Watcher's Council Results, 12/21/07

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 weeks' winner is:

Big Lizards: The Courage To Do Nothing Daffyd's fine exposure of the Church of Global warming, using Senator James Inhofe's remarks on the subject as a framework.

In second place we had:

Cheat Seeking Missiles: Separation of Church and State, Secularist Style A great piece by Laer that dealt with the suit against a California high school teacher attempting to indoctrinate his class with his marxist and anti-Christian rants in the classroom.

For non-Council, the winner was:

The Ornery American: A Stand-Up President A very well written comparison piece with negative views on Ronald Reagan and a positive view of George W. Bush that I couldn't disagree more with.

In second place for non-Council was a piece I liked much better,
A Muslim American - National Review Online a fine profile of a man Joshua's Army members are familiar with, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. This is the sort of Muslim leader President Bush should be publicly appearing with rather than CAIR and its minions...but then, the Saudis aren't funding Jasser for obvious reasons, are they?


Hearty Kudos to all the winners!

Tancredo Bows Out, Endorses Romney

Representative Tom Tancredo decided to end his underdog race for the GOP nomination tonight.

He has endorsed Mitt Romney.

Tom Tancredo can be credited with bringing the illegal alien issue to the forefront of the national debate. It's an issue that won't go away anytime soon,partially thanks to him.

Since Tom Tancredo has already announced that he won't be running for re-election to the House, we might very well see him again as a Senate candidate in Colorado to replace the retiring Wayne Allard.

Cinnamon Stillwell On Michael Savage And Cair

I've written before about the massive attack that CAIR and similar groups are launching on anti-jihad commentators with Saudi money. People like Michael Savage and Mark Steyn are under attack and fighting a battle for freedom of speech.

Cinnamon Stillwell is a writer in the Bay Area and by her own admission is a `convert from liberalism'. Here, she takes on the Saudi funded Islamist group CAIR in the newspaper of my old home town in a piece that deserves to be widely read:

"Conservative talk radio show host Michael Savage is no stranger to courting controversy. Savage is known for his blunt commentary which at times goes beyond the realm of the politically incorrect into the confrontational. It is a style Savage describes as "psychological nudity" and the opening to his show warns overly-sensitive listeners as much. But, in the process, Savage touches on some fundamental truths that hit home with his fans, while simultaneously motivating his opponents. Whether they love him or hate him, 8 million listeners tune into "The Savage Nation" each week. The fact that the show originates in left-leaning San Francisco only adds to its entertainment appeal. {...}



Economic punishment is another weapon in the hands of those opposed to Savage's provocative methodology and the Council on American-Islamic Relations is the latest to jump on the boycott bandwagon. CAIR is a Washington, D.C., nonprofit organization that touts itself as "America's largest Islamic civil liberties group." As such, CAIR expressed concern over a number of statements made by Savage on his Oct. 29 program that the group felt were anti-Muslim in nature. In response, CAIR, along with the newly formed Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition, has attempted to mount a boycott aimed at advertisers on Savage's show. According to a Dec. 3 CAIR press release, a growing list of companies, including AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JC Penney, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart, and AT&T, have joined the boycott. (remember to boycott these companies and write to let them know why - ff)



But rather than taking CAIR's boycott lying down, Savage is fighting back, in court. Represented by his lawyer, Daniel A. Horowitz, Savage is suing CAIR primarily for copyright infringement. According to the text of the lawsuit, which is posted at Savage's Web site, CAIR "misappropriated" his work by posting the four-minute segment in question at its Web site and including it in outreach and fundraising efforts. Taking it a step further, the lawsuit accuses CAIR of misrepresenting itself as a "civil rights organization" and of "advocating a specific political agenda that is directly opposed to the existence of a free society." While the copyright infringement charges against CAIR may or may not pan out, the broader implications could end up holding the most weight.



Savage is certainly not the first to call CAIR's political motivations into question. CAIR is the leading Islamic lobby group in the nation and the organization is accorded a great deal of legitimacy by the mainstream media, the Bush administration and other politicians, academia, civil rights activists, and even military and federal agencies that have employed the group's assistance for "sensitivity" and "cultural training." Nonetheless, questions surrounding CAIR's philosophical underpinnings, foreign funding, and political goals continue to haunt the group's footsteps.



Federal prosecutors named CAIR, along with the Islamic Society of North America and the North America Islamic Trust, an unindicted co-conspirator in the recent case involving the now-defunct Muslim charity the Holy Land Foundation and its alleged financial ties to the Palestinian terrorist group turned terrorist government Hamas. Also coming to light via the Dallas trial was a 1991 memo put out by the Egyptian Islamist organization the Muslim Brotherhood citing a strategy to subvert the West using mainstream Islamic front groups such as CAIR. As Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher put it:



The HLF trial is exposing for the first time how the international Muslim Brotherhood — whose Palestinian division is Hamas — operates as a self-conscious revolutionary vanguard in the United States. The court documents indicate that many leading Muslim-American organizations — including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America and the Muslim American Society — are an integral part of the Brotherhood's efforts to wage jihad against America by nonviolent means



Indeed, in a 1993 interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, CAIR's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper, let slip that: "I wouldn't want to create the impression that I wouldn't like the government of the United States to be Islamic sometime in the future ... But I'm not going to do anything violent to promote that. I'm going to do it through education."

Read the whole thing here...

By Popular Request - Mariyah Moten Redux

Some time ago, I ran an article on Pakistani-American beauty queen Mariyah Moten, who got into all sorts of hot water ( and not the jacuzzi kind) in Pakistan after she entered a beauty contest in China and won a title as `Miss Bikini'.

Since then, the article has gotten tons of hits, mainly from the Muslim world, I've gotten a number of requests for more, and it may help promote a little cross cultural agreement, so here goes...with the lagniappe of a couple of extra photos:

Syria And Iran Use `Peace In Our Time' To Crush Dissidents

It's ironic, to say the least.

With all the verbiage put out by the Bush Administration on democracy in the Middle East being the cure for Islamic fascism and terrorism, its foreign policy on the ground seems to be aimed at exactly the opposite, catering to Sunni autocrats and coming to accommodations with Iran and Syria and seemingly working against democratic enclaves like Israel, Kurdistan and the March 14 government in Lebanon.

Also taking a hit are pro-democracy dissidents throughout the Middle East, but especially in Iran and Syria.

Middle East expert Walid Phares details exactly how this is working:

"While Petrodollars Propaganda showers networks in North America, the Middle East and Europe in order to weaken the resolve of democracies to confront the Iranian and Syrian regimes; and while "lobbies" in the West accelerate their campaigns to break the isolation of Damascus and Tehran; these two regimes confronted their oppositions in several attempts to crush them as long as the "window of opportunity is open", according to insiders.


The Khamenei and Assad regimes, relying on the Baker-Hamilton report which caused confusion throughout the West, took advantage of the findings of the NIE and rushed to clamp down on what they consider the real dangers emerging from the inside their countries. While the Iranian propaganda machine uses oil-generated revenues to place favorable stories in the international media to impact think tanks around the world, Syrian Mukhabarat (their secret police - ff) and Pasdaran ( AKA Iran's Republican Guard - ff) operated swiftly over the past few days to shut down dissident groups and youth activities deemed "dangerous".{...}


According to news agencies and the reformist site Aafaq, "Syrian security forces last Wednesday raided the home of Riad Seif and broke up a meeting of the Secretariat of the “Damascus Declaration for National Democratic Change in Syria.” Those who were present at the time of the raid were threatened with arrest if they did not leave the house immediately. This was just two days after the government launched a campaign of arrests across Syria sweeping up leading members of the political opposition. {...}


Syrian security services carried out a campaign of mass arrests on Sunday evening and Monday that covered all Syrian "governorates", and arrested members of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, who held their convention in Damascus last week. Most of the arrested have been released, but Akram Bunni, Ahmad Tomeh and Jabar Shoufeh remain in custody. The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) said Sunday that the Amn al Dawla State Security in the city of Hama summoned Dr. Fida’a al-Horani, the president of Damascus Declaration for National Change, that same day, Sunday December 16. She was arrested at the time of her arrival at 11.00 a.m. and hurriedly moved to the headquarters in Damascus. {...}


... the campaign aims at "breaking the backbone of the democratic opposition, while taking advantage of the American so-called dialogue with the Assad regime. The latter," added the source "took advantage of the invitation to Annapolis by the US to claim that a US-Syrian dialogue is underway. Hence under the aegis of such perception, Bashar Assad instructed his Mukhabarat to hit the iron while it is hot." Every time Western media talks about "talking with Syria" the secret services comes to "talk" with us, said a dissident.


{...}


According to Reuters and other agencies, Iranian Police closed down 24 Internet cafes over the past 24 hours and arrested 23 youths. The Police commander Nader Sarkari said his troops burst into 435 cafes looking for anti-revolutionary elements. Iranian opposition sources said 11 young women were arrested. In addition security forces searched 275 restaurants and closed down 17.


According to Iranian opposition sources, the Pasdaran were instructed by Ahmadinejad to sweep the capital and other cities for the "potential threat of growing pro-democracy youth." In fact, the Internet cafes have become bases for the "revolutionary anti-Khomeinist youth" in the country. {...} Per Iranian dissidents appearing in chat rooms in cyberspace, a "real revolutionary force is mushrooming in Iran." They said "how sad it is to see Western media and academics siding with the fascist regime in Tehran as we are on the brink of a formidable uprising."

Read the whole thing here.

Schoolyard in Sderot Hit By Qassams - IDF Kills 6 Jihadis in Gaza

Those `harmless' qassam missiles hit near the Gil schoolyard in Sderot today and fatalities were only avoided by sheer chance. 18 children were treated for injuries ranging from shock to light cuts and bruises.

Meanwhile the IDF was busy in Gaza killing 6 Palestinian fighters in action around the area east of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, trying to knock out some of the rocket sites.

This comes a day after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh offered Israel a `hudna' - a temporary truce - which the Israelis said they would accept only if three conditions were met - recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and accepting past peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians. To which Hamas,as always said `no sale'.

Of course the very term `hudna' gives you an idea of what Hamas is after. It's modeled on something all Muslims know well, Mohammed's Peace of Hubidiyeh, wherein he made peace with an enemy tribe until he was strong enough to massacre them. Yasir Arafat referred to the Peace of Hubidiyeh on Jordanian TV the day after he signed the Oslo Accords with Israel.

Hamas simply wants quiet to build up their military further for the next round.

Meanwhile the IDF's Chief Intelligence Officer Brigadier-General Yuval Halamish was quoted today as saying that the IDF is almost unable to counter the Qassams'.

"This is a close threat that has an impact on the home front as well as the national morale," Halamish said. "Our ability to deal with this threat is difficult until being almost impossible in certain places."

Halamish also stated that Iran and Syria were transferring know-how to the Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip, something Joshua's Army members are well aware of already.

I have to respectfully disagree with General Halamish in one regard.The IDF is perfectly capable of ending the Qassams. It would involve cutting off Gaza's power in full, targeting the Hamas leadership and providing a massive response from the air for any rockets or attacks on Israel. And in the last analysis, it might actually involve the Olmert government admitting they made a tremendously stupid error in throwing the Jews of Gaza out of their homes and allowing a bunch of genocidal terrorists to take over.

And perhaps even using the IDF to rectify the error by removing the problem once and for all, repopulating Gaza with Israelis and annexing Gaza to Israel, so it doesn't recur.

Top al-Qaeda Cleric Has A Conversion

One of Al Qaeda's senior theologians and ideologues is calling on his followers to end their military jihad and saying that the 9/11 attacks were a "catastrophe for all Muslims."

These words come from a faxed document sent from an undisclosed prison in Egypt by Sayyed Imam al-Sharif, also known as Dr. Fadl and Abd al-Qadir ibn Abd al-Aziz.Al-Sharif essentially `wrote the book' on al-Qaeda with two important texts on jihad and the justification for al-Qaeda, "Fundamental Concepts Regarding Jihad" and "The Five Ground Rules for the Achieving of Victory or Its Absence." Those books are exercises in Islamic scholarship and cite the Koran and Hadiths as grounds for a war against Muslims like the Egyptian ruling class and against the west and America.

In the document, al-Sharif castigates Osama bin Laden for deceiving the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, and claims Osama insulted Muhammad by comparing the 9/11 attacks to raids by holy warriors in Islam's early history.And he calls for a special sharia court to try Osama bin Laden and his second in command Ayman al-Zawahri.

Needless to say, this hasn't gone over well with the top brass of al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahri made a point of personally mocking al-Sharif last month in a video,and there's obviously some personal bile being spewed both ways.

A lot of the inhabitants of western think tanks are calling this a big moment, one of them even being quoted as saying that it marks `the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda'.

I beg to differ.

While it's certainly welcome and may cause some splintering, it's hardly significant in that way. Al-Sharif is in an undisclosed Egyptian prison with a life sentence, in a country where torturing prisoners is an every day occurrence. He may have been promised or threatened into saying or writing just about anything, and Zawahiri alluded to as much when he mockingly asked in last month's video if the electricity used for the fax machine al-Sharif used also powered the prison's electric chair.

Since al-Sharif is incarcerated and may have been tortured, his latest `conversion' may very well be taken with a grain of salt by the people it was intended to reach.

And after all,let's not forget this. Even if you take what he's written as genuine and uncoerced, al-Sharif isn't saying that jihad against the west is wrong or that sharia is wrong..merely that the way Osama has waged it was a mistake in tactics.

When numerous Islamic clerics outside of a prison setting condemn violent jihad of their own free will, then we might indeed see some changes.

Watcher's Council Nominations 12/19/07

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


Do take the time and check out the non-Council links..they are always rewarding.


Now, here's this week's Council lineup...

1. JOSHUAPUNDIT: The Saudis Host Hamas' Top Brass -- And Reveal the Middle East's New Order I remember as a child reading Sherlock Holmes and remembering his adjuration to Dr. Watson, `When you eliminate the possible, only the impossible remains.' In this weeks piece, I examine a number of facts on the ground resulting from what appears to be the new US foreign policy in the Middle East and draw what to me seems to be some obvious if unpleasant conclusions.

I've already gotten some feedback in disagreement on this one, and I can only respond that I would like nothing better than for time and history to prove me completely wrong in every respect. Selah.

2. Done With Mirrors:I Bet Not Callimachus writes a short piece on a government computer that ridiculously overcharged residents in a Norwegian town for pre-paid parking. Ain't it fun screwing around with Other People's Money?

3. Soccer Dad: Fish Tales at the PA Aid Conference This week Soccer Dad does a fine piece examining the fiction of the supposedly `broke' and terrorist enabling Palestinian Authority and their apparently successful quest for more ill-gotten gains at the Palestinian Authority Aid Conference.

4. The Glittering Eye: The Changing Face Of America Dave has an interesting take on the nature of change in America.

5. Bookworm Room:More On The Teacher Accused Of Insulting Religion In His Class Ms. Bookworm takes on the lawsuit against Dr. James Corbett, who is accused of using his high school history class to indoctrinate his young students in anti-Christian attitudes
(and more, if the tapes I've heard are accurate). Call me a troublemaker, but somehow I doubt if Dr. Corbett would have said things like this about Islam or Mohammed. We used to call people like that cowards in my neighborhood.Christians remain the safe target for people of this ilk.

Of course the key question is how we deal with the Corbetts who are safely ensconed in our education establishment. School choice and the end of tenure, anybody?

6. Rhymes With Right:What Ever happened To Separation Of Mosque And State? Greg has a fine piece that looks at the craven appeasement given to Islam in our universities and the de facto preferred status given to the Religion of Peace..or else.

Interested parties should do some research on how the ancient tradition of Zoroastrianism was marginalized in Iran by Islam, even though the Muslims were at first a minority.

7.Colossus of Rhodey:Chavez Suspected Of Foul Play Hube writes about the Venezuela referendum and examines a Newsweek piece stating that Hugo Chavez did indeed try to interfere with the results, which is hardly surprising.

8. Cheat Seeking Missiles:Separation of Church and State, Secularist Style Here, Laer likewise writes a well written post about the Corbett case, and does a good job of debunking his statements.


9. The Education Wonks:US Students Not Comparing Well With Others Edwonk writes about the recent test results comparing US student achievement with students overseas. I'm curious as to whether they tested private school students as well as public school ones...

10. Right Wing Nuthouse: The Very deep Thoughts Of Mike Huckabee Rick has a very good time parsing Huckabee's tortured essay in Foreign Affairs on the candidate's thoughts on foreign policy.

11. Big Lizards: The Courage To Do Nothing Dafydd takes a nice look at one of my favorite Senators, James Inhofe from Oklahoma and focuses on Inhofe's superior ideas on energy and global warming.Having heard Inhofe speak on this topic in several radio interviews, I concur that he is an informed and compelling speaker on this subject...

12. Wolf Howling: A Methane Gas emission In Church Wolf Howling likewise has a well written look at the global warming controversy, using the IPCC's Bali Conference as a jump off point. The Church Of Global Warming indeed!

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

Israel And The Gaza `Problem'

Hi Mom! Lookee, it's me, Ahmed at the car swarm!Hey, I'm on TV!


In response to yet another barrage of Qassam missiles that injured a child and his mother in Kibbutz Zikkim near Sderot , the IAF made a token response, taking out 16 Islamic jihad commanders and fighters in airstrikes in Gaza today, including Majd al Harazin, head of Jihad Islami’s military arm in Gaza and Karim Dahlul, who was in charge of Qassam missile production. Meanwhile,

For those of you who may have forgotten, Islamic Jihad (mostly Sunnis) is funded, trained and sponsored by Shiite Iran - more proof, if needed that the Shiite-Sunni divide means a lot more to western `analysts' than it does to Muslims when it comes to jihad against the infidel.

While this was a welcome response to the beleaguered residents of southern Israel, it's far from ending the problem. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a huge terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, aided by the western arms and facilities they captured almost intact from Fatah...and of course, by the short-sightedness of the Olmert government, which allowed them to do so undisturbed. It will be no small task to uproot it, and it will only get more difficult the longer it's delayed.

I've written about Israel's options to deal with the war being waged on them from Gaza before. If anything, Israel's inaction has only made things worse.

So far in 2007, the Palestinians in Gaza have fired off 2,359 missiles and mortar shells into Israel, over 6 per day. That's around twice the amount fired off in 2006. It's not to far a stretch to extrapolate and say that unless the Israelis do something drastic, the 2008 figure will probably double what the Palestinians threw at Israel this year. And that doesn't take into account what might be coming at Israel from the West Bank or from the North if Condi Rice gets her way.

These are the poison fruits of the Gaza retreat, exactly as some of us predicted - just as the Hezbollah threat was the result of Israel's precipitous retreat from south Lebanon.

The conventional wisdom has it that to end the missile barrages into Israel, the IDF is going to have to go in and retake it in force, destroying the military infrastructure, killing or capturing its leaders and cutting off the smuggling routes from Egypt. Not impossible, but not an easy proposition either.

The real problem with pursuing that course is what happens next.Do the Israelis really want to re-occupy the area and assume responsibility for a population of genocidal Arabs? Giving Gaza back to Abbas and Fatah is worthless; they barely have the ability to hold on to Ramallah in the West bank, let alone Gaza and Hamas will just reconstitute and take it back again. Turning Gaza over to the UN is an exercise in futility. One only needs to look at UNIFIL and south Lebanon, where Hezbollah has rearmed, is back in all its' old strongholds and is actually protected by the UN forces to see that.

Short of expelling the population wholesale, repopulating it with Israelis and annexing it to Israel, there is no permanent long term solution for Gaza. And while this would work, that last scenario is unlikely,not only because of the diplomatic repercussions it would involve but because it would mean that the current Israeli government and their enablers would have to admit that they made a major error in kicking the Jews of Gaza - the `settlers'- out of their homes in the first place.

Israel really has only two other options, the way I see it.

There's no chance that Hamas or Islamic Jihad will ever make any agreements with Israel that mean anything. Aside from their poisonous ideology, making peace with Israel would severely effect their bottom line and leave them open to overthrow by more motivated Syrian and Iranian sponsored successors.

But if the leadership of these groups and a substantial number of their fighters could be liquidated, it might just be possible for Israel to come to financial arrangements with the clans and local gang leaders like the Dugmush clan and Jaysh Islami to keep the peace. It's not ideal by any means, and a fairly volatile situation, but it might work in the short term for quite some time.

The other option would involve a major change in the way Israel deals with Arab attacks on its citizens.

Israel should first insist on getting the UN to agree to what anyone with common sense already knows, that Israel has withdrawn from Gaza, has no current authority over its affairs and has no further responsibility for the population there. This may seem superfluous, but believe it or not, the UN still considers Israel the `occupying power' in Gaza and responsible for its affairs, which should give you some idea of the hypocrisy involved. If the UN refuses to recognize this, the Israelis should simply inform them that the alternative is that Israel reoccupies Gaza, annexes it to Israel and deals with its affairs and population in accord with its own sovereignity and desires.

Second, so there's no mistake in intentions, Israel should publicly announce to the Hamas rulers of Gaza that any further attacks on Israel on unacceptable and that the next attack on Israel would be followed by massive response...after which the Israelis should actually follow through and act.

This response should involve cutting off Gaza's electricity entirely and taking out Hamas leadership and infrastructure in the beginning, and progress to attacks on Gaza's population centers if the attacks continued. Attacks on Israel would then become far too costly in terms of the benefits achieved.As an additional benefit, a substantial portion of Gaza's hostile population, faced with no electricity and limited fuel would likely leave the area permanently.

Those are the options in a nutshell; reoccupying Gaza and expelling its hostile population, liquidating much of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and bribing Gaza's gang leaders to make peace or using massive retaliation to make attacks on Israel too costly to pursue.

None of them are perfect and all of them are costly in one way or another, but stupidity has its price. At any rate, continuing along the present course amounts to national suicide for Israel.

Ahmadinejad In Mecca

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Hajj in Mecca, as the personal guest of our `eternal friends' the Saudis.

Now there's a Real poster boy for the `Religion Of Peace', no?

Oh, and by the way... "Death to America" & "Death to Israel"

hat tip: Gateway Pundit

Another Victim of the Middle East's New Order - The Kurds

Joining Israel and the Lebanon March 17 government as victims of Annapolis and the Bush Administration's new order in the Middle East are some of our best allies in Iraq...the Kurds.

When US Secretary of State Condi Rice made a sudden trip to Iraq, she was scheduled to meet with Kurdish President Masoud Barzani. Instead, Barzani withdrew from the meeting in protest over the Bush Administration's “tolerance” of Turkish air strikes this weekend against Kurdish villages in northern Iraq on the grounds they were harboring PKK seperatists. A number of Kurdish civilians died in the strikes, but no PKK fighters, who were long gone.

“It is unacceptable that the United States, in charge of monitoring our air space, authorized Turkey to bomb our villages,” said Barzani.

`Authorized' is the right word. Apparently the US gave the Turks military intelligence and opened up Kurdish air space for the strikes, according to Turkish army chief General Yasar Buyukanit.The Turkish army also sent soldiers about 1.5 miles into northern Iraq in an operation on Tuesday.

Proving once again that she has become one of the biggest liars on two feet,Secretary of State Rice said that while the US supports efforts against the PKK, it was a "Turkish decision" to act.

As if the Turks would have done so without a US OK!

Aside from upsetting the Kurds, these actions also upset the Iraqi parliament which passed a resolution condemning the bombing and calling it an "outrageous" violation of Iraq's sovereignty that killed innocent civilians.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his government thought Turkey would coordinate with it before striking the rebels inside Iraq.

Of course, this tacit approval of the US was appreciated by the Turks and the Iranians, who have their own `Kurdish problem' and have been shelling Kurdish villages from their side of the border.

As for the Kurds, this is the second time they've been sold down the river by a president named Bush.

I can't help but wonder whether we'll have any real allies left in the region by the time this is all over.

Weekend Monkey on Politics - The Real Banana, 12/17/07

WM:Hideeho, Primates! Welcome to the Real Banana.

FF: Hi Monkey. How're things going?

WM: Oh, a little of this, a little of that.

FF: Seems to me that's how you got into trouble in the first place.

WM: Aw, shaddup.

FF: What's going on in the political jungle these days?

WM: Whoo, it's vicious! I guess with Iowa just a coupla weeks away and New Hampshire and South Carolina right after that, the knives are out. On the Democrat side, it's come down to a fistfight between Shrillary and Obama Yo' Mama, for which I gotta give a little credit to Obama...he's not the one yakking about drug use and flinging the poop. Partly, it's because he's a wuss -I mean, the guy obviously squats to pee, but Shrillery is going bananas, and that tells me she's worried, no matter what the polls say. Did you see that picture of her that went out today?



I mean, she looks like Dan Rather in drag!
















Plus, you got Edwards on the sidelines to make things ree-eal interesting.

FF: Do you really see John Edwards as a credible threat?

WM: Hey, in Iowa, in the middle of a snowstorm with caucus rules that make a gang of rhesus monkeys on the rampage look organized? Anything could freakin' happen, and I mean anything. remember, it's a caucus, FF, not a primary. And I betcha we're going to see a lot more poop thrown before that date, Christmas or no Christmas.

FF: Did you see the one where Clinton compared the caucus to a cattle show and was inviting Iowa voters to look inside her mouth if they wanted to?

WM: Yeccch! Bad mental image. I just think a lotta stuff has caught up with her. The whole Clinton strategy, the way I see it was to present her as the queen heading for a coronation, somebody who would bring the Good Old Days back to the White House. That's why Bill has been out there stumping for her like crazy, but I think that backfired a little bit. From what I'm hearing, a lot of people liked her, but didn't like the idea of that sleazy mutt getting back in to the White House again. And there's another group that likes him, but can't stand Hillary, so they sorta cancel each other out.

Plus, another thing has happened. You notice the Dems ain't yakking so much about the war these days?

FF: Yeah. It's going too well in spite of how they tried to sabotage things. Frankly, I think they'd be embarrassed if I didn't know better. You're right though..now they're talking more about bread and butter issues and government gimmees.

WM: Exactly, pal. People are worried about the economy and they're not so focused on protecting our part of the jungle these days...which is why Giuliani has taken a tumble in the polls as well. That's why I see Edwards and Huckabee doing so well lately. Plus, there's all these fund raising scandals Clinton has been involved with lately, Norman Hsu, those Chinese waiters, the whole nine yards. Doesn't look good, just like the poop slinging. Reminds people of the bad side of the Clinton era.

FF: Monkey, I read where in 2000, when he left the White House, Bill Clinton claimed about $1 million in assets and about $2.4 million in legal fees. In Hillary Clinton's latest financial disclosure, she's claiming a net worth estimated at between $17.4 million and $53.7 million. I guess being a US senator or an ex-president must pay a lot more than advertised.

WM: Hee hee hee! Anywho, this is all hitting her at once,and she's scrambling like a cockroach under the sink who just had a light shined on her.

FF: So, Monkey, what about the Republicans?

WM: FF, they're bordering on pathethic. Pretty easy to see what happened....Fred Thompson was supposed to be the `anti-Giuliani', but he pooped out like a wet firecracker. Then it was Romney, but some people realized he's a Mormon and didn't like that, so now we have this guy Huckabee...who's also playing to those bread and butter, government gimmees type issues, and yokking it up with sort of people who see that and the abortion issue as the main thing.

FF: Yeah, and a lot of the National Review mainstream type `conservatives' are now lining up behind Romney. Huckabee scares them.

WM: Hey, I got nothin' against Romney, aside from the fact he looks and acts like a middle aged Ken doll a lot of the time. I mean, I never had a bad word or even once ran over one of those guys in the short sleeved shirts and ties on the bicycles casing the neighborhood for potential suckers...

FF: By that, I take it you mean LDS missionaries? Keep it respectful, OK Monkey?

WM: Ok, Ok, sorr-ee! But anyway, Romney seems like a smart guy, but I don't see him winning in a general election, and I think it might even be what they call a `push' in Vegas for him getting the nomination...although he has enough moola to at least get to the convention if he wants. As for the rest of the guys....well, Huckabee is pretty much the Republican's version of Obama, all public image and no real substance, and he's got a stupid enough mouth that's he's probably going to shoot himself in the foot eventually. McCain is too old and has been all over the place politically and a lot of `conservatives' won't touch him. And Giuliani is getting trashed heavily - a lot of `conservative' types have been sliming him for months and it's finally starting to stick. He seems stalled, especially if people keep ignoring the national security and defense issues. I mean, if the guy doesn't win Florida and a significant amount of delegates in the February 5 blow out, he's over.

So any way you slice the banana, it's going to be a real fight, at least for the next two months. Some of the guys will likely be dead and gone as candidates after February 5th, but I see it coming down to two or maybe three primates standing at convention time. At that point, we'll see who and what's for sale.

FF: Do you think Ed Rollins signing on to Huckabee's campaign changes anything. He's a real pro.

WM: Depends. If Huckabee lets him organize stuff right and Rollins can get Huckabee to keep his mouth shut, he has a shot.

FF: And the Democrats?

WM: Whoo! That one will be fun if nothing else. I still see Shrillary as the primate to beat, even if she loses Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. She's got too much money, too many shills in the media and way too much of an organization to count her out just yet. Obama Yo' Mama could win a primary here and there - Iowa and South Carolina maybe - but he's going down..just not ready for prime time. Edwards could surprise people, especially in the early primaries but I don't think he has the bucks or the organization to go all the way. Still I see a lot of dirt being tossed...this ain't gonna be no Mr. Clean campaign!

Another wild card is whether something happens to get the primates concerned about national security again. That helps Giuliani and McCain for the Republicans, and hurts all the Democrats, but Shrillary probably the least.

FF: Do you ever regret getting out of the race yourself.

WM: Sometimes. But let's face it, I never really had the money to run properly.

FF: Maye you ought to run for Congress, or for something like mayor of DC, their standards are pretty low. And it would give you a platform for another shot at the presidentcy.

WM: Oh,yeah....Representative Monkey! Or Mayor Monkey....hey, wait it minute! What was that crack about `low standards' FF???

FF: Well, if we're talking about Washington DC Monkey, I think `crack' is the operative word.

WM: Hah hah, very funny.

FF: Maybe Marion Barry would endorse you, or at least hook you up if you know what I mean.
Anyway, Monkey that's the Real Banana.

WM: Bye, primates...see you soon!

Weekend Monkey can be contacted for speaking engagements, interviews, bribes or interesting offers at: Wendmonkey@ Yahoo.com

Russians Give Nuclear Fuel To Iran As Putin Heads For The Middle East

The Russian foreign ministry announced the delivery today of the first nuclear fuel shipment to the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran.

The Russian company building the Bushehr reactor, Atomstroiexport said thta 180 fuel rods would be sent to Bushehr in the next two months.

Atomstroiexport claims that the enriched fuel is below weapons grade and the containers were inspected and sealed by the IAEA, which should make anyone nervous based on their track record. Even if it's true,there's nothing to top Iran from continuing the cycle and making its own weapons grade fuel with the new reactor.

Deliveries had been held up for a while, mainly because of haggling over price and payment, but apparently that's all cleared up, and the deliveries are proceeding.

Russia's President Putin, soon to be prime minister is soon to be headed for the Middle East as a successful cap to his eight year term as president. He is going first to inspect the new Russian combat flotilla of six warships headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, which will be docking in the Syrian port of Tartous and will apparently be photographed with Russian sailors. What this is, of course, is a direct challenge to the US Sixth Fleet and the Israeli navy for strategic control of the Eastern Mediterranean...the Russians haven't put this much muscle into the Middle east since the Cold War.Putin will then go on to visit other Middle Eastern leaders.

This is scheduled a week before President Bush's visit to the Middle East on January 9th and 10th, 2008.

The next Israel-Palestinian peace conference is scheduled for next March or April in Moscow. If I'm right, that's when the major pressure will be put on Israel to give up the strategic Golan Heights to Syria.

Saudi King Abdullah Pardons Rape Victim

King Abdullah has decided to step in and grant an official pardon to the Saudi gang rape victim who was sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes for being alone with a man at the time of the attack who was not related to her.

Her original sentence, as you'll remember was 90 lashes, until she and her lawyer complained about it and appealed. The increased sentence was doubtless regarded as a message to other women in the Kingdom.

Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country's judges, but instead acted in the "interests of the people."

"The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair," al-Jazirah quoted al-Sheik as saying.

The case had sparked international outrage and garnered lots of unfavorable publicity for the Saudis and the sharia-strict wahabi lifestyle they're busily promoting in the west under our noses. I'm sure that this had a lot more to do with the pardon than any`concern' about suffering.

Of course, it's only a back handed pardon. The Saudi Justice Ministry is still defending the sentence, saying the girl was having an illicit affair with the man.

In that culture,this kind of accusation amounts to total ostracism for the woman at best and a brutal honor killing by the family at worst.If she's supremely lucky, the men of her family will give her permission to leave the country.

Ahmadinejad: The NIE ` A Declaration Of Surrender'

In an interview with Iran State Television today, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad referred to the Iran NIE as 'a declaration of surrender'.

"It would be beneficial for both Iran and them (the West) to cooperate with Iran," Ahmadinejad said. "Of course it would be more to their benefit than Iran's."

He's also not laying awake at night worrying about sanctions. When asked whether he expected the U.N. Security Council to impose fresh sanctions on Iran, he said "It is too far-fetched."

He's indeed correct, in my opinion. The NIE is indeed an acknowledgment of surrender by the US, and a fresh round of UN sanctions is both dubious and unlikely.

Joshua's Army members should keep in mind that it is not only Ahmadinejad who regards this as a victory, but our enemies and our friends.

And they will act accordingly.

US OKs HighTech Equipment Shipment For Syria

In yet another example of the change in the Bush Administration's direction in the Middle East, the US Commerce Department, at the express orders of Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice issued a special export license to Cisco Systems to ship routers, switches and other high-tech equipment with military applications to Syria. The routers, switches and other hi-tech items are usable for missile radar and other weaponry as well as for early warning apparatus and intelligence surveillance.

The Bush Administration also instructed its UN Ambassador not to veto a United Nations program that would supply the Assad regime with sophisticated surveillance equipment and computers to monitor its borders....again technology with military applications.

All of this, by the way, is in violation of the America's own sanctions on dealing with Syria.

It's interesting to me that the license was first issued back on November 17th, well after the September 6th Israeli strike on a Syrian nuclear facility the Bush Administration was informed by the Israelis about back in July of this year. You will also remember that Condaleeza Rice was instrumental in delaying the Israelis from taking out the site, and attempted to have them forgo the strike altogether.

This clearly indicates to me that the Bush Administration had the new arrangement with Syria and Iran, the knowledge of the highly flawed NIE and the Middle East's New Order planned out well in advance.

And that they were committed enough to the arrangement so that the last thing they wanted was the Israelis messing it up over any silly concerns about the Assad regime having access to nuclear weapons!

The deal's a simple and obvious one one, at least as far as the Syrians are concerned; Assad has been stopping the flow of arms, explosives, money and al Queda fighters from places like Saudi Arabia into Iraq. In exchange, the US is willing to hang the Siniora government in Lebanon out to dry and let Syria and Hezbollah take over again, forget about the Assad regime's assassinations in Lebanon and its support for Islamic terrorism and pressure Israel to give up the strategic Golan Heights.

And of course, allow shipments like this one..which will make it harder for Israel (or the US, for that matter) to take out any Syrian or Iranian military facilities in the future, and will also undoubtedly improve the missile and radar technology available to Hezbollah and Hamas.

This shameful and hypocritical betrayal will not go unnoticed by our friends or our enemies, and there will be a high price to pay for it in the future.

The Democrats In Congress- Holding America's troops For Ransom

I dislike the sort of partisan rhetoric that seems to be par for the course in this political season, but I can't help agreeing with John McCain

When he was asked what surprised him the most about the behavior House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with regard to Iraq, he had a simple answer - "their lack of patriotism."

What McCain was referring to, of course, was the wholesale attempt by some of the Democrats in congress to legislate a defeat during wartime in Iraq and Afghanistan by literally starving our troops of funding..simply because a debacle and a shameful retreat works for them politically, regardless of whether it's in America's best interests.

I've chronicled several of these attempts, including a shameful instance of Harry Reid petulantly behaving like a spoiled five-year-old and tabling in committee a badly needed war funding bill that included vital equipment and a pay raise for the military, simply because he couldn't muster the votes to include a written-in-stone surrender date.

The latest instance is even worse. Because President Bush said he would veto a bill tying funding for our troops to millions of dollars in pork and once again rejected a guaranteed withdrawal date, the House and Senate Democrats, led by Reid and Pelosi sent a revised version up for a vote without the pork and without the $50 million in badly needed funds for our warriors.

At a press conference afterwards, Congresswoman Pelosi came out with a this memorable gem:

"They {the Republicans} like this war," she said. "They want this war to continue. That was a revelation to me. I had thought they would listen to their constituents and change their position." She later tried to play catch up on this outrageous freudian slip by saying she meant to say that Republicans like Mr. Bush's strategy — not that they "like" the war.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has still hasn't received the money they need to continue funding the war....something that directly affects every soldier in the field. The Defense Department is trying to shuffle things around by temporarily laying off 100,000 civilian military employees next week in an attempt to free up money for combat troops.

And those `compassionate' Democrats are quite aware of the Christmastime layoffs. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England sent letters to senior Democrats, among them Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin warning them about the pending layoffs and writing that they "will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our war-fighters — support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq." Army and Marine command facilities in the US and abroad with civilian employees and contractors were also warned about the civilian layoffs at their bases.

Again, I agree with John McCain - the lack of patriotism of these people in wartime, the lack of basic support and appreciation for the men and women who pay the price to defend their perks, freedom and lifestyle is astounding.

It is, quite simply, craven, disloyal and conduct unbecoming.

One Of G-d's Small Miracles. 12/14/07

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.

Last week, our miracle focused on the bringing of light, and patience to wait. This week's miracle concerns the saving of life, and the miracle of finding the courage to do so.

Jeanne Assam was a private citizen who volunteered to act as a security guard for the New Life Church in Colorado Springs,Colorado. She was sitting in the congregation when a gunman suddenly opened fire on the church members, two of whom were killed. The murderer, Matthew Murray, was armed with a rifle, a couple of handguns, grenades, hundreds of rounds of ammo and a fierce hatred of Christians.

There were two professional security guards in the church that day, and as eyewitness Larry Bourbonnais related on Michael Medved's radio show, both of them tragically froze. Bourbonnais, a Viet Nam combat veteran told how he begged one of the guards for his weapons to `take the shooter out' but got no response...and then he saw Jeanne Assam walking up the aisle, headed straight for the killer. She made no attempt to save herself, but went right for the much more heavily armed gunman and began firing steadily and shouting "surrender" as she advanced. The gunman got off three shots at her before Jeanne took him out. He died at the church.

Bourbonnais said it was "one of the bravest things he'd ever seen."

The pastor, Brady Boyd, said that she "probably saved over 100 lives".

As for Jeanne Assam herself, she's quite clear on the source of her courage.

She said that she prayed to the Holy Spirit to guide her, and that she "knew I was the one given the assignment to stop this thing. I prayed for steady hands"

"It seemed like it was me, the gunman and G-d", she added,"G-d guided me and protected me."

Courage and the desire to risk our lives to save others is a miracle and a blessing from G-d, one that comes from deep inside of us if we let it. And it may not always involve shooting it out with a murderer. Sometimes, it may simply involve doing the right thing rather than the easy thing. This miracle comes in many guises, and can happen when we least expect it.

And one more thing...G-d works miracles in mysterious ways, and one of them was to have a hero like Jeanne Assam in that church, at that time, armed with not only the the faith but with the means and the skills to save those innocent lives and stop a murderer from acting out his hatred.

Have a peaceful and blessed Sabbath.

Do Tha Lisbon Hustle

The gangsta rap spelling isn't a typo. The people of Europe have been pimped out.

You'll remember that last year, voters in France and the Netherlands voted against an EU Constitution that would have taken away a good deal of their sovereignty.

This week, Britain's Gordon Browne and other European leaders decided that democracy was simply tooo much trouble, so they circumvented it by enacting a treaty in Lisbon with the same provisions - and more - that the voters rejected, and signing it without bothering to let the voters decide whether they wanted it or not.

The treaty imposes centralized EU control on matters like, civil and criminal law, immigration, public services, energy, transportation, civil rights and `hate crime' legislation, the EU budget and a host of other matters.

500 million people will apparently be governed by the diktats of 27 politicians in the EU Council of Ministers, who will now be able to consolidate their control Soviet style by making laws behind closed doors without recourse by the people of the subject `provinces'.

My Friend Richard at EU Referendum puts it quite simply: `Ballocks to Brussels!'

It remains to be seen whether the considerable outrage over this translates into political action. In the meantime, it has significant impact on America's interfacing with its European allies, to say the least.

The Taliban Suffers A Major Defeat

The Taliban suffered major defeat today, as the flag of Afghanistan's government flew over the Taliban an dal Qaeda stonghold of Musa Qala in the Helmand province.Aside from being a major military base, it was also one of the leading centers of heroin and opium production.

The town was taken by a mixed force of Afghan troops, British marines, armor and infantry, NATO forces and US Green Beret special forces teams and airbourne troops.

Hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters were reported killed, wounded or taken prisoner in the battle.

This is reminiscent of Operation Mountain Thrust by the amazing US 10th Mountain Division in that it was an attack directed at a point the Taliban thought was simply unassailable.

The jihadis found out differently.

The offensive started last week when British Marine Commandos led the way by attacking across the Helmand River and were joined by the light armor of the U.K. Household Cavalry Regiment who attacked from the west. This set up the Taliban for the main thrust, an airborne drop and attack from the north by a battalion from Task Force Fury from our old friends the 82nd Airborne.

The Taliban and al Qaeda forces,instead of running back to Waziristan chose to stand and fight it out.

As the town was surrounded, the Taliban positions were pounded by heavy ordnance and pulverized from the air by B1 and B52 bombers backed by A10 tank busters, F16s, Apache helicopters and Specter gunships. They took heavy casualties before fleeing Musa Qala.

In a move that was openly criticized by US commanders on the ground,Musa Qala was abandoned last year by the British, after they were subjected to Taliban attacks and suffered heavy casualties. In essence the Brits simply handed the town over to the town elders and pulled out, which simply meant that the Taliban came back and took over last February.

The recapture of Musa Qala is a welcome victory over these brigands, and hopefully this time the NATO forces can hang on to it.

The main problem, of course, is that the Taliban can regroup in their havens in Pakistan and again subject the NATO troops to attacks while the NATO forces are pinned down on defense...just like last year.