US Politican Says Bush Would Lie To Get Support From People For Iraq

Rep. Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, said in Baghdad yesterday that he believes President Bush would lie to the nation to win support for a war against Saddam Hussein.

"I think the president would mislead the American people," Mr. McDermott said on ABC's "This Week" about the president's campaign for support for a military campaign against Iraq.

I'm not sure talking from Baghdad is the right thing to do. Does he not remember how 'Hanoi Jane' Fonda got that name? Does he want to be 'Baghdad Jim?'

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US Suspends Aid To Lebanon

The United States has suspended $35 million in aid to Lebanon as tension mounted between the countries especially over the militant Hezbollah, Lebanon's As Safir newspaper reported Monday.


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Amnesty International Decries Deaths of 'The Young'

The mistake they're making is counting 'the young' as being anyone under 18. As if Palestinian teenagers aren't picking up guns and shooting with them.

Yet to AI the Israelis and Palestinians are equivalent. To wit, they put the following side by side; they say the Israelis did not properly punish IDF soldiers who used 'excessive force' against 'children' throwing 'stones' ... meanwhile, Palestinian leaders have also failed to rein in suicide bombers who deliberately target children and other civilians, the report says.

I don't think they're the same thing. Both of those are acts by Palestinian 'children.'

It's a culture where dressing children up in suicide bomber outfits is considered funny so it's no surprise when children do it for real.

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Russia Says Air Strikes Are Not Helping Iraq Negotiations

Two important facts to keep in mind. First, the Russians are only going to get more poor if the price of oil drops, so pardon our skepticism regarding their reluctance. They insist they should be allowed to obliterate Chechnyans, who are being funded by the mid-East after all, but don't want to eliminate one of the funding leaders.

Second, there shouldn't be any need for negotiations. Let the inspectors in or be removed from power. The Russians don't seem to understand ... well, they do understand that Bush and the US will be helped by a change in Iraq so they are worried about that.

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NY Press "Best of 2002" issue ... "Best Harassment of an
Arab in the Wake of 9/11"

You have to scroll down a ways to read it, so I included it here.

"He's a nice guy who doesn't want any trouble, so we won't name names. But we'll take a polygraph if anybody questions this story's truthfulness:

It's two weeks after the World Trade Center massacre, and we're visiting our favorite pita place in the former shadows of the WTC. Maybe we're gullible enough to think that we're showing support for a local Arab-American. We ask if he's had any kind of harassment.

"There was this one woman," he explained, "who came in from The New York Times. She kept telling me that she understood if I hated America. I finally told her not to come back until she wanted to write about my business."

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UN Says Siege Must Stop

They can say it to Israel, because they can find Israel's leaders.

They cannot, for example, tell the Palestinians to stop suicide bombing, because they cannot find the leaders of the militant groups and those groups contend that the UN causesd all of the problems in the first place ... so they aren't going to listen to them now.

Iraq doesn't listen to the UN ... in fact, no one in the mid-East pays any attention to the UN unless the UN is complaining about Israel.

When they made Gaddafhi head of the UN Human Rights Commission, they showed just how silly they are.

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Al Gore Is Against Iraq Action

His supporters don't want to admit it, but they're a lot better off with him not in office. After all, Congress passed a resolution four years ago stating we should take action when Iraq stopped the weapons inspections. Where was Mr. Gore then?

Blair On Iraq

An emergency meeting of Parliament, dozens of pages in a dossier ... how long can the rest of the UN hide from the facts that he is building something nasty and his 'compliance' is a ruse?

You can't be compliant if you make demands in order to allow inspectors in. You can't be compliant if you tell the inspectors where they can look.

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Israel Cuts Power to Arafat, Kill Four During Protests

Israeli troops killed four Palestinian protesters Sunday as thousands of people took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to demonstrate against the siege of Yasser Arafat, witnesses said. The army confirmed only two of the deaths, and said its troops killed armed men and were responding to gunfire.

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One Palestinian Terrorist LeaderCalls Another Palestinian Terrorist Leader A Traitor

Top Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi said of Marwan Barghouti, commander of the terrorist wing of the Fatah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, "Palestinian and international media are trying to glorify Marwan Barghouti's image. In addition, campaigns are being organized to defend him [legally and publicly], despite the fact that he [Barghouti] was among the Copenhagen Group [a political dialog that took place between Israel and the Palestinians in Copenhagen several years ago] and pursued peace with Israel [in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in the late 90s]."

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Israel Plants Flag in Arafat's HQ

This would be a sign that Arafat is not going to get a better deal than the Clinton plan, no matter how many Israelis the Palestinians blow up.

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Iraq Rejects New UN Conditions

Baghdad's rejection of any new UN resolutions on weapons inspections was seen as a new challenge to US calls for tougher measures against Iraq, as the commander of US forces in the Gulf said his troops were ready "to do whatever we are asked to do."

You see, Iraq is making the return of inspectors contingent on respecting their 'sovereignty' ... which means deciding what can be inspected ... and lifting the UN embargoes.

How exactly is any of that a concession by Iraq? It's clearly a ploy to send the UN into chaos and stall for time.

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Saudis warns U.S. that war will hike oil prices

Maybe, but why should OPEC raise prices when they aren't the ones at war?

One thing I do know ... war may raise prices, but victory is certainly going to lower them ...

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Israel To Retaliate If Attacked By Iraq

No one was happier than me that Israel took it in 1991 without blowing things up into a bigger fight ... yet their passivity in the face of attacks and their indulgence of international pressure during the Oslo accords has made them look weak, they say. I have a hard time disagreeing in the context of history.

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Harvard President Addresses Growing Campus Anti-Semitism

Nicely done. Clearly he is not a professor or other professors would have shouted him down ...

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Iraqi Army On The Move

I think Hanoi would be the safest place for them right about now ... nonetheless, two brigades of Armor now deployed should give the US Army something to do for about ten minutes.

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Sieg Heil - The Germans Have Their Say ...

You see, Bush is like Hitler and the Germans will side with anyone who's not Jewish ... but wait ... errr ... Hitler was anti-Jew and if Bush is like Hitler ... it's so confusing, but I'm not a socialist state with 18% unemployment that still knows what's best for everyone.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, compares Bush To Hitler "Bush wants to divert attention from his domestic problems. It's a classic tactic. It's one that Hitler used"

While German defense minister Rudolf Scharping, recently booted for corruption, answers about Germany's reticence to side with the US on Iraq: Jews, of course. Bush was motivated to overthrow Saddam by his need to curry favor with what Scharping called "a powerful — perhaps overly powerful — Jewish lobby" in the coming U.S. elections. Jeb Bush needed their votes in Florida as George Pataki did in New York, and Congressional redistricting made Jewish votes central to control of Congress. Germany, the discredited minister said proudly to his discomfited audience, had rejected such pandering.

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French Courts Think About Overturning Papon Release

Should he have been released at all? A year ago he had no remorse for the murder of 1690 Jews that occurred because he signed deportation letters and sent them to Auschwitz.

They let him go because he was old and sick? So he could spend his final days, in comfort, surrounded by his family? How many murdered Jews got that luxury from him?

France claims to be trying to end its anti-Semitic stigma. This is not the way to start ...

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Russians Say It's Easy To Establish If Weapons Exist

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov:"Being experienced in that sort of business, both Americans and Russians, we can easily establish whether there exists or not weapons of mass destruction technology, some sort of programs or preparations of something which should not be done."

This is if they are allowed to look. Already there are hints , as I predicted, that the rules would suddenly change. Hussein is looking for a year to stall inspections and the UN is likely to give it to him ... at that time he will then say his palaces and other 'sovereign' locations are off-limits. Then the UN will continue to insist a diplomatic solution is necessary and that he will suddenly give in if the world continues to wait.

Let's face it. The UN wasn't much ten years ago. It is now a bureaucratic mechanism that has no true function.

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Allah Decreed that Jews be Turned into Apes and Pigs

Al-Jazirah (Saudi Arabia), June 7, 2002 - published in the Saudi state controlled daily, columnist Dr. Muhammad bin S'ad Al-Shwey'ir, a past advisor to former Saudi mufti Sheikh Abdallah bin Baz and editor-in-chief of the Islamic Research periodical published by the Islamic Clerics Association of Saudi Arabia, wrote wrote: "...Allah decreed that the Jews would be humiliated; he cursed them, and turned them into apes and pigs. Every time they ignite the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. They disseminate corruption over the face of the earth, and fight the believers [i.e. the Muslims] only from fortified villages or from behind walls..."

But it's only about occupied lands ... right, guys?

Algerian Terrorism Offensive Draws Praise From Pres. Bush

Algeria has urged its African neighbors to increase coordination and cooperation on insurgency groups. Algeria has launched an offensive against Islamic insurgency groups such as the Armed Islamic Group and the Salafist Brigade for Combat and Call.

On Saturday, U.S. President George Bush relayed a message that thanked Algerian President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika for his effective role in combatting terrorism. Bush relayed deep gratitude to the Algerian president and people for their contribution to the international campaign to eradicate terrorism.

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Egypt's Seiminary Refuses To Let U.S. See Curriculm

Or discuss any details about it. In most cases, I would agree ... no government should be telling a religion what to teach. However, this particular seminary has become legendary for preaching anti-West hatred ... and Egypt gets a lot of money from the US.

Sheik Mohammed Sid Tantawi said he rejected the U.S. request. The sheik said a U.S. delegation visited the seminary and discussed courses and doctrine provided by the school. Tantawi told the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily that he refused to discuss details of seminary programs.

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US Denies That Forces Are Headed To Yemen

Why on earth not? I know al-Qaeda is there ... surely the US government knows it. The 'President' of Yemen arbitrarily decided that one of the terrorists of the USS Cole was not a terrorist at all and freed him ... now they are letting the terrorists camp there.

If they are doing it out of fear of reprisal, we should send tanks in to protect them. If they are doing it out of hatred toward the US ... well, ask Afghanistan how that's working out for them ...

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Israelis Fire at Arafat's Compound

Because you cannot simultaneously claim to be the leader of these people yet have no control or responsibility over what they do.

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Saddam Says The US Is Looking For Excuses To Invade Iraq

You mean besides being a country ruled by a mysogynist, intolerant, repressive, mass-murdering dictator bent on obtaining weapons of mass destruction?

"In targeting Iraq, the United States administration is acting on behalf of Zionism which has been killing the heroic people of Palestine, destroying their property, murdering their children," Saddam's message to the UN said.

Waitaminnit, you just said we were out to get your country , Iraq ... now it turns out we are puppets of Israel, who are intent on destroying Palestinians, despite the fact that they have overwhelming military superiority and know that the UN is too weak to stop them if they chose to do it?

"The U.S. administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to control the Middle East oil, and consequently control the politics as well as the oil and economic policies of the whole world," Saddam's message said.

Okay, so now we get to clobber a dictator who has immasculated the UN, murdered thousands, funds terrorists AND get cheap oil??? Hand me a pistol!

"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons," Saddam's message said, denouncing "the fabrications" delivered by American officials.

He left out 'Honest, I give you my sacred word.' Or something else convincing like, 'I swear on a Koran...' otherwise, he is just talking in english. See, we know that he's allowed to lie to infidels. In fact, lying to infidels isn't even lying, just like blowing up infidel children is not murder. Why exactly would we believe he has destroyed all of the NBC weapons he had, when he used to claim he never had them at all?

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Palestinian Terrorists Kill 6 and Hurt 49 In Bus Attack

A suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus in downtown Tel Aviv on Thursday, killing at least six other people and wounding 49 in the second such attack in two days after a six-week lull.

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Iraq To Let Inspectors In?

Oops ... when they said 'unconditional access' they meant 'to military bases' only.

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Saudis Change Stance On Help Against Iraq

Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Sunday the kingdom would be "obliged to follow through" if the United States needed bases in the kingdom to attack Iraq under U.N. authority.

This gives them a graceful way of changing their stance while not alienating the US government any further.

In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Saud declared that U.S. facilities in the desert kingdom would be off limits for an attack on Iraq. Saud said, however, that he remained opposed in principle to the use of military force against Saddam Hussein or a unilateral American attack.

The remote Prince Sultan Air Base south of Riyadh hosts most of the 5,000 U.S. troops based in Saudi Arabia.
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Qatar Signals Interest In Permanent US Base

For the first time, Qatar has publicly signalled its interest in hosting a permanent U.S. military presence.

Qatari officials confirmed that the United States has been accelerating supplies of weapons and equipment to the emirate. They said the two countries would participate in a U.S. military command exercise in November, Middle East Newsline reported.

Doha has relayed to the United States interest by Qatar to serve as a permanent base for American military forces. Officials said the expansion of the Al Udeid air base outside Doha is meant to accommodate more than 100 combat aircraft and an undetermined number of tanks and armored personnel vehicles.

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Chretien Under Fire

Pimping to his constituency only gets you so far, especially if you do it in a national forum. His office now says the conclusions drawn are a 'gross misconstruction' of what he meant.

Since you all rely on me to recap for you, I will make it brief. Still trapped in 1990s Clinton moral relativism, he basically says that perceived western greed and arrogance led to 9/11. A transcript of his full remarks released by the Prime Minister's Office revealed Mr. Chrétien also said he believes the growing disparity between rich and poor countries was an "inspiration" for the terrorists.

Continue to complain about how Canada is being impacted by new border restrictions while letting anyone in the country and then expecting us to let them immigrate illegally to the US. That's sure helping the economic gap.

Brian Mulroney, Conservative prime minister from 1984 to 1993, issued a statement condemning Mr. Chrétien for remarks he interpreted as laying blame for terrorism on Americans and U.S. capitalism.

"This is a uniquely disgraceful statement, even by Mr. Chrétien's worrisome standards. On the day the world solemnly recalls the death and destruction brought by cold-blooded murderers, our Prime Minister says that American economic strength and success was in part the provocation for such action," Mr. Mulroney said.

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Things Get Hotter For Arafat

His last rambling, disjointed press conference has given his detractors some confidence. He narrowly avoided a no-confidence vote and was forced to disband his cabinet and schedule elections.

Most dictators would have no problem squelching the opposition but Arafat has insisted every country in the world send people in to monitor Israel so he can't ignore the democratic process.

Once he is gone there may be a real opportunity for peace.

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A Nice Letter From Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia To America

It begins "On the eve of the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the American people, I take the opportunity to renew to you and the families of the victims and indeed the entire American nation, the sincere condolences and sympathy of the Saudi people and myself."

... and gets better from there.

The only problem? This sentence. "We, like you, are convinced that nothing can ever justify the shedding of innocent blood or the taking of lives and the terrorizing of people, regardless of whatever cause or motive."

Except, it seems, when it comes to funding suicide bombers in Israel ... they seem to have no problem with that.

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Central Command Moving To Qatar

I think we all know what that means ... where Gen. Tommy Franks goes, things are going to happen ...

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Shipment To The PA From Muslim 'Charity' Contained Guns and Osama Bin Laden Toys(!)

Crates containing hundreds of kilograms of guns, ammunition, telescopic lenses, and night-vision equipment were found inside the container, as were "toys" in the shape of cigarette lighters with pictures of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the background.

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Muslims In Britain Say The Goal Is To Make The Island Nation A Muslim State

Unchecked immigration is certain to lead to that. It won't even have to be through violent overthrow.

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Yemen Says Arabia Is To Blame For Israel Seizing The Moral High Ground

An official Yemeni newspaper criticized the Arabs Saturday for a recent Israeli government proclamation that all peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians were "dead."

The al-Thawra daily said the Arabs "take full responsibility after the Zionist cancellation of the peace agreements and declaring the death of the peace process."

The daily said in a front-page editorial that "if it were not for the neglect of the Arab position during the peace process, and what followed in the development of violence and Israeli genocide against our Palestinian people, Israel would not have dared to behave in this manner."

What they're saying is that Arabian 'inaction' is responsible for the stalemate. Not Palestinian bombings, not Arafat's three year refusal to accept anything less than 'right of full return' within Israel's borders ... rather, it's the fault of Arabia for not standing up to Israel.

I think the Syrians, Jordanians and Egyptians have all learned that lesson. Yemen is too far away to attack, or I bet they would. Yeah, right. Just like Arafat's wife said she wished she had a son so he could be a martyr ... until girls started blowing themselves up as 'martyrs' and suddenly it was okay for Frau Arafat to offer up her daughter ... then it got real quiet.

Yemen, safely buffered by other Arab countries, also called on Egypt and Jordan to abandon their peace agreements with Israel. How far a drive is it to Yemen from Iraq anyway? I figure, while we're over there ...


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Al Qaeda Still Threatens Europe?

Terrorism is happening there. Somehow Europe is managing to ignore it. Why would they do such a thing when the US is taking a stand? Worse, why would they speak out against action to stop the nations organizing and funding terrorists?

Europe has been shrinking in population for years. The only way they've remained even close to old population levels is by allowing open immigration. That means Europe is overrun by disenfranchised Muslims who have no intention of becoming part of European culture. Make a point of actually stating that there are terrorist cells acting in your nation and you invite a rising from within ... what you're left with is the same problem Israel is now having. A disenfranchised angry hidden class of poor people that can easily be manipulated by foreign governments.

It is in Europe's best interest to go on pretending they don't have a problem while they insist that the US is fighting ghosts.

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Pakistanis Kill Two Suspected In Attack on Church

God bless 'em ... no messy trials, no court of public opinion. Allegedly the police convoy escorting them was attacked by radicals attempting to free them. The bad guys got loose but police still shot them and two others.

17 people died last October in the massacre they commited at St. Dominic's church in the city of Bahawalpur. They aren't getting any virgins in Heaven for that.

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Former UN Arms Inspector Warns Against Attacking Iraq

Scott Ritter, who hasn't been given top secret information by anyone, apparently just knows Iraq is not building weapons of mass destruction.

"The rhetoric of fear that is disseminated by my government, has not, to date, been backed by hard facts that substantiate any allegations that Iraq is today in possession of weapons of mass destruction or has links to terror groups responsible for September 11 attacks on the United States," Ritter said.

Because Bush has not shown it to him, it must not exist. This is the same guy who quit in a huff in 1998, claiming that the US was using arms inspectors as spies. He quit before he was fired, of course.

Ritter waffles on this issue in a way I would usually find comforting. In 1998 he said we weren't being hard enough on Iraq. Since then he had been critical of us. He is now in Baghdad on a visit he arranged hoping to help stop any U.S.-led war, defying the government to substantiate its claim that Baghdad was producing prohibited weapons and posed a threat to its neighbors.

This sounds to me like Ritter wants to be a player. Tossed out of Iraq when that country violated UN sanctions by ejecting arms inspectors, he was mad at Iraq. Subsequently frozen out by the US after he alleged the US was using them as spies, he is mad at us. Now he packs his bags and tries to go as an independent emissary. Someone give him a job so he can be happy again.

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Al Jazeera Says An Arab Journalist Says Al Qaida Planned Nuclear Attacks

So it must be true. Listen, these guys are ignorant savages, a primitive group with too much money from terrorist regimes that were able to get in a lucky shot. They couldn't get guns on board so they used something they could have. The flight industry, and stewardesses in particular, have long demanded that passengers practically be sedated so when these guys stood up with box cutters everyone was told to stay calm and were convinced, based on past experience, that this would only be an inconvenience.

In an article published in several European newspapers, documentary-maker Yosri Fouda said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh told him they had decided against the attack on nuclear power plants "for the moment" because of fears it could "get out of control".

Yeah, these guys didn't want things to get 'out of control' ... they only wanted to bring down the symbol of American business supremacy, not really do any damage.

If these guys had the capability to conduct a nuclear terrorist attack, they would have done it. If they could do it today, they would do it. The fact is, they got in a lucky shot. Arab dictatorship house organ Al Jazeera can claim to be factual all they want. The fact is they will air anyone claiming to know something about Al Qaida.

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Arabians On Dealing With Their Housemaids

It seems everyone over there has them ... the problem is that everyone wants more of them than their neighbors so hiring standards go lower.

So what rights do employees have? Not many, it seems. Since they are not citizens are are often women they are doubly discriminated against in Arabia.

The recommendations? They should not come from societies or cultures which lack ethical values. This means no Muslims, I presume. People coming from backgrounds in which social disturbances and violence are common may tend to violence themselves -- this means no Palestinians or Pakistanis.

They go on to say it is also important that their salaries and other dues be paid on time. If punishment becomes necessary, it should be within the legal limits by canceling their contract and deporting them. Beating them or denying them their rights solves no problem and blackens the reputation of those who commit such injustices.

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Taliban Says They Tried To Warn Us About 9/11

So you see, they really were good guys after all.

Supposedly, the warnings were delivered by an aide to the then Taleban Foreign Minister, Ahmed Wakil Muttawakil, who was known to be deeply unhappy with the Arab and other foreign militants in Afghanistan.

“The guests are going to destroy the guesthouse,” the minister told his aide, ordering him to alert the UN about what was going to happen. But in a massive failure of US intelligence, the message was disregarded because of what sources describe as “warning fatigue.” At the same time, the FBI and the CIA failed to take seriously warnings that Arab fundamentalist students had enrolled in flight schools across the USA.

So we were wrong for not profiling Arabs enrolling in flight school? A shocking statement from the Arab News. Bin Laden had said for years that he was going to destroy America so a vague assertion like the one here isn't much to go on. Since 9/11 supposed members of al Qaida have said the exact same thing every month. Hussein says the exact same thing will happen if we attack him.

It sounds like an Afghan trying to secure his freedom by claiming he tried to help us.

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Arab States Warn That Attack On Iraq Will 'Open The Gates of Hell' In The Mid-East

Let's put this in context. If you're the leader of a mid-east dictatorship, where exactly would the gates of Hell be? Certainly not a place where repression, intolerance, racism, paranoia, mysogyny, torture and deceit run rampant, since that is already the case in every single one of those places.

'The gates of hell' for these guys is free people playing baseball, dancing in the streets and electing leaders. 'The gates of hell' are countries where the dictator can't siphon off all of the billions from oil revenue into his own pockets and into the weapons of terrorists. You bet they're worried about an attack on Iraq. Jubilant people are going to make repressed people jealous and make them want the same things.

If those are the gates of Hell, let me in.

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Netanyahu's Wife: "This country can burn"

Yeah, she thinks her husband should be appreciated more. She doesn't have a clue about judgment, it seems, so maybe she should consider that the Israeli people don't want to fall in line with her thoughts on this matter any more than what she thinks about the former PM.


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Israelis Inquire About Arab Civilian Deaths

This is where the nasty stuff comes in. Terrorists and militants hate Israelis more than they love their kids ... we kmow that, it's always been that way. So they are going to be around their families in public and at home. It is still a very bad thing when a six-year old is killed.

To the credit of the Israelis, you can bet there are no Palestinian inquiries when Israeli children are killed, but part of being in a benevolent democracy is being better than intolerant dictators and their followers, not simply meeting the same standard they meet.

Issuing a proclamation like 'no firing at terrorist leaders if children under the age of ten are present' simply means that every terrorist will surround himself with younger and younger children. They use that weakness against their enemy and then use European and American lack of tolerance for children's deaths against them too.

Israelis need to make sure the Army is not getting sloppy after two years of this fighting. It's easy to de-humanize the enemy after so many atrocities occur but the price of democracy is policing your own.

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Mona Eltahawy On The Two Forces Tugging At Muslims Today

She writes: Mohamed Atta and I were both born in Egypt, a year apart, and called ourselves Muslim. Why did his identity fill him with so much hate and lead to his murderous end, while mine gives me a much-needed core of solace?

We both lived abroad for several years. Why did his expatriate experience lead to Osama bin Laden's chauvinistic Islam while my years abroad injected my faith with tolerance and an acceptance of others?

On the most basic level, Mr. Atta and I represent the two forces tugging at Muslims today. His backward-looking faith, austere to the bone and stripped of compassion, sought to recreate an era that exists mostly in the imaginations of fundamentalists.

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Al-Ansar magazine, columnist Seif Al-Din Al-Ansari, on why we infidels must be destroyed

America has its anonymous, wacko, militant authors too, but it's still fun to read ...

The Annihilation of the Infidels is a Divine Decree

"Regardless of the norms of 'humanist' belief, which sees destroying the infidel countries as a tragedy requiring us to show some conscientious empathy and... an atmosphere of sadness for the loss that is to be caused to human civilization - an approach that does not distinguish between believer and infidel... - I would like to stress that annihilating the infidels is an inarguable fact, as this is the [divine] decree of fate..."

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France Is Against Providing Proof of the Iraq Arms Buildup

Maybe this confuses you too. Didn't virtually every European country just get done saying we shouldn't mess with Iraq because there was no proof? Now France is saying we shouldn't show anyone the proof.

"These are not issues which we can deal with publicly. This calls for serenity and seriousness, and we should therefore beware of any leaks and any saber-rattling proposals," Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told France Info radio.

De Villepin said it was important to act responsibly in evaluating whether a "country could own chemical or biological weapons, and if it could turn into a threat."

He added it was important that France evaluate such risks together with its European partners. "The international community is today very worried, which justifies our determination in the face of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

Determination to do what? Evaluate? Hide the information from your own people? Then insist they are against any action?

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Former Afghan Prime Minister Calls For Holy War Against U.S

Errr ... isn't that how all of your problems started in the first place? In fact, where were you, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, when the Taliban ran your government out of town? How exactly did you survive?

Said Hekmatyar, "All true Muslim Afghans who want an Islamic government in their country must know it is possible only when the United States and allied soldiers are forced out. We must all unite and rise against them."

How did that work out for you last time?


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Arabian Wife Catches Husband Trying To Pick Up Women In a Chat Room And Has To Defend Herself Against A Charge of Infidelity

Why? Because she had to pretend to be another woman in a chat room to catch him. After she provided her phone numbers so they could have further contacts, thus letting him know he was busted, he rushed home. He was concerned about her fidelity, you see, because she was giving out her phone number. Their son had to convince the father that he ( the son -- try to keep up ) had given her the father's online screenname and that it was all a 'practical joke.' Dad's infidelity was conveniently forgotten.

No one was beheaded or stoned during the writing of this blog.

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Saudis Donate To PLO

RIYADH, 4 September ? The Saudi popular committee for assisting Palestinians donated SR1.3 million to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to help alleviate their sufferings.

That's about $8 US. Nonetheless, I can help alleviate their suffering without spending a dime. Stop bombing people. There you go. Garner international sympathy by showing your plight to the world, showing that you are a peaceful people, show that you are capable of BUILDING something rather than just blowing things up.

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Operation Moonlight

Jordan, near the Iraq border. Of course, this has nothing to do with Iraq, Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb said. This had been planned before. Yet a month ago they were adamant that no US incursion would involve Jordan.

"Jordan seeks to balance between brotherly and economic relations with Iraq and strategic relations with the United States, Abu Ragheb told a news conference on Monday.

Jordan is a weak country so they have to be craftier than most. As I wrote months ago, their hardline against the US was to keep their own fringe radicals, funded by Iraq, from bombing them into oblivion while the US made its plans. Now we are seeing the gradual shift. Expect more denials from Jordan. The stronger and more frequent they get, the sooner the attack.

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U.S. CenCom Runs Simulation of Iraq Attack

Surprise. We win.

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Saddam Says Iraq Wants Overall Solution to Crisis

He always says this. Lift all of the sanctions and he will allow conditional return of UN Arms Inspectors. His statements are so full of qualifications as to be almost useless.

Why doesn't he let them in now? Well, he destroyed those weapons years ago, he now says ... you remember, the weapons he denied he ever had ... yeah, those ones. Well, they're destroyed now so there's no reason to inspect for them.

Oh. Okay. Sorry for asking.

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Fatah Leader Says He Does Not Recognize Court

That's okay. He doesn't have to recognize his jail cell either.

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Arab League To Meet

Let me save you some time. This is how it will go:
1)Arab leaders will ask Hussein to comply with UN resolutions.
2)Arab leaders will insist the US should take no action against Iraq.

There you have it. Hussein will then have one of his lackeys send out a message that Iraq will consider complying with UN resolutions while Hussein personally will oversee saber-rattling against the US of A.

He never complied fully and hasn't even given the lip-service he had given to the immasculated U.S. (circa 1992-2000) since 1998. The UN is toothless and he knows it. The Arab League has intimidated the Europeans into standing back from any attack on Iraq with threat of oil ... and the only excuse they can come up with is because they are not certain he has devastating offensive capability YET.

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Sheikh Ahmed Salim Arrested: Someone Makes $25 Million

You knew him as one of the leaders implicated in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in east Africa. You remember that one, right? No. Well, we were doing the European thing then ... negotiating a mid-east policy favorable to Palestine, rubbing elbows with the right dictators, pretty much sucking up to every petty tyrant and insisting all of us were morally equal. Heck, Bill Maher still had a show with has-been celebrities telling us what they thought about the political scene. Yet there were so many of these insults and attacks that it became just another in the list. We stopped reacting.

We're reacting now. The 33-year-old Kenyan, who also goes by the 'hip play on a European name' Swedan, is in US custody.

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European Poll Thinks American Foreign Policy To Blame For 9/11

I'm not a European so I have poor grasp of things I know nothing about. Let me explain it for you, Europe.
Terrorism is an act, therefore ...

A) Terrorism is not about why it is done
B) It is not about who does it
C) It is certainly not about foreign policy

All of the moral obfuscation in the world does not change any of that. Europeans resent that they have driven themselves into the pathetic morass of irrelevancy, their efforts to gerrymander the ICC show that they will do anything to get back on top, and their effete class heirarchy instincts certainly go berserk at the notion that upstart America is more important than they are.

The first response to this tirade I get from a European will go something like this; you're labelling all Europeans based on this poll and that is wrong. No, it is not wrong. If I open my garage door and a tiger is sitting there, I close the garage door. If I open my garage door and a European is sitting there telling me that if we would just stop stop supporting the only democracy in the mid-east and instead cater to the 20+ mysognist, repressive, intolerant dictatorial regimes there, I sic the tiger on him.

Europeans have had a fractured, violent history for much longer than we have been in existence so their hesitance is warranted. I don't trust Europeans to make decisions these days either. In fact, being on the opposite side of European thought is a pretty safe bet ... but just this one time they will need to recognize that hiding in the corner promising to change our policies under threat is a bad idea.

For the record, Europe, Osama said he hated the US because we, the infidels, stepped foot in Arabia.

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Yemen releases one of the accused in USS Cole attack

This has to be the low point of Clinton foreign policy. Repeatedly letting Americans be subjected to terrorism and attack can indirectly be led to the gall it took for terrorists to pull off 9/11.

The USA says Basheer Ali Nasser Al Shadadi was involved in the Cole and involved in the planning of 9/11. President Ali Abdullah Saleh says, basically, "No, he wasn't" and orders him set free.

Then they wonder why we aren't worried about what regional states will think of an Iraq invasion. Here's a hint: police these problems yourself or we will have to do it for you.
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David Horowitz On Bias Of The University System

In the last quarter century, the academic left has achieved something Senator Joseph McCarthy only dreamed of. It has purged its opposition from the faculties of virtually every university in the United States.

The full article here

Carnegie's Non-Proliferation Project Says Iraq Sitting On Tons Of Chemical Weapons

These guys are not shills for Bush or hawks in general. They are a disarmament group, after all. Their findings tell us what many already knew. He's hiding the very weapons he keeps telling the UN he does not have and so thus has no reason to let UN inspectors in. If it smells suspicious to you, too, I am not surprised. Most leaders who care about their people would want embargoes and bombings to stop if all they had to do was let inspectors in to try and find things that do not exist.

Yet if they do exist, you need to find ways to hide them, or bully your way into limiting the inspections so they can't be found. Waiting until he is even more of a danger, when we can prove he has all of these weapons( an impossible task in a restrictive dictatorship), is a huge mistake.

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A Shocking Village Voice Article

Shocking because The Village Voice is willing to let Sylvana Foa step out of the reactionary box, not whine about 'occupation' and simply read and recite facts and history. Foa cites the Balfour Declaration and maybe it's an error to list that document as objective fact but at least an attempt is made to find facts. One of the facts is that the British were famous for playing sides off against each other so it won't surprise anyone to find that they were doing it in the mid-east as well.

I don't know how Foa is connected enough to get published in VV but stranger things have happened. Perhaps there is hope for the left too ...

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Abdel Razzak al-Yahya Calls For Palestinian Violence To Stop -- Again

He is the Interior Minister of the Palestinian Authority and said the same thing a few days ago. He is one of few and is to be commended for that. He is saying it to news organizations like Reuters but it's unclear what message is going out in Arabic.

"All resistance acts that are characterized by violence, such as using arms or even stones ... are harmful. I call for civil resistance within the framework of the political struggle."

It was the most far-reaching call for non-violence made by a member of the Palestinian leadership since the uprising erupted in September 2000 after peace talks with Israel stalled.

Maybe the most far-reaching call for non-violence in Palestinian history. Their peace movement is not exactly well-developed. al-Yahya should be encouraged. For a brief moment the Palestinians had captured the moral high ground. Arafat's corruption, embezzlement and refusal to accept any settlement that mysteriously needed to included 'right of return' for everyone who says they are Palestinian and whose family once lived in Israel scuttled peace. His adamant militant stance and the correspondent suicide bombing frittered away the last bit of moral capital they had. The onus is now on them to regain it if they want peace and security on their own land.

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Ami Isseroff Discusses Stopping The Israeli Settlements

Unfortunately his article fails the first common sense litmus test; if the Israelis stop, will the Palestinians?

I doubt it. Somehow there are three million Palestinians laying claim to parts of Israel and the west bank today. If you have hostile indigents the obvious choice is to replace them with friends. This is common sense. Yet there were only a few hundred thousand displaced in 1948. If the Israelis stop building settlements and hostile Palestinians continue to build them, then Israel is inviting a hostile people into its borders and perpetuating the problem they already have.

The only other solution would be to have the IDF patrolling unsettled land and rousting Palestinians. We all know how well that would play on CNN.

The risk of the settlements is clearly with Israel. They may have to give them up in the future, the cost of security and infrastructure for them is very high ... yet if it adds to peace now it may well be worth the cost to them.

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Cheney and Powell: Dissension In The Ranks or Crafty Politics?

Hard to tell. It's unlikely Bush 43 would put up with a lot of rogue talk, even from Powell, so he may be sent out with moderate rhetoric so it can look like all options are exhausted. Part of it may be calling the Iraqi bluff ... we know the UN will never do it ... and part of it may be to resolve the doubts in the US.

We keep being told we can't do this or that without allies ... which is all complete bunk. The fact is they have been window dressing for 20 years. The Gulf conflict showed how far NATO was behind the US and that gap has only grown. We never let them do anything besides security details in the Gulf or Afghanistan. Will it make them feel better to be consulted?

Sure, but at the end of the day the EU nations are not the big dogs, so they don't have the targets on their backs. It's easy for them to talk about peace and love while they quietly mutter racism and intolerance. The US has a national security risk as long as petty dictators can launch devastating attacks against us. If we happen to eliminate that risk and make the mid-east a better place, that's certainly a bonus.

Mr. Powell certainly recognizes that last time the American people did not have the stomach to oust Hussein when the goal was clearly just to get him out of Kuwait. It is evident that he funds terrorists, just like it is evident Iran arms them. But one problem at a time. The Iranian people have had enough of demagogues in the name of religion and have shown the fortitude to take care of this problem themselves. The fall of Iraq will only speed that process along.

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Iraq To Consider 'Conditional Return' of UN Arms Inspectors

This is the same old rhetoric in a new package ... it's designed to make it appear that diplomatic solutions are possible when the reality is Iraq is stalling for time in order to build a true arsenal.

Hussein is bad enough ... but his children have already shown themselves to be even further beyond him in depravity. Nothing is beyond them, including fratricide, so having a deadly chemical or nuclear arsenal in their hands would be bad for everyone.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz did not spell out what such a settlement would entail, but Sabri wrote to Annan last month proposing a deal under which "all the requirements of the relevant Security Council resolutions would be satisfied in a synchronized manner."

It seems to be lost on him that if Iraq had ever completely been bound by the UN resolutions they would not still be under threat. Insisting they have no mass weapons of destruction but having four years of stonewalling from them is not helping matters.

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Iraq/Turkey Relations

The fate of the Kurds is always confusing. We talk about democracy and our position on the Kurds shows that sometimes you have to make tough choices. If we endorse a free Kurdish state we lose the support of Turkey. On the other hand, the Kurds want to fight Hussein more than anyone except Bush 43.

Turkey's Defense Minister: Northern Iraq is Part of the 1920 Turkish National Covenant
"...Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said that Ankara was closely watching the developments in northern Iraq, which he described as part of the 1920 Turkish National Covenant, and therefore under the safekeeping of Turkey. He said that the territory was forcibly separated from Turkey during the Independence War... and that Turkey would oppose any attempt to take advantage of the situation in the region, whatever force was behind such an attempt" --
NTV (Turkey), August 20, 2002.

Iraqi Kurds can be even more confusing, citing and disclaiming 'colonial boundaries in virtually the same sentence. Khabat published an article titled "The time of threats and menace is over" in which it said that despite repeated statements and assurances from Kurdish leaders, "Turkish officials continue to claim that the U.S. intends to establish a Kurdish state [in northern Iraq]...the question is why... it is clear to all that Turkish officials covet the city of Mosoul and consider it their inheritance from the colonial Ottoman state...they forget that international conventions annexed it to the independent Iraqi state...and no earnest son of this region would want to link himself [again] with Turkey..." -- Khabat (Kurdish Democratic Party organ), August 23, 2002.

Russia Warns That Iraq Attack Could Destabilize The Mid-East

Wouldn't that be the whole point? Like it can get any worse? How bad will it be to have Iraqis dancing in the streets, playing baseball, and voting? Sure, there are some who say that a crazed dictator could take over, but each one of those countries has one of those right now. Russia wants to be a player so their comments can be taken with a grain of salt. They certainly weren't worried about destabilization when they attacked Afghanistan in 1979, they weren't worried about destabilization when they funded Iranian radicals who ejected the US-friendly Shah either.

Is it money talking? It's hard to say. A friendlier, democratic Iraq would have no UN restrictions on oil exports, so Russia ( and Arabia ) would make less money ... but if we keep being told that oil interests shouldn't be so important in US policy, it's clear that more cheap oil would accomplish just that.

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The Real Problem

The NYTImes ran a headline For Arab Informers, Death; For the Executioners, Justice talking about the execution of Palestinian by their breathren who suspect them of collaborating with Israel.

The headlone implies that the execution is a disputed issue; disputed between those who think it's murder by daylight, and those who think it's ultimate justice. I would like to argue that the main point it being looked over and not given ample attention.

Israel is supposed to be the Palestinian's partner towards peace. While the world would rather turn away from the textbooks the PA publishes that teach to hate Israel (more information here) they miss the obvious point: those collaborating with Israel and those who recognize that peace will only come when terror is stopped. The problem is that the Palestinian street perceives Israel as the enemy to begin with. The PA has come short of educating its people towards peace with their next door neighbor yet another time.

Israel and Jordan Team Up To Save The Dead Sea

The two nations have agreed to cooperate on an $800 million pipeline project to pump water from the Red Sea. The shrinking of the lake, whose shores include sites holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, has caused subsidence along the eastern shore in Jordan, forcing the evacuation of about 3,000 people.

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Hello Y'all

Hank asked me to post to his blog, and with great honor I agreed to it. I'm a college student in Berkeley, CA which I feel like I can fairly say is one of the crazier places on planet earth, competing only with the Mideast. I'll spare you my life story; that can be found on my other blog, The Puddle.

I would love to hear from you. I've got AOL instant messanger, and email. I'll start posting this week, so stay tuned!

Ahhhh, me public!!!

This commentary from a devoted blog reader:

"I read your stuff and I think you may be a commie wimp asshole out to destroy the moral fabric of America and all it stands for. Have you served in the military? Do you give to United Way? Do you belong to a church or are you a Jew or Muslim ? Get real. Leave this country if you wont fight or support it! commie pinko...bet your gay too!"

Well, as you can see, he certainly has my number.

In case you are curious, I answered his questions:
1) Yes
2) No
3) Yes, no and no, since it was a three parter ...

Arabs Urged To Unite Against USA

Syria and Iran, longtime enemies of Iraq, are concerned. In the case of Iran and Saudi Arabia, they know that free people in Iraq will be very bad for them. Freedom tends to spread. In the case of Syria, they are making a fortune circumventing the UN trade restrictions with Iraq so they want that gravy train to keep rolling.

Both of these countries, suddenly united in brotherhood for Iraq, have been longtime terrorist states.

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Palestinians Kill Teenage Girl For Collaboration With Israel

Shortly after they killed her aunt for the same thing. Palestinians protested when Israel threatened to deport the families of terrorists ... how many of them will protest killing the families of 'collaborators?"

Iklas Yassin, a 35-year-old mother of three, was dragged out of her Tulkarm house, made to confess to collaborating before al-Aqsa militants shot her in the chest and head.

In a videotaped confession, a frightened-looking Yassin said she had passed information to her brother about movements of a Palestinian man said to be wanted by Israel and later killed by Israeli forces.

18-year-old Rajah Ibrahim , Yassin's niece was killed by members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who are affiliated with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

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