Sunday, May 30, 2004

MEMORIAL DAY
A Personal Memoriam


Thanks Mom, for working in secret, doing whatever you were doing with Japanese codes before and during the war. You never divulged your secrets, but that's who you were. You honored your service and your country and both were well aware of your contribution. Thank you for the part you played in saving our world.

Thanks Dad, for repairing and maintaining warplanes under the most God-awful of circumstances. You did your best to keep your pilots safe and I am sure that they are more grateful than you ever knew. Your quiet accomplishments saved lives and made you an unknown hero.

I am so proud to be the son of two veterans of World War II.

Both of you are gone now, and though you cannot read this, I would like to think that somehow, you can understand the gratitude that I, and millions of my generation feel for the sacrifice that you so willingly made.

May we not only be worthy of that sacrifice, but may we pick up the standard that you so willingly bore and keep alive the spirit that was, and is, "The Greatest Generation."

May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
"One who is merciful to the cruel, will ultimately cause cruelty to the merciful."

From LGF comes this revealing look from Nissan Ratzlav-Katz into the cold, dead eyes of our enemy and, as he says:

This is the enemy. Don't look away.

Perhaps when another rally is held in support of Iraqi "resistance" or "Palestinian liberation" somewhere in the world, counter-protesters can remind the ever-so-sensitive and progressive demonstrators of Nick Berg's scream of pain, or of two-year-old Meirav Hatuel cowering in her car seat, or of the Ramallah or Fallujah savages dancing with human entrails.

During the lynch of the two IDF soldiers who had taken a wrong turn into Ramallah in 2000, one of the Arab murderers paused in his savage beating to answer a cell phone belonging to one of the dying soldiers.

He told the worried voice on the other end of the line, "We are killing your husband."

There is a Talmudic dictum that states, "One who is merciful to the cruel, will ultimately cause cruelty to the merciful."

It seems to me that we, Israelis and Americans, have proven the Talmudic sages absolutely correct. Please, no more mercy.

As we celebrate Memorial Day, let us first remember those who have given their all in the defense of our way of life, may God bless them all, both living and dead. Secondly, let us look into the eyes of the demon who stalks us in the present and commit ourselves accordingly to it's oblivion for only through the recognition of evil may we summon the strength to defeat it. Don't look away.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Anti-War or Anti-American or Pro-Terrorist?
Difference Without Distinction


America has long been enamored with the concept of "shades of grey," that is to say that the concept of "good" and "evil" are determined in such an infinitely gradated scale that the distinction between the two are nearly imperceptible. In fact, the very use of the term "evil" has been frowned upon in some quarters.

This dangerous sophism simply will not do. We are in a black and white situation in which our choices could not be more clear. There are simply two sides; us and them.

Sarah Honig has a wonderful column in the Jerusalem Post entitled "Another Tack: Objectively Pro-Terrorist" in which she makes a similar point. Her subject, of course is Israel's ongoing struggle for survival in the face of the onslaught of Islamic terror, but we share a common enemy and the effects are the same. She says, in part:

Incongruously militant and aggressive "peaceniks" unhesitatingly knew whom to blame for the blasts which last week took so many soldiers' lives at different ends of the Gaza Strip. They didn't blame the terrorist perpetrators. They didn't blame savages who used a severed head as their football.

It was a screeching chorus of calculating left-wing politicians, Four Mothers in an opportunistic sequel, posturing political objectors and demagogic draft-dodgers, all lustily pointing fingers at - you guessed it - Gush Katif settlers and the Likud voters who refused to uproot them. Mass hysterical sanctimony can be politically profitable and intoxicatingly invigorating, even if it intentionally ignores the facts.

Soldiers searching for rocket and mortar factories, or for tunnels under the border with our Egyptian peace-partners, were doing precisely what they would have been doing had Likud opinion swung the other way and the settlers evicted.

Rocket fire from and weapons smuggling into Gaza would have still plagued us even if we ditched the settlements. Probably much more. With Gaza's terror fiefdom rewarded and emboldened, search-and-destroy missions would, if anything, only become more frequent. They aren't conducted for Gush Katif's sake but for Sderot, Ashkelon and nearby kibbutzim.

These are the facts. But propagandists don't like facts. War propagandists normally lie to raise morale. Our self-professed peaceniks do so to lower morale, facilitate retreat and further their defeatist agenda.

Back in 1942 George Orwell pointed out matter-of-factly that "so-called peace propaganda is just as dishonest and intellectually disgusting as war propaganda. Like war propaganda it concentrates on putting forward a 'case,' obscuring the opponent's point of view and avoiding awkward questions. The line normally followed is 'those who fight Fascism become Fascist themselves.'"

Just substitute "terrorist" for "Fascist."

Many people have railed against President Bush's assertion that "you are either with us, or you are with the terrorists." That's unfortunate. In these times when obfuscation has become a second language of many politicians, statements such as these provided a clear line of demarcation between good and evil, a line whose existence some refuse to accept.

To argue against the war in which we are involved (of which Iraq and Afghanistan are integral parts) is to argue against survival itself, for war has been declared on us - not the other way around. Reasonable people can argue on any number of ancillary subjects surrounding this fact. It is however, totally unreasonable to dismiss the central fact that we are involved in a war with people who wish our destruction and they will settle for no less. Those who refuse to accept this simple truth are simply either fools or purposely and malevolently obtuse.

Again, Our enemies want no less than our subjugation. Last night, I reread Patrick Henry's stirring 1775 speech. Much of the speech is applicable to the situation in which we currently find ourselves, particularly:

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Yes, there is no peace. We have but two options, to fight and win or to willingly sacrifice our civilization on the alter of tolerance and prostrate ourselves before an enemy who is the very embodiment of intolerance. Those who choose the latter don't just disagree, they are on the other side.

Monday, May 24, 2004

Hollywood "Abuzz" Over Michael Moore Film:
The French Love Him, What Does THAT Tell You?


With his obnoxiousness increasing even faster than his waistline, Michael Moore has released "Fahrenheit 9/11", a film that the French just loved, and I am sure that all his addle-brained liberal sycophants will soon be squealing with joy.

In an MSNBC story about the prospects of Moore's new film, a fellow "acclaimed" filmmaker exhibited this rare bit of candor:

"I think it will be hugely successful," said D.A. Pennebaker, veteran documentary director whose films include the Oscar-nominated 1992 election campaign saga "The War Room," which he made with Chris Hegedus. "It's going to get a lot of publicity, and this country is really in the mood for somebody to tell 'em what they should think, what to do."

Yes, you silly little people out there need Hollywood pinheads to tell you what you should think!
Islamic Death Cult

Steven Stalinsky has an interesting column this morning on the National Review website concerning the Muslims' love of death. In part:

In the war on terrorism, major battles from early Islamic history serve as inspiration for those fighting against the West. As al Qaeda associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi beheaded American Nicholas Berg in Iraq last week, he asked, "Is it not time for you [Muslims] to take the path of jihad and carry the sword of the Prophet of prophets?... The Prophet, the most merciful, ordered [his army] to strike the necks of some prisoners in [the battle of] Badr and to kill them... And he set a good example for us. As for you, Bush, dog of the Christians, anticipate what will harm you... And you will only get shroud after shroud and coffin after coffin slaughtered in this manner."

Another chapter from early Islamic history - serving as a lesson for today's Muslims at war against the West - is the concept of the love of death. This originated at the Battle of Qadisiyya in the year 636, when the commander of the Muslim forces, Khalid ibn Al-Walid, sent an emissary with a message from Caliph Abu Bakr to the Persian commander, Khosru. The message stated: "You [Khosru and his people] should convert to Islam, and then you will be safe, for if you don't, you should know that I have come to you with an army of men that love death, as you love life." This account is recited in today's Muslim sermons, newspapers, and textbooks.

Yes, Let them crow all they want about the "Pacifism of Islam." but, as I said yesterday their bloody deeds of yesteryear and yesterday bear far more weight than their ridiculous claims of pacifism. Do read the whole thing.

Sunday, May 23, 2004

Jew Hatred Comes to Berkeley

Via Instapundit comes this chilling example of just how far the left will go in their quest to support the contemptible "Palestinian Cause;" open Jew hatred, and at Berkeley no less:
Weinberg graduates this month as a student whose days at Cal were marked by what he calls "pinnacles of horror," in the pinched tone of a man betrayed. He remembers pro-Palestinian protesters insisting that Israeli border crossings are as bad as Nazi death camps. He remembers the glass front door of Berkeley's Hillel building -- where he attends Friday night services -- shattered by a cinderblock, with the message F**K JEWS scrawled nearby. He remembers the spray-painted swastikas discovered one Monday morning last September on the walls of four lecture rooms in LeConte Hall accompanied by the chilling bilingual message, "Die, Juden. "

In recent years the international press has documented the resurgence of anti-Semitism around the world. Jewish schoolkids have been attacked by epithet-shouting gangs in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, France, and Brazil. Synagogues have been destroyed in Marseille and Istanbul; a Jewish school was firebombed this spring in Montreal; "Death to the Jews" was shouted through bullhorns outside a temple in South Africa. AP ran photos last month of a Jewish graveyard in eastern France where a hundred tombstones had been spray-painted with blood-red swastikas and the Nazi slogan Juden Raus: "Jews out." The Chicago Sun-Times and the British Guardian report that a ubiquitous chant at European soccer matches -- leveled at London and Rotterdam teams perceived as having Jewish roots -- is "Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas."

Such anti-Semitism has always seemed the sinister province of fascists and neo-Nazis, Spanish Inquisitors and tattooed skinheads. How topsy-turvy, then, to discover that some of the most virulent anti-Semitism in America today seethes amid the multicultural ferment of American college campuses. And at UC Berkeley, which owes as much of its allure to radical rhetoric as to academic excellence, it thrives.

"Anti-Semitism is not part of the average Berkeley student's thinking, but it exists in certain departments," said theater arts professor Mel Gordon, who was involved in an altercation with student supporters of Palestine in 2001. "It's an obnoxious Berkeley tradition, bringing political agendas into the classroom. And since Berkeley always wants everything in the world to be about Berkeley, Berkeley wants the Israel-Palestine conflict to be about Berkeley."

Student Daniel Frankenstein recalls being heckled and called a "conservative Zionist bastard" when he ran for student-body president last year. "One girl working on my campaign was followed around by someone who kept asking her, 'Are you a Jewgirl? Frankenstein's a Jew, so isn't everyone who's working for him a Jew?'" he said. Incidents such as these have convinced Frankenstein, who is graduating this month and taking a government job in Washington, DC, that "it is really socially acceptable to be anti-Semitic on the Berkeley campus."

Perhaps they should institute an annual Kristallnacht, maybe during Homecoming, I'm sure that the smug little fascists would like that.

We shouldn't be too surprised, the Nazis were National Socialists, weren't they?
The "Pacifism" of Islam:
Could Their Denial Be Any More Pathological?

I was perusing Islam Online which is a wonderful window into that bizarre place we know as the Muslim mind. In this particular piece, the writer makes the case for "The Pacifism of Islam."

The writer attempts to give a history lesson on Islam, and succeeds in painting a rosey picture of a tolerant, peaceful and altruistic religion that is simply at odds with historical fact. In that I have already stipulated that many faiths have a bloody past, I'll not take issue with his naked attempt to whitewash Islam's bloody history, however self-delusional it may be.

What I will take issue with is the utter absence of explanation as to how he squares "The Pacifism of Islam" myth that he so liberally extols, with the bloodthirsty savagery of today's Islam which is obvious to all. Once again, a Muslim had a perfect opportunity to stand against the barbarians and once again he chose to aid and abet them with his silence.
Dissin Da Mus
Muslims and Peace are Diametrically Opposed


Dr. Joel Katzman gives his unvarnished opinion on the prospects of peace between Israel and the Islamofacists. I think that, in doing so, he underscores the utter futility of those who chant "peace" in the face of the barbarity whose name is Islam, not only in Israel but here in the United States as well:

I would like to preface what I am going to say with the fact that I was once very committed to Leftist/Liberal notions of peacemaking, but realities since 9/11 struck me very hard. I was forced to shed the beautiful notions of peace and humanitarianism as the means to achieve peace, in the face of an evil that knows no bounds of civility.

I am truly confused and awed by the 100,000 or so Peace Now demonstrators and their entourage of fiction weavers who gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday. They were out to advance the total absurdity that peace (for land) can be accomplished with the majority of the Palestinians and the rest of the Islamofacists of the world.

Is sanity missing? Is the ability to go outside of one's thoughts and fantasies so difficult that reality cannot be grasped? Are these peaceniks so brainwashed by fanciful theories of peace that they have abandoned all reason?

How can peace be made with the likes of Hamas, Hizbullah, Al-Qaeda, the majority of Palestinians and other Islamofacists of the Middle East without significant and powerful Israeli military victories? Only such victories teach the simple lesson that peace and civility, first and foremost, will be the only paths to negotiations of any kind -- much like the lesson of the Second World War to the Axis powers.

Are these peaceniks and their leaders as out of touch with reality as were many European Jews, especially German Jews, who hoped that, being more German, more respectful and appeasing towards their soon-to-be executioners would save them from the slaughter that awaited them?

Perhaps a quick recap of recent history will help to clarify just how out of touch with reality the Left in Israel, the European Union, and the United States really are with respect to the prospects of peaceful, loving means of achieving peace with the Islamofacists of the world (not in chronological order):

A pregnant mother of four is brutally slaughtered by Palestinian satanic cult worshippers.

A Hamas leader keeps the head of an Israeli soldier on his desk.

The majority of Palestinians revel in the blood of Israeli Jews and the slaughter of others by the savage armies of Islam, in praise of Allah.

An American is slaughtered -- beheaded like a sheep by Satan's slaves -- while these savages issued guttural praises to Allah akin to that of wild animals consuming their prey (is this Allah really the embodiment of a satanic deity?).

And what about the land for peace exchange with Egypt that resulted in an absurdity called "peace" (Egypt still remains one of the largest suppliers and supporters of Islamofacist terror against Israel and who knows who else)?

Do read the whole thing. One of the points that he makes several times in his piece is the possibilty that Islam is, in fact, a satanic cult and that Allah is "the embodiment of a satanic deity." This is a point about which I have written and is also one that makes more sense the more one observes the actions and hears words of Muslims. They do not want peace; they want surrender.

Please Note: Translation to the title of this post: "Dissing (Disrespecting) the Muslims." -ed

Saturday, May 22, 2004

Has The Idea of "Threat" Lost its Meaning?

The real argument in the United States in particular and in the world in general is between those who see a "real and present danger" and those who do not. One group sees a faction of fanatics who have declared war on our civilization, supported by possibly millions either directly or morally, and sees a mortal threat. The other group sees the same faction of fanatics, fails to see a threat and cautions against over-reaction. One group sees 9/11 as the first shot in the war to destroy our culture, the other group sees it as a lucky shot and warns against further provocation of the perpetrators.

In National Review Online, Clinton Taylor writes a thought provoking commentary about a mountain lion loose in Palo Alto California. The handling of the situation and the reaction to the handling is a perfect allegory as to our culture's congenital handicap in dealing with, or even understanding the meaning of a lethal menace. Do read it.
Islamic Women's Headgear
"Hijab" Not Part of Ancient Muslim Tradition

Via LGF comes Amir Taheri's interesting column from 2003 regarding the head cover that seems to be all the rage among Muslim women in western countries. As it turns out, it's by no means a religious mandate in fact, it's really no more than a fashion accessory inspired by Catholic nuns:

The headgear in question has nothing to do with Islam as a religion. It is not sanctioned anywhere in the Koran, the fundamental text of Islam, or the hadith (traditions) attributed to the Prophet.

This headgear was invented in the early 1970s by Mussa Sadr, an Iranian mullah who had won the leadership of the Lebanese Shiite community.

In an interview in 1975 in Beirut, Sadr told this writer that the hijab he had invented was inspired by the headgear of Lebanese Catholic nuns, itself inspired by that of Christian women in classical Western paintings. (A casual visit to the National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, or the Louvres in Paris, would reveal the original of the neo-Islamist hijab in numerous paintings depicting Virgin Mary and other female figures from the Old and New Testament.)

And the original reason for the idea of women wearing the hijab? Well that is even more interesting:

Sadr's idea was that, by wearing the headgear, Shiite women would be clearly marked out, and thus spared sexual harassment, and rape, by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian gunmen who at the time controlled southern Lebanon.

Sadr's neo-hijab made its first appearance in Iran in 1977 as a symbol of Islamist-Marxist opposition to the Shah's regime. When the mullahs seized power in Tehran in 1979, the number of women wearing the hijab exploded into tens of thousands.

Ah yes, another example of the wonderful "Islamic culture," not to mention Yasser Arafat's fine moral leadership. He goes on to describe that the hijab is a symbol of the Islamic disdain for women:

The garb is designed to promote gender Apartheid. It covers the woman's ears so that she does not hear things properly. Styled like a hood, it prevents the woman from having full vision of her surroundings. It also underlines the concept of woman as object, all wrapped up and marked out.

For a long time, it has been my personal belief that this headcover was simply a way for Muslims to make a spectacle of themselves in the hopes of fomenting "discrimination" about which they could complain. Mr. Taheri feels that its purpose is even more pernicious:

This fake Islamic hijab is nothing but a political prop, a weapon of visual terrorism. It is the symbol of a totalitarian ideology inspired more by Nazism and Communism than by Islam. It is as symbolic of Islam as the Mao uniform was of Chinese civilisation. It is used as a means of exerting pressure on Muslim women who do not wear it because they do not share the sick ideology behind it. It is a sign of support for extremists who wish to impose their creed, first on Muslims, and then on the entire world through psychological pressure, violence, terror, and, ultimately, war. The tragedy is that many of those who wear it are not aware of its implications. They do so because they have been brainwashed into believing that a woman cannot be a "good Muslim" without covering her head with the Sadr-designed hijab.

Even today, less than one per cent of Muslim women wear the hijab that has bewitched some Western liberals as a symbol of multicultural diversity.

Do read the whole thing. Though the writer is a Muslim, I think he tends to underscore the underlying hollowness that makes Islam so dangerous.
Bill Cosby Nails It

He makes a lot of sense in dishing out some "tough love" that one hopes will not fall upon deaf ears:

Bill Cosby was anything but politically correct in his remarks at a Constitution Hall bash in Washington commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. To everyone's astonishment, laughter and applause, Cosby mocked everything from urban fashion to black spending and speaking habits.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal," he said Monday night. "These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids - $500 sneakers for what?

"And they won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.' ...

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English," he said. "I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't.' 'Where you is.' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"

When Cosby finally concluded, Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and NAACP legal defense fund head Theodore Shaw came to the podium looking stone-faced. Shaw told the crowd that most people on welfare are not African-American, and many of the problems his organization has addressed in the black community were not self-inflicted.

This is something that was badly in need of being said, and I applaud Mr. Cosby for having the courage to say it.

Friday, May 21, 2004

Palestinian Barbarism

Via Instapundit comes this enlightening story about how Palestinians are being treated by Palestinians:

The report, partly funded by the Finnish government,claims Palestinian cities are in a state of near anarchy, with people on the payroll of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) blamed for 90 per cent of gangland violence.

It highlights numerous incidents of torture of prisoners and refers to the killing of civilians in gunbattles between Palestinian factions.

It is another blow for Mr Arafat's organisation, which was recently accused of misusing 134 million (pounds) of European Union funds. Mr Arafat was accused of signing cheques to people linked with terrorist activity.

Yes, but you see, the Europeans don't care to see these problems because in their narrow Jew hating worldview all of the trouble is the fault of the "evil Zionists:"

The organisation behind the latest report, the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), has won few friends for its work documenting human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

Although it has been strongly critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians, its criticism of the PA has seen its funding by European governments slashed.

Of course, there had to be this added as well:

The report does lay some of the blame for the violence at the feet of Israel. It says that the failure to reach a substantive and acceptable peace agreement has led Palestinians to vent their feelings of futility against Palestinians.

Well yes, the Palestinians are brutalizing and murdering the Palestinians in Palestinian controlled territory, but it's only because they are frustrated with Israel. I see, their point is that the "Zionists" are making them do it! And the neo-Chamberlain Jew hating Arab apologist bobbleheads in the EU nod in agreement. Pathetic.

Do read the whole thing as I seriously doubt that the American media will give this much coverage.
21st Century Jew Hatred
Everything Old is New Again

I have written about the left's increasingly anti-Israel position. We have seen the EU consistantly take anti-Israel positions time after time. In fact, in Europe, there have been increased levels of anti-Israel sentiment to the point that a recent poll found that:

".....59 percent of Europeans rate Israel as the most threatening country, ahead of the United States, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea."

One need only look at the list of countries on the list to see a real problem in European thinking. They are also anti-American, but we knew that already.

Yes friends, there is open Jew hatred afoot in the world once more. No, don't tell me that support of the "Palestinian cause" does not equal Jew hatred, because it clearly does. The very existence of Israel is inconsistent with the goal of the Palestinians. They want Israel wiped from the face of the earth.

Something struck me yesterday while I was listening to the radio. In a discussion of Middle East affairs, a caller used the word "Zionist." It occurred to me that every time I hear someone use the word "Zionist," the word is used in an obviously pejorative fashion. In our PC world, Jew haters can't sneeringly blame "the Jews" for the world's problems, so they cleverly substitute the code word, Zionists.

The bad old days of open Jew hatred are back again. Once again, the world lines up against Israel with the United States being her only defender. These are scary times, but I'm glad to be on the right side.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

This Is Far Too Good Not To Pass On

I am not particularly a fan of poetry, though I have gained more of an appreciation of it over time. While reading "The Corner" this morning, I came across Dave Kopel's post where he reprinted this wonderful verse:

The Crisis

By Rob S. Rice

In these dull dreary days the truly brave man knows
That steel, true steel, is tempered by blows.
Fools sneer and deride, let them cheer for our foes
So much harder steel that they temper with blows.

Honor is eternal, though fools disregard
The tests they despise, or consider 'too hard.'
Or in scheming for power they chatter, like crows,
But steel, true steel, is still tempered by blows.

We face scheming murderers with calm defiance.
They have soulless evil, we have self-reliance.
They butcher civilians, their cruelty shows.
Our steel, true steel, is tempered by blows.

Let them come and dare face us, or run, if they choose.
In battle or treachery, the wicked shall lose.
For the acts of their madness are in truth their death throes.
They'll die on our steel that they've tempered, with blows.


Isn't that great? Dr. Rice is a professor of ancient history at the The University of Pennsylvania and a very interesting fellow indeed.

More than a year ago Opinion Journal posted more truly inspiring pieces. I regret to say that I did not discover this fact until now. The one above though, is brand new and speaks so clearly and eloquently to, and about, the fools who "sneer and deride."
9/11 Families, Inc.

OK. I'm ready to say it, I cannot hold it back any longer. I have had it up to here with the "9/11 Families." Not all of them mind you, I'm tired of the ones that have formed a consortium of grief and self-pity. The ones that never miss a chance to flaunt their victimization on TV as though their sorrow and their loss is unprecedented in the history of mankind.

I'm tired of their insistence upon lashing out at Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, the FBI, The CIA and every other governmental agency as though the 9/11 attacks were some sort of administration policy. We all know who is responsible, and in constantly attacking the administration as the villains, we lose focus on the real villains.

I am tired of their constant money grubbing and demands for increasing levels of compensation. People die tragically and needlessly every day and receive no compensation whatsoever. People are killed in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on a regular basis at the hands of Muslim terrorists and receive no seven figure settlements. Certainly, in the U.S., such a thing is not so regular an occurrence, but the lesson of 9/11 is that we are no longer immune. The Victims Compensation Fund was designed to help, not to make the victims' families wealthy. Argument as to the "valuation" of each victim in terms of compensation is tacky in the extreme.

I am tired of their attempts to use the compassion of the American people as a political tool. The fact that their loved ones died in this horrible attack does not necessarily give their views more weight. I resent my empathy being cynically used as the implement of an agenda. I am tired of this small group of people portraying themselves as "The Voice" of the victims' families. They are not. They are but a small group of activists who have chosen to use their "victim" status as a megaphone.

Yesterday, "The 9/11 Families" chose to heckle Rudy Giuliani during the 9/11 Commission hearing or, shall I say inquisition:

"My son was murdered because of your incompetence!" shouted Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son died in the trade center. Seated three rows behind Giuliani, she jabbed her finger at the former mayor and waved a sign that read "Fiction" as he gave the city's emergency response a glowing review.

I feel sorry for these people, I really do, but this sort of thing is beyond the pale. Grief does not give one carte blanch to make outrageous statements and accusations. Certainly, I believe that had the FDNY and NYPD been able to anticipate the unthinkable events of 9/11, they would have done many things differently. The benefit of 3 1/2 years of hindsight should suggest how things might be improved in the future, but to use it as a blanket indictment of everyone involved from President Bush to Mayor Giuliani to the Fire and Police Chiefs in New York is a counterproductive witch hunt.

This was the human cost of Muslim hatred so ingrained that it outweighed the instinct to survival. These victims are dead, not due to faulty building codes, but due to faulty "theology" on the part of Islam. Their deaths are not a result of incompetence of American leaders, but rather incompetence on the part of Islamic leaders. They are dead, not because of a failure of communication between the FBI and the CIA, or between the FDNY and the NYPD but the successful communication of hatred and violence between Islamic clerics and the Muslim faithful.

We have met the enemy and it is most certainly not us!

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Winston Churchill on Islam

He warned of the "Gathering Storm" of Nazism in the 1930s, and he speaks from the grave of the storm that gathers on our modern horizon; Islam.

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property (either as a child, a wife, or a concubine) must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science (the science against which it had vainly struggled) the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."
They chose not to listen then, until the storm was upon them. Will we choose to listen now?

May God bless ye Sir Winston, may God bless ye.

Monday, May 17, 2004

"Religion of Peace," Africa Style

Via LGF comes this tragic story of Arab Muslims murdering black African Muslims. (Curiously, the word "Muslim" does not even appear in the story.) An excerpt concerning the experience of a 12 year-old boy:

"They killed my whole family," Adam remembers, shaking as he speaks. "Lots of girls were captured. I lost control and started screaming and crying. And then the Janjaweed snatched me and took me away on horseback. They made me their slave."

Since February, millions of innocent civilians have been caught up in civil war as the Janjaweed work to rid the Darfur region of its 80 black tribes, in the name of suppressing the rebels.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, villages have been emptied, and traumatised refugees speak of mass murder and rape, of wells being poisoned with the bodies of dead children.

An estimated one million people - one in seven of the Darfur population - have been driven from their homes by the Janjaweed, the one-time nomadic Arab shepherds who have been forcing their way south as the Sahara consumes their traditional grazing lands.
This is a follow-up to an earlier story from April 24 which gives some background on this horrible situation and describes the Arab Muslims' attempt to "white out" (their term) the black majority. An account from the earlier story from another 12 year-old boy:

Even after the bombing there was no escape. The village had been surrounded by armed Arabs on horses and camels - members of the Janjaweed militia, who, with the backing of the Khartoum government, are apparently intent on "whiting out" Darfur's black majority, despite both sides being Muslim.

The mounted Arabs, in military fatigues, charged into the village, wheeling precisely between the huts and firing indiscriminately. The Janjaweed were followed by government infantry who gathered Har 'Janga's young men into a group and executed them, each with a single shot in the back of the head.

Ismael's family were singled out and taken to a well. The Janjaweed accused them of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army, the rebel movement that began an uprising against the government a year ago.

"They took a knife and cut my mother's throat and they threw her into the well," said Ismael. "Then they took my oldest sister and began to rape her one by one. My father was kneeling, crying and begging them for mercy." Ismael escaped by hiding under a dead mule, from where he saw the Janjaweed rape his three other sisters, among them Khadija, her face now unrecognisable, before slitting their throats.

"After that they killed my brother and my father," he said. "They threw all the bodies in the well."

Do read both stories.

While we beat our breasts in guilt over the incidents at Abu Ghraib, real atrocities and real crimes against humanity are being committed on a massive scale, this time Muslims killing Muslims and, as always, in the name of Allah.
Jerry Springer Named Democratic Delegate

Life resembles a "Saturday Night Live" skit more every day.
Saddam Fears Iraqi Torture

CIA interrogators have seized on an admission by Saddam Hussein that he fears torture at the hands of his Iraqi enemies, and are threatening him with a quick handover to the new government in a renewed effort to break his silence.

I don't understand this! Why, I distinctly remember that in the last Iraqi "election," he received 100% of the vote. His overwhelming popularity has certainly taken a turn for the worse.

Perhaps it was those hundreds of thousands of bodies found in mass graves. Nothing will sink your popularity among the people faster than genocide.
U.S. Athletes Told to Cool It at Olympics By USOC

NEW YORK - American athletes have been warned not to wave the U.S. flag during their medal celebrations at this summer's Olympic Games in Athens, for fear of provoking crowd hostility and harming the country's already-battered public image.

The spectacle of victorious athletes grabbing a national flag and parading it around the stadium is a familiar part of international sporting competition, but U.S. Olympic officials have ordered their 550-strong team to exercise restraint and avoid any jingoistic behavior.

The plan is part of a charm offensive aimed at repairing the country's international reputation after the deepening crisis in Iraq and damaging revelations of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.

This is so offensive on so many levels and should be to every American. Better we should exhibit shame? I suppose we could wave a white flag, but then we would be indistinguishable from the French.

As for our battered public image, most of the battering of this country's image is at the hands of the media, the Democratic party and people (like the USOC) with defeatist agendas.

The insanity of this self-inflicted assault and battery must stop!

Sunday, May 16, 2004

Hey, Abu Ghraib Isn't Auschwitz,
It's Way Past Time To Get Over It!


How much longer is this "Prison Abuse Scandal" story going to last? I would say until November, minimum. It's pretty clear that the media and the Democrats intend to pump this thing until they are successful in crippling the White House, the Pentagon and our efforts in Iraq. Those who never wanted us in Iraq to begin with are gleefully seizing upon this as their opportunity to get us out of Iraq and to get Bush out of the White House in the process.

Do they have any idea of the damage they are doing, or are they so callous they would endanger the American people to achieve their ends? Do they hate Bush more than they love their country? After what we saw on 9/11, I am stunned that anyone, much less people who are in positions of responsibility could the deny the incredible danger posed by Islamic terrorism here, and around the world.

Victor Davis Hanson is so right, we are defeating ourselves in ways that our enemies could never imagine. Every day this psychotic self mutilation is allowed to continue, we willingly hamper our own efforts to do what needs to be done. Our enemies, on the other hand, are liberated by our internal struggles.

We have more important things to worry about than a handful of disturbed young soldiers acting out homoerotic fantasies and dressing Iraqi prisoners in women's underwear. Try those responsible, throw the book at them and be done with it. All of this self-critical introspection is very admirable, but there are untold numbers of people in this world plotting to kill us, American civilians, at this very minute. Let's pull our collective heads from our collective anal canals and focus on the task at hand.
Syrians, North Koreans and Bombs, Oh My!

It appears that there were "Syrian technicians accompanying unknown equipment" aboard that train that exploded on April 22. Now, I hate to be cynical, but I don't think that this was some sort of cultural exchange program in the interest of world peace.

Lunatic North Koreans, bloodthirsty Muslims and nuclear weapons brought together by a hatred of the west in general and of the United States in particular. Lovely.

Saturday, May 15, 2004

"Kiss" Star Disses Islam

Via Kathryn Jean Lopez at "The Corner" comes this heartening story of Rock'n'Roll common sense:

KISS bass player GENE SIMMONS has angered the Muslim community after labelling Islam a "vile" culture on a live radio interview

Israeli born Simmons, who is currently on tour in Australia, launched the attack on Melbourne's 3AW radio.

"Extremism believes that it's okay to strap bombs on to your children and send them to paradise and whatever else and to behead people," he said yesterday (May 13).

"Your dog, however, can walk side by side, your dog is allowed to have its own dog house... you can send your dog to school to learn tricks, sit, beg, do all that stuff - none of the women have that advantage."

Simmons also warned that the West was under threat, and that the United Nations didn't work, adding the West must "speak softly and carry a big stick".

"This is a vile culture and if you think for a second that it's going to just live in the sands of God's armpit you've got another thing coming," he said. "They want to come and live right where you live and they think that you're evil."

The station was flooded with complaints, including Australian Muslim of the year Susan Carland, who contested Simmons' views of extremism. Carland has two degrees and said "I certainly do not walk behind my husband."

The chairman of the Islamic Council of Victoria, Yasser Soliman said: "He's very famous obviously and popular and, as a result, influential."

He added: "Mixing the entertainment world with the political and religious world is a minefield."

"A number of his claims regarding women and what they are allowed to do and not do are wrong - Islam teaches the opposite," he said reports The Australian.

"I think it would be good for overseas speakers and commentators to be given some sort of advice in regards to our vilification laws here," he said.

"They leave and go back to where they arrived from, but they leave behind a big mess that we have to live with."

Of course the Muslims are outraged, Muslims spend the better part of their life outraged. So what? As for "Mixing the entertainment world with the political and religious world is a minefield", well, it doesn't seem to be a problem when entertainers use their celebrity to champion the pathetic "Palestinian Cause" or trash President Bush, eh Yassar?

Gene Simmons, I salute you!
American Cannibalism
We are doing to ourselves what the enemy could not.


Victor Davis Hanson has a piece over at the National Review with the above mentioned title, which pretty much says it all. Do read it, Hanson is truly a national resource.

The self-flagillation that this Iraqi prison abuse story has unleashed is so destructive that, if it continues, our enemies will simply be able to wait until we defeat ourselves. I am growing increasingly enraged with the media and the likes of that bloviating buffoon Teddy Kennedy portraying American soldiers as villians. A tiny group of soldiers betrayed their honor, their country and their comrades and they will be tried and punished accordingly. Enough Already!
Islamic "Culture"
Oxymoron of the Day

Via LGF, comes this interesting piece from Amir Taheri that gives a thumbnail history of the time-honored Islamic tradition of beheading. Certainly, they did not invent the practice, but the civilized world discarded it hundreds of years ago. That is, except for France which clinged to this barbaric practice until 1977. Perhaps this is the reason than so many Muslims seem to gravitate to France, a country that seems reluctant to discard barbarity such as beheading, and unwilling to embrace civilized concepts such as honor and loyalty.

Friday, May 14, 2004

FBI Interviewed Berg on Possible Moussaoui Link

I watched the Nick Berg video. It was sickening, but I would suggest it to anyone who doubts the abject evil that makes its home in Islam.

The story however, seems to have taken a rather bizarre turn:

WASHINGTON - Nicholas Berg, the American businessman executed by Islamic extremists in Iraq, may have had contact with accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

FBI agents interviewed Berg a few years ago when they were investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, sources said. He was interviewed because, unbeknownst to him, Moussaoui had used his e-mail account when he was in Oklahoma.

Sources close to the situation told Fox News that they believed the link to be "coincidental."

Coincidental? Then there's this statement from his obviously distraught father:

"I am sure that he only saw the good in his captors until the last second of his life," Berg said. "They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend."
I find all of these facts, at the very least, incongruent. Berg was a Jew, but he "coincidentally" has contact with one of the Al Qaeda 9/11 terrorists, then eventually meets his death at the hands of a high level Al Qaeda operative in Iraq. His father says of the terrorists: "They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend." I must say, that's a pretty forgiving attitude for a Jew, whose son's head was sawed of by Muslim terrorists whose primary goal is the eradication of Jews from the planet. Now, I know that the man is overcome with grief, but I just find the tone of statement to be oddly charitable, given the hideous circumstances of his son's death. In fact, his rage seems to be reserved exclusively for the Bush administration:

"My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this," Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM.

He also attacked the Patriot Act:

Two days after the publication of a video showing the execution of his son by five masked men, Berg attacked the Bush administration for its invasion of Iraq and its sponsorship of the Patriot Act, which gives sweeping powers of surveillance to the federal government.

Berg described the Patriot Act as a "coup d'etat." He added: "It's not the same America I grew up in."

Again, I feel sympathy for the man, he's overcome with grief and rightfully so. There's just something "not right" about his reaction; just two days afer his son's grisly death, he shows little if any anger toward those who actually committed the murder, yet he absolutely seethes with rage over the Bush administration and the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act?

During World War II, there were actually Jewish collaborators in Europe who assisted the Nazis. As this story unfolds, I can not help but wonder if there could be a Jewish fifth column that is collaborating or at the very least, sympathizing with Muslim terrorists. I pray that this is not the case here. I hesitate in even thinking such a thing, much less posting it, but if the last 2 1/2 years have taught us anything it is to think the unthinkable.

Thursday, May 13, 2004

OK, About That "Religion of Peace"....Again

You know, I hate to write about the same old subject over and over, but I will continue to do so as long as the airheads out there continue to see Islam as "just another religion" or, as I like to say Presbyterians with turbans. I will continue to do so as long as this elusive "moderate" majority of Muslims continues to remain invisible and mute while unspeakable acts are committed "in the name of the Allah." It's really pretty easy you know, one simply needs to read their own words and observe their actions to know their true nature. I have, on this site, proven this time and time and time again. I have even gone to great lengths to detail my fears and the reasons for them.

Today, from the National Review website comes an informative article regarding the visit next week of Sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, the Saudi government appointed imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, to Canada. I realize that Islam does not have any central authority comparable to the Catholic Pope. I would have to assume, however, that since Mecca is the geographic center of Islam and this fellow is the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, he may be somewhat comparable to an Islamic "Pope." At the very least, I would say he is one of the most influential people in Islam and is a highly revered individual.

Now, you would think that, given his stature and influence, he would refrain from the incendiary rhetoric we have come to expect from the so-called "radical Islamists." Well, you would be wrong. In fact, his rhetoric is indistinguishable from the bin Ladens and al-Sadrs. An excerpt from the Article:

The themes of his sermons are characterized by confrontation toward non-Muslims. Al-Sudayyis calls Jews "scum of the earth" and "monkeys and pigs" who should be "annihilated." Other enemies of Islam, he says, are "worshippers of the cross" and "idol-worshipping Hindus" who should be fought. Al-Sudayyis has been consistent in calling for jihad in Kashmir and Chechnya, for Jerusalem to be liberated, and for the "occupiers in Iraq" to also be fought. He often claims that Islam is superior to Western culture.

At the Grand Mosque in Mecca on February 1, 2004, Sheikh Al-Sudayyis called on Muslims everywhere to unite to defeat the world's occupiers and oppressors. "History has never known a cause in which our religious principles, historical rights, and past glories are so clearly challenged.... The conflict between us and the Jews is one of creed, identity, and existence." He told those listening to "read history," in order "to know that yesterday's Jews were bad predecessors and today's Jews are worse successors. They are killers of prophets and the scum of the earth. Allah hurled his curses and indignation on them and made them monkeys and pigs and worshippers of tyrants. These are the Jews, a continuous lineage of meanness, cunning, obstinacy, tyranny, evil, and corruption...."

I read nothing about peace, it seems to me to be solely about mandatory Islamic hatred of Jews, Christians and Hindus. Here is some sections directly from his sermon on February 1, 2004 spewing classic Islamic Jew-hatred:

O Muslims, the Islamic nation today is at the peak of conflict with the enemies of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with the grandsons of Bani-Quraydah, Al-Nadhir, and Qaynuqa [Jewish tribes in the early days of Islam]. May Allah's curses follow them until the Day of Judgment.

The nation must know that these are people with a disgraceful history and.... They want to establish the Greater Israel with Jerusalem as its capital. They also aspire to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque and build their alleged temple in its place. They want to liquidate the State of Islam and the Koran, and build the State of the Torah and Talmud on its debris. They will get what they deserve from Allah.... Our Al-Aqsa is crying out saying all mosques have been liberated, while I — a great holy mosque — am still being desecrated. Is the aspiration of over 1 billion Muslims to preserve their holy places [to be] considered savagery and terrorism? What a great lie, O Allah, O steadfast brothers in struggler and steadfast Palestine, the land of honor, loftiness, sacrifice, jihad, and bravery. The captivity of our Al-Aqsa in the hands of the tyrants makes us sleepless. May Allah please us with its liberation. Victory is coming soon, Allah willing.

....Here are the flags of victory looming on the horizon. We can smell it. It is crowned by a brave jihad, an intifada, which is still the winning card and the lit candle in the hands of the devout sons of this nation.... O nation of jihad and sacrifice, it is the duty of Muslims to support their brothers in creed in Palestine and elsewhere and to back them with material and moral support. Jihad with money sometimes supersedes jihad with soul, as mentioned in many Koranic verses and the prophet's traditions.

On May 31, 2002, he expounded upon the anti-Muslim plotting on the part the enemies of Muslims; Jews, Christians and Hindus:

Those whom Allah cursed, got angry with, and turned into monkeys and pigs, the tyrant worshippers among the Jewish aggressors and criminal Zionists. Their course is supported by the advocates of usury and worshippers of the Cross, as well as by those who are infatuated with them and influenced by their rotten ideas and poisonous culture among the advocates of secularism and Westernization.... The enemies of Muslims among the atheists insist on their arrogance and aggression against our people and our holy places in Chechnya? The idol-worshipping Hindus indulge in their open hatred against our brothers and holy places...in Muslim Kashmir, threatening an imminent danger and a fierce war in the whole Indian sub-continent?... O Allah, support our brother Mujahedeen for your sake and the oppressed everywhere. O Allah, support them in Palestine, Kashmir, and Chechnya. O Allah, we ask you to support our Palestinian brothers in Palestine against the aggressor Jews and usurper Zionists. O Allah, the Jews have oppressed, terrorized, and indulged in tyranny and corruption. O Allah, deal with them for they are within your power.

Again, I fail to find any mention of peace. In fact, the only major religious group that escapes his condemnation is Buddhism and I would suspect that was an inadvertent omission rather than an act of tolerance.

So, call me a bigot, call me paranoid, call me an Islamophobe. Just be sure to call me when you find any substantial evidence of moderation or even a sliver of tolerance in Islam, for try as I may, I cannot find it.
Harsh C.I.A. Methods Cited in Top Qaeda Interrogations

WASHINGTON, May 12 - The Central Intelligence Agency has used coercive interrogation methods against a select group of high-level leaders and operatives of Al Qaeda that have produced growing concerns inside the agency about abuses, according to current and former counterterrorism officials.

At least one agency employee has been disciplined for threatening a detainee with a gun during questioning, they said.

In the case of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a high-level detainee who is believed to have helped plan the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, C.I.A. interrogators used graduated levels of force, including a technique known as "water boarding," in which a prisoner is strapped down, forcibly pushed under water and made to believe he might drown.

Sorry, while I think that some of the conduct of a handful of U.S. troops at Abu Ghraib prison was beyond the pale, my sympathies do not extend to high-level Al Qaeda operatives like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

These techniques were authorized by a set of secret rules for the interrogation of high-level Qaeda prisoners, none known to be housed in Iraq, that were endorsed by the Justice Department and the C.I.A. The rules were among the first adopted by the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 attacks for handling detainees and may have helped establish a new understanding throughout the government that officials would have greater freedom to deal harshly with detainees.

Defenders of the operation said the methods stopped short of torture, did not violate American anti-torture statutes, and were necessary to fight a war against a nebulous enemy whose strength and intentions could only be gleaned by extracting information from often uncooperative detainees. Interrogators were trying to find out whether there might be another attack planned against the United States.

I think that there is a case to be made that we now find ourselves in a situation in which is so different from any other we have encountered in the past, that the measures that we employ should be re-evaluated. If we continue to strictly adhere to "rules of civilized warfare" in this particular conflict, we will lose. These aren't uniformed soldiers on a field of battle, they are plain-clothed civilians who are eager to take their own lives in order to kill as many of our plain-clothed civilians as they can. This is the Muslim paradigm of warfare and we must develop our own new paradigm if we are to defeat it. According to this story, that is exactly what we are doing.

Let not the barbarians use our own charitable and civilized nature against us.....again.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Arabs Divided Over Beheading of American in Iraq

Does not the headline tell the real story here? An innocent man has his head crudely sawed off on TV, and Arabs are "divided" over its justification. Do read the whole story, but the abject barbarity that IS Islam will be even more pronounced after doing so.
These Guys Undertand Our Weaknesses

They well understand our weaknesses and continually exploit them. Muqtada al-Sadr, while rallying his band of miscreants to continue their fight against the Americans said:

Asked how long his forces could continue fighting, al-Sadr said: "Let (me) remind you of Vietnam. We are an Iraqi people that has faith in God, and his prophet and his family. The means of victory that are available to us are much more than what the Vietnamese had. And God willing we shall be victorious."

We have been handwringing over Vietnam for 30 years or more and that fact is not lost on the likes of al-Sadr. They are still convinced that we do not have the national will to defeat them, and there are far too many people in this country who appear all too willing to prove them right.

Vietnam, like al-Sadr, is a demon that should be slain, once and for all.
Successes in the War to Defend Civilization

The media seems to be so consumed with negativity and failure that they simply have no time for stories such as these. May God bless them and protect them.

Via Instapundit comes this note from a front line soldier in Iraq regarding the fight against Muqtada Al-Sadr and the largly unreported successes we are having. Then, via Hugh Hewitt comes the story of the incredible courage and gallantry of Marine Captain Brian Chontosh (from Blackfive):

The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing.
Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And we're almost on a first-name basis with the pukes who abused the Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how the world hates us.

We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom.

But we don't hear about the heroes.

The incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue.

The ones we completely ignore.

Like Brian Chontosh.

It was a year ago on the march into Baghdad. Brian Chontosh was a platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee.

When all hell broke loose.

Ambush city.

The young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine guns, rocket propelled grenades. And the id out of Churchville was in charge. It was do or die and it was up to him.

So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire.

It was fish in a barrel and the Marines were the fish.

And Brian Chontosh gave the order to attack. He told his driver to floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them. And he had the guy on top with the .50 cal unload on them.

Within moments there were Iraqis slumped across the machine gun and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines. Over into the battlement the humvee went and out the door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride.

And he ran down the trench.

With its mortars and riflemen, machineguns and grenadiers.

And he killed them all.

He fought with the M16 until he was out of ammo. Then he fought with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo.

At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion.

When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more.

But that's probably not how he would tell it.

He would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and he got them out of trouble. Hoo-ah, and drive on.

"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service."

That's what the citation says.

And that's what nobody will hear.

That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news. Accounts of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity. It makes you wonder if the role of the media is to inform, or to depress - to report or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies.

But I guess it doesn't matter.

We're going to turn out all right.

As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.

- by Bob Lonsberry © 2004
Choking on Gnats

Instead of continuing to wallow in self loathing brought about by the pictures from Abu Ghraib prison, why doesn't the media take a little time to focus on the many positive things happening in Iraq. How about this program, founded by actor, Gary Sinise and author, Laura Hillenbrand. It's a privately effort to assist American soldiers to rehabilitate and supply Iraqi schools. The program was created because American soldiers saw the deplorable state of the schools and began to take it upon themselves to rebuild them and solicit help from home to resupply them.

This is not the only such soldier-inspired public service project on behalf of the Iraqi people. There was also "Chief Wiggles" another American military member who organized massive relief efforts because he saw a need and attempted to fill it. Even a small amount of research will uncover numerous stories of altruism about these admirable men and women some seem so eager to revile.

This Abu Ghraib prison story has stained the reputations of so many good and decent men and women in our military. The Media, critics of President Bush and opponents of the war are seizing upon this story to achieve their goals and they don't seem to care about the innocent and honorable people who are being destroyed in the process.

To quote Shakespeare: "The evil men do live long after them, while the good is oft interred with their bones." Let's not inter the good these people are doing in our name but rather let us assure that their good, rather than their evil, will live long after them.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Religion of Pieces

Muslim savagry had another banner day. We had the beheading of Nick Berg, an American civilian who was in Iraq to assist Iraqis in rebuilding their country. He was not a soldier, he was there to help. The act was, of course, filmed and shown on Al-Jazeera. Then we had the Palestinians proudly displaying body parts from Israeli soldiers, also shown on Al-Jazeera.

I dare say that nary an eybrow was raised in the "Muslim world" over this repulsive behavior.
Beware, Dear Friends, Beware

As we continue our trudge through the "Iraqi Abuse Scandal" that the media and the liberals seem to be indefatigable in discussing, I bid you to remember a few salient points.

This same group, who is aghast at out troops' "demeaning" and "humiliating" treatment of prisoners remained silent as the previous regime raped, mutilated and murdered their own citizens. Many of these same people decry our actions against Iraq, even as the mass graves of hundreds of thousands are being exhumed.

The very "Arab world" that is enraged by these incidents also sat idly by while Saddam exterminated Kurds in specific and Iraqi citizens in general. They continue to be silent as these atrocities are inflicted upon their fellow Arabs and they cheer when innocent Jews are murdered at random. Those who fan the anti-American flames as a response to these incidents are those who have a great deal to lose in a free and open Iraq. This small group of American morons have played directly into the hands of our enemies.

Understand, the people in this prison were there for a reason. They weren't just innocent people dragged out of their homes indescriminantly. They were insurgents, being interrogated for the specific purpose of deceasing the level of violence that continues to kill not only Americans, but Iraqis as well.

Certainly, none of this justifies the abusive treatment which we are discussing. We are better people than has been exhibited by these deviants. The fact that we are better people is evidenced by the fact that the day after the pictures and the abuse became known in the upper command structure, an investigation was launched and a press release was issued. This happened in January, nearly four months before these pictures surfaced in the press. There was no attempt to hide the fact that these incidents occurred, on the contrary, the Pentagon was quite forthcoming about the situation. Neither Congress, nor the press showed any interest in the situation until the pictures surfaced, and now they insinuate that there was a "cover-up."

I think it important, as we wade through this muck, to keep some things perspective, to examine the sources of the righteous indignation and what is in it for them. The press and the Democrats are using these incidents as a political weapon against the President and his administration specifically, as well as the war in Iraq in general. The net effect will be a tarring of our efforts and a diminishment of the reputations of our military.

We have seen this all before. The actions of a few in Vietnam and the constant focus of their aberrant and abhorrent behavior resulted in a reputation of "baby killers" for literally millions of honorable members of our military. We slinked out of Vietnam with our tails between our legs, the vacuum led to the extermination of millions in Southeast Asia and veterans were spat upon by their fellow citizens.

Those who would use the reputation of our military, or the lives of foreign citizens as pawns in order to achieve their own ends, whether they be the press or politicians, deserve nothing but our scorn.

Monday, May 10, 2004

Senate Condemns Iraqi Prisoner Abuse

There's our senate, taking a courageous stand on a controversial subject! I have been unable to sleep for days wondering whether the Senate would be for or against prisoner abuse. And unanimous no less!

If it were just 100 pompous fools staging a festival of sanctimony it would be annoying. No, the inimitable (an increasingly intolerable) Teddy Kennedy insisted on vomiting this bile soaked sentiment:

"On March 19, 2004, President Bush asked, 'Who would prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still be open?'" said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management."

Does this pathetic excuse for a Senator, ever think about what he is saying before he spews forth these despicable statements? Does any Democrat have the character to stand up and denounce this man when he makes statements such as this? What those soldiers did was indefensible, but to compare their actions to the unspeakable torture and mutilation that was routine under Saddam is grossly offensive. Just as the soldiers involved should be held responsible for their actions, Teddy Kennedy should be held accountable for his irresponsible, repugnant rhetoric.
Iraqi Prisoners and the Geneva Convention

There has been a lot of huffing and puffing about the Geneva Convention with regard to the Iraqi prisoner abuse cases in particular and suspected terrorists in general. Peter Robinson over at The Corner makes this interesting observation:

To qualify as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, detainees must satisfy all four of the following criteria (the quotations here come from the Convention itself):

***The detainees in question must have been "commanded by a person responsible for his subordinates"

***They must have worn "a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance"

***They must have carried their arms "openly"

***And they must have conducted their operations "in accordance with the laws and customs of war"

When the detainees in question are terrorists, they might satisfy the first criterion, but they certainly do not satisfy the remaining three.

While I don't condone the behavior of some of our troops, I do grow weary of the lawless attempting to use our laws against us.
Why is it we never hear the words "Geneva Convention" when discussing Palestinian animals (apologies to animals) blowing themselves up in buses full of children, or when they break into a house and murder defenseless women and children?

Does the Geneva convention only apply to Christians and Jews, or does it apply to Muslims as well? If it does apply then Arafat and the entire Palestinian leadership should be tried and hung in downtown Jerusalem as war criminals, just as a start. Much of what passes for "war" in the Muslim world is no more than wanton murder and destruction. To call Islamic jihad "war" is simply an attempt to cast grossly dishonorable and dispicable actions in an honorable light.

Saturday, May 08, 2004

Prison Abuse

Understand, I find the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American troops to be unacceptable, period. I do find it interesting though, that the "Arab world", a place where life seems rather cheap, where random bombings are common, where unspeakable torture and mutilation has become part of the culture, is exhibiting such righteous indignation.

More should be expected of us than the savages among whom we find ourselves. Clearly, the savages agree.
Islamophobia? Possibly

Last evening, I had a rather spirited discussion with a friend regarding Islam. He does not feel Islam to be a problem, I obviously do. His position was that not all Muslims want to kill us and brought forth a figure of 30% who may feel this way with the balance being peaceful normal people. He did not seem the least bit disturbed that this would translate into approximately 360,000,000 people in the world that want us dead. Nope, not a problem said he, better border control would do the trick. Other than that, there was little we could do or should do in order to better protect ourselves. Measures we have taken to drain the swamp such as Afghanistan and Iraq are not, as he put it "worth one American life".

He was also unphased by the fact that only a very small percentage of Germans (a country of some 70 million people at the time) were actually Nazis but that reletively small group was responsible for a war that cost the lives of more than 50 million people in a span of only four years.

Stunning. This fellow is a highly intelligent and educated individual. He's an engineer and has lived and traveled all over the world. Yet, he seems incapable of acknowledging what is glaringly obvious to me. He was aghast at my contention that Islam itself is a defective mindset at best and diabolism at worst. His reaction indicated that he thought me something of an extremist bigot and I found it quite uncomfortable. Unfortunately, we live in a society where any defined opinions on subjects such as this will win you the label of "bigot" or even worse. Far better that we "honor diversity," even while real extremists seek to annihilate our civilization.

The moral indictments against Islam come not from outside of Islam, they come from Muslims themselves. This morning, I perused "Islam Online" which is often a good resource for monitoring Islamic thought. I came across this piece called "Culture of Suicide?" actually hoping to read some form of denunciation for the wave of suicide bombings throughout the world. Instead, the piece rationalized and defended the practice:

Most Muslim scholars make a distinction between the operations carried out by the Palestinians and the act of committing suicide - thereby differentiating between the two terms "suicide bombings" and "martyr operations" - on the basis that suicides kill themselves out of despair, hopelessness and fear of suffering, whereas martyrs sacrifice their lives, choosing to suffer death for Allah's sake, in the hope of furthering the Palestinian Cause.

Then there's this gem:

Yet, a majority of Muslim jurists consider it forbidden to target Jews outside Palestine/Israel, on the grounds that they are not directly involved in acts of aggression against Palestinians, even if they support Israel.

So, indiscriminate killing of Jews in what they cleverly call "Palestine/Israel" is perfectly OK in the minds of "Muslim jurists" and some condone such killings outside of Israel.

One of the points that I have made all along is that this carnage is pursued without condemnation from, and often with the blessings of Muslim clergy. This seems to support that belief. Another point that I have made is that Muslims themselves either fail to criticize this murder, or they actively support it. Again, according to Islam Online:

In fact, many Muslims wholeheartedly agree with the strategy of resistance that the Palestinians have taken up. According to The Guardian, polls reveal that 75% of the people in the Muslim world are in favor of martyr operations - the term given by Muslims to what is technically known as suicide bombing.

Feel free to read the whole article which is jam-packed with Palestinian whining, Jew hatred and blanket justifications for pretty much any outrageous course of action Muslims choose to take.

Am I a bigot? No, I don't think so, not even close. Am I more convinced than ever of the inherent dangers of Islam? Absolutely. Does that make me an Islamophobe? Well, I guess it does.

Note: I have permanantly linked this to the right, under "Essays."

Friday, May 07, 2004

Arab Appointed to Israeli Supreme Court

In Israel, an Arab is appointed to the Supreme Court. In Saudi Arabia, Jews are not even allowed in the country. Illustrative, to say the least.
More Stupid ChiCom Tricks

In a move that will prove futile and, will eventually spell doom for the ChiCom regime, the Beijing Bozos have closed down more than 8,600 Internet cafes in the last three months. They seem blissfully unaware that giving people a taste of something and then taking it away simply enrages them.

They cited the spread of "unhealthy information" through the internet and fears that children could be exposed to pornography or become hooked on online video games. Well, their concern for "the children" is touching, but somehow, I think that the "unhealthy information" which they fear has little to do with pornography or video games. The story cites an incident that underscores Beijing's overwhelming concern that China's young be protected:

In one case last month, an Internet cafe in the western city of Chongqing was fined after two teenagers spent more than 48 hours playing an online video game, then fell asleep on a railroad track and were killed by a train.

Hmmmm. The ChiComs wouldn't lie about something like this, would they?
As Real As It Gets

It's so easy to become jaded with politicians who spend a great deal of time "positioning" themselves so as to easily change positions later. It's easy to become cynical watching politicians who seem to do things simply for the PR or to pander to some group, simply for votes. In this environment, it is so refreshing to encounter stories that show a high degree of character and humanity in our leaders, particularly in the President of the United States. Here are two of such stories that have come to my attention.

In the first story, when working a rope line in Cincinnati a person in the crowd points out to the President, a teenage girl who had lost her mother in The World Trade Center. His reaction shows a level of compassion that grabs one by the throat. The photo, taken not by the press or by a White House photographer but by her father, is striking and the story is even more so. Do read it.

The second comes via Hugh Hewitt and concerns Mike McNaughton, a young man who lost his leg in Afghanistan:

"President Bush came to visit the wounded in the hospital. He told Mike that when he could run a mile, that they would go on a run together. True to his word, he called Mike every month or so to see how he was doing. Well, last week they went on the run, 1 mile with the president. Not something you'll see in the news, but seeing the president taking the time to say thank you to the wounded and to give hope to one of my best friends was one of the greatest/best things I have seen in my life. It almost sounds like a corny email chain letter, but God bless him."

This is a story that was given little publicity, in fact you will notice that the link to the story is to Snopes, a website that dispels or confirms "urban legends." Again, read the whole story, which includes a photo of the President running with this brave young man.
Bush, Wife to Skip Daughters' Graduations

Wouldn't you think that, during his re-election campaign, a president would savor the free publicity that his his attendance at the graduation of his twin daughters from college would generate?

Well, citing that "The Bushes felt the focus should be on the students, and not how long the lines are to go through the metal detectors" the White House has announced that there are no plans for the President or The First Lady to attend the ceremonies. It's all about priorities and the President seems to have his well in order.
Oregon Man Arrested in Spain Bombings Probe

Brandon Mayfield who is lawyer and a former Army officer was born in Oregon and is married with three children. His fingerprints were found on materials related to the Madrid bombings. Mayfield is not an Arab, but it appears that he is a Muslim terrorist. He converted to Islam in 1989. He had done some legal work for a man, convicted of conspiracy to aid Al Qaeda and the Taliban, in a custody case.

Now, I have written about Islam and its history of violence, with the purpose of exposing it for being nothing more than a theological poseur. Muslim apologists will cite poverty and despair as a cause, though many of these terrorists are affluent and educated. Many will cite cultural differences, but there have been several arrests of U.S. citizens, such as Mayfield, whose journeys to terrorism began with their conversion to Islam. The common thread that ties these people together is their devotion to Allah.

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Cruisin' ChiCom Morons
Oh My, They ARE As Stupid As They Look!

You would think that the Chinese would handle Hong Kong very gently so as to not upset one of the Golden Egg Laying Goose. Well, no, you would be wrong. In yet another display of arrogant stupidity, the ChiComs have concluded that their best course of action is to intimidate Hong Kong by sailing warshps into Victoria Harbor.

I'm sure that after this display of the mighty Chinese Navy, the good citizens of Hong Kong will discard their democracy fetish and line up to buy Chairman Mao jackets.
OK, I Stand Corrected

I do not want to bash John Kerry unjustly - there are far too many too many ways to bash him justly. I have mentioned several times in this space that Sen. Kerry has had no comment on the Iraqi prisoner abuse story. Well, in fact, he has. Via Instapundit comes this New York Times piece from May 1, which quotes the Senator as saying this on the unfortunate matter:

Senator John Kerry, Mr. Bush's Democratic challenger, issued a statement Friday saying: "I am disturbed and troubled by the evidence of shameful mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners. We must learn the facts and take the appropriate action.

"As Americans, we must stand tall for the rule of law and freedom everywhere," Mr. Kerry added. "But we cannot let the actions of a few overshadow the tremendous good work that thousands of soldiers are doing every day in Iraq and all over the world."

Fair enough Senator Kerry, well said. Well said indeed.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Bush to Appear on Arab TV

Bravo! President Bush has decided the best way to deal with this prisoner abuse problem is the way he tends to deal with all problems; confront it head on. What a truly remarkable course of action:

WASHINGTON - The White House said late Tuesday President Bush will do two ten-minute interviews with Arab television to address pictures that have surfaced of U.S. troops abusing Iraqis.

The president's first interview will be with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram at the White House, and officials told Reuters he would speak to other outlets including Arab TV on later dates.

"The president will speak directly to the Arab world," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with pan-Arabic television channel Al-Arabiya on Tuesday. "It's just extremely important that we continue to talk to the people of the region directly."

"We want everyone to understand that the United States believes in peace," Rice said. "And the United States has tried in the Arab world and around the world to stand for a set of values. We believe that when people hear our story, that they will understand, at least, then for themselves."

I think that this will be well received among a certain segment of the Arab population and so it is well worth the effort. At the very least it shows the incredible contrast between our leaders and theirs.

Another segment will probably be outraged, as usual.
John Kerry's Vietnam Quagmire

Yesterday I posted regarding a comrade of John Kerry in Vietnam who has gone on the record as saying that he's a liar and is unfit to be president.

Today, he has written a scathing editorial in the Wall Street Journal outlining his disgust. I cannot see how in the world John Kerry can even respond to this, I really can't. He is simply not smooth enough to extricate himself from this and the hemorrhaging is about to begin.

I think that this man's words and sentiments carry a lot of weight. Enough weight to sink John Kerry's presidential aspirations months before the nomination.
Hearings Hearings Everywhere.......
But Little Being Said Worth Listening To

It would appear that the reaction from Congress to virtually anything is to "hold a hearing." You know "hearings," those annoying displays whereby arrogant legislators arrange an iquisition so that they can strut their pomposity in the hope that a soundbite or two may make it onto the news. These exercises have become little more than a device to remind whomever is the subject of the inquisition just how important and powerful the inquisitor is. Look at the 9/11 "hearing," has any thing even remotely constructive come from it?

Now, the Grand Poobahs of the Inquisition want to organize yet another "hearing," this time on the matter of the prisoner abuse in Iraq, and they want Don Rumsfeld to testify. Now I have been quite vehement that those responsible for these outrages should pay the appropriate price. I hardly see what purpose a "congressional hearing" will serve at this point, other than a forum for the Congressional peacocks to strut their inflated egos.

Why not give the military the chance to clean up their mess? They are investigating and they are prosecuting, what more do the roosters want? Considering the President's view on the matter and the obvious embarrassment the incident has caused, I can hardly believe that the matter is in danger of being whitewashed.

As an aside, Sen. Kerry has yet to make a comment on this story. Given his self-described experience in the matter of atrocities, I continue to find his silence odd.