Former Ku Klux Klan leader's Spanish visit sparks outrage

22 November 2007

Madrid - US historian and former congressman for Louisiana David Duke is touring Spain this week to promote his latest book, 'Jewish Supremacism. My Awakening on the Jewish Question', which has recently been translated into Spanish and released by Ojeda Publishers.

Hello...that is FACTUALLY INCORRECT, people at Expatica News. David Duke NEVER SERVED in the US House, he was in the Louisiana State legislature, and if he is an american historian I am Will Durant and Michael Beschloss rolled in to one.

This former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who founded the white supremacist group National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) in 1980, visited Valladolid on Monday and Zaragoza on Wednesday to give conferences organized by the Spanish far-right political and social movements National Alliance and National Democracy.

Speaking on Monday before a packed auditorium in Valladolid, Duke denied being a white supremacist, and spoke up in favor of freedom of speech.

What a farce! Is there any american who doesn't understand clearly what Mr. Duke really wants?

  I guess he's been taking Nick Griffin lessons.

"No people or nation should oppress others. Every country has the right to be independent and to preserve its heritage" in areas such as art and cultural and artistic development, argued Duke.

Where have I heard this before? Hmmmmm......I wonder if Vlaams defenders would claim that people such as Duke shouldn't taint their quest for cultural survival, for DeWinter's metaphorical 'white europe', that is to say. I mean it's no the same thing at all, "not at all" as Mr. DeWinter would say.

The former Congressman also explained that when he speaks "of Jewish supremacism" he is not referring to all Jewish people. Instead, he insisted that his words only target "Jewish extremists and those who try to impose their supremacy."

You knows, those hook nosers who keep insisting that bagels make it onto the Dunkin' Donuts menus.

Duke's arrival in Spain coincides with a growing debate on the rising presence of extremist far-right groups with a racist agenda in the country.

Well, well. Perhaps an impression is being made after all.

Duke sails even closer to the wind and to every argument I have heard defending DeWinter........

So on the way down to the family thanksgiving turkey gathering my wife asked me again, what the hell I was typing over so furiously in the week before. At the time I had answered, it's 1966 again and left her non plussed.

So this time I pulled out the old IPOD, and plugged in to the AUX INPUT and said, 'let's listen to Phillip Dewinter explain himself' and she said 'who?'. All I said was, he was the head of the largest political party in northern Belgium, and wanted to preserve his culture in schools, and in church and in practice. I then played the Shire Network News interview, but cut it off before Tom Paine explained himself and his views a bit.

Mrs. Epa did not hesitate to sneer at the moment when the non denial of Vlaams leader morphed into his poetic challenge of 'it's a metaphor'.


For all Americans who have really been THERE during civil rights, this is a crystallizing statement from which there is no going back. It differentiates between the fear of loss of historic culture and its wonderful traditions, and the inner compulsions which force humans to do the ugliest things imaginable, one tiny step in descent at a time.

No Charles Johnson, No Gates of Vienna, No Atlas, no other explanations needed. No worries about smears, just the leading light of Vlaams Belang and all the time in the world to explain himself, any way he pleased, uninterrupted. He could have repudiated this statement. HE could have said a million things, instead he was Hillary Clinton treading a narrow path between the base and the necessity of not losing the center, wink wink nod nod.

Simultaneous to all of this, was the self bukake experiment of the conservative (republican) group Young Americans for Freedom who had invited Mr. Nick 'Holohoax' Griffin (now I'm sorry to use wiki right there, but for those who wish to find excuses for this scum, there are a million resource out there which will negate that, including the BBC interview in which he utters his infamous little ditties). There are claims that he has 'modified' his stance now. Sure. Maybe he got a good look in his funhouse fringe mirror inside some English hoosegow. However, joyously holding hands with David Duke (another 'culture defender') in 2005 at a party celebration yields doubt as to this. Now as to the YAF, take a good look at their history. Is their any doubt what Barry Goldwater (who wanted to kick Jerry Falwell's ass), or Bill Buckley who STARTED the modern conservative movement by driving the racists from the 'temple' would have to say?

Meanwhile the inimitable Republican sliding  to Larouchedom in Dukeland, Ron Paul, has gone from praising The John "fluoride in the water is a commi plot" Birch Society as savior of the Constitution to accepting money, support and endorsements from Stormfront, whose symbol by the way appears in Mr. Dewinter's home (but maybe he is Druid afficianado).

Now I'm not someone to make everything left and right, but I can tell the difference between cultural defense (which is what Bill Cosby does) and racism (which is a call for white europe, which BTW can be construed to have as a side effect, cultural defense). I don't need to hear the claims and counterclaims about neo nazi, white power is sufficient, thank you.

I just can't help it, every time I hear more and see more, it gets worse and worse.

Counter jihadism, and realism about the Khomeinist and Salafist freaks makes one seem crazy enough to the vast majority who are simply worried about $3.20/gallon gas headed to $5, and VERY secondarily about being blown up in a mall.

The taint of racism in any way, like Stormfront and Ron Paul, like Nick Griffin at the erstwhile 'conservative' YAF, de-legitimizes VALID defense of american liberal values, and individual rights to such a large extent that WE WILL LOSE. If we accept these kinds of allies, WE WILL LOSE.

I don't want these people on my side, and in fact have decided I am not happy to have two movement come out of this.

One movement is UNABLE to accept the taint of white power as part of its recipe to defend against Achmadinejad, Qaradawi, HAMAS, Bakri, and the Nasrallah's, and one movement who has some problem searching for excuses for it, but WILL excuse the questionable in OTHER PLACES on 'practical grounds'. The defense I hear is, 'Europe is so far gone, we have to accept the help of ...........( Fill in with anything). I've heard it ALL BEFORE.

Phillip DeWinter said what he did, and there is no way back. No Vlaams Belang defender has yet been able to defend Mr. DeWinter's currency, currently in this signal statement.

White Europe is plain enough. He did not complain of translation error or any other inaccuracies, merely tried to sidestep in a way that would make Bill Clinton PROUD (though Mr. Clinton for all his faults, and they are unacceptable ones does not fall close to the category of the apparent inner problems of Mr. DeWinter).

The rise of the right within various political movements worldwide CANNOT be denied, and must be opposed ALONG WITH IT'S PARALLEL and equally intolerant ISLAMOFASCIST AGGRESSIONS AND MASS MURDERS.

Just as there are outright racists hiding among those who are for a secure border, there are ethnic cleansers among the those for whom the EU has become a Brussels bureaucrat nightmare of lost nations, and washed out history.

The LGF initiated Vlams Belang racism claims thing is impossible to pull apart with any certainty. So I am going to put them aside. But they are disquieting, and reverse smears and insults have turnedit all into a fur ball of personal vitriol.

But the denials (from Dewinter, the leader, in his own words) are clearly obfuscatory and uncomfortable.
Some of Vlaams Belang's ideas:

1. Deportation of economic immigrants who have failed to assimilate (then dropped)
2. Full amnesty for all nazi collaborators in WW2
3. Repeal of anti racism legislation
4. Calls for a white europe and white flanders

Oh there are explanations, and metaphors, and non denial denials, and excuses for why Ayaan Hirsi Ali thinks they should be illegal. But when every little thing, and claim like this (when the BDS morons claim Bush is a fascist) is not on its face ridiculous, and is accompanied by the same explanation...When faced with criticism of Vlaams by Pim Fortuyn, and Ayann Hirsi Ali, and others Dewinter claimed that their left wing opponents try to demonize them, and by calling them fascists, then end the discussion without debate on what they have to say ....(he answered questions about this the SAME WAY, rather than actually rebut the criticism) Three times when questioned as to the (admited) neo nazi heritage and WW2 collaboration he returned to this theme..you add this up and you are getting that queazy feeling. Calls for a white Europe, nazi collaboration (JUST LIKE THE GRAND MUFTI OF JERUSALEM) in WW2 (not denied) all excusable, metaphors, need to be understood?

I UNDERSTAND PERFECTLY.

I last had this feeling when visiting my German representative, and he introduced me to his father who was head of the company, he was 18 in 1943. My name is an INSTANT revelation of my heritage. He took one look at me, and I know he knew that I knew he was 18, and that I was wondering WHAT HE WAS DOING. He went out of his way to be friendly and I constantly wanted to wash myself.Anecdotal overreaction? Maybe. Maybe not.

I couldn't work with these guys.But I don't have to. Time will reveal who Vlaams Belang is.

The BNP and Nick Griffin, appearing here with the CCC are another story. There is no question there.

In this argument in the last few days at various places, good places, like Gates of Vienna, and Infidel Blogger's Alliance, I have had hte arguments of the CCC and KKK used in favor of Vlaams by europeans (and one American) who had no idea what they were saying.

This is disquieting as well.

I cannot hold hands with the racists who want our border closed because they don't want any more mud people. They are all David Duke, but cuter. They are not for a secure border, they want a closed border with NO immigration BECAUSE they are racists. I want a secure border and REAL immigration by people who want to be americans.

I cannot hold hands with people who want to excuse nazi collaborators and use as a reason that even the USSR did this (did they?), and also call for a white europe then weasel on that by saying it was only metaphor.If these guys were in my foxhole, I'd want them in front me, with one less bullet than I have. No way to go to war.

This issue is settled here

AP -BAGHDAD - Gunmen in Baghdad snatched 10 Sunni and Shiite tribal sheiks from their cars Sunday as they were heading home to Diyala province after talks with the government on fighting al-Qaida, and at least one was later found shot to death.The bold daylight kidnapping came as the top U.S. commander in Iraq said the threat from the terror network has been "significantly reduced" in the capital.

The two cars carrying the sheiks — seven Sunnis and three Shiites — were ambushed in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Shaab at about 3:30 p.m., police officials said.

The sheiks were returning to Diyala province after attending a meeting with the Shiite-dominated government's adviser for tribal affairs to discuss coordinating efforts against al-Qaida in Iraq, police and a relative said.

Police found the bullet-riddled body of one of the Sunni sheiks, Mishaan Hilan, about 50 yards away from where the ambush took place, an officer said, adding that the victim was identified after his cell phone was found on him.

A relative of one of the abducted Shiite sheiks blamed Sunni extremists and said the attackers picked a Shiite neighborhood to "create strife between Shiite and Sunni tribes that have united against al-Qaida in the area."

But, Jassim Zeidan al-Anbaqi said, "this will not happen."

The well-planned attack was the latest to target anti-al-Qaida tribal leaders and other officials in an apparent bid to intimidate them from joining the U.S.-sponsored grass roots strategy that the military says has contributed to a recent drop in violence.

Could it be Al Qaeda? SURE

Could it be some Shia militia like the Badr looking to MAKE IT APPEAR to be the Sunnis? SURE

Could it be Maliki trying to keep the kettle at a boil for his Iranian masters? SURE

Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets
Firm Says Administration's Handling of Video Ruined Its Spying Efforts

By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 9, 2007; A01

A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden

video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.

Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.

If a democratic administration was responsible for this kind of leak, or Dick Durbin's office (for instance), cries of TREASON would fill the air.

"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," said Rita Katz, the firm's 44-year-old founder, who has garnered wide attention by publicizing statements and videos from extremist chat rooms and Web sites, while attracting controversy over the secrecy of SITE's methodology. Her firm provides intelligence about terrorist groups to a wide range of paying clients, including private firms and military and intelligence agencies from the United States and several other countries.

The precise source of the leak remains unknown. Government officials declined to be interviewed about the circumstances on the record, but they did not challenge Katz's version of events. They also said the incident had no effect on U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts and did not diminish the government's ability to anticipate attacks.

While acknowledging that SITE had achieved success, the officials said U.S. agencies have their own sophisticated means of watching al-Qaeda on the Web. "We have individuals in the right places dealing with all these issues, across all 16 intelligence agencies," said Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

You just have VERY LIMITED CREDIBILITY on this, don't you get it, admin? Hasn't the experience over the 'immigration' issue demonstrated this to you?

But privately, some intelligence officials called the incident regrettable, and one official said SITE had been "tremendously helpful" in ferreting out al-Qaeda secrets over time.

The al-Qaeda video aired on Sept. 7 attracted international attention as the first new video message from the group's leader in three years. In it, a dark-bearded bin Laden urges Americans to convert to Islam and predicts failure for the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video was aired on hundreds of Western news Web sites nearly a full day before its release by a distribution company linked to al-Qaeda.

Computer logs and records reviewed by The Washington Post support SITE's claim that it snatched the video from al-Qaeda days beforehand. Katz requested that the precise date and details of the acquisition not be made public, saying such disclosures could reveal sensitive details about the company's methods.

SITE -- an acronym for the Search for International Terrorist Entities -- was established in 2002 with the stated goal of tracking and exposing terrorist groups, according to the company's Web site. Katz, an Iraqi-born Israeli citizen whose father was executed by Saddam Hussein in the 1960s, has made the investigation of terrorist groups a passionate quest.

"We were able to establish sources that provided us with unique and important information into al-Qaeda's hidden world," Katz said. Her company's income is drawn from subscriber fees and contracts.

Katz said she decided to offer an advance copy of the bin Laden video to the White House without charge so officials there could prepare for its eventual release.

She spoke first with White House counsel Fred F. Fielding, whom she had previously met, and then with Joel Bagnal, deputy assistant to the president for homeland security. Both expressed interest in obtaining a copy, and Bagnal suggested that she send a copy to Michael Leiter, who holds the No. 2 job at the National Counterterrorism Center.

Administration and intelligence officials would not comment on whether they had obtained the video separately. Katz said Fielding and Bagnal made it clear to her that the White House did not possess a copy at the time she offered hers.

Around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, Katz sent both Leiter and Fielding an e-mail with a link to a private SITE Web page containing the video and an English transcript. "Please understand the necessity for secrecy," Katz wrote in her e-mail. "We ask you not to distribute . . . [as] it could harm our investigations."

Fielding replied with an e-mail expressing gratitude to Katz. "It is you who deserves the thanks," he wrote, according to a copy of the message. There was no record of a response from Leiter or the national intelligence director's office.

Exactly what happened next is unclear. But within minutes of Katz's e-mail to the White House, government-registered computers began downloading the video from SITE's server, according to a log of file transfers. The records show dozens of downloads over the next three hours from computers with addresses registered to defense and intelligence agencies.

By midafternoon, several television news networks reported obtaining copies of the transcript. A copy posted around 3 p.m. on Fox News's Web site referred to SITE and included page markers identical to those used by the group. "This confirms that the U.S. government was responsible for the leak of this document," Katz wrote in an e-mail to Leiter at 5 p.m.

Al-Qaeda supporters, now alerted to the intrusion into their secret network, put up new obstacles that prevented SITE from gaining the kind of access it had obtained in the past, according to Katz.

A small number of private intelligence companies compete with SITE in scouring terrorists' networks for information and messages, and some have questioned the company's motives and methods, including the claim that its access to al-Qaeda's network was unique. One competitor, Ben Venzke, founder of IntelCenter, said he questions SITE's decision -- as described by Katz -- to offer the video to White House policymakers rather than quietly share it with intelligence analysts.

"It is not just about getting the video first," Venzke said. "It is about having the proper methods and procedures in place to make sure that the appropriate intelligence gets to where it needs to go in the intelligence community and elsewhere in order to support ongoing counterterrorism operations."

The National Security Director for Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, when out of office, and during the run up to the 9/11 investigation, amid VALID, POINTED questions about whether that 8 year long administration, had done enough to act against Al Qaeda, was convicted of stealing documents from the secure national archives, and cutting them up with scissors.

Those are an inarguable set of facts.

The puzzle around those facts, except for the delusional, is that whatever those docs were, they were not flattering about the plans, beliefs and judgments of Bill Clinton and his associates over foreign affairs.

We have Fatah corrupt genocidal jew killers vs HAMAS religious genocidal sicko jew killers .. in a battle of Takfir fatwahs..simply MAHVELOUS

 

Fatwa By Unknown Sheikh Who Sanctifies Killing Hamas Members Triggers Harsh Reactions

In an article posted May 16, 2007 by the Palestine Press Agency, a certain Sheikh Shaker Al-Hiran labels Hamas as Khawarij [1] and sanctifies killing its members. The article responded to the recent cycle of bloodshed between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip, placing the blame on Hamas and accusing Hamas of acting against a legitimate ruler.The Saudi daily Al-Watan published it on its front page on May 22, 2007. [2]

In another article, posted May 18, 2007 on the Fatah website, Al-Hiran went even farther, comparing Hamas to the Jews. (NOW THAT'S FUN TIMES) This article triggered harsh reactions and prompted online messages from readers questioning Al-Hiran's existence.

The following are summaries of the articles.

Sheikh Shaker Al-Hiran's May 16 article, which was posted on www.palpress.ps and titled "Oh People and Officers of the Security Forces, Blessed Be He Who Was Killed by Their Hands, They Are the Neo-Khawarij," is mainly a series of legal arguments aimed at proving that Hamas should be categorized as Khawarij and as such must be fought against. [3]

Some of the main arguments made in the article are: Hamas, like the Khawarij, is rebelling against a legitimate ruler whose authority it had already accepted; Hamas labels as apostate any Muslim who has committed grave sins (kabair), for example, drinking wine; Hamas cooperates with anybody who supports it, even if he is a Christian, and consider an enemy anyone who disassociates himself from it, even if he is a devout Muslim. 

After listing their "Khawariji" characteristics, the article recommends that the following measures be taken against Hamas: "We [should call] upon the media to [invite] their scholars to appear on TV or on the Internet to [be asked] about those criminal murderers. If they say that what they [i.e. Hamas members] do is prohibited, then you should kill them cold-bloodedly, [and you will] be rewarded by Allah for ridding Muslims of their influence and evil. Jews have more mercy towards our nation than [Hamas]. If they [i.e. the scholars] say that their conduct is permitted, then kill their scholars... they are all the same."

Actually HAMAS and Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood a la, Qutbites ARE just like the Kharjarites or Khawariji of the 7th-8th century. Next round on Epaminondas.

 

 

They make our guys look diligent..

Iraqi legislature to go on 2 month vaca this summer?

OR... Iraq unites the USA

BAGHDAD- Iraqi lawmakers said Thursday they might consider shortening—or even canceling—their planned two-month summer break to continue working. But they insisted that pressure from Washington is not behind the possible holiday-on-hold.

And besides, they say, the U.S. Congress is not thinking of calling off its own recess because of wartime debate.

 

If these gavones want to lead, then they had better be seen to lead. If these people want to keep a republic THEY had better be prepared to do WHAT IT TAKES.

NO american, NONE will support Iraq being death ground for american sacrifice and treasure if the Iraqis head for the beach, and they won't deserve it.

! NOT

No more GWOT, House committee decrees

The House Armed Services Committee is banishing the global war on terror from the 2008 defense budget.

 

TEL AVIV — Israel's leading technical university has developed a refueling system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

A student team at the Technion has developed a system that would allow a UAV to refuel another unmanned platform during flight. The system was exhibited at the Annual Conference on Aerospace Sciences on Feb. 21 in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Ten students from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering took a year to complete the system. The computer-operated system, based on a special algorithm, controls a camera attached to the end of the refueling pipe. Project leaders said the camera calculates the distance between the pipe and the fuel opening and directs the small wings that guide the fuel pipe towards the opening. The camera could extend the length of the pipe from six to 12 meters. "At present, there is no similar system on the market," the Technion said in a statement on Feb. 19. Over the last two years, the Technion has developed a series of products applicable to the military including a satellite system, helicopter and Israel's first ramjet rocket. The Technion system has aroused interest in the aerospace industry and Israel air force, which has sought to enhance its air refueling capability. The refueling UAV carries 400 kilograms of fuel, project leaders said. They said the aerial refueling system would enable any UAV to remain airborne for an additional 36 hours.

REPORT: NORTH KOREA TENTATIVELY AGREES TO DISARM

BEIJING (AP) -- The U.S. envoy to talks on North Korea's nuclear program said Tuesday that negotiators reached a tentative agreement on initial steps for the communist nation's disarmament.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the agreement outlined specific commitments for North Korea and would set up working groups to implement those goals to begin meeting in about a month. He declined to give other details.

"I'm encouraged by this that we were able to take a step forward on the denuclearization issue," Hill said.

N Korea helping Iran with nuclear testing

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year. Under the terms of a new understanding between the two countries, the North Koreans have agreed to share all the data and information they received from their successful test last October with Teheran's nuclear scientists.North Korea provoked an international outcry when it successfully fired a bomb at a secret underground location and Western intelligence officials are convinced that Iran is working on its own weapons programme.

A senior European defence official told The Daily Telegraph that North Korea had invited a team of Iranian nuclear scientists to study the results of last October's underground test to assist Teheran's preparations to conduct its own — possibly by the end of this year.

There were unconfirmed reports at the time of the Korean firing that an Iranian team was present. Iranian military advisers regularly visit North Korea to participate in missile tests.

Now the long-standing military co-operation between the countries has been extended to nuclear issues.

Isn't it sweet how friends can find each other in the dark?

Isn't it nice to find yourself defined by who your enemies truly are?

What can be so bad about us, if these guys want us vapor?

As a result, senior western military officials are deeply concerned that the North Koreans' technical superiority will allow the Iranians to accelerate development of their own nuclear weapon.

"The Iranians are working closely with the North Koreans to study the results of last year's North Korean nuclear bomb test," said the European defence official.

Such a perfect blendship

We started it to get rid of a terror leaning, weapons loving, fascist, america hating son of a bitch whom the president judged (rightly or wrongly) to be not worth taking a chance over on the safety of the american people.

We completed this phase in a few weeks, and then were left with a conquering force right sized, and a garrison force about 20-25% of what was required. We set loose the ancient war of Ali and 700 AD, versus the converted tribe of power in the hijaz of pre Muhammad times.

We succeeded in a few weeks.
We also failed to comprehend the ragnorokian forces of entropy coiled tighter every day since Ali and Husayn died/were treacherously killed.
That is the responsibility of the Bush admin.

Jim Baker has also FAILED to grasp the elementary.

If the members of the ISG:
James A. Baker, III, and Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chairs, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Edwin Meese III, Sandra Day O’Connor, Leon E. Panetta, William J. Perry, Charles S. Robb, Alan K. Simpson are so naieve that they believe not only that Israel can make peace with HAMAS, but also that this will fix the problems in Najaf and Ramadi, and Sadr City, then The Wise Men of our day are fools.

Some of them should have learned this lesson of Israel being a distraction and canard - for their ignorance of that force which grew from the 1979 Russian invasion of Afghanistan onwards, while they guarded the realm.. had nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with the 'unbelievers' everywhere.

These people, who certainly know better, include every name on this list except for Mrs. O'Connor. They might have been able to claim ignorance the first time around, but the forces of salafist and khomeinist aggression are no strangers on the world stage now, and have little to do with Israel.
I have lost much respect for every single name on that list.

But of course we all know wordlessly, the reason for the ISG. It was to give cover to republicans and democrats for treacherously leaving Iraq, and giving up, and making it easier to garner votes in the short term of those in office (of both parties).

Bernard Lewis:"America is harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend."

If we want to "win" we need to pick a side. Sunni or Shia. Who has more 'right' on their side?
Will that be cod liver oil or milk of magnesia, sir?
Are you kidding me?

U.S. Bans Sale of IPods to North Korea

The Bush administration wants North Korea's attention, so like a scolding parent it's trying to make it tougher for that country's eccentric leader to buy iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters.

The U.S. government's first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to personally aggravate a foreign president expressly targets items believed to be favored by Kim Jong Il or presented by him as gifts to the roughly 600 loyalist families who run the communist government.

Kim, who engineered a secret nuclear weapons program, has other options for obtaining the high-end consumer electronics and other items he wants.

But the list of proposed luxury sanctions, obtained by The Associated Press, aims to make Kim's swanky life harder: No more cognac, Rolex watches, cigarettes, artwork, expensive cars, Harley Davidson motorcycles or even personal watercraft, such as Jet Skis.

The new ban would extend even to music and sports equipment. The 5- foot-3 Kim is an enthusiastic basketball fan; then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright presented him with a ball signed by Michael Jordan during a rare diplomatic trip in 2000.

Experts said the effort _ being coordinated under the United Nations _ would be the first ever to curtail a specific category of goods not associated with military buildups or weapons designs, especially one so tailored to annoy a foreign leader. U.S. officials acknowledge that enforcing the ban on black-market trading would be difficult.

The population in North Korea, one of the world's most isolated economies, is impoverished and routinely suffers widescale food shortages. The new trade ban would forbid U.S. shipments there of Rolexes, French cognac, plasma TVs, yachts and more _ all items favored by Kim but unattainable by most of the country.

"It's a new concept; it's kind of creative," said William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official who oversaw trade restrictions with North Korea during Bill Clinton's presidency. Reinsch predicted governments will comply with the new sanctions, but agreed that efforts to block all underground shipments will be frustrated.

While seated in the lotus position, hum lightly......

Just a lone crazy person
Just a lone crazy person

Oh hell, hum louder

Every once in a while the obvious course presents itself.

S. Korea Rejects President Bush's N. Korean Ship Inspection Program

HANOI, Vietnam — President Bush, trying to stiffen global resolve to confront North Korea, failed to win South Korea's support Saturday for a tough inspection program to intercept ships suspected of carrying supplies for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missiles.

Bush sought to persuade South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun to fully implement U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea for testing nuclear weapons. He also sought South Korea's support in the Proliferation Security Initiative, a voluntary international program that calls for stopping ships suspected of trafficking in weapons of mass destruction.

Roh said his country "is not taking part in the full scope" of the security initiative" but that it would "support the principles and goals of the PSI."

Why bother even mouthing platitudes, Roh?
Just say it, we all get it.

"South Korea fears more than a North Korean nuclear exchange, doing something which might in any way cause upset in Pyongyang, so afraid are we. We fear this more than we honor an alliance of 56 years, and those who saved this nation. We fear this more than we honor ourselves."

"I appreciate the cooperation we're receiving from South Korea for the Proliferation Security Initiative," Bush said.

You sound like every obsequious, idiot, afraid diplomat that went before you, Bush. You are an embarassment to yourself these days. Just shut up and stay in the white house if that's all you have now.

I have a different idea.

Withdraw the 38,000 men in South Korea who now serve no useful function since the Koreans, with all the high tech, democracy, and armed forces they need, instead have a requriement for SHARK CARTILAGE to stiffen their boneless backs. Send them to Baghdad, where the last chance for those men and women may be occurring

N Korea 'hides nuclear village network

Yells the headline...is there any surprise? More than a yawn. Any thoughts about possible corrective plans?

No. None, right?

Here' a big 'SO WHAT'?

NORTH Korea has established secret towns with thousands of closely guarded residents whose sole mission is to develop nuclear weapons, a South Korean lawmaker said today.

Up to 36,000 people, including the North's top nuclear scientists and their families, live in the villages in complete isolation in the already reclusive country, Conservative Grand National Party lawmaker Song Young-sun said in a report.

Earlier we read how AQ Khan's little enterprise actually SOLD P-2 centrifuges to Iran.

Bush says this is all unacceptable, but unless I have missed something, we HAVE in fact, accepted this.

What are they REALLY saying and thinking, in Tokyo, in Seoul, In Canberra, as they read the words of John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry, and and Al Gore?

What are they REALLY saying and thinking, in Tokyo, in Seoul, In Canberra, as they read about Baker in Iraq, and think back to Scowcroft's op-ed's and editorials about realpolitik?

They are thinking the USA cannot be depended upon, that in the end, nomatter how we begin, Hassan Abassi is correct, and the risk averse american PEOPLE themselves restrain the judgment of some leaders in the end about unpleasant realities.

What are the consequences of this?

Who Betrayed Lebanon? And Who Watched it Happen?

The American Thinker ..thinks clearly ..in a stellar fisking
***or abacadabra ..we hate ourselves and the jews ..nomatter what because we actually have a mental disease, and that' swhy we can do away with facts ..they don't fit the sickness dialectic***

In the vision of certain members of the press, Israel is a colonialist mass murderer, and the word terrorist does not exist without quotation marks surrounding it. Israelis are aggressors. Islamist terrorists, be they Palestinians or Iranian backed Hezb’allah, are victims. These media types come to the Middle East with their narrative firmly in place. It is so because they believe it to be so. I was an eyewitness to a classic example of this in Jenin, in 2002. Western journalists and United Nation envoys were in an uproar over an alleged Israeli massacre of a thousand Palestinians. There were grisly, supposed eyewitness, accounts of Israeli bulldozers shoveling hundreds of corpses of helpless Palestinian refugees into mass graves. There were stories of Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian children in front of their parents and then throwing their bodies into wells and sewage pits.

Comparisons were made to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, to Nazi war crimes and the term genocide was spoken with righteous indignation. The truth turned out to be somewhat less Baroque. There was a battle not a massacre.

In that battle some fifty Palestinian combatants were killed, as were twenty three Israeli soldiers. The battle was a ferocious one and in the Arab press there were glowing tales of the fifty Palestinian fighters who fell in glorious combat against the Zionist enemy they valiantly slaughtered. But to the majority of Western journalists the facts became a footnote on the inside pages, reported weeks after the front page banner line headlines screamed about the supposed massacre.

Euro group introduces electronic countermeasures system to protect combat vehicles

LONDON — A leading European defense contractor has begun marketing an anti-tank missile electronic self-protection system.

EADS has been marketing its MUSS multifunctional self-protection system to Europe and the Middle East. MUSS was designed to detect incoming missiles and activate electronic or pyrotechnic countermeasures to prevent a strike. The German army is the first customer. Executives said EADS would supply MUSS for the army's new Puma armored fighting vehicles to defend against guided anti-tank munitions, such as guided missiles, bombs and shells.

It was the first report of a European EW system meant to foil anti-tank missile strikes. Israel and the United States have been developing similar systems.

Under a contract reported on Aug. 14, EADS would equip five prototype Puma vehicles with MUSS. Executives said the system includes missile warning sensors, central computer and electronic or pyrotechnic countermeasures to prevent a strike against armored personnel carriers or main battle tanks.

"The new technologies that we employ here are opening up previously unimagined techniques for protecting armored vehicles from attack, as is already possible for aircraft, helicopters or ships," said Bernhard Gerwert, head of EADS Defense Electronics.

Money Line...

Early this spring, when I reported from Afghan farms about this year's bumper opium crop, people thought I was using that opium. Now it is common knowledge that the opium trade is fueling a Taliban comeback. Mark this on your calendar: Spring of 2007 will be a bloodbath in Afghanistan for NATO forces. Our British, Canadian, Australian, Dutch, and other allies will be slaughtered in Afghanistan if they dare step off base in the southern provinces, and nobody is screaming at the tops of their media-lungs about the impending disaster. I would not be surprised to see a NATO base overrun in Afghanistan in 2007 with all the soldiers killed or captured. And when it happens, how many will claim they had no idea it was so bad and blame the media for failing to raise the alarm? Here it is: WARNING! Troops in Afghanistan are facing slaughter in 2007!

READ THE WHOLE DAMN THING

Boeing official predicts advanced tactical laser (ATL) 'will transform the battlefield'

The U.S. military is overseeing the development of an advanced tactical laser (ATL) being called revolutionary.

The Advanced Tactical Laser will be fired from C-130H air transport and have a range of up to 20 miles. Popular Science
The laser is the centerpiece of an advanced concept technology demonstration program led by Boeing.

In a $200 million test program, Boeing has begun flights for the ATL to determine the feasibility of an airborne-mounted, high-energy laser for urban warfare and other missions.

"ATL will transform the battlefield by giving the warfighter a speed-of-light, precision engagement capability that will reduce collateral damage dramatically," Boeing Missile Defense Systems vice president Pat Shanahan said.

ATL would be used in so-called low-power flight tests to track ground targets at White Sands Missile Range, NM. A low-power, solid-state laser will serve as a surrogate for ATL's high-power chemical laser in tests meant to last through the fall.

The laser is mounted on a C-130H air transport. The hardware includes the beam director and optical control bench, designed to direct the laser to its target; weapon system consoles to display high-resolution imagery and enable target tracking, and sensors.

On Sept. 21, Boeing, joined by L-3 Communications and Hytec, fired the high-energy chemical laser for the first time in ground tests in Albuquerque. Executives said the test team would fire the laser through a rotating turret that extends through an existing 50-inch-diameter hole in the aircraft's belly.

UAV market booming worldwide

WASHINGTON — After a slow start, the United States has become the leading developer and marketer of unmanned aerial vehicles.

A report by Frost and Sullivan said that the war in Iraq has driven recent successes in the UAV market. The UAVs are being purchased by all services in the U.S. military as well as abroad.

"The U.S. unmanned aerial systems market has had considerable momentum due to recent operational successes and increasing mission roles," the report by the Palo Alto, Calif. consultancy said.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for its claimed nuclear test, declaring that its action posed "a clear threat to international peace and security."

The vote came after the United States, Britain and France overcame last-minute differences with Russia and China.

The resolution demands North Korea eliminate all its nuclear weapons but expressly rules out military action against the country - a demand by the Russians and Chinese. The Americans also eliminated a complete ban on the sale of conventional weapons; instead, the resolution limits the embargo to major hardware such as tanks, warships, combat aircraft and missiles.

Here's how it worked.....

Jews build greenhouses doing the work....

Israel announces it will leave Gaza ...then....

American Jewish philanthropists contributed $14 million to buy former Gaza settlers’ greenhouses for Palestinians, a news report said yesterday.

Without the funds, the Jewish settlers would have destroyed the greenhouses to keep them out of Arab hands as they were forced out of Gaza Strip, The New York Times said.

The greenhouses provide jobs for 3,500 Palestinians and had been a lucrative market for fresh produces for Jewish settlers.

The Times said Mortimer B. Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and a real estate tycoon, last week got a request from former World Bank head James D. Wolfensohn to raise money in order to save the greenhouses. Zuckerman sent out word to Jewish organisations in the United States for help.

Within 48 hours, he received $14 million. Wolfensohn, who contributed $500,000 of his own, is the international envoy to Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

He represents the sponsors of the so-called road map for Mideast peace — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the UN.

The Gaza pullout is part of the quartet’s peace plan.

The private fundraising efforts to buy the greenhouses spread quickly and got US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s support.

She called donors and thanked them for helping the peace process in the Middle East, The Times said.

and then...............

RUSSIA and China are blocking an American plan to mount international inspections of all cargoes entering and leaving North Korea for fear of provoking a military showdown

North Korea underlined the concerns by saying yesterday that it would regard such sanctions as an act of war. Pyongyang threatened “physical measures”, including a second nuclear test, unless Washington ceased to confront it. President Bush said that he had “no intention of attacking” the isolated Stalinist regime and that he would pursue “all diplomatic efforts” in response to North Korea’s first atomic explosion. “Diplomacy hasn’t run its course, and we’ll continue working to give diplomacy a full opportunity to succeed,” he said. But he made it clear that President Kim Jong Il must face “serious repercussions” for sparking the world’s latest nuclear crisis.

The repercussions envisaged by Mr Bush were being contested by Russia and China as they outlined their positions on a new Security Council resolution that could be adopted as early as tomorrow.

Without cooperation by China, their entire border, slightly less than 1000 miles would become the focal point of export of EVERYTHING, No Dong, BM25's, Centrifuge technology, plutonium refining equipment, fake $100's ...the works.

It gets worse.

Strictly a coincidence

Outspoken Putin critic shot dead in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin, was shot dead on Saturday at her apartment block in central Moscow, police said.

"According to initial information she was killed by two shots when leaving the lift. Neighbors found her body," a police source told Reuters. Police found a pistol and four rounds in the lift.

Politkovskaya, a 48-year-old mother of two, won international fame and numerous prizes for her dogged pursuit of rights abuses by Putin's government, particularly in the violent southern province of Chechnya.

"The first thing that comes to mind is that Anna was killed for her professional activities. We don't see any other motive for this terrible crime," said Vitaly Yaroshevsky, a deputy editor of the newspaper where Politkovskaya worked.Moscow chief prosecutor Yuri Syomin told reporters at the crime scene, a nine-story Soviet-era apartment building in central Moscow, that he was treating the death as murder.

DUH

Speaking of how the USA was slammed over Abu Ghreib, and how the ('fascistic') govt complained abotu the manifest coverage etc, wellll.....

In the days before her death, Politkovskaya had been working on a story about torture in Chechnya, which was expected to be published on Monday, her newspaper said.

To my knowledge nobody got killed in their apartment building while preparing a report on how awful the USA is

It's 550 Tons, no it's 15,000 (according the Russkis ...and much more likely IMHO)...WHO CARES?

Japan seems pissed off, and South Korea is calling for the 'strongest sanctions' (to what, starve the starving, impoverish the poor, set back those who don't even know there is a forward?), and even China (if the news can be believed) is pissed.

Big Deal

This will last until the moment plans start to be made and then no one will want to committ an act except to send mean letters written by Kofi.

Even Condi, now clearly co opted by the oatmeal swamp of the US State Dept where all points of view are treated as equal for negotiating purposes, has embarrassed herself with Abbas in Palestine and Hamas. Just wet your pants at a worldwide press conference, Condi, it would render you no more ridiculous and out of place than what you did last week.

So what is the american and (cough, laugh splutter) international plan for the "unacceptable" North Korean act?

Pulllleeeezeeeee !

1: Hizbullah's use of C-802 cruise missile sets precedent for terror groups

2: Al Qaida using Iraq as proving ground for recruits, explosives

3: Hizbullah stockpiling rockets in Lebanon's refugee camps

4: Israeli military charges Egypt secretly backing huge arms smuggling network

Hizbullah's use of C-802 cruise missile sets precedent for terror groups
The U.S. military has deemed Hizbullah a major threat in the Middle East after the Central Command studied Hizbullah's military capabilities following its 34-day war against Israel, which ended on Aug. 14.

"I believe this is the first time we've seen a terrorist group use this kind of capability." Gulf Times
Officials said the most worrisome aspect of Hizbullah was its use of advanced Iranian weaponry. They included the attack on an Israel navy corvette on July 14 with a Chinese-origin C-802 cruise missile. Hizbullah fired C-802s on at least three occasions, and in one case missed an Israeli corvette but struck and sank a Cambodian-flagged merchant ship.

Central Command believes that Iran would use Hizbullah in any confrontation with the United States. Officials envision Iran supplying Hizbullah with the most advanced tactical weapons, which could include nonconventional warheads. The C-802 is regarded as one of the most effective missiles in the world.

"It should not be lost on us, for example, that Hizbullah fields greater and longer-range weapons than most regional armed forces," Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Aug. 3. "If left unchecked, it is possible to imagine chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons being transferred to militias or terrorist organizations by a state actor."

Officials said Hizbullah's capabilities meant U.S. Navy ships could never patrol the eastern Mediterranean without armed escort or heightened security. The C-802 anti-ship cruise missile, with a range of about 120 kilometers and an explosive payload of up to 165 kilograms, requires a shore-based radar for over-the-horizon targeting.

Iran’s dance to avoid sanctions involved secret deal with Europe

Iran sought to keep secret its suspension of uranium enrichment as part of a deal with Europe for renewed talks, but the effort was scuttled after it was disclosed by Bush administration officials opposed to the plan. As a result, talks on the nuclear issue failed to reach an agreement.European negotiator Javier Solana met last Wednesday in Berlin with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani and sought to conclude a deal that would have had Iran secretly suspend uranium enrichment and return to talks.

The deal was being supported by those in the State Department who favor the European appeasement-oriented approach towards Iran and was opposed by conservatives who say sanctions should not be put off any longer.

Under the deal, Iran would have announced that it was temporarily halting uranium enrichment work and would have couched the halt as a result of technical problems with the enrichment program.

Treachery. Plain and simple. Why doesn't the Bush admin name names? What will they do, work against us?

Ukraine sells Iran strategic radar systems designed to detect U.S. stealth aircraft

MOSCOW — Iran has ordered and acquired several advanced anti-aircraft systems from the Ukraine.

Russian industry sources said the Ukraine has sold an undetermined number of Kolchuga anti-aircraft radar systems to Iran. The Kolchuga passive-detection systems are capable of spotting enemy aircraft up to 800 kilometers away.

The sources said Kolchuga would enhance Iran's air defense umbrella. At least 10 such systems were sold at $25 million each, they said.

Besides Israel and a very shaky Britain, and Australia who can the USA DEPEND ON?

This story is 100% polar opposite to the one published in STRATFOR yesterday, which claims we have a hot pursuit agreement n Waziristan - which I don't believe ..GERTZ AGAIN is the soruce

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf risks a collapse of his regime when he returns to Islamabad after his high-profile visit to the White House. Musharraf faces an Al Qaida-aligned intelligence and military that has decided to bolster Osama Bin Laden during the president's tour of the United States and other allies.

Western intelligence sources said Musharraf has already accepted the dictates of the jihad clique in Islamabad. They said the president was forced to accept a government decision to cede authority over North Waziristan, the mountainous tribal region along the Afghan border, to Al Qaida and Taliban.

The Pakistani decision marked Musharraf's surrender to the group of military officers that controls the nation's army and intelligence community.

Musharraf also looked on helplessly as Pakistan released more than 150 Al Qaida-aligned prisoners in a decision led by the Inter-Services Intelligence.

The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush's plans to prosecute and interrogate terror suspects, all but sealing congressional approval for legislation that Republicans intend to use on the campaign trail to assert their toughness on terrorism.

The 65-34 vote means the bill could reach the president's desk by week's end. The House passed nearly identical legislation on Wednesday and was expected to approve the Senate bill on Friday, sending it on to the White House.

The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but grant the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible.

Do we actually need a law to prevent americans from mutilating prisoners? Even heinous cretins?

I never voted for Bill Clinton

I don't blame Bill Clinton for not killing Bin Laden
This entire nation is guilty of a failure of imagination

This entire nation was not ready to kill thousands because a few people in anti-terrorism intelligence BELIEVED Bin Laden was ready to directly attack the USA

With that said ...It was Bill Clinton's job to hire those people who had the brains and guts to make the deicsions to kill offhand if necessary, a killer in the desert on those kind of semi proofs, and beliefs and if needs be sacrifice their careers in govt (and for an honored future if nothing else appearing and collecting public speaking fees... I mean if Scott Ritter can make money doing it....really)

Mr. Clinton was clearly guilty of feeling guilty.

I don't think in terms of national security Mr Clinton is more guilty than those dems TODAY who cannot see the preeminent, primordial acsendant importance of these issues versus Rx prices, and hysterically 'progressive' definitions of "social justice". In fact those idiots have far more to answer for than he does. People like John Kerry, John Conyers, and Jack Murtha.

Iran has adopted North Korea's war strategy against the United States

There is one?

U.S. intelligence sources said Iran has invested in the production of North Korean command and control systems for a missile war against the United States. Iranian engineers and military officers have been training in Pyongyang to wage a nuclear war against a much stronger opponent.

Earth to Council on Foreign Relations....Earth to Council on Foreign Relations....

"Teheran has assessed that the United States is preparing a massive strike to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program," an intelligence source said. "The Iranians see North Korea as its only ally in any defensive effort." Over the past year, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has conducted exercises in Iran and North Korea to test nuclear war scenarios. About a dozen senior IRGC engineers attended the North Korean launch of the Taepodong-2 intermediate-range missile in July 2006.

Are they more prepared to actually FIGHT a nuclear war than we?

Are we prepared for the launch or use of even a single EMP warhead over the east coast? Is that posible event regarded as some kind of neo-con (CODE WORD ALERT) hysterical fear mongering?

The sources said Iran has procured a missile similar to Taepodong-2 that would enable strikes on U.S. bases in most of Europe. Iranian missile development has also been assisted by China and Russia.

If US bases in the ME and Europe are damaged or knocked out, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to logistically support even air action on any sustainable bases, except for directly from the US, Guam and or Diego Garcia (with B-2's and B-1's, then B-52's only after air superiority was established). If Iran was to use a handful of nuclear weapons in this way, US warfighting doctrine would have to choose between an almost impossibly difficult conventional war, and obliterating Iran with the correct weapons for the job, showering EVERYONE EAST, NORTHEAST AND/OR SOUTHEAST (prevailing winds) of Iran with lethal fallout. I believe Iran has correctly assessed the US as being too risk averse for this mission. Lucky for them I am not in a decision making capacity. Where are the Bobby Lee's and Billy Sherman's when we need them?

In January 2006, Iran began a series of exercises to test second-strike nuclear capability. The IRGC tested Iran's strategic air defenses in a simulation attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his top aides.
The U.S. intelligence community closely monitored the Iranian exercise in January, the sources said. U.S. intelligence concluded that Teheran was preparing for a war with the U.S. that could take place over the next year and include Iranian strikes on Iraq and Gulf Cooperation Council states

Gertz..

1. U.S. warns Iran's continued advance will render its production of nukes invisible

2. Iran, Syria to take strategic ties to new level after Lebanon war

3. U.S. sanctions Iran bank that funded Hizbullah, other terror groups

4. U.S. intelligence sees Iran developing ICBM under guise of space program

1. U.S. warns Iran's continued advance will render its production of nukes invisible

WASHINGTON — An active Iranian uranium enrichment program could eventually render the United States unable to detect Iran's production of nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. official said."Once they're able to operate centrifuges — 164-machine centrifuges — in cascades and feed uranium hexafluoride into those centrifuges in the cascade and run those cascades over a sustained period of time, they will be able to acquire a nuclear weapon without us knowing about it," said Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph.

Officials said Iran has obtained nuclear expertise and components from China, Japan, Pakistan, North Korea and European countries. Washington has sought to recruit help from China and Russia to stop nuclear and missile proliferation to Teheran.

Joseph told a Sept. 6 briefing that Iran has been operating a 164-centrifuge cascade and was installing a second similarly sized facility for uranium enrichment. He cited Iranian statements saying the second cascade would begin operations in October 2006. Iran has announced plans to operate 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007.

"This is a large number of centrifuges that will produce a large quantity of highly enriched uranium," Joseph said.

So far, the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Iran would require another five years to produce its first nuclear weapon.

Joseph, who called for sanctions on Teheran, said Iran's nuclear weapon could be achieved even before "the end of the decade."

"My sense is that if we are talking about stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, we have to be able to stop them from acquiring the expertise, acquiring the technologies that will lead them to a nuclear weapons capability," he said.

Teheran has been enriching uranium without the knowledge of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been denied access to suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.

To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment - Item C, Article 3 Geneva Convention

Recently the story of Khalid S Mohammad the murderer and planner of 9/11 and other stupidities of death has come out including the story of his spilling the beans which apparently consisted of the Red Hot Chili Peppers at volumes similar to which I listened (and still do) to Led Zeppelin, Cream and the Stones ...and uncomfortably cool rooms.

Well my wife complains about music volumes and too cold rooms all the time. Perhaps HRW should include me on their annual list of rogue torturers.

Seriously, while I don't think anyone can make any but the most 'torturous' explanation of how loud music is really torture, it would be informative to know what the temperautre of the room was when KSM whined it all out to Uncle Sam.

55 degress F can hardly be torture, while 25 certainly IS for any extended period past a few minutes (the germans put jews and others in cold water to determine the time their pilots shot down could survive)

The Man Who Killed 31 GIs

ABC News has obtained exclusive photographs of two alleged Iraqi snipers and a vehicle modified as a "mobile shooting platform."

The two insurgents and their car were seized in Iraq last week by Iraqi forces and are now in U.S. military custody.

The vehicle had been retooled to conceal a compartment for a high powered sniper rifle under a back seat and two portals for the rifle scope and muzzle next to the left rear lights. The sniper car was reminiscent of the vehicle used by the two spree killers (whose religion and proclivities seem never to have entered the news - strange, eh?) who killed ten people and terrorized Washington, D.C., in October 2002.

One of the alleged Iraqi snipers, Abdul Ali Abdul Rathman (pictured here), told interrogators that he had killed 31 American soldiers.

Bragging is such a survival mutation, isn't it?

If there is a 'playable' great game, then
Genl Abzaid has the rules down, and governments are peripheral.

In a fabulous article in the WSJ of 9/2, an outline of Abizaid's strategy for the long war is elaborated.

Basically it is this....the US military should be prepared for a time of 1865-1910 and the american west, and not just the Argonne-Meuse, Tarawa and Huertgen Forest battles of nation state armies.

Among other things, this kind of strategy revolves around an entirely different budget structure. For instance in Yemen several projects along the lines of social services (building schools and clinics - viewed cynically locally, btw) cost $600,000. The money was layed out by US Central Command - the military budget - but IMHO is foreig n aid.

Hezbollah wants to swap soldiers for child killer

Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv ‘Most hated man in Israel’ at centre of deal to bring prisoners back home IN his Israeli jail cell Samir Qantar, who is serving four life sentences for murder and terrorism, dreams about an exchange of prisoners that might allow him to go home to Lebanon.

“I can imagine how I’ll return to my village,” he said. “First I hug my mum, then my brothers and sisters, all of them. My idea, which I’ll never give up, is to come out of here with my head held up, without giving up any of my principles.”

Qantar, 44, has been in prison since 1979, when he took part in an attack whose horrifying outcome made him one of the most hated men in Israel.

But in Lebanon, Hezbollah has made his release one of its key demands in negotiations to secure the freedom of Ehud Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 26, the two Israeli soldiers it captured on July 12, triggering a 34-day war.

Qantar’s role in the attack on the coastal town of Nahariya 27 years ago would make this an especially bitter pill for Israelis to swallow. A policeman was killed and a family taken hostage when Qantar’s group burst into their home.

Danny Haran, 28, was shot at close range in front of his terrified four-year-old daughter Einat, whose head was then smashed with a rifle butt.

Gertz...

ANKARA — Turkey has been searching Iranian cargo planes for weapons for Hizbullah after being apprised of U.S. intelligence reports.

Turkey went on alert after a U.S. spy satellite detected Iranian soldiers loading the Russian-origin aircraft with Chinese-origin C-802 cruise missiles. The information was relayed to Iraq and Turkey.

An official said Iraq denied the Iranian air force plane entry while Turkey said the Ilyushin must undergo inspection. At that point, the Iranian cargo plane was said to have returned to Teheran.

Earlier, Hizbullah fired three C-802s toward an Israeli missile boat near the Lebanese coast. The Saar-class vessel was damaged.

During the past month, Turkish authorities intercepted two Iranian planes bound for Syria. The Iranian planes were inspected for weapons for Hizbullah but none were found.

A U.S. official said Turkey blocked a third Iranian aircraft from reaching Syria. The official said an Iranian Il-76 cargo aircraft left Mehrabad air base near Teheran for Damascus on July 20.

Because they believe, believe, believe ...

Former Pakistan Intelligence Chief on Al-Jazeera: 'Israel is Our Main Enemy'; As Mel Gibson Said, 'The Jews Caused All the Wars'

On August 8, 2006, Al-Jazeera TV aired footage of a press conference with Gen. Hamid Gul. At the conference, Gul, who headed Pakistan's Inter-service Intelligence Directorate from 1987-89 and whom, according to the Washington Times, was termed Pakistan's "most dangerous man" by an internal CIA assessment, [1] told reporters that "every Israeli leader has said that Pakistan is their number one enemy," and quoted Mel Gibson, stating that "the Jews caused all the wars."

TO VIEW THIS CLIP, VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1233 .

According to an August 7, 2006 UPI article, General Gul, who is "known for pro-Taliban and pro-Al-Qaeda views, told the media that the United States would attack Syria and Iran next October, and that Pakistan, with its nuclear arsenal, was the only Islamic country that could use its nuclear capability to defeat Israel's designs." [2]

In a post-9/11 interview, Gul told Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly that he "support[s] the implementation of Shari'a, and we must be governed by the rules of Allah." He also said, "The people who committed this crime [9/11] are inside America, and let me tell you that they are Israelis, not Muslims. Only Israelis can pull off a job like that..." Asked about whether he thought the U.S. authorities were aware of this, he said, "They are aware, but they are afraid of Israel's influence, which is why they are diverting attention to the outside." [3]

The following are excerpts from Gen. Gul's statements during the August 8th press conference on Al-Jazeera:

Gen. Hamid Gul: "From Ben Gurion to Netanyahu, every Israeli leader has said that Pakistan is their number one enemy."

HUH?

AIR DEFENSE: Now Israel Wants Laser Defense

August 15, 2006: Israel is working with the U.S. government to see if it could revive it's participation in the laser anti-missile system (THEL, or "Tactical High Energy Laser"). Israel dropped out of the project seven months ago, because of the expense of developing the system to the point where it would be ready for regular service. But after seeing Hizbullah fire over 2,000 rockets into northern Israel, and having the Palestinians fire a few dozen a month into southern Israel, the Israelis want to reconsider the new version of THEL. The American partner in THEL development is now offering a smaller version of THEL, Skyguard, for protecting commercial aircraft from portable anti-aircraft missiles. The manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, originally developed THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser) for combat situations. Tests last year showed THEL was able to knock down barrages of incoming mortar shells.

The THEL laser and radar system was designed to track up to sixty targets (mortar and artillery shells, rockets) at a time and fire on and destroy these projectiles at a range of up to five kilometers. THEL can destroy about a dozen targets a minute, at a cost of some $3,000 per shot. Each THEL system (radar and laser) could thus cover about ten kilometers of border. The Skyguard version has a range of up to eight kilometers, is using improved software and can more easily link to other radar systems to obtain targeting information. Skyguard is designed mainly for knocking down portable anti-aircraft missiles fired near airports, at aircraft that are landing or taking off.

Gee, why would they want anything like that? And BTW, what does the USA have? Who is responsible for our defense?

Four F-15 Eagle pilots from the 3rd Wing walk to their respective jets at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 5, for the final flight of Maj. Andrea Misener (far left). To her right are Capt. Jammie Jamieson, Maj. Carey Jones and Capt. Samantha Weeks.

-- U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Keith Brown

Aug. 13, 2006 1:43 | Updated Aug. 13, 2006 8:51

By CAROLINE GLICK

There is a good reason that Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has accepted UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which sets the terms for a cease-fire between his jihad army and the State of Israel.

The resolution represents a near-total victory for Hizbullah and its state sponsors Iran and Syria, and an unprecedented defeat for Israel and its ally the United States. This fact is evident both in the text of the resolution and in the very fact that the US decided to sponsor a cease-fire resolution before Israel had dismantled or seriously degraded Hizbullah's military capabilities. While the resolution was not passed under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter and so does not have the authority of law, in practice it makes it all but impossible for Israel to defend itself against Hizbullah aggression without being exposed to international condemnation on an unprecedented scale.

This is the case first of all because the resolution places responsibility for determining compliance in the hands of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan has distinguished himself as a man capable only of condemning Israel for its acts of self-defense while ignoring the fact that in attacking Israel, its enemies are guilty of war crimes. By empowering Annan to evaluate compliance, the resolution all but ensures that Hizbullah will not be forced to disarm and that Israel will be forced to give up the right to defend itself.

The resolution makes absolutely no mention of either Syria or Iran, without whose support Hizbullah could neither exist nor wage an illegal war against Israel. In so ignoring Hizbullah's sponsors, it ignores the regional aspect of the current war and sends the message to these two states that they may continue to equip terrorist armies in Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Iraq with the latest weaponry without paying a price for their aggression.

The resolution presents Hizbullah with a clear diplomatic victory by placing their erroneous claim of Lebanese sovereignty over the Shaba Farms, or Mount Dov - a vast area on the Golan Heights that separates the Syrian Golan from the Upper Galilee and is disputed between Israel and Syria - on the negotiating table. In doing so, the resolution rewards Hizbullah's aggression by giving international legitimacy to its demand for territorial aggrandizement via acts of aggression, in contravention of the laws of nations.

Daily Syrian convoys resupplying Hizbullah via Bekaa Valley

From gertz, sub req, excerpted....

TEL AVIV — Syria, with Iran's backing has sent daily weapons convoys into Lebanon to reach Hizbullah positions in the Bekaa Valley and Beirut, Israeli officials said. In some cases the convoys have been bombed.

"Syria is determined to continue rearming Hizbullah and supply it with weaponry used to attack Israel," an Israeli military statement said on Aug. 4. "This Syrian effort continues despite warnings given to Syria to stop rearming Hizbullah."
Iran has sent weapons and trainers to bolster Hizbullah, officials said. Iranian trainers and technicians have flown from Teheran to Damascus and from there entered Lebanon by land.

"If Israel attacked Syria by any means from the ground or the air, our leadership has ordered the armed forces to reply immediately," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem said on Aug. 6. "If you wish, I'm ready to be a soldier at the disposal of [Hizbullah chief] Hassan Nasrallah.

"

Muslims criticise naming of plot suspects

LONDON (Reuters) - Muslims criticised the government on Friday for publishing the names of 19 men who police sources say are under arrest for allegedly plotting to blow up passenger planes bound for the United States.

The government instructed the Bank of England to publish the names on its Web site on Thursday, just hours after police arrested 24 people in connection with the suspected plot. Police have not named the 24 but a police source confirmed they include the 19 named by the central bank. Although the bank did not give the addresses of the 19, it listed their dates of birth and the areas where they live.

The bank's action is unusual. Normally, authorities do not publish the names of suspects until they have been formally charged and identified by the police.

But the government defended the move, saying it was essential to ensure the assets of the 19 were frozen.

"The Treasury has informed us that this is a normal procedure," Home Secretary John Reid told a news conference.

"When people's assets are frozen, the names are published, and this, the Treasury tells us, is part of the obligation of ensuring that people cannot deal with such individuals in the transfer of assets."

Some Muslim groups said the move was unnecessary and could hamper the suspects' chance of a fair trial if they are eventually charged in connection with the plot.

There are many who believe Israel satan's whelp.
There are many who believe Israel utterly dependent on the USA and a follower.
There are many who believe the USA has no national security interest in Israel's future.

But in this place and time, as the vast preponderance of the americans wordlessly recognize, we are inextricably linked, and therefore in this war we now depend on Israel to be Israel.

We depend on them to be those who fearlessly planned the scourge of the Egyptian and Syrian air forcesin 1967 and risked the national survival to do so, and to win. We depend on Israel to be those who finding themselves outgunned on Yom Kippur 1973, thought and then fought their way to so nearly a complete an annihilation of the Egytpian Third army, and so unhindered a march on Damascus, that only american threats to cut them off completely stopped them from destroying the last armed forces in the middle east of national opposition to their existance as a state and people. We depend on them to be the civilian army that cored the five professional armies which invaded them at the moment of their birth. We depend on them to be those who, unafraid of failure, planned to save hundreds of their own, 2500 miles from home with no support and little time, and then DID so

But Ehud Olmert and the Israeli men governing and elected, and the military men who have not quit in righteous indignation have fulfilled Hassan Abassi's fatal pronouncement...

"The Western man today has no stomach for a fight," Abbasi says. "This phenomenon is not new: All empires produce this type of man, the self-centered, materialist, and risk-averse man."


From Frontpage:

As Israel nears the end of four weeks of fighting along the Lebanese border and seven weeks of fighting in Gaza, Israeli decision-makers appear guided by three main principles:
--avoidance of diplomatic sanctions;

--avoidance of military casualties;

-- and avoidance of domestic political blame for the countless and obvious mistakes in judgment being made at the upper levels of government and the army.

The Israeli govt has so far placed the political benefit of (lack of) IDF casualties above the lives of the people they are sworn to protect.

It is not the duty of the civilians to die for the army, it is the army's service and their duty and devotion to freedom and their families that make it possible for them to KILL THE ENEMY, and die doing so if needs be - which protects the populace.

Olmert and the Israeli govt have managed to invert the IDF's reason for existing

I condemn them.

Do they even have an understanding of the words in America?
Iranian Leader Speaks To Mike Wallace

(CBS) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat down with Mike Wallace in Tehran on Tuesday in a rare, exclusive interview with a Western reporter.

In the wide-ranging interview, the Iranian leader comments on President Bush's foreign policy, the lack of relations between Iran and the United States, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Iraq.

Speaking about President Bush's failure to answer his 18-page letter that criticized U.S. foreign policy, Ahmadinejad said, "Well, (with the letter) I wanted to open a window towards the light for the president so that he can see that one can look on the world through a different perspective. … We are all free to choose. But please give him this message, sir: Those who refuse to accept an invitation will not have a good ending or fate. You see that his approval rating is dropping every day. Hatred vis-à-vis the president is increasing every day around the world. For a ruler, this is the worst message that he could receive. Rulers and heads of government at the end of their office must leave the office holding their heads high."

From Stratepage's email sub:

AIR DEFENSE: Lasers Over Lebanon

August 8, 2006: Many Israelis are complaining that development of a, laser based anti-missile system, called THEL, which was recently cancelled, could have been used to stop some of the Hizbollah rockets coming out of Lebanon. Meanwhile, the American partner in THEL development is now offering a smaller version, Skyguard, for protecting commercial aircraft from portable anti-aircraft missiles. The manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, originally developed THEL (Tactical High Energy Laser) for combat situations. Tests last year showed THEL was able to knock down barrages of incoming mortar shells.

Israel was a partner in the development of THEL, which was originally supposed to enter service in 2007. When THEL was cancelled earlier this year, the laser still needed work, but the THEL radar was already in good shape. In 2004, Israel used the THEL radar to detect incoming Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza, and this provided an opportunity to operate the radar under combat conditions.

The THEL system was designed to knock down larger, and better made, rockets than the home made Palestinian Kassam rockets. In other words, THEL would have been very useful knocking down the factory made rockets Hizbollah has been firing at Israel over the last few weeks.

The THEL laser and radar system can track up to sixty targets (mortar and artillery shells, rockets) at a time and fire on and destroy these projectiles at a range of up to five kilometers. THEL can destroy about a dozen targets a minute, at a cost of some $3,000 per shot. Each THEL system (radar and laser) could thus cover about ten kilometers of border. Most Hizbollah rockets were fired in groups of a dozen or more, so THEL, if it was in the right place, could zap about half of them. Of course, given how difficult THEL was to move, Hizbollah would endeavor to fire their rockets over some other stretch of border. The Israel-Lebanon border is 79 kilometers long.

Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah

A top Saudi Sunni cleric, whose ideas inspired Osama bin Laden, issued a religious edict Saturday disavowing the Shi'ite guerrilla group Hizbullah, evidence that a rift remained among Muslims over the fighting in Lebanon.

Hizbullah, which translates as "the party of God," is actually "the party of the devil," said Sheik Safar al-Hawali, whose radical views made the al-Qaida leader one of his followers in the past.

"Don't pray for Hizbullah," he said in the fatwa posted on his Web site.

The edict, which reflects the historical stand of strict Wahhabi doctrine viewing Shi'ite Muslims as heretics, follows a similar fatwa from another popular Saudi cleric Sheik Abdullah bin Jibreen two weeks into the conflict with Israel.

"It is not acceptable to support this rejectionist party (Hizbullah), and one should not fall under its command, or pray for its victory," bin Jibreen said at the time. That fatwa set off a maelstrom across the Arab world, with other leaders and people at the grass roots level imploring Muslims to put aside differences to support the fight against Israel.

There have been daily demonstrations in support of Hizbullah around the region, including in predominantly Sunni and generally pro-western countries like Jordan.

Iran's plot to mine uranium in Africa

Jon Swain, David Leppard and Brian Johnson-Thomas IRAN is seeking to import large consignments of bomb-making uranium from the African mining area that produced the Hiroshima bomb, an investigation has revealed.

A United Nations report, dated July 18, said there was “no doubt” that a huge shipment of smuggled uranium 238, uncovered by customs officials in Tanzania, was transported from the Lubumbashi mines in the Congo.

Tanzanian customs officials told The Sunday Times it was destined for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, and was stopped on October 22 last year during a routine check.

The disclosure will heighten western fears about the extent of Iran’s presumed nuclear weapons programme and the strategic implications of Iran’s continuing support for Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

Well, not actually since, excepting the 'wing nut neocons (who are probably 'Walt and Mearsheimer' jews anyway)' - the horror, the horror - nobody on earth wants to commit an act since commiting an act is a sign of impolitemness and poor upbringing, yielding a lack of cocktail party invites amongst those who know better and have the good Margaux and Volvos (or is it beemers, no excuse me - its Priuses).

Hizbullah Secretary-General Nasrallah Calls on Arab Leaders to Promote Ceasefire in Meetings With U.S.

The following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on August 3, 2006. It is noteworthy that Nasrallah is now approaching Arab leaders and imploring them to raise their voices to demand a ceasefire, in their private meetings with the Americans. In the last few weeks, he has been reviling these leaders, saying that he needs no help from them and that they should "get off his back."

"Whatever the Results of This War... Lebanon Will Never Be One of the Posts of the New Middle East" i.e. a democracy

Hassan Nasrallah: "I want to say to our Lebanese people, the peoples of our nation, and the world, and to be very clear: What has happened since the first day of this war, and is still happening, even today - the killing, massacres, destruction, brutality, and barbarism - the ones responsible for all this are, first and foremost, Bush and his American administration. In our opinion, [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and his government are no more than tools in this war.

"I'd like to stress this by saying that the blood of the women and children in Qana and the blood of all the elderly and the innocent civilians that has been spilled in Lebanon stains the faces of Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. This is the murderous, criminal, aggressive, and blood-shedding administration which continues to prevent the cessation of the aggression, by making conditions and trying to dictate them.

"This must be clear to every Lebanese, every Arab, to every Muslim, every Christian, and every honorable man in the world. I want to say things as they are, with no confusion. I say to the Lebanese: Today there is a war, but when the war comes to an end, which will eventually happen, I want you never to forget that this is the same American administration, Lebanon's 'friend,' Lebanon's 'ally,' who 'loves' Lebanon, whose heart bleeds for the Lebanese people, who wants the Lebanese people to live in an oasis of security and peace, and to become a model for democracy in the region. This is the same American administration on which some people pinned their hopes, and may still do so in the future. I hope we will not forget this in the days, months, and years to come. I want to emphasize that whatever the results of this war, Lebanon will never be American or Israeli. Lebanon will never be one of the posts of the New Middle East, which Bush and Condoleezza Rice desire."

GO HERE

From gertz (Sub req - excerpted)

Imad Mughniyah, the man responsible for killing more Americans in the Levant than any other terrorist, is believed to be seriously injured in Beirut.

Mughniyah, the foreign liaison and intelligence chief for Hizbullah, attended a Hizbullah meeting of commanders on July 19 when Israeli fighter-jets struck their headquarters in southern Beirut. Western intelligence sources said part of the command bunker collapsed, killing or wounding most of the dozen people inside.

"The only one who we know escaped was [Hizbullah Secretary-general] Hassan Nasrallah," an intelligence source said. "We know that most of the other military commanders were in that room."

For years, Mughniyah, born in Lebanon from a Palestinian family, has been on the top of the U.S. list of terrorists. In 2001, the FBI offered a $25 million reward for information leading to his capture. He was accused of being responsible for the killing of 250 U.S. Marines in a series of 1983 bombings in Beirut.

Mughniyah has also been the bane of France and Israel. He reportedly participated in the bombing of a French paratrooper barracks in Lebanon in 1983.

Steyn is on fire....here is his inbox...

"Israelis are the pigs of planet earth: butchering Arab babies, polluting the sea, the land, and the very air we breathe with the the stench of their inhumanity. Israel is a collection of the scum of earth and should be destroyed."

It's been tried, honey

That’s from Nica Campbell, and her opening sentences are only the warm-up. For centuries, Jews were viewed as sinister wandering rootless cosmopolitan figures of no national allegiance. So they became a conventional sovereign state and now they’re hated for that. The standard defense is that it’s not anti-Semitic to criticize Israeli policies, but, as Miss Campbell’s letter suggests, what’s being questioned is not Israel’s policies but the right of Israel to have policies, especially on national security. If, say, some fellows in Mexico had kidnapped California State Troopers and were lobbing rockets randomly into residential areas of San Diego and Los Angeles, even La-La-Land libs would be demanding the US respond. It’s only the Israelis the world wishes to deny the conventional rights of sovereignty. In other words, it’s the legitimacy of the state that’s at issue. In effect, Israel has become the geopolitical version of the European Jew who’s allowed to operate a store in the town but not to exercise full ownership rights: in the old days, Jews faced property restrictions; now they face sovereignty restrictions.

I say KILL THE LOT, then.

Hezbollah Leader Threatens Tel Aviv

You little twit, YOU STARTED this loss of life

Hezbollah's leader offered Thursday to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel in return for an end to airstrikes throughout Lebanon.

However, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also vowed to fire rockets into Tel Aviv if Israel strikes Beirut proper. Israeli warplanes have repeatedly bombarded Hezbollah strongholds in southern suburbs of Beirut.

"If you bomb our capital Beirut, we will bomb the capital of your usurping entity... We will bomb Tel Aviv," he said in a taped televised speech.

In issuing the threat, Nasrallah offered his first opening toward diminishing the three-week-old conflict, which has taken more than 500 Lebanese lives and killed more than 50 Israelis.

"Anytime you decide to stop your campaign against our cities, villages, civilians and infrastructure, we will not fire rockets on any Israeli settlement or city," he said.

In his statement, Nasrallah also said his fighters have inflicted "maximum casualties" on Israeli ground troops and that his guerrillas are "fighting until the last breath and last bullet."

They are losing.
It's clear now.

Destroy them.
Follow them into their innermost recesses, and cause them to remember you.
This IS a war of the peoples, and the young and old, rich and poor must be made to feel the hard hand of war. Just listen to Emil Lahoud. Nasrallah has chosen war, and you must give him all he wants, and more.

Mikes america actually caused me to utter a level 2 tech support question

What kind of galactically stupid morons takes a group like Hizballah and believes their view and takes their part rather than the inheritors of the legacies of the Adams boyz, not even pausing to give our allies or us the benefit of the doubt ?

Is it that the minions of Agence France Presse just can't take it that unsophisticated cowboys that spit and squint into the sun and then smile, won't recognize the superior nuanceville of manipulating adultery into an adult cultural advantage of the stylish and avant garde, not to mention intelligent and suave?

Is it that the BBC is holding onto that moment of dread of Cornwallis? Or exulting that until Cromwell jews were VERBOTEN in England (I mean, we all know how pushy and loud thay can be, right Mel ..oh wait, you are an embarassment to Australia, not England)? Or is it that same sickness which caused the Oxford Club in 1935 to vote NOT to fight for king and country (I mean who has time old boy, what with the fellows at the club in such a snit over the cricket loss)

Hezbollah reports becoming less and less believable

If Hezbollah-run media are to be believed, then 35 Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed or wounded in Aita Shaab, militants downed an Israeli helicopter and destroyed a house in which IDF soldiers were hiding, and IDF troops are always hit in the back because they are running away.

All these statements are baseless because - despite the impression Hezbollah has made for straight talk - credibility is not its strong suit. Hezbollah's reports have become less and less believable in recent days. On Monday, Al-Manar television - the central component of Hezbollah's well-oiled media empire - reported that the organization had destroyed an Israeli ship off the coast of Tyre, which had some 50 sailors aboard - a charge the IDF dismissed completely.

It's not clear what incident, if any, the report was referring to, and the Arab world has been asking questions. Al-Arabiya television asked Mahmoud Kamati, a member of the Hezbollah political bureau, about the Hezbollah claim and he repeated that an Israeli ship had been hit, but said no pictures were broadcast because visibility was poor

How to Lose to Terrorists

By Ben Stein Published 7/31/2006 12:09:22 AM

We are in real serious trouble, and I'll tell you how and why I know it:

* Because the Hezbollah -- as has been well reported -- launches missiles at purely civilian targets in Israel as a matter of course, and no one in Europe or in the American left says "boo" about it. It's considered the Hezbollah's "right" to kill Israelis and when they do, they boast about it and promise to do more;

* Because it's been also well documented that the Hezbollah hides behind civilian targets and adjacent to civilian dwellings in Lebanon to fire its rockets at Israel, and when Israel fires back and mistakenly hits a home with civilians, the world of "intellectuals" and "thinkers" blames Israel and calls Israel bloodthirsty;

* Because when the Israelis kill civilians, they apologize, but when the terrorists kill civilians, they brag -- and the beautiful people scream at Eretz Israel and excuse the terrorists;

Never mind that the toll has been reduced to about 28 by now, we can chalk that up to initial report confusion and a desire for '1200 dead in Jenin' (though one would hope that reportage would know better by now, but let's put that aside along with pallywood theories for the moment.

The reaction of Israel was to stop air bombardment and then conduct an investigation. Of course, this is of limited usage (short of a truly impartial set of coroners and forensic investigators, who will know what they are doing without bias), but it speaks to intent of the Israeli armed forces.

The arabs cry war crimes, but ....

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israeli troops landed Tuesday near the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbeck, Lebanese security sources said, and the Israeli military engaged in fierce fighting with Hezbollah forces just across the border with Lebanon.

BEKAA ATTACK ! FINALLY....release the hounds !!! Channel WT SHermam, boychiks!!

Israeli aircraft flew support missions as troops hit the ground about 10 km north of Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, the sources said. The Lebanese army also reported heavy helicopter traffic east and west of the town.

Israeli troops entered Hikma Hospital in northern Baalbeck, where they checked the identification cards of all staff and patients, the sources said, adding that there was no indication that anyone was taken from the hospital.

The Israel Defense Forces had no comment on the reports, but earlier in the day the Israeli Security Cabinet approved an expansion of Israel's three-week-old military campaign in Lebanon.

Tuesday's fighting was concentrated near the Lebanese villages of Tayba, just outside the Israeli town of Metulla, and Aita Al-Shaab further west.

The IDF said three of its soldiers were killed and 25 wounded in the fighting in Aita Al-Shaab. Five other soldiers were wounded on the Israeli side of the border when they were hit by a mortar shell, it said.

In two days of fighting, the IDF said forces have killed or wounded more than 20 Hezbollah fighters across southern Lebanon. Hezbollah issued a statement saying four of its forces died in Tuesday's fighting.

Israeli forces entered the Aita Al-Shaab around noon on Monday, the IDF said. (Watch Israeli bombardment pound Aita Al-Shaab -- 3:09)

Just outside the village, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon reported intensive Israeli shelling in the villages of Ramia, Dibil and Qawzah on Monday and Tuesday morning. (See where the fighting is taking place)

In Tayba, the IDF said it took control of several strategic positions that it said have been used by Hezbollah fighters to launch missiles at northern Israel.

Israeli police reported 14 cross-border strikes hitting northern Israel on Tuesday, two using Katyusha rockets and 12 using mortar shells.

East of Tayba, Israeli forces Tuesday heavily shelled the town of Kfar Kela a day after pounding it with airstrikes, according to U.N. observers.

Israeli forces have also been operating in the areas of Odaise and Rab Talateen for the past two days, according to the IDF.

To the west, U.N. officials said, Israel gunboats in the Mediterranean Sea pounded southern Lebanon, while Lebanese security sources said militants fired three salvos of Katyusha rockets into Israel from the central section of south Lebanon.

A Multinational Force Would Be an Occupation That Should Be Met With Resistance

Plus ca change, plus c'est le memes choses

An editorial in the Syrian government daily Al-Ba'th, titled "International Force or New Occupation?" read: "Whoever thinks that the presence of international forces on Lebanese soil is the solution is wrong - since these forces, in the eyes of the resistance fighters and in the nationalist and pan-Arab view, would be occupation forces, like the forces that have occupied Iraq and other places in the world.

"As long as [the international forces] are of this type, it will be necessary for the forces facing Israel in southern Lebanon, the Arab brothers, and those friends in the world who stand alongside the resistance to put up resistance against them and to clash with them, [and this will be done] through various means and methods. Whoever puts his trust in the [idea that] destruction, murder, and even occupation can impose solutions that violate sovereignty and national honor - he is wrong." [1]

Rice to Seek Mideast Cease-Fire Through UN

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she will seek international consensus for a cease-fire and a "lasting settlement" in the conflict between Lebanon and Israel through a U.N. Security Council resolution this week.

"I am convinced that only by achieving both will the Lebanese people be able to control their country and their future, and the people of Israel finally be able to live free of attack from terrorist groups in Lebanon," Rice told reporters here before departing for Washington.

The UN has no interest in enforcing ANYTHING
They are interested in a free lunch at the Mesa Grille