for him deserves to be pilloried.

What's most disturbing to me is that Foley had a superb record on national defence and the War on Jihad, and was even willing to point out the fatuousness of the Bush Admonistration on these matters. Foley was one of the first congressmen of either party to speak out on the ridiculous Dubai Ports deal..something that Democrats and Republicans who hopped on the bandwagon to oppose the Dubai deal are giving him scant credit for now.

He did the right thing by resigning and checking himself into rehab, and his fellow Republican congressmen are rightly not condoning his behavior..a course of conduct that might be compared with ex-President Clinton's in a similar situation. Of course, Clinton actually did commit felonies in an effort to avoid any fallout for his conduct.And many of his party members continue to cover for him to this day.

I can't help but think that this is karma to the Bush Administration for their shameful treatment of Tom DeLay.

This will undoubtedly affect the midterm elections, and not in a good way. Some members of congress who understand that we're at war and have voted accordingly will be jettisoned, and others will be elected who haven't a clue....to go head-to-head with our unfortunate president like a flea-maddened dog chewing his own rear, while the Jihad goes on unimpeded for the next two years.

Stay tuned..

An interesting day in Congress for Israel..

Israel had an interesting day in Congress right before they adjourned for the elections.

On the one hand, the Bush administration continued with its policy of picking and choosing which Islamic terrorists it likes by blocking further sanctions against Palestinian Authority.

As I reported here, Congresswoman Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in the House and Senator McConnell in the Senate have exhibited some rare common sense in submitting bills caling for what's essentially an end to the US spending taxpayer dollars to fund the Palestinians. While the two bills differ slightly, they are both intended to stop aid to the Palestinian Authority and prevent ties with PA officials. It specifically increases the restrictions on funding for so-called non-government groups (NGOs) working in the Palestinian territories...which is exactly how a lot of money used to fund the war against the Jews gets sneaked into Hamas and Fatah's coffers.


Of course, we can't have that now, can we?

The Bush administration pulled out all the stops to keep this legislation from becoming a bill. Congress adjourned Friday for its election recess without taking action on the legislation, and none other than Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intervened personally, calling Senate majority whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and urging him to reconsider an initiative to include the Palestinian sanctions in an omnibus bill.

Here's a giggle...the Bush administration apparently `does not feel the time is right for strengthening sanctions against the Palestinians' and wants to prevent Congress from tying its hands when dealing with moderate Palestinian leaders'. By that of course, the President means Arafat II Mahmoud Abbas.

Senator McConnell's press secretary, Robert Steurer, would not address the negotiations between Congress and the administration about the Palestinian sanctions issue, stating that the omnibus bill will only be considered after congress returns from recess, "so it's too early to discuss what's going to be included in the bill."

Now here's a question...if Bush is still so committed to the idea of `Arab democracy', why is he trying to subvert a democratically elected Hamas government? There's nothing written in stone that says we should give a red cent to these people, but where does he get the gall to try and support the Fatah opposition, just because Abbas is a better con man and covers Fatah's version of Palestinian terrorism better than Hamas does?

On the other side of the coin, Congress okayed massive joint funding for US-Israeli defence programs, including
including $20 million for the development of a short-range ballistic missile defense system.

The funding, approved as part of the defense appropriations bill, is double the amount the administration initially requested for joint projects..the whole package totals over $460 million, represents a huge increase in funding and is not part of the aid package the US gives to Israel...80% of which is spent on weaponry manufactured here in the US.

Large components includethe Arrow anti-missile system, which will receive $135 million for coproduction of the system components in the US and for developing improvements, the Litening targeting and navigation pod, an Israeli development which increases the striking ability of aircraft and two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects, the Hunter and the Pioneer, which were funded with $35m.

Congress also gave final approval to a previous decision to provide $137m. for special tiles to protect Bradley armored fighting vehicles against anti-tank missiles.

Essentially, this allows the US and Israel to cooperate on developing joint weapons systems for use by both countries, with the US providing funding to enable Israeli high tech to work with American scientists.

I guess that's called a kiss with one hand and a slap with the other...go figure!

Musharraf threatens the west - as India reveals the Pakistani government's role in the Mumbai bombings

Some ally, eh?

It was a bad day for the Pakistani dictator, even if he does have a 7 figure book deal.

First of all, British intelligence revealed the role of the ISI,Pakistan's infamous intelligence service when a leaked Ministry of Defence report accused the ISI of helping the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The report blamed Pakistan and the ISI for sabotaging allied efforts in Afghanistan. The report blamed the ISI for 'indirectly and directly supporting terrorism and extremism, whether in London on 7/7 or in Afghanistan or Iraq.'

And then A.N. Roy, Mumbai’s police chief bluntly accused Pakistan of having a major role in the Mumbai bombings. At a news conference on Sept 30 he said: "We have solved the July 11 bombings case.The whole attack was planned by Pakistan's ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and their operatives in India."

Not only that , but the Pakistan-based Lashkar e-Taiba was assisted by operatives belonging to the Students Islamic Movement of India. Another four arrests were made yesterday, 15 in all...and I'm sure the Indian authorities have their ways of eliciting information. What's been revealed so far is that eleven Islamic terrorists came across the border from Pakistan, 2 of whom were killed and 9 who are still at large. They brought with them some of the RXD, which together with ammonium nitrate, was packed in pressure cookers which teams of two planted on the trains. The blasts on rush-hour commuter trains killed 208 people and wounded hundreds more.

Musharraf, frankly, got unhinged and said a lot more than he intended.

"You'll be brought down to your knees if Pakistan doesn't co-operate with you," Gen Musharraf said in an interview with Radio 4. "That is all that I would like to say. Pakistan is the main ally. If we were not with you, you won't manage anything. Let that be clear. And if ISI is not with you, you will fail."

He also took time out to blame the West for Islamic terrorism: "Now we keep blaming Pakistan again and I take again strong exception to that," he said.

"That a man who's 30 years old or 25 years old comes to Pakistan for two months, everything has gone wrong in two months, the man is indoctrinated here, and then he goes there but the problem lies here."

All of which doesn't explain why Pakistan is basically a training ground and a finishing school for Muslim terrorists, and why so many have originated from there.

Or why Pakistan still won't allow its scientist AQ Khan, the father of the Islamic bomb to be interrogated by either the US or the IAEA. No country has done more for nuclear proliferation to rogue states like Iran and North Korea than Pakistan. Khan was even using army planes to transport the parts.

Or why, in the almost five years since the fall of the Taliban in Kabul, not a single Taliban leader or commander has been arrested in Pakistan. Yet they operate openly from there, particularly around the town of Quetta, long known as Taliban Central.

If we're going to get serious about winning this war, we had better understand that `allies' like Pakistan and Musharraf are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Bravo, Stephen Harper!

Canada has a real leader, and a man of principle.

The Egyptians put forth an anti-Israel resolution condemning Arab suffering in the Lebanon war at the 11th Organisation International de la Francophonie (OIF) summit in Bucharest on Friday. The OIF comprises 53 member states and 10 permanent observers sharing a French linguistic or cultural heritage.

It was blocked personally by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper over its double standard towards Israel.

In a televised press conference, Harper said it was wrong for the OIF to express regret over the loss of Arab life, while remaining silent on Israeli casualties.

Needless to say, la merde a frappé le ventilateur after that, as they say.

Harper's support for Israel and his refusal to accept the Arab-backed amendment demonize Israel provoked outrage from the Arab delegates and nearly derailed the conference.

"We wanted to condemn the war because it was deplorable," Lebanese Culture Minister Tarek Mitri told CBC. "Everyone agrees, except Canada."

Ummm, no, Tarek. Harper is simply smart enough to realize that Israel is merely a surrogate target for the West by jihadis like yourself. And, if condemning the war is your objective, how about a condemnation of hezbollah, who started it by attacking Israel?

I'm waiting, Tarek....

But then, not all western leaders get that.

French President Jacque Chirac, for instance, was pefectly willing to demonize those horrible Zionists."The majority supported the amendment, but Canada was hostile to it," he said in a statement.

He didn't reckon with Harper's steel.

"Canada believes that any resolution has to be balanced, that we should recognize the victims in both Lebanon and Israel," Harper said.

Victims of war "must be recognized regardless of their
nationality", he noted. "We are able to deplore the war, we are able to recognize the victims, but on both sides."

"I think that we all want to avoid is a similar attack on Israel in the future, a similar response and a similar war," Harper added.

Well done, Mr. Harper. Though I have a feeling some of your fellow conference attendees don't share your sentiments.

The IDF completes its Lebanon pullout

The last Israeli forces left Lebanon today as IDF officials confirmed that the army withdrew the last of its troops from Lebanon.





Israel had been gradually reducing its troop presence since the Aug. 14 cease-fire from a peak of 30,000 during the fighting to several hundred at the end.

As I reported, the Israelis had been reluctant to withdraw the last of their troops. They cited disagreements over the deployment of Lebanese and U.N. forces in southern Lebanon and the complete disregard of the UN mandate to enforce an arms embargo and disarm Hezbollah.

In the end, they apparently faced that fact that the UN is going to do nothing of the kind, especially after French tanks interfered with IDF pursuit of some of the Hezbollah troops who raided an Israeli armory yesterday.

It's only a ceasefire violation if Israel does it, you see.

The Israelis and the IDF have some major reconstruction and soul searching to do, both militarily and politically. This is a good time for it.

We had best remember we're all in the same boat......

`I'm sorry..for the terrible crimes committed by Muslims'

The Toronto Sun's Salim Mansur has a stunning piece that does an amazing job of showing, if you needed proof, that decent, peace loving Muslims do exist,and that they are agonized over the jihad leashed against the west.

He also provides a lucid explanation of the difficulties Muslims like him face in getting their voices heard:

"In a recent column, Michael Coren, my colleague here at the Sun, demanded Muslims apologize for wrongs too numerous to list.

Coren is right. I, as a Muslim, apologize without equivocation or reservation for the terrible crimes -- small and big -- committed by Muslims against non-Muslims and against Muslims, as in Darfur, who are weak and easy prey to those who hold power in the name of Islam.

I imagine, however, Coren is not seeking an apology from a person of Muslim faith such as I, who maintains no rank and cannot speak on behalf of the institutionalized world of Islam.

Like many others who share his frustration and legitimate anger, Coren is asking to hear a contrite voice from within institutionalized Islam -- to repent for Muslim misconduct, past and present, that is indefensible by any standard of civility and decency, and seek forgiveness.

But Coren and others might well wait indefinitely for such an apology from those representatives of institutionalized Islam convinced of their own righteousness, even as they are engineers of a civilization's wreckage and prosper in it by the art of bullying.

Muslims and non-Muslims often point to the fact there is no Vatican in contemporary Islam -- no figure like the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury who authoritatively represents the Muslim world.

This is only partly true, for the lack of a Pope-like figure among Muslims does not mean an absence of an institutionalized setting operative in the Muslim world.

From the earliest years of post-Prophetic Islam, Muslims holding the power of the sword and what constitutes the authoritative meaning of the Koran and the prophet's traditions, have rigged the boundaries of institutionalized Islam. The wielders of the sword and interpreters of faith have worked in tandem to impose their consensus on all Muslims, and those who have questioned their authority have paid a steep price.

This institutionalized reality of Islam and its resulting complexity are not well understood by non-Muslims. Institutionalized Islam is represented by Muslim majority states and their political and religious leaders who share a consensus on matters of politics and faith.

Below institutionalized Islam's scrutiny exists a vast unaccounted number of Muslims who seek anonymity to escape the coercive notice of authorities in mosques and in presidential or monarchical palaces. Their voices, were they heard, would be rudely dismissed as heretical."

And, though Salim Mansur does not say so directly, their lives would be at risk. Remember, one of the first fatwas to obtain wide spread publicity in the west was against writer Soloman Rushdie - a Muslim.

Mansur is a courageous man, and one can only pray that it's contagious.

Read the rest here.

Remember, it's the `Religion of Peace'...or someone could get hurt

Robert Redeker is a French philosphy professor who had the audacity to publish an article critical of Islam's response to the Pope in the French paper `Le Figaro'. As a consequence of that, he has been the object of a particularly nasty fatwa targeting himself and his wife and three children for death, and has been forced into hiding.

Redeker and his family are now recieving round-the-clock police protection and changing addresses every two days after wrote an article describing the Koran as a "book of extraordinary violence" and Islam as "a religion which ... exalts violence and hate".

He told i-TV television he had received several e-mail threats , and that his photograph and address were available on several jihad internet sites.

"There is a very clear map of how to get to my home, with the words: 'This pig must have his head cut off'," he said.

The threats started after Redeker wrote the piece in reaction to the violent tantrum unleashed in Muslim countries by Pope Benedict XVI's references to Islam in his speech in Germany two weeks ago.

Under the title "In the face of Islamist intimidation, what must the free world do?", he denounced the "Islamisation of spirits" in France and claimed that "Islam is trying to make Europe yield to its vision of mankind."

No, really?

Comparing Islam to Communism (a comparison my good friend the Baron at Gates of Vienna made a short while back in a wonderful piece called `The Islamintern), Redeker said that "violence and intimidation are the methods used by an expansionist ideology ... to impose its leaden cloak on the world".

He also compared the Prophet Mohammed unfavourably to Jesus Christ, describing the founder of Christianity as a "master of love" and the founder of Islam as a "master of hate".

"Exaltation of violence, a merciless war-leader, a pillager, a massacrer of Jews and a polygamist — this is the picture of Mohammed that emerges from the Koran," he wrote.

After the piece appeared on September 19th, al Jazeera and several other Muslim outlets made sure that Redeker's piece got wide publicity so that the jihadis could get good and worked up and into a real head choppin' frenzy. And of course, that particular issue of le Figaro was conficated and banned in several Arab countries.

Le Figaro, to its credit, printed a front-page open letter from the editors Friday expressing solidarity with him and "condemning with the greatest severity the grave attacks on freedom of thought and expression that this affair has provoked."

As for the French Government, while PM Dominique de Villepin said such threats were "unacceptable" and the French DST intelligence agency is investigating the death threats, not everyone in the French government has been so supportive.

Interviewed over the telephone from a safe house by Europe 1 radio Friday, Redeker said that "the education ministry has not even contacted me, has not deigned to get in touch to see if I need any help."

On Thursday Education Minister Gilles de Robien expressed "solidarity" with the teacher, but also warned that "a state employee must show prudence and moderation in all circumstances." (Go-ood dhimmi!!)

Redeker said his interview that "if Robien is correct, then we would never have had any intellectual life in France. The function of politics is not tell us what we are allowed to think, but to defend our freedom to think and speak out."

Redeker was intuitive enough to say that the jihadis had "already won a victory of sorts."

"I cannot do my job. I have no freedom of movement. I am in hiding. Already they have succeeded in punishing me ... as if I was guilty of holding the wrong opinions."

Not only that, Monsieur le professeur, but they have undoubtedly intimidated more than a few of your fellow countrymen from `holding the wrong opinions'.

We in the West will eventually have to stand up to these bullies..and the sooner, the better.

Weekend Monkey sez: I'm in with the in crowd!!

The Bush Administration cripples Thailand's war against jihad

Military coup, Bangkok style!


The Bush Administration has billions for Lebanon, for Egypt, for the Palestinians, and for the UN...but has pulled the plug on helping Thailand's efforts to fight jihad in it's southern provinces.

The US State Department and Condi Rice just suspended American military aid to Thailand , including $16.3 million coming from a Pentagon program, launched this year, to train and equip foreign militaries in counter-terrorism operations.

The Thais, a long time US ally, have been battling Muslim jihad in the south of the country for over a year, and over 1,400 people have died. The official rationale for this insult to a long time friend of America was US `displeasure' at the recent coup.

This is patently ridiculous. The Thais have just appointed an interim Prime Minister and the leader of the bloodless coup who seized power with the backing of the royal family, Army chief General Sondhi Boonyaratglin has already pledged to hand over power to a civilian cabinet within two weeks and to hold a general election by October 2007. Patchara Kampitak, president of the Reporters’ Association of Thailand, said that journalists from several Thai media outlets visited General Sondhi today and received assurances "about freedom of the media". And General Sondhi told the Reuters today that the interim civilian Prime Minister will have a free hand in running the government after a new constitution comes into force on October 1.

"I can assure you it is impossible that we will control the government. We will be the government’s tool to keep peace," he said.

That doesn't appear to be good enough for the Bush Administration.Apparently only two-faced Muslim autocracies are good enough for the money of the American taxpayer.

Cutting off military aid to Thailand is a major coup for the jihadists. And even though the Bush Administration has pledged to renew the funds `after a democratically elected Thai government takes office' according to State Department spokesperson Sean McCormick, at the least it empowers the Muslim terrorists and needlessly insults a loyal ally in the war against jihad.

The new prime minister is somebody who has justified my wait and see attitude. He's General Surayud Chulanont, 62, a highly regarded retired officer. He's a nationally respected figure in Thailand,known for his effectiveness, honesty and incorruptibility. When he retirement in 2003, he was appointed to the Privy Council, the top advisory body to the king.

During his career he fought Thai communist insurgents and handled the sensitive situation along the embattled Cambodian border during the 1980s. He was regarded as close to the American military, which praised him throughout his career.

A devout Buddhist, Surayud spent time as a monk after leaving the army, and has often said he had no intention of entering the political fray.

Korn Chatikavanij, deputy general secretary of the Democrat Party, said earlier that Surayud was an "appropriate" choice. Although being a former general might give the outside world the impression the military was merely transferring power to one of its cronies, that is not true or relevant, he said.

"What is important is domestic reconciliation, and General Surayud is ideal for that." he told The Associated Press news agency.

The Thais were faced with a corrupt administration and a failure to deal effectively with a jihad directed against their country, and they took steps to deal with it.

Once again, more evidence that we're not serious about fighting this war yet.

Who knows where the money goes? Not UNRWA!

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the world's largest welfare scam, invented solely to finance the perpetual "refugee" status of Palestinian Arabs and their decendants, the majority of whom fled their homes voluntarily in what is now Israel when the Arab armies told them to to do so as not to get in the way of the jihad and massacre of the Jews. (Why else do you think they brought their house keys with them?)

It's an agency devoted solely to Palestinian refugees and it gets $100 million annually from U.S. taxpayers. Does that money go to help impoverished Palestinian Arabs who need to eat and receive medical care or does it go to buy arms and explosives for Palestinian terrorists to kill Israeli civilians with? Who knows? The UN sure doesn't!

UNRWA is violating US federal anti-terrorism laws on a regular basis.

US Congressmen Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Steven Rothman (D-NJ) wrote to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a letter released for publication yesterday about UNRWA'S violations of US law, inefficiency and lack of oversight.

The Kirk-Rothman letter cites UNRWA for failing to comply with federal anti-terrorism laws. Repeatedly, UNRWA has refused to give names of Palestinian staff who left their agency positions to run for the PA parliament as Hamas candidates. While pledging to the State Department that they deny humanitarian assistance to terrorists, UNRWA does not check beneficiaries against a list of known terrorists provided by the police or Israeli government.

In the letter, Kirk and Rothman cited a recently released United Nations Board of Auditors report that included a harsh assessment of UNRWA's management, efficiency and security.

"In the increasingly hostile environment of the Middle East, with the Palestinian Authority now controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization, we must upgrade our oversight of the more than $100 million US taxpayers contribute to UNRWA," said Kirk. "After an exhaustive review of the UN's own audit, it is clear UNRWA is wrought by mismanagement, ineffective policies, and failure to secure its finances. We must upgrade UNRWA's financial controls, management and enforcement of US law that bars any taxpayer dollars from supporting terrorists."

"US anti-terror law explicitly prohibits taxpayer dollars from supporting terrorists. However, we know that a number of UNRWA staff ran for parliament in the Palestinian territory as official Hamas candidates earlier this year. We know that Hamas supports the indiscriminate killing of civilians. We know that UNRWA cannot account for large amounts of money it has spent.

"And we know that UNRWA does not check Palestinian beneficiaries against a list of known terrorists," said Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ). "With all of this information known, the United States must find out what is unknown: Are US tax dollars funding terrorists through UNRWA?"

Well, duh!

The UN Board of Auditors' newly released report the congressmen were referring to in their letter to Secretary Rice shows that UNRWA has basically ignored a a number of recommendations from previous audits and refuses to fully disclose financial statements to the auditors; employs poorly qualified and inexperienced staff; lacks a human resources plan; fails to make results-based management decisions; and fails to compare relevant financial records.

The audit states that UNRWA does not track those responsible for recording, deleting, or in any way manipulating financial information, and thus has no way of detecting fraud.

In other words, the left hand doesn't know what the right hands' doing..you don't tell on me, I don't tell on you and everybody's happy.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, right?

Rep. Kirk said, "It will be difficult to continue funding UNRWA at current levels until we can be assured that US taxpayer dollars are not subject to the type of mismanagement highlighted in this report."

We'll see. I'm sure President Bush wouldn't want to upset the Palestinians by implying that they're stealing money from their own people, aided and abetted by the UN.

Of course, the UN would never be a part of anything like that. Who ever heard of such a thing?