All Things Beautiful

"The Quickest Way Of Ending A War Is To Lose It"

"Blind Leading The Blind III" by Peter Howson 1991, Private Collection, London

As Caroline Glick reminds me of the George Orwell quip above, the Israeli Government's "desire to attempt to bolster the popularity of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ahead of the February 10 general elections" looks set to go :

Since Tuesday it has become clear that the Olmert-Livni-Barak government has decided to end the war with Iran's Hamas proxy army in Gaza as quickly as possible. That is, the government has decided to lose the war.

All so called peace proposals on the table consisting of the usual array of EU concilatory 'stop or I'll say stop again' bullshit starting with the assumption that all of Hamas' demands are met as a matter of course, thereby negating all of Israel's by definition, including the all important permanent 'cease fire'. No-one is asking it "to disarm, end its weapons trafficking or commit itself to a permanent cease-fire".

Has everyone conveniently forgotten that Hamas is genocidal? They are not interested in peace or diplomacy, they are simply interested in eradicating the Jews. Period. Hamas militants need the violent clashes. It's what they do. It's their day job, paid for through myriad and seedy channels by Iran, under the general auspice of 'Holy War'. Hamas is an illegal terrorist organization, its purpose the destruction of Israel. Hamas men are Jihadists, all boys future supplies for the course; women, necessary to keep the cycle going.

"The EU is arguably committing a war crime by accepting Hamas as a legitimate side to a dispute. In turn, by accepting the EU as a legitimate interlocutor, Israel itself gives credence to the view that Hamas is a legitimate actor. "

What the hell happened? We have in effect legalized Hamas' illegal aggression, and given it the same consideration as the legitimate defense of the sovereign state of Israel, whilst at the same time making it impossible for her to defend herself against further aggressions without attracting the wrath of the International community. The 'land for peace' in 2005 was a treacherous and ungrateful concept, which simply vindicated the warning that historically any land Israel relinquishes will be used to attack it. Hamas can now comfortably lob rockets from Gaza, giving Israelis 30 seconds to take cover. Yeah right.

The firing of rockets at civilians from densely populated civilian areas is the newest tactic in the war between terrorists who love death and democracies that love life. The terrorists have learned how to exploit the morality of democracies against those who do not want to kill civilians, even enemy civilians.

The attacks on Israeli citizens have little to do with what Israel does or does not do. They have everything to do with an ideology that despises – and openly seeks to destroy – the Jewish state. Consider that rocket attacks increased substantially after Israel disengaged from Gaza in 2005, and they accelerated further after Hamas seized control last year.

The language of the Middle East is clear, why is Israel the only country not allowed to speak it? But speak it they must: "The late King of Jordan had no qualms about using his might to put down a Palestinian uprising during "Black September" in 1970. He ordered refugee camps to be bombed. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people died. The PLO then moved its headquarters to Lebanon. Arafat moved to Cairo and later to Tunis.

Former Syrian President Hafis al-Assad, the father of Syria's present ruler, pulled no punches in fighting insurgent members of the Muslim Brotherhood. He devastated the city of Hama in February 1982, killing between 10,000 and 30,000 civilians. No one accused him of "genocide" -- and if someone had, al-Assad would have asked his critics not to meddle in the domestic affairs of his country."

When are we going to even begin to understand that the war Israel fights is our war. It is the war of today, the war with Islamist extremists who are not interested in diplomacy, and even less in the survival of the infidels. They need a swift and expedient kick in the groin delivered by the entire international community. Zero tolerance internationally, recognition that we are on Israel's side with as many politically incorrect actions as we can muster, and yes I am talking about standing up to Iran:

“......Iran is the most lethal, the most dangerous, and the most aggressive terror master in the world today.” Like the global totalitarian movements and regimes that threatened Western civilization in the last century, the Iranians come with a messianic ideology that admits no compromise with its enemies.  This war will only end with a winner and a loser, not with two contented negotiators. Forget that our enemies want us dead or dominated, they don't want a world at peace in which they will have to deal with real problems of governance.  They are waging jihad, not diplomacy.

“It follows from this that you cannot "solve" Gaza by fighting in Gaza alone, you have to win the terror war.  And to do that, you must accomplish regime change, just as Netanyahu said.  But the crucial regime change must be accomplished in Iran.  Whatever Israel accomplishes in Gaza (and the same holds for our battles in Iraq and Afghanistan), it is only a matter of time before the mullahs reorganize, rearm, and return to battle. And the next battle may involve nuclear weapons.

Hamas is simply acting on the direct instructions of the Iranian Mullahcracy that reigns supreme. Iran is the biggest threat to our way of life, the democracy that we hold dear, the freedom that we cherish and take for granted. In Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens that the battle over Palestine is "the prelude of the battle of Islam with the world of arrogance", the world of the West.

We are all well aware how Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad is modeling himself on Grand-Master-Über-Thug Ayatollah Khomeini (may he rot in Hell for all eternity).

We also know with certainty, that the Mullahcracy has been desperately trying to build their nuclear bomb at least since the early Nineties. We furthermore know today, that with all the various assurances given to stop production in the past, no such efforts were in fact made. Nothing but bold faced lies.

Finally, we know, that for the period of almost two decades, every promise of co-operation, extracted from the Mullahcracy at various times by the U.S., several EU member states, the IAEA, the UN and other such illustrious parties so as to prevent a nuclear Islamic Republic in the heart of the Middle East, has only ever been feigned with one aim in mind, to buy more time for the Mullahcracy to reach nuclear ecstasy.

And the only variable, determining the time-line, remains unchanged: the war will start when our Thug-In-Chief finally manages to get his dirty mitts on the nuclear bomb. Nothing else, no UNSC resolutions, no diplomatic efforts and certainly no appeasement policies will stop the lethally delusional  Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, nor his Thug-In-Chief.

Victor Davis Hanson tells it how it is:

”There is something especially nauseating about the latest Middle East war — scenes of worldwide Islamic protests with photos of Jews as apes, protesters (in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida of all places!) screaming about nuking Israel and putting Jews in ovens, parades of children dressed up with suicide vests and fake rockets, near constant anti-Semitic vicious sloganeering, Gaza mosques stuffed with rockets to be used against civilians — all to be collated with creepy Hamas rhetoric about the annihilation of Israel. This is the world in which we now live.

Almost no other issue in recent memory has illustrated the moral bankruptcy of much of the international community. Hamas has no pretensions, like the PA, of being a governing authority; it used violence to rout the PA and then bragged that its charter pledging the destruction of Israel remained unchanged. Israel evacuated Gaza; Gazans in response looted their own infrastructure, alienated both the PA and Egypt,and then sent off more than 6,000 rockets against Israeli civilians, while eagerly becoming a terrorist puppet of theocratic Iran.

Nothing could be more clear: either the fact that a constitutional republic was trying to avoid civilian casualties while a terrorist organization was intent on killing Jewish civilians as it used its own citizens as shields to protect mostly young male terrorists; or the world's craven reaction to all this.

Again all very creepy — the stuff of Tolkien's Mordor. It is now clear that the so-called and much praised "international community," the hallowed U.N., the revered EU, all pretty much are indifferent to the survival of a democratic Israel, or are actively supportive of its terrorist Hamas enemy. Only the U.S. (for now) stands by a constitutional state in its war against a murderous terrorist clique, with annihilation its aim and religious fascism its creed.”

I leave you with Barry Rubin's must read:

Today, people ask, why didn't the Jews of Poland understand the Nazis were going to wipe them out, at least in the earlier period when escape or revolt was more possible? According to contemporary and later eyewitness testimony, because they didn't think Germans would act in such an unpragmatic manner.
[...]
Answer: ideology. A doctrine and belief system will make people act in a way that doesn't fit pragmatic expectations. Why should Hamas start a war against a stronger power? Due to believing itself to be stronger and its need to mobilize mass support. Why should Palestinian leaders reject a state even if it means the end of an increasingly small degree of "occupation"? Due to belief that total victory is inevitable, that compromise is treason, and that their enemies are satanic.
[...]
No matter how much diplomatic aid, sympathy, or money the West gives Hamas — and it has saved Hamas and the PLO over and over from their own mistakes — they will not become grateful or pro-Western. Anti-Western and anti-American sentiment is too valuable and too widespread to disappear. The Palestinians — and Iran's regime, and Syria's government, and Hezbollah, and other Islamists — need scapegoats. Who else are they going to blame for their problems? Themselves?

If you save the terrorists today, they will commit more terrorism tomorrow. If you let them escape the consequences of their own extremism, you can guarantee they will stay extremist and take a lot of the masses with them.
[...]
This is the Middle East of 2008 and not of 1958, 1968, 1978, 1988, or 1998. The Palestinian issue has little effect on any other issue. The real conflict is Iran-Syria against Egypt-Saudi Arabia. Islamists are seeking to conquer the region from Arab nationalists. Radical groups are not interested in happy homelands but jihad and genocide.

And so the issue is not why Israel is attacking Hamas in Gaza now, but why Hamas in Gaza is attacking Israel now.

So fasten your seat belts, it continues to be, as it was before, just a matter of time. The Jews are fighting our war, what will it take for us to understand that? As long as we continue to make excuses at every turn and fail to acknowledge the elephant in the room, nothing will change.

But hey, what the hell, as Christians, let's rant and rave in support of Hamas' genocidal tirade of depraved indifference to human life. After all, specially designed for those who wage war against Allah, it passed a Shari'a criminal code for the Palestinian Authority this Christmas legalizing crucifixion .

That nails it for me, what about you? Looking for a banner-waving chanting protest to march to, so we can spit some more insults into Israel's face? After all we need to find someone to blame for the Brits promising the same piece of real estate to the Jews and the Arabs.

Shame on us.

P.S. PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO SOME 600 COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS POSTS, THE COMMENTS ON ATB ARE BEING SHOWN IN REVERSE, I.E. LAST COMMENT FIRST.

"We Are All Jews Now!"

The famous painting by Otto Dix 'The Skat Players' 1920, Gallerie der Stadt Stuttgart, Germany

URGENT MESSAGE: Due to the large number of comments on this post (almost 400 at present), and 550 on the previous one, in order to circumvent the new Typepad system which allows only 50 per page, I have changed the display to show newest comments first. You can then click on 'next' to read the previous ones 50 at a time.

Thank you for the hundreds of e-mails of support, begging me not to stop blogging, even if it means a post a week, an image, anything. The jury is still out...

I have been temporarily torpedoed out of my Sabbatical cocoon by this e-mail, in response to my original post called The Myth of Palestine Part II, which happens to be my favorite of all time on ATB (Part I is here). The e-mail sent my heart rate pumping, and reaching for my pills. Perhaps having stayed away from blogging had weakened my stomach for these 'anonymous cowards' who frequently pollute my Inbox. Like this one, more often than not they are in response to my Myth of Palestine posts linked to above:

I disagree. They do exists and have every right to. Racist Israelis such as yourself are one of the problem in the Middle East. If anything, the UN and the US made a mistake by creating a Jewish state. You guys were wiped off by the Romans. I wondered why? Now, with the help the American tax money, you guys are wiping the Palestinians off the map.

While Americans pay attention to China's treatment of Tibet, the world is watching Israel and their annihilation of the Palestinians.

Keep hiding under your yamacas [sic], because Karma is a bitch.

For the umpteenth time....[yawn]: I am not Israeli, nor am I Jewish. I don't wear a yarmulke, I wear Prada. If that makes me 'The Devil', so be it. Just so that we all understand each other, I am a devout Christian, and I am vehemently against the tyranny of Islamofascism. Calling me a racist simply because I am pro-Jewish, is simply ignorant.

Unlike you dear Anonymous, I don't hide under a rock, you can find out who I am simply by clicking 'ABOUT' in the top right hand corner of my Blog.

I have written enough about Israel, the so called 'Palestine', and the whole mess in the Middle East, for everyone to know that I am fiercely pro-Israel. Realizing that the Arabs in Saudi are finally reaching an understanding of the realities facing the conflict in the Middle East, it is uncanny to think that, sanity is prevailing, and the region is accepting that siding with extremists is going to get them killed at best, and let them be seen to be 'sleeping with the enemy' and then get killed anyway, at worst.

I have said it before and I'll say it again: after nearly 40 years of pin-point targeted response to Arab rabid hostilities leading to this perverse situation where the West pays the Palestinian officials, synonymous with terrorism, billions of Dollars so that they can keep spitting into Israel's face, we have come a full circle.

Nothing changes. Let's just sit tight whilst Iran builds its nuclear bomb, so that we can all cry about it afterwards, like we did when we calmly watched Hitler slaughter the Jews.

One of my favorite quotes from Charles Moore @ The Telegraph published a while back, to be never more relevant as it is today:

All I want to ask my fellow Europeans [and Americans] is this: are you happy to help direct the world's fury at the only country in the Middle East whose civilization even remotely resembles yours? And are you sure that the fate of Israel has no bearing on your own? In Iran, the new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes the link. The battle over Palestine, he says, is "the prelude of the battle of Islam with the world of arrogance", the world of the West. He is busy building his country's nuclear bomb."

I believe we suffer from acute self-aggrandizement and individualistic hyperbole, which in the final analysis is nothing but ignorant arrogance as it is both hollow and superficial in all its aspects.

In many ways, the term 'Clash of Civilizations' contains the seeds of a most comprehensive truth. I am afraid though that we will have to come to terms with the fact, that the lines will prove to be much more blurred and drawn criss-cross throughout our society. Just when we reluctantly acknowledge the reality of a long-drawn-out conflict centering around religious beliefs; just when we thought that the factions could be limited to those of Judea-Christian beliefs versus Islamic ones, must we realize, that the scope is far wider: Faith versus Skepticism with all its variations such as cynicism, pessimism, disbelief, agnosticism, atheism, and anti-Semitism. In short, the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless, otherwise called Nihilism.

The lines in the sand have been drawn...as I have said before: "We Are All Jews Now"!

As Sir Winston Churchill wisely said, and my father bravely lived: "You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for something sometime in your life."

Indeed.

Introducing The Angel Of Death (Repeat)

Crowds of people have congregated as if in anticipation of experiencing a miraculous religious vision - but instead a grotesque dead chicken lies slumped across the cliff-top in front of them. The crowd's inability to recognize the inanity of the object they are venerating, emphasized the futility of their mission.
"Chihuahua" by David Alfaro Siqueiros 1947, Museo de Arte Alvar y Carmen T de Carillo, Mexico City

By now, at the tail end of 2007, we all know who Mohammad-Ali Ramin is. But when I first wrote about him some eighteen months ago he was a relative unknown, and aside from the odd flutter at the beginning of this year, when he claimed in a December 28th interview with a Tehran-based 'Baztab' news website that Hitler was Jewish, he is keeping his powder relatively dry. I still say, fasten your seat belts, it's going to be an explosive ride:

"We will acquire this [nuclear] technology and export it to all the 150 countries. This is the power we have not yet used."

Mohammad-Ali Ramin's looks are deceptive.

He is good looking with his soft, well manicured beard. His looks are either German or Scandinavian, blue eyes, light hair. Nothing threatening, charming smile; you'd invite him to your dinner party without a moments hesitation. Well almost....

Little would you know that you would be wining and dining the very reincarnation of Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Eichmann, Dr Josef Mengele dubbed 'The Angel of Death', you name it, take your pick, improved only in looks and finesse. Pure, unabashed, soft-spoken evil. Measured in tone, deliberate and utterly confident in everything he says. He's not a psychopath, but someone who is absolutely convinced to occupy the moral high ground, certain of his convictions being sanctioned by Allah himself.

The Jury Is Out

 

I am baaack!

This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle.

President Bush wryly hit the nail on the head when he was referring to Lt. Gen David Petraeus as the 'new commander'.

Only last week did the Senate unanimously confirm General Petraeus as the top U.S. commander in Iraq, full well knowing that his appointment "marks the real start of the new US strategy in Iraq, but is also seen as a last chance to turn things around".

And the new US strategy is what? Is it just more troops -- 21,500 extra U.S. troops, to be precise? Does it mean, that these extra "troops are now going to run out and look for gun battles with insurgents in back alleys", as critics immediately after the President's State of the Union address had us believe?

Of course not.

Nuclear Communist Islamofascism

'Winter Landscape with Church' by Caspar David Friedrich 1811, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund

 

'Nuclear Communist Islamofascism' -- you think I am joking, just wait...

During his recent trip to Iran, the German head of the opposition Green party faction, Fritz Kuhn, confirmed how the leading thugs of the Mullahcracy had been caught by surprise after Russia and China supported UNSC Resolution 1737.

On the contrary, they had hoped to isolate the U.S. by splitting away Russia and China, and, with a bit of luck, even most of Europe. What they didn't expect, was the unanimous vote against them.

I don't share many convictions with Fritz Kuhn of the Green party -- bloody champagne communists, the lot of them, if you ask me -- but because the Mullahs know the Green party to be thoroughbred appeasers, because they trust them not to interfere, they'll drop their guard on occasions lower, thus revealing more, than intended. And the likes of Kuhn, or John-America-is-a-"pariah"-Kerry, never seem to disappoint. Kuhn goes out of his way to explain to his Iranian counterparts, all that is needed is to tone down the rhetoric; that they should understand, eventually Israel will connect such rhetoric with the 'Atomfrage' ('atomic question' - some question, yeah right...), "...you know, what would happen, if someone who talks so aggressively, has the atomic bomb at his disposal...That's the thing, you guys in Iran have to understand, that there is a connection...". Wow, really? Now that you are telling me.... My word!

On the other hand, we have the Supreme Thug-In-Chief Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei blinding us with breathtaking logic: American forces plant the bombs in order to create the appearance of sectarian violence. "They are well familiar with the secrets of their seditious job. They know how to provoke Sunnis against Shiites and how to incite Shiites against Sunnis. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran the colonialists intensified their efforts."

Faces Of Evil

"Martyrdom of St Erasmus" by Dieric Bouts the Elder ca.1458, Sankt Peterskerk, Louvain

 

Well, if dealing with naughty 'Hubby Bubba' is all Hillary is proposing to offer as credentials to deal with evil men, one poster child, Hossein Shariatmadari, should pop the cork.

And only days after the first annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, it is of particular importance to put a face to evil whenever possible, hence the link to Hossein's picture from Holy Crime's list of Iran's 'Most Wanted' -- don't miss the Mullahcracy's panoptic who's who of butchers and henchmen.

You remember my expose on Iran's current godfather of evil, Mohammad-Ali Ramin, who trumped his Holocaust denial with the recent claim that Hitler was Jewish and the founder of Israel -- all of course in the interest to further discredit the State of Israel in preparation for its destruction.

So, what sets Hossein Shariatmadari apart? Not surprisingly, he joins Mohammad-Ali Ramin as a member of a neo-fundamentalist think tank, another who's who of evil; all are of course sworn supporters of Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad and Supreme-Thug-In-Chief Ali Khamenei -- recently voted the 'least popular of Iranian leaders', just over 1%....

Also, Hossein is busy spreading the Holocaust denial propaganda via the Iranian daily, Kayhan, where he is Editor and General Manager of the Kayhan Institute and Publishing Company or, according to the Official News Agency of the Islamic Republic (IRNA), the head of the 'Media Mafia' -- it's a must read, granting us a rare insight as to the extend to which the Mullahcracy have fashioned their entire infrastructure after that of the Nazis.

The Big Push - To Take America Down A Peg Or Two

"The Survivor" by George Grosz 1944, Private Collection

 

Even award winning historians sometimes can't resist the allure of contortionist acrobatics. I am of course speaking metaphorically as I am referring to Adam Hochschild's extraordinary efforts to connect National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley's "the big push" quote to 600,000 killed soldiers with the disastrous "The Big Push" campaign during the 1916 Battle of Somme.

Rarely have we been treated to such spurious foundation, which in a nutshell depend solely on the vivid description of trenched warfare in "muddy, shell-pocketed wasteland" during WW-I and an isolated quip by retired US Army Lieutenant-General William Odom, former director of the National Security Agency, saying: "It's like finding yourself in a hole and then digging deeper."

That's it. That's all that connects the horrors of World War I with tackling the murdering Islamofascists in Iraq; an analogy in itself, conjuring up the image of trenched warfare and, voilà, we have the headline: "Why the 'big push' sounds horribly familiar".

If we needed more evidence that those surrounding US President George W Bush have a tin ear for the lessons of history, it came this month when National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley referred to increasing the number of US troops in Iraq as "the big push" that would bring victory closer.

"The Big Push" is a phrase that came into the language with another troop surge that was supposed to bring another war to victory. For months beforehand, the Big Push was how British cabinet ministers, propagandists, generals, and foot soldiers talked about the 1916 Battle of the Somme.

I am no longer surprised by the bold-faced audacity, with which the left attempts to discredit all and every efforts to defeat acknowledged evil in the form of proxy terrorists from Iran and Syria, hell-bent to bring death and destruction to our way of life; irrespective whether Democrat or Republican, to them we are all Infidel scum.

But this contortion to fabricate a connection between Hadley's "the big push" and WW-I, just to be able to deliver the opening broadside of having a 'tin ear for lessons of history', is simply pathetic.

None of that alters the fact, that the Administration is facing growing opposition against the 'surge' even from within Republican ranks -- and I hesitate a guess, the President's SOTU address in a few hours time isn't going to change that -- but, at least the arguments are perfectly transparent in so far as they are politically motivated or, as Dean Barnett @ Hugh Hewitt explains, motivated by taking the U.S. down a peg or two.

Danger And Opportunity

 

"Our two revolutions are at heart the same", Chavez said, comparing Iran's overthrow of the Shah with his self-styled socialist movement.

Such statements always intrigue me.

Could Chavez really be so ignorant and not only fail to grasp the difference, but the sheer enormity of it? Or does he so much like the sound of a catchy phrase, cheerfully continuing the every day practice of endlessly reciting socialistic slogans, in the perpetual effort to placate the mostly uneducated poor and thus condemning them to remain just so? Is it possible, that he doesn't know any better? Or does he choose to ignore the Mullahcracy's all-important emphasis on it being an Islamic revolution; that they couldn't care less about all the worldly and material promises inherent in the western ideology of 'revolutions'.

Back in the dusty streets of Tehran, critics are quick to attack the obvious:

What are our bounds with Venezuela, Nicaragua or Ecuador and Bolivia? Are we neighbors? Do we share the same faith?

Of course not. Chavez is just another Infidel; yes, one of use temporarily, but Infidel none the less. Much in the same vain as Infidel members of the MSM are temporarily praised when promoting Islamofascist propaganda. Case in point is BBC's dramatization of Thug-In-Chief's visit to South America:

"With his eyes fixed firmly on the Middle East, the last thing President Bush wants is another hostile diplomatic front opening up in his own backyard. But with the arrival of the Iranian president in the region, that is exactly what some commentators are predicting", reported the BBC’s Latin America correspondent, adding that, "The most worrying alliance for Washington is that being forged between Iran and Venezuela".

Most worrying indeed... especially as our Thug-In-Chief is most likely promising nukes to each and every one who will support his struggle against all of those nasty nations trying to stop him from fulfilling his promise of a nuclear Holocaust. What a dream scenario: the US surrounded by hostile nuclear powers, giving hell to the great Satan in the North. That ought to buy our Thug-In-Chief some time to sort things out in the Middle East - or so he hopes.

But why worry? The Haute Couture shows in Paris are the biggest ever with almost double the designers parading before overcrowded catwalks. Our love for the monarchy is alive and well, judging by Dame Helen Mirren's success at the Golden Globe awards; a success likely repeated at the Oscars.

Failure Is Not An Option

'The Crucifixion (detail)' by Matthias Grünewald ca. 1515, Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar

 

"Failure in Iraq would be a disaster for the United States. The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict. It is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. On one side are those who believe in freedom and moderation. On the other side are extremists who kill the innocent, and have declared their intention to destroy our way of life." President Bush, Wednesday, January 10 2007.

Can you say it anymore clearly than that? No, of course you can't. But who is listening?

Nobody!

To those, who realize the need for us to remain in Iraq in order to push back at the Islamofascists, the President is preaching to the already converted. And according to the ostriches among us, he merely continues with his 'fear/war-mongering' and 'sable-rattling' so as to divert attention away from the no longer so secret agenda of turning the United States of America into a fascist dictatorship, or, depending on whether our ostrich got up on the wrong side of the bed, into a evangelical theocracy.

So, no mileage there. Period.

And period again. That's the problem. No matter the eloquence, no matter how persuasive the logic and arguments, the opposition has long abandoned any interest in reason. Were it not so, the safety of unconditional hatred would have to be abandoned, which is of course much too inconvenient, for it is tantamount to popping out the pacifier from a baby's mouth.

The alternative?

Blind Justice (New Year's Thread)

 

Saddam is dead, but our Thug-In-Chief is very much alive, albeit politically wounded.

I don't know why the news about Saddam's hanging fails to stir any emotion in me. Well, other than being incensed by the reaction from the left. Thanks to Jim @ Gateway Pundit for the display of liberal bullshit, such as this classic from Huffington Post

Saddam indeed was a brutal dictator.

The fact that atrocities worse than those caused by him are now going on during the occupation, should make the Bush administration feel ashamed that they have made Saddam's brutal dictatorship look like a walk in the park.

I believe that every execution is controversial; Hussein's probably the least of all in terms of accumulated guilt -- he certainly deserved to be put to death by his people.

Iran's Middle Finger Is Firmly Up

 

Ahem, this is no surprise to anyone, least of all ATB readers, who had a heads up nudge well ahead of time.

Well, I don't know what the appeasing, rabid anti-Semite ElBaradei was playing at, but the astonishing admission of one of Iran's top officials, that they were playing games with the IAEA so as to gain more time to complete their true nuclear ambitions, namely the acquisition of a nuclear bomb, as I revealed exclusively ahead of the MSM already in February, is something that ElBaradei certainly cannot deny anymore. I have never trusted that man, and his image as the Director General caught sleeping at the wheel grows more suspicious every day.

But, alas nothing. And certainly not at the seemingly perpetual stage of endless so called 'diplomatic wrangling', better described as impotent hand wringing; of utterly diluted UN sanctions, which Iran knows won't bite -- after all, the MSM has made it abundantly clear that any possibility of military strikes against Iran has completely evaporated, so why care about sanctions without any stick attached. All that is left, is a UN, hell bent on pursuing their usual 'stop or I'll say stop again' strategy.

The Race For Souls (Weekend Thread)

'The Adoration of the Name of Jesus' by El Greco 1578-80, National Gallery, London

 

The term, 'Southern Christians' needs our attention and Spengler's reminder of Philip Jenkins' fascinating book, 'The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South' is indeed timely. (You must read the entire article, and in particular the second page)

It is timely, because in these foreboding times, clarity of vision is of supreme importance, not least so as to overcome any feeling of despair, but instead, to refocus on how each and everyone of us can do his or her best to forge a better world for our children.

Programs, like the series at the Carnegie Council called 'The Resurgence of Religion in Politics', help us recapture the all important strategic overview, especially, when we are granted a rare understanding of the grand motivator, which is driving key strategic decisions of foe and friend alike:

The fact is, that the race for souls in the most populous parts of the world is won by Christianity.

Point Of No Return

'The Fall of Icarus' by Pieter Pauwel Rubens 1636, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

 

Just as the Iranian president does not draw any connection between the occupation and his desire to nullify Israel's existence, the world should also view the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and the Iranian threat to Israel as separate issues. Ahmadinejad does not recognize the 1967 borders - or any borders - for a Jewish state. He uses Holocaust denial to eradicate the moral basis for Israel's existence, and even says so openly. That was the explicit explanation that the Iranian foreign minister gave for why it is necessary to discuss the "myth" of the Holocaust right now. To counter this, it is necessary to create a moral, diplomatic, political and even military front - one that will be activist rather than sleepy and apologetic, and that will make the discussion of Israel's destruction unprofitable for the Iranians even before any discussion of the goals of the nuclear capabilities they are developing.

This from Haaretz today, entitled "Iran grows strong, the world yawns".

It is with deep frustration and even deeper sense of brooding anxiety, that I am forced to face this awful reality all around us; the world yawns in the face of Israel's looming doom, and never more so, than after Lebanon War II.

Articles, editorials and valued opinions are more outspoken than ever, yet in a tragic way, instead of arousing the desired sense of urgency, they seem to intensify the feeling of despondency and inevitability.

The only thing worse to a heated debate against someone, who is fuelled by anti-Semitism and bigotry is a dejected 'whatever'. It almost seems, even outgoing Kofi Annan feels a point-of-no-return has been passed:

Could It Be?

 

The Baker-Hamilton Plan is all the talk of course (Iraq Study Group - or ISG for short), which in a nutshell is a proposal to reverse the strategy of taking the war-on-terror to the murdering thugs' home in favor of embracing them à la, 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'. Instead of fighting the Islamofascists, the ISG is opting for talks.

So, what does that mean? To be blunt, talking to the Mullahcracies in Iran communicates to the rest of the world two very important messages, both of which carrying enormous consequences:

One, conceding victory to Iran over domestic control in Iraq; fuelling bloodshed on the streets of Baghdad and getting the MSM to lay the blame on our doorstep has been a spectacular success for the Islamic spin doctors and their sympathizers/appologists all round. Surrender now would not be the consequence of failure or our inability to succeed, but because democracy has proven to be as weak and feckless a system as its adversaries assume.

The jihadi's theory of victory is simple; the West can be bullied into not lifting a finger to defend itself.

Victor David Hanson puts this first message, the all-important admission of defeat, into historical perspective when he writes, "A civilization that has lost confidence in itself cannot confront the Islamists."

What would a beleaguered Socrates, a Galileo, a Descartes, or Locke believe, for example, of the moral paralysis in Europe? Was all their bold and courageous thinking — won at such a great personal cost — to allow their successors a cheap surrender to religious fanaticism and the megaphones of state-sponsored fascism?

Just imagine in our present year, 2006: plan an opera in today's Germany, and then shut it down. Again, this surrender was not done last month by the Nazis, the Communists, or kings, but by the producers themselves in simple fear of Islamic fanatics who objected to purported bad taste. Or write a novel deemed unflattering to the Prophet Mohammed. That is what did Salman Rushdie did, and for his daring, he faced years of solitude, ostracism, and death threats — and in the heart of Europe no less. Or compose a documentary film, as did the often obnoxious Theo Van Gogh, and you may well have your throat cut in "liberal" Holland. Or better yet, sketch a simple cartoon in postmodern Denmark of legendary easy tolerance, and then go into hiding to save yourself from the gruesome fate of a Van Gogh. Or quote an ancient treatise, as did Pope Benedict, and then learn that all of Christendom may come under assault, and even the magnificent stones of the Vatican may offer no refuge — although their costumed Swiss Guard would prove a better bulwark than the European police. Or write a book critical of Islam, and then go into hiding in fear of your life, as did French philosophy teacher Robert Redeker.

And we need not only speak of threats to free speech, but also the tangible rewards from a terrified West to the agents of such repression. Note the recent honorary degree given to former Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, whose regime has killed and silenced so many, and who himself is under investigation by the Argentine government for his role in sponsoring Hezbollah killers to murder dozens of Jewish innocents in Buenos Aires.

Two, the permanence of the State of Israel is in play; it's negotiable or as Hamas unabashedly demands "the international community correct its 1947 mistake," while in the same breath affirming that this doesn't negate its readiness to first take over the 1967 territories "without preconditions" - as per the "phased solution" model (i.e. Israel's phased destruction). Caroline Glick shouts out, "Jews Wake Up!"

'Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid'....Eh?

The 1922 portrait of Dr. Stadelmann [mustache removed] by the famous Otto Dix, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, W.Landmann Collection

 

Absolutely furious, and quite rightly so, Mac Brachman kindly sends me the link to Jeffrey Goldberg's WaPo review today of President Jimmy Carter's "despicable book", sending me into a spin of unprecedented proportions on this seemingly peaceful Sunday morning.

President Jimmy 'Cowardly Appeasement Policy' Carter is a disgrace. This we know. We also know that he is a rabid anti-Semite, a coward, and acknowledge the fact that the agreement signed 25 years ago with Iran releasing the 52 American hostages was negotiated and signed by President Jimmy "Cowardly Appeasement Policy" Carter, on January 20th 1981, the day of President Reagan's inauguration, as his last glorious act as President of the U.S. just before he handed the sullied reigns over to Ronald Reagan.

As I have written before, almost all the trouble with the Iranian Mullahcracy and their murderous activities throughout the Middle East are deeply rooted in Carter's ignorance which in no small part resulted in the diplomatic obligations set out in the Algiers Accords Agreement, which codified the January 1981 deal between the United States and Iran under which the hostages were released, approx. 8 billion dollars in Iranian assets were unfrozen, and an arbitration tribunal was established in the Netherlands to settle claims between the two countries. In the first part of the document, the United States pledged that it "will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs." Elsewhere, the United States pledged to "bar and preclude" any claims filed by the hostages against Iran.

Under the Agreement, the United States is obligated "to terminate all legal proceedings in United States courts involving claims of United States persons and institutions against Iran and its state enterprises, to nullify all attachments and judgments obtained therein, to prohibit all further litigation based on such claims, and to bring about the termination of such claims through binding arbitration...."

The Blame-Game

'The Scream' by Edvard Munch 1893, National Gallery Oslo, Norway

 

This is a good question:

On Election Day, when thinking about the effect of your vote on your wallet, it is important to stop and ask yourself: What Would the Democrats Do?

Increase regulation, raise taxes -- Democrats typically mistrust the effects of tax cuts and how they generate windfall individual and corporate tax revenues, which would otherwise not have materialized, because it is an indirect measure and outside of their direct control -- and shoring up entitlements.

But that's on Tuesday.

Today, we need to reflect on the anniversary of a terrible event, some 27 years ago. On November 4, 1979 Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad and fellow terrorists seized the United States embassy in Tehran, thus marking a significant milestone in Islam's foray against the West and Judea/Christian traditions and values. Pax Islamica is the goal, as I keep reminding us all; Islamic peace will reign supreme once all other religions have been successfully suppressed and all Infidels either killed or converted.

Most Muslims don't think about their religion in these terms, thank God. But that doesn't lessen the fact, that today's President of the Mullahcracy, governing Iran, was also the leader of those, who unleashed unmitigated terror on 52 embassy staff members for 444 days. It doesn't lessen the fact, that President Carter infused new meaning to the term 'Appeasement' and it certainly doesn't lessen the fact, that the same group of murdering thugs started Lebanon War II and are turning Iraq into a daily showpiece of the full depravity governing Islamic Jihadists.

Tehran knows the significance of this anniversary and duly commemorates it.

Some of our (ex)-leaders instead see fit to lay blame for political gain, completely ignoring the most infuriating outrage of all: 27 years later, Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad continues to terrorize Americans and all those who are seeking to shake off the dehumanizing chains of 'Islam by the letter'.

Their bickering completely fails to acknowledge the fact, that our Thug-In-Chief only came to power Summer 2005. That since then, Iran dramatically increased its terrorist activities and support for its web of proxy armies throughout the region, largely emboldened by the 'Bush lied, People died' camp over here and abroad to shed the theretofore cumbersome efforts to keep their nefarious activities covert. They conveniently ignore, that Ahmadinejad's push for regional hegemony has started a nuclear race in the Middle East because, just like Israel, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia do in fact take the Thug-In-Chief and his threats seriously.

If anything, the biggest blame for the escalating violence in Iraq is the West's impotence vis-a-vis Islamic impunity and violence and the obsession to rationalize their barbaric behavior in terms which are both divorced from its true source, namely the Quar'an and Sharia law and the mindset of the medieval perpetrators. The consequence, as so instructively demonstrated during Lebanon War II, is one hell of a resounding command to all murdering thugs, echoing far and wide, 'All systems GO! The Infidel Yellow Dog has no teeth. Do not fear the mighty army for it is on a leash controlled by a dysfunctional public unable to muster any unanimous resolve to stand in our way."

And therefore, if the blame-game we must play, the biggest mistake of all, was and still is the failure to intimidate the enemy. And that, my Liberal friends, is one fault you can not lay on the doorstep of this administration, but you must seek in front of your own.

Islam's Cosa Nostra

 

Never loose sight of the unique threat posed by Iran. It's the only country run by Islamic purists with enormous piles of cash to invest in their evil cause. It's Islam's Cosa Nostra and 'The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution', or Revolutionary Guards for short, are their henchmen.

Kim Yong-il needs to resort to criminal activities and starve his people to finance his court of cronies and maintain power over North Korea; diamond trade in Africa has become more transparent and is increasingly better regulated since 9-11, eliminating the livelihood of some of the usual suspects; Taliban in Afghanistan are a nuisance mainly because of the flourishing drug trade -- curb that and you've killed the Taliban -- but they still depend materially on the support from Iran.

Andrew Higgins at the Wall Street Journal penned an important essay about the business of terror, referred to as 'Revolutionary Guard Inc.' (linked to Iran Focus as WSJ is subscription only). The following organizational chart provides the initial overview: Needless to say, Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad was a member during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

In fact, we are treated to a rare insight behind the scenes; the kind where we can get a glimpse of our enemy's determination to sustain Oil riches to pay for the sanguinary cause of imposing Shari'a law on the rest of the world -- well, the Middle East first, then the rest of the world... Higgins heading tells all: 'A feared force roils business in Iran'

The Russian Bear Awakes

 

I read Caroline Glick frequently and always with keen interest. Her insight is sharp and refreshingly unabashed by shackles of political correctness. Earlier this year her urgent warning call following Ilan Halimi's barbarous murder in France introduced yet another of her commanding one-liners: "Today, every Jew in the world is on the front lines of war."

As was the case seventy years ago, every Jew today is a target for our enemies, who shout from every soapbox and prove at every opportunity, that their goal is the annihilation of the Jewish people. From 1933-1945, the enemy was Nazi Germany. Today, the enemy is political Islam. Its call for jihad aimed at annihilating the Jews and dominating the world is answered by millions of people throughout the world.

Among the lessons of the Holocaust, there is one that is almost never mentioned. That lesson is that it is possible, and indeed fairly easy to exterminate the Jews. The fact that the Holocaust happened proves that it is absolutely possible for the Jewish people to be wiped off the map - just as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamas leader Khaled Mashal promise.

Then came the Lebanon War II and UNSC Resolution 1701, which effectively sealed Israel's fate to face yet another war with an even better equipped and supported proxy army in the not so distant future on her northern borders.

Next, President Vladimir Putin of Russia promises the world during the Valdai Club early September, that "Russia would not use its rapidly intensifying and expanding global energy leverage to dominate others like "a superpower" would."

Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad Caught Red-Handed

'Jews Praying in the Synagogue' by Maurycy Gottlieb ca. 1878, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv

 

We are all well aware how Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad is modeling himself on Grand-Master-Über-Thug Ayatollah Khomeini, may he rot in Hell for all eternity.

We also know with certainty, that the Mullahcracy has been desperately trying to build the bomb at least since the early Nineties. We furthermore know today, that all the various assurances given in the past, that no such efforts were in fact made, were also nothing but bold faced lies.

Finally, we know, that for the period of almost two decades, every promise of cooperation, extracted from the Mullahcracy at various times by the U.S., several EU member states, the IAEA, the UN and other such illustrious parties so as to prevent a nuclear Islamic Republic in the heart of the Middle East, has only ever been feigned with one aim in mind, to buy more time for the Mullahcracy to reach nuclear ecstasy.

Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani feels quite evidently so secure in his conviction that we in the West still refuse to acknowledge this unyielding track record of utterly determined defiance when he, as part of a feud with a military commander over responsibility for the 1988 cease-fire, released a letter from Ayatollah Khomeini written in 1988 saying "that Iran would need nuclear weapons to win the war with Iraq". And he is right; exposing the deceitful agenda of our Thug-In-Chief and his Mullahcracy does not pass for headline news:

In the letter, Khomeini, who died in 1989, quotes the country's leading military commander of the day on the weaponry Iran would need to continue fighting. The letter also reveals that Iran's economy had been almost destroyed by the eight-year war and that the supply of military volunteers was drying up.

The letter strikes a nerve because the current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has denied that Iran plans to develop nuclear weapons. He has said that such weapons would violate Islamic principles.

But the letter suggests that Khomeini, leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, had no such qualms.

We knew of course, that our Thug-In-Chief was lying through his teeth when he stated that nuclear weapons violate Islamic principals. But we couldn't quite prove it. Now we can and that should be big news, especially amongst the apologist Liberals. The word of Khomeini is as good as law for Ahmadinejad; he would never contradict it save for false pretenses in the interest of spreading the dominance of Islam.

Again, I ask my Liberal friends, which part of, "alone of the world's major faiths, Islam was founded by a prophet who used force to win converts" do you not understand"?

"I was ordered to fight all men until they say, 'There is no god but Allah,' " Muhammad proclaimed in his farewell address to his followers in AD 632.

Spare me the intellectually challenged retort of citing missionary precedent of forceful conversions; the spotlight is directed on Muhammad and his teachings, and at the stark contrast in which they stand to those of Jesus Christ.

Instead, and on this Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we ought to remember the injustice meted out against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as it was wrongly blamed for the massacre at Sabra and Shatilla in 1982. In the words of Menachem Begin:

"The whole campaign of blaming Israel for the massacre, of placing moral responsibility on Israel," he wrote, "seems to me, an old man who has seen so much in his lifetime, to be almost unbelievable, fantastic and utterly despicable.

"After the September 14 [1982] assassination of president-elect Bashir Jemayel we decided to move the IDF into West Beirut to prevent a Christian revenge on the Muslim population. It never occurred to anyone dealing with the Lebanese military units which subsequently entered the Sabra and Shatilla camps that they would perpetrate a massacre.

"The first horrific truth is that Arabs murdered Arabs. The second truth is that Israeli soldiers stopped the carnage. And the third truth is that if the current libelous campaign against Israel should go on without a reaction of outrage by decent men - yes, outrage - then within a matter of weeks or months everyone everywhere will have gotten the impression that it was an Israeli military unit which perpetrated the horrible killings."

"How right Begin was", are the closing words by Yehuda Avner, author of this moving tribute (he served on the personal staff of five prime ministers, including Menachem Begin).

I wish all my Jewish friends that you may have an easy fast!

Just Another Monday

"Last Judgment Triptych" by Hans Memling 1467-71, Muzeum Narodowe, Gdansk

 

Whilst our kids look forward to a new iPod or mobile phone at this time of the year, schoolchildren and their parents in Iran received less joyful news on Saturday:

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 17 – A new security organ has been set up to aid police inside schools in Tehran beginning from the start of the new academic year, the chief of police in the Iranian capital announced. Brigadier General Morteza Tala’i announced the formation of a new “Youth Police” which will be present in schools across the Iranian capital.

The announcement appeared in the Saturday edition of the semi-official daily Kayhan. The new security organ will include youths of various ages. “This initiative was taken to help prevent any possible crimes [inside schools]” Tala’i said.

The State Security Forces (SSF) commander in Tehran said that the organ would operate both inside and in the vicinity of the schools. The SSF are already assisted by the Bassij force, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, in cracking down on social dissent.

To all who think the West, America and the current Administration in particular, are to blame for the actions of the Islamofascists, I say, poppycock! If anything, American ideals of freedom is what they are attacking in classrooms and in the schoolyard.

Once you understand that, it is clear for instance why Charles Johnson @ LGF doesn't believe the Islamist thugs will accept the Pope's expression of deep sorrow over "the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims".

The Vatican (this is no longer just the Pope talking) is trying to get away with a non-apology apology, to appease the Islamic world’s violent temper tantrums. [...]

This is exactly the wrong way to go, for one simple reason. It won’t work. Islamists can tell the difference between diplomatic words and true surrender, and they want the Pope to utterly abase himself.

It would be far better to stand up, and speak truth about the Muslim world’s insane reaction to his speech. The Pope actually has a golden opportunity right now to bring these issues to the forefront of the public dialog, but it looks like he’s not going to use it.

Personally, I love the Pope's nuance in his reference to the 'reaction' not the content. Translated, it means, 'look in the mirror, you fools. You've just confirmed the accuracy of the quote, which is the reason why you need help.' According to the UK Telegraph, the Holy Father most of all voiced his deep sorrow in the way his lecture  "has been exacerbated by the deliberate manipulation of his words by Islamic firebrands and their slick media operation".

The combination of grievance-nurturing multiculturalism and instant headlines is having a disastrous effect on the worldwide Muslim community. There seems to be no limit to its spokesmen's willingness to voice outrage; and their messages are then picked up by fanatics who mount appalling attacks on Christians in Muslim countries. When was the last time a Muslim leader apologised for such atrocities?

The truth is that barbaric attacks happen weekly. No wonder that Benedict favours an urgent dialogue with Muslims on the subject of religious violence, rather than the usual touchy-feely exchange of compliments.

Well, he has started a dialogue now, albeit not quite in the way that he intended. And it is essential that it continue. A self-abasing apology from the Pope would have postponed that discussion yet again.

We suspect that Western public opinion is not displeased that Benedict has said the unsayable. Now it is time for other churchmen to tell their Muslim counterparts that, in addition to dishing out criticism, they must learn how to take it.

Meanwhile, welcome fodder for the rabid Liberals, who are desperately hoping to extend their 'Bush lied People died' smear campaign from Iraq to Iran, comes from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), run by El Baradei, its General Director:

Iran's Blink Is NATO's Wink

 

Has Iran "finally blinked"? If you consider 'temporary suspension' a useful progress, yes... maybe.

Iran has finally blinked, reportedly agreeing to a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, as a confidence-building measure in response to growing international pressure.

But in truth, it only serves one purpose: it seeks to derail consensus over sanctioning Iran over its non-compliance to permanently abandon uranium enrichment.

Interestingly, the author, Kaveh L Afrasiabi, thinks this to be "a welcome development", for it "can potentially take the wind out of the sails of the ship of sanctions planned by the US and its allies at the United Nations Security Council." Whose side is he on?

But we've asked for it in the interest of proving our resolve to the international community to explore all diplomatic avenues before stopping a nuclear Iran militarily:

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested that a temporary suspension might be enough to clear the way for formal negotiations.

Can you call it 'blinked', as Iran is observing and analyzing NATO's latest disgraceful refusal to honor their commitments to fight the Taliban thugs in Afghanistan? Ed Morrissey's criticism of Europe's and NATO's duplicitous behavior is music to Iranian ears; especially because they know how complex and intewoven the roots for these repeated letdowns are:

Perhaps people might recall the insistence of Europe and many here in America on engaging Afghanistan and Iraq through international alliances. We tried in both cases, and we had a lot more support from our allies with Afghanistan, as it had created much less controversy than the war against Saddam Hussein. Our relief by NATO was supposed to show America the benefits of "true" international coalitions in dealing with the complex problems of Southwest Asia.

However, once again, we see that the global community lacks the fortitude to make good on their promises and meet the challenge of their own demands. The same nations that scolded us over our supposedly unilateral approach now refuse to answer the phone when NATO calls on them to meet their pledges of troop support. The French do not belong to NATO, but the rest of Europe will blithely sit and watch Afghanistan's new democratically-elected government fall victim to a resurgent Taliban rather than lift a finger to help. Even Germany, with 2700 troops stationed in the quiet north, refuses to redeploy to assist the US, UK, and Canada in the more volatile southern region.

As with Lebanon, we hear a lot of posturing from Europe on how to conduct war and demands to implement their peace strategies. When it comes time to put themselves on the line for their strategies and goals, they increasingly go AWOL.

Much more indicative is yet again what Iran really fears: it's own people. Don't miss the latest testament entitled "One Last Nail To The Coffin Of Independent Media in Iran".

World War III Has Already Started

"Mother and Daughter" by Käthe Kollwitz 1919, Private Collection

 

Lorie Byrd reminded me of that heart-wrenching movie from 1991 called 'Not Without My Daughter'.

I had not seen 'Not Without My Daughter' in some time, but it seems more timely than ever watching it now. The movie stars Sally Field and is based on the Pulitzer prize winning book [1987] by the same name, describing the ordeal of Betty Mahmoody, who was held against her will in Iran by her Iranian born husband. She spent two years in Iran before escaping with her daughter in a dangerous trip over the mountains to Turkey. If you have never seen the movie, rent it. It is hard to watch, but it really gives an insight into the way women are treated in Iran.

This year is the 20th anniversary of Betty's escape from her husband, a man rededicated to his Shiite Moslem faith, who kept both virtual prisoners in a land where women are near-slaves. "Betty and her daughter are happy now, although Mahtob still suffers some effects from the terrifying ordeal. They live in the U.S. under assumed names as Betty's husband still threatens to get Mahtob back. However, Betty is no longer afraid of him. "We have so much freedom. I want people to read this story and appreciate their freedom. When they see the American flag or the Statue of Liberty, I want those things to mean to everyone what they now mean to me."

Stories like Betty's give the horrendous suffering and hardship, experienced by millions of Muslim women all over the world, a relatable face, a familiar persona, thus countering an otherwise all too abstract and often far-removed comprehension. Without it, we 'digest' and forget far too quickly. We have a responsibility to keep her story fresh in our minds; not to stoke up hot-headed reactions, but so as to truly understand Amir Taheri's statement earlier today, that World War III "has already started."

Stuart Varney (for "The Journal Editorial Report"): A U.N. deadline for Iran to suspend its nuclear program came and went this week, with that country's president defiantly refusing to compromise, saying Tehran would not be bullied into giving up its right to that controversial technology. The IAEA said Iran showed no signs of stopping its work, beginning enrichment of a new batch of uranium as recently as last week.

Iranian author and journalist Amir Taheri joins me now from London. Amir, President Bush compares today's Islamists with the Nazis. And he's drawing a parallel, it seems, with the 1930s and, by implication, the suggestion is that we're headed towards World War III. Do you think we are headed that way?

Taheri: Well, the war has already started. In fact, it started in 1979 when the Khomeinists invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and seized these diplomats hostage. But of course when we say war, we shouldn't think only of planes flying and huge armies with tanks and so on. This war has many different facets--ideological, low-intensity war, terrorism and so on. And this has been going on for nearly three decades now, and we are nowhere near seeing the end of it.

Playing The Board

 

"You can tell everything you need to know about a state by how it treats its women" and "We need to stop calling Iraq a war; that was over a long time ago" are powerful statements. Thomas Barnett does not stop there, but makes his case for his future vision of US foreign policy and the dual role military intervention will have to face so as to tackle three incredibly tough ironies:

1. The shorter the war, the bigger the peace effort
2. The smaller the war force, the larger the peace force
3. The easier the war, the tougher the peace

Iraq is an ongoing testimony to this new paradigm. And al-Qaeda certainly sticks to the game-plan: encourage insurgency, engender chaos and wait for withdrawal.

The biggest mistake is to believe, that the U.S. can do or say anything to pacify the Islamofascists. It's not personal, as Barnett highlights, it's not who we are, but what we represent, namely globalization. The Islamic fundamentalists want to disconnect the Islamic world from globalization's 'creeping embrace' and to reconnect it to an idealized past, they believe it offers a better alternative.

In other words, a change in American foreign policy won't make things better.

Instead, argues Barnett, we need to appreciate, that most of Islam is not at war with globalization, but much more in conflict with itself over how best to join the globalized economy.

Which brings us to Iran as the key to the Middle East. Barnett believes, that we are "looking at the equivalent of late-Brezhnevian USSR, a tired, authoritarian regime we killed with connectivity." And that we can do the same again with the Mullahcracy.

And that is where the trouble starts. Barnett has no hesitation to go after terrorists with a new set of rules, meaning essentially, men with no names (special operations forces) go after men with no states (terrorists). But what if a country is ruled by a group of terrorists, as is the case with the Mullahs's grip on power in Iran since 1979 and in Gaza since Hamas won the elections earlier this year, and Hezbollah since we discovered they rule Lebanon?

Making Iran an ally seems impossible given the deeply embedded Mullahcracy and its terror network throughout the world. And allowing Iran to go nuclear is a risk only possible to contemplate after a regime change is not only successfully completed but has also stood the test of time. One thing is for certain, our Thug-In-Chief and his fellow murdering goons are not leaving without a mighty fight. So, even if a moderate regime should establish itself, daily violence would mar Tehran in much the same way as we are witnessing today in Baghdad.

TO WATCH THE VIDEO CLICK ON THE SCREEN-SHOT. IT'S FASCINATING DON'T MISS IT.

Wal-Mart Can Stop A Nuclear Iran (WEEKEND THREAD)

 

Well there's a title you don't read every day! What's the connection? Simple, tell China, that Wal-Mart will shift merchandise production to competing low-cost manufacturing countries, if it doesn't support a UNSC resolution, stopping Iran from going nuclear. After all, a nuclear Holocaust is also bad for business in China.

Make no mistake, Wal-Mart has that kind of purchasing power: Over 10% of all Chinese exports to the U.S. are bought by Wal-Mart, that's well over $20 billion.

"More than 70 per cent of the products sold at Wal-Mart are made in China. If Wal-Mart were a separate nation, it would rank as China’s fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Britain."

The good news is, the threat would remain just that, for China would yield, we'd continue saving $100 billion each year and the Mullahcracy would have to abandon their expansionist ambitions, which they are planning to extort through nuclear blackmail. There was a time, when 'corporate' diplomacy supported the greater good.

Be that as it may, we know only too well, the time has passed when debating foreign policies was about observing facts on the ground or about calm analysis of actual events, and not about scoring ideological points.

The polarization between, what could ostensibly be called, 'pro-war' and 'anti-war' factions and their respective need of constant and forceful validation, whilst at the same time passionately deriding the opponent's stance, is but complete. Or so it would seem to an alien observer, oblivious to both fact and fiction.

Let's examine the latest political and diplomatic battlefield, unfolding before our very eyes over the Mullahcracy's determination to present the world with a nuclear Iran.

The Sordid Godless World Of Shari'a Law

'St Michael and the Satan' by Raffaello Sanzio ca.1518, The Louvre, Paris

 

This is a moving story of a sixteen year old girl, who was executed in Iran for 'crimes against chastity'. Told in a BBC documentary in great detail here, we get introduced to what is perceived to be the ignominious life of young innocent girls in Iran who are subjected to the most degrading acts, in return for which they receive the punishment of imprisonment and one hundred lashes at a time at best, and execution by hanging at worst.

As we speak, there are as many as fourteen or more young girls waiting to be executed under the misogynistic barbarism of Shari'a law for 'the crime' of being raped considered a 'crime against chastity'. And where are the men charged along with these girls? Nowhere to be seen....

Iran, the country proclaiming to advocate the 'religion of peace' where the law of Shari'a rules that the age of sexual consent is to be NINE. Well if the 'holy book' of Qur'an written by the pedophile Muhammad says it's nine, it must be so. I mean why not legitimize the Prophet's own marriage to a child if it was in his power to do so.

Who is this God of theirs who would put its innocent children through such horrors, only to have the so called 'moral police' be the biggest offenders of any morality left in that sordid Godless world, more akin to Satan's hell in life than anything we look forward to in our death. Shame on you, and shame on us for not fighting this evil with all we've got to give.

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Watch it all, and pray very hard that our children's children and our future generations will not be subjected to this hell when we are gone...

I was moved to tears of desperation, anger and sadness; tell me what you thought and felt, I'd like to know....

(h/t Charles Johnson via Michael van der Galien)

Muslim Glory Predicates Apocalypse

 

Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad confirms it again:

If he ever became the supreme decision maker in his country, [Ahmadinejad] would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel," Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. [...]

The 49-year-old Iranian president, he said, "has a religious conviction that Israel's demise is essential to the restoration of Muslim glory, that the Zionist thorn in the heart of the Islamic nations must be removed. And he will pay almost any price to right the perceived historic wrong. If he becomes the supreme leader and has a nuclear capability, that's a real threat."

Maybe Venezuela President Hugo Chavez is secretly assuring China, that he can cover any Oil supply shortfalls once Iran fulfills its promise and consequently lies in ruins following the inevitable and equally devastating retaliatory nuclear strikes. Could be one reason why Chavez is so openly supportive of our Thug-In-Chief's genocidal cause. Nah, he's just backing whoever 'opposes' his capitalist arch-enemy, the United States of America. Pathetic really, especially as in the eyes of our Thug-In-Chief, he too is nothing but an Christian infidel, who either must convert to Islam or otherwise except Dhimmitude, namely second-class status under Sharia law.

Don't you just love it; first lure Israel into a false sense of security by calling for the need of a 'robust' force of up to 15,000 in order to get 1701 passed and implemented, only to do a complete u-turn: Even though we learn today that close to 7,000 European troops will be deployed, French President Jacques Chirac tells us that a level of 15,000 troops was "excessive'' and it made "no sense'' to have such a large contingent alongside the Lebanese army in the region. Go figure...

But why worry about enemies when you have friends like the French: 

In Danger Of Complicity

"Sisters of Mercy" by Peter Howson 1989, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

 

I love clear and concise summaries that accurately portray often highly complex situations. It would be a mistake to interpret this attraction as some kind of lack of attention or, far worse, lack of interest in the nitty-gritty of detail. Far from it, the most successful campaigns in virtually all aspects of our lives have been characterized by a concise and clear understanding and the effective communication of such summaries.

'Iran Hostage Crisis, Take 2', is exactly the kind of clear and concise summary which fascinates me:

If the U.S. backs down in Iraq, Tehran's mullahs will move in and take the Middle East captive.

If the antiwar crowd and Democrats have their way, the United States will be Iran's hostage once again. An immediate pullout from Iraq would be a victory for Iran, a regime that has declared its ambitions to wipe Israel off the map and establish a  caliphate throughout the Middle East. If we allow democracy to be defeated in Iraq, it will only get harder to release Iraq and perhaps the greater Middle East from the grip of its would-be rulers in Tehran.

Decades ago, the United States underestimated the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's appeal to the Iranian masses and his ability to convert the latent hostility to modernism into political clout. Khomeini overthrew the shah and took more than 50 Americans hostage, thus delivering a significant blow to U.S. prestige and clout in the Middle East.

Now the U.S. is underestimating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his willingness to use proxies — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Muqtada Sadr in Iraq. In the short term, Iraqis, Lebanese, Palestinians and Israelis are paying for this sneaky strategy with their lives, but in the long term, it is the United States that will suffer the most. [...]

Iraq is the crucial test of Iran's ambitions. [...]

It makes sense, therefore, that the first line of defense against Iran's ambitions is a stable, democratic Iraq, which would provide a formidable counterbalance to Iran. A pro-Western Iraq that develops its economic ties throughout the Middle East and beyond would compete over growing markets for oil with Iranian economic interests. More important, a democratic Iraq would be a long-sought beacon for the oppressed Shiites of the world, an alternative to the appeal of extremist Iran.

The U.S. military's presence in Iraq keeps Iran in check. An immediate pullout, as prescribed by antiwar liberals and demagogic Democrats, would leave Iraq to Iran — and to the likes of Al Qaeda. And that would be a hostage-taking far more harmful to the United States than the one that happened in Tehran nearly 30 years ago.

Contrast that against the intensifying rhetoric against Israel in the MSM, gradually paving the way for a time, when her existence may be questioned openly by so called respectable members of the chattering classes, always of course under the strictest pretext of wishing to earnestly explore ways to finally return peace to the Middle East. Poppycock...

Topsy-Turvy Works

'The Fall Of The Rebellious Angels' by Frans Floris, 1554, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

 

I am so tired of the same old tactic simply to copy, parrot and plagiarize all and any criticism word for word so as to hurl it back at the critics with total impudence. Even worse though, is to see it work, as we are forced to witness every day all around us.

The Iranian Press Service provides a great summary of Arab voices condemning Hezbollah and Hamas for representing Iran's and Syria's genocidal interest both in Lebanon, the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The language is clear, frank and substantiated.

Then follows the retort from Iran and Syria:

"This was a New Imperialist War [...] it is the American administration that is making the decisions in this war against Lebanon, while Israel only carries out its instructions."

"This imperialist war to which Lebanon and the [Muslim] nation are being subjected proves that these new imperialists do not respect the U.N. resolutions or the Convention on Human Rights... Their only goal is to divide our Arab region and carve it up into smaller and smaller [pieces] in order to implement their [plan for a] 'New Middle East'. [...] The disturbing question in this context is this: Will the [Muslim] nation wake up [in time] to defend its identity and honor before we all sink?..."

"[The actions of] targeting Lebanon, changing its face, and redrawing its map are merely another stage in the series of hasty, foolish and reckless actions taken by the neo-conservatives in the U.S. and by their ally Israel with the aim of suborning the region to their authority, defeating it, and breaking its will".

"It is the Bush administration that is running... this destructive and murderous war, which moves [from one country to another in the Middle East], while Olmert's government supplies the mechanism [for carrying it out]. [In light of] the failure of [the American] strategy in Iraq and its helplessness [there] after so many years... America [has decided] - in order to compensate itself and cover up [its failure]... - to expand the circle of fire and death by aiming all this criminal, blind hatred at Lebanon..."

"The war that is currently waging [in Lebanon], with its declared and undeclared goals, makes us more certain than ever that Israel and the U.S. are the forces behind the assassination of [former Lebanese prime minister] Rafiq Al-Hariri. The assassination was part of an unsuccessful attempt by the U.S. to enforce U.N. Resolution 1559. The aggression [we see] today began because Israel, as it turns out, is the only one who benefits from this resolution and from Al-Hariri's assassination.."

It's really quite pathetic, but most effective in a climate, where those, who seek to form an honest opinion based on a reasonable degree of truth and a reasonable degree of informed judgment, are few and far between.

Take the first quote for example and replace 'the American administration' with 'Iran' and 'Israel' with 'Hezbollah' and you are staring at the truth:

"This was a New Imperialist War [...] it is Iran that is making the decisions in this war against Lebanon, while Hezbollah only carries out its instructions."

Who Is Émile Lahoud

 

A buffoon of the highest order, totally corrupt and a puppet figure for Assad's Syria, that's who he is.

This biographical quote is priceless:

According to The New York Times, Lahoud has a reputation for "lounging through most afternoons in his Speedos by the pool at the Yarze country club, reading Paris-Match magazine and holding a tanning mirror." The newspaper reported that Lahoud denied allegations that he went swimming on the day of Hariri's funeral. He told a group of journalists: "I swim every day — it's my workout — but on that specific day, I did not swim."

Well, not surprising, considering that he was the reason Rafik Hariri, the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation on 20 October 2004, was assassinated:

Hariri and others in the anti-Syrian opposition had questioned the plan to extend the term of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, emboldened by popular anger and civic action now being called Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution".

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a recent recruit of the anti-Syrian opposition, alleged in the wake of the assassination that in August 2004 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened Hariri, saying "Lahoud is me. ... If you and Chirac want me out of Lebanon, I will break Lebanon." He was quoted as saying "When I heard him telling us those words, I knew that it was his condemnation of death." [...]

Mr. Hariri reminded Mr. Assad of his pledge not to seek an extension for Mr. Lahoud’s term, and Mr. Assad replied that there was a policy shift and that the decision was already taken. He added that Mr. Lahoud should be viewed as his personal representative in Lebanon and that “opposing him is tantamount to opposing Assad himself”. He then added that he (Mr. Assad) “would rather break Lebanon over the heads of [Mr.] Hariri and [Druze leader] Walid Jumblatt than see his word in Lebanon broken”.

Irish journalist Lara Marlowe with whom Hariri talked reported similar allegations. According to the testimonies, Mr. Assad then threatened both Mr. Hariri and Mr. Jumblatt with physical harm if they opposed the extension for Mr. Lahoud. The meeting reportedly lasted for ten minutes, and was the last time Mr. Hariri met with Mr. Assad. After that meeting, Mr. Hariri told his supporters that they had no other option but to support the extension for Mr. Lahoud. The Mission has also received accounts of further threats made to Mr. Hariri by security officials in case he abstained from voting in favor of the extension or “even thought of leaving the country”.

A Pivotal Moment In The History Of The Middle East

"The Raft of the Medusa" by Théodore Géricault 1818-19, Musée du Louvre, Paris

 

I want to share with you today important words of pristine clarity and reason. Furthermore, I shan't link to the source as yet, for I would like you to allow these words to live and breathe free from any association. For those of you who recognize it, please weigh in and discuss the content without mentioning the source.

Civilians in Lebanon and Israel have suffered from the current violence, and we recognize that responsibility for this suffering lies with Hezbollah. It was an unprovoked attack by Hezbollah on Israel that started this conflict. Hezbollah terrorists targeted Israeli civilians with daily rocket attacks. Hezbollah terrorists used Lebanese civilians as human shields, sacrificing the innocent in an effort to protect themselves from Israeli response.

Responsibility for the suffering of the Lebanese people also lies with Hezbollah's state sponsors, Iran and Syria. The regime in Iran provides Hezbollah with financial support, weapons, and training. Iran has made clear that it seeks the destruction of Israel. We can only imagine how much more dangerous this conflict would be if Iran had the nuclear weapon it seeks.

Syria is another state sponsor of Hezbollah. Syria allows Iranian weapons to pass through its territory into Lebanon. Syria permits Hezbollah's leaders to operate out of Damascus and gives political support to Hezbollah's cause. Syria supports Hezbollah because it wants to undermine Lebanon's democratic government and regain its position of dominance in the country. That would be a great tragedy for the Lebanese people and for the cause of peace in the Middle East.

Hezbollah and its foreign sponsors also seek to undermine the prospects for peace in the Middle East. Hezbollah terrorists kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, Hamas kidnapped another Israeli soldier for a reason. Hezbollah and Hamas reject the vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security. [...]

The conflict in Lebanon is part of a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region. [...]

Remember, We Won The War (UPDATED)

 

Eventually....

It just took us a lot longer and left millions more dead.

It started the Cold War, which, some 40 years later, we won too.

It paved the way for the Marshall Plan, which critically led to the transformation of an entirely new Europe in the form of the European Union (EU), made up of currently 25 independent states based on the European Economic Communities (EEC), practically without borders, complete with common currency, Central Bank and an European Parliament, which supervises the European Commission (EC). Simply unimaginable at the end of WWII.

It caused the Japanese to realize that US-pioneered capitalism was the way to go following Hiroshima and Nagasaki, giving us today the second largest, entirely peace-loving and democratic economy after our own.

Fast forward....

Only by looking at the bigger picture in this wider historical context am I able to fight the heavy heart with which I must accept that the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 has handed Hezbollah and its state sponsor Iran and Syria a "near-total victory". [you must read the entire piece by Caroline Glick, it's brilliant]

...and an unprecedented defeat for Israel and its ally the United States. [...] in practice it makes it all but impossible for Israel to defend itself against Hizbullah aggression without being exposed to international condemnation on an unprecedented scale.[...] By empowering Annan to evaluate compliance, the resolution all but ensures that Hizbullah will not be forced to disarm and that Israel will be forced to give up the right to defend itself. [...] the resolution rewards Hizbullah's aggression by giving international legitimacy to its demand for territorial aggrandizement via acts of aggression, in contravention of the laws of nations.[...] Moreover, by allowing Lebanon to make territorial claims on Israel despite the fact that in 2000 the UN determined that Israel had withdrawn to the international border, the resolution sets a catastrophic precedent for the future.[...] the Palestinians, Syrians and indeed the Jordanians and Egyptians will feel empowered to employ aggression to gain territorial concessions from the Jewish state even if they previously signed treaties of peace with Israel. The message of the resolution's stand on Shaba Farms is that Israel can never expect for the world to recognize any of its borders as final.[...] the resolution treats as equivalent Hizbullah's illegal aggression against Israel and Israel's legitimate military actions taken in defense of its sovereign territory.[...]

Iran's Promise: 'Evolution From Life To Death'

"Blind Power" by Rudolf Schlichter 1937, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin

 

Iran commands Hezbollah, and the rest of what has now become its vast 'foreign legion', and the sooner the world realizes it the better.

All who oppose the absolute determination of the Iranian mullahcracy to spread its murderous and utterly inhumane doctrine, are fighting for the same freedom; the quicker we realize that, the better.

Iran has outsourced its war against the infidels to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Muqtada al-Sadar in Iraq, to name but a few.

Muqtada al-Sadr was dismissed as an irrelevant aberration with little purchase on the nation’s future. The coalition and its Iraqi partners considered his behavior inconsistent, his judgment erratic, his discourse radical and his movement chaotic. Underestimating him proved costly, but dealing with that we shall leave for another day. It is just important to understand that in the grand scheme of things he enjoys a significant popular backing and a power base in the Shiite slums of Baghdad, the city of Kufa, and the governorate of Maysan; his followers, for the most part impoverished Shiites, are remarkably determined and loyal, and have caused us plenty of trouble in these last few weeks.

Iran is supplying them all with money, weapons and most damaging of all, the very doctrine, which fuels their fire. They are all very closely and dangerously interlinked.

Hezbollah for their part have managed to infiltrate every pore of the Lebanese Government, and according to the statistics 'rule' 80% of the population. By entering the Government they have managed to divide and conquer the anti-Syrian sentiment, and undermine the opposition. President Emile Lahoud is a puppet of Syria, and Syria is a puppet of Iran.

U.S interests in the Middle East region suggest, that we need to support the democratically elected Government in Lebanon. But that does not mean that the Administration can afford to ignore, that this same Government was somehow unable to block the entrance of a terrorist organization into Parliament and that Syria's puppet President Lahoud is still the Commander-In-Chief. From President Lahoud himself:

I myself built up this army following the civil war and integrated all the religious groups: Muslims, Christians and Druze. This army is there to secure internal peace, but it is not an army to fight a war. [...] Naturally the strongholds of the resistance are not known. [...] The exchange of prisoners has always worked perfectly in the past. [...] Hezbollah enjoys utmost prestige in Lebanon, because it freed our country. All over the Arab world you hear: Hezbollah maintains Arab honor, and even though it (Hezbollah) is very small, it stands up to Israel. And of course Nasrallah has my respect. [...] We have today around half a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, their birth rate is three times higher than the Lebanese. That is a time bomb. [...]

Rhetoric, which clearly suggests, that Lahoud would gladly serve under a future Prime Minister Hassan Nasrallah, thereby effectively handing over control of the army to Hezbollah, or Iran, for that matter.

Commander-In-Chief From Hell

 

"We are redefining our relations with the world," [Iranian] Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a television program last week. "We are managing our relations with other countries based on our national interests and the way we are treated (over the nuclear dispute)."

No surprise in this statement from the Iranian Mullahs last month when Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad was shoring up support from Russia and China during the Asian security summit in China.

But we better revisit such statements pre Hezbollah attack on July 12th, knowing that they knew what was coming. We'd better sharpen our awareness to the fact, that everything the terrorist thugs in Iran were saying and doing during the past 9-12 months was said and done with the full knowledge of the plan to lighten the fuse in the Middle East via their proxy Hezbollah army. This new perspective matters not only in relation to Israel but also to Iran's expansionist strategies for Iraq and the region as a whole.

In short, U.S. Secretary of Sate Condoleezza Rice's mission during her visit to the Middle East must be to diminish "the power of Hezbollah's supporters; i.e. Syria and Iran", as Aljazeera noted - it's refreshing to come across accurate reporting and analysis, with the only difference that Aljazeera is of course condemning the attempt to dismantle Hezbollah and to implement Security Council resolution 1559. Yeah right.....

If Iran failed to continue to be Hezbollah's protector and supporter, it is unlikely to preserve its current position and influence in the region, which, in the eyes of the U.S.  government, is a goal worth pursuing.

And if ever you needed proof that Israel has no other choice but to flatten Hezbollah's strongholds, which aren't army barracks or military compounds, but exclusively civilian residential areas, read this interview of what must be the most pathetic commander-in-chief in living memory, and a man who will NEVER touch Hezbollah's stronghold, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud:

I myself built up this army following the civil war and integrated all the religious groups: Muslims, Christians and Druze. This army is there to secure internal peace, but it is not an army to fight a war. [...]

Naturally the strongholds of the resistance are not known. [...]

The exchange of prisoners has always worked perfectly in the past. [...]

Hezbollah enjoys utmost prestige in Lebanon, because it freed our country. All over the Arab world you hear: Hezbollah maintains Arab honor, and even though it (Hezbollah) is very small, it stands up to Israel. And of course Nasrallah has my respect. [...]

We have today around half a million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, their birth rate is three times higher than the Lebanese. That is a time bomb. [...]

'Can We Get Over It Already?' We Are All Jews Now

'The Taking of Christ' by Caravaggio ca.1598 

 

I have written enough about Israel, the so called 'Palestine', and the whole mess in the Middle East, for everyone to know that I am fiercely pro-Israel. Realizing that the Arabs in Saudi are finally reaching an understanding of the realities facing the present conflict in the Middle East, it is uncanny to think that, sanity is prevailing, and the region is accepting that siding with extremists is going to get them killed at best, and let them be seen to be 'sleeping with the enemy' and then get killed anyway, at worst. I have said it before and I'll say it again: after nearly 40 years of pin-point targeted response to Arab rabid hostilities leading to this perverse situation where the West pays the Palestinian officials, synonymous with terrorism, billions of Dollars so that they can keep spitting into Israel's face, we have come a full circle.

It's time to point the spot-light not only back at Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad and his purpose for Hezbollah, but also at Russia's tacit support for the murdering Jihadists. As much as I know of Russians, they are all fiercely anti-Semitic, and arrogantly feel that they have never quite forgiven the Jews for giving up our Lord Jesus Christ.

Just so that we all understand each other, I am a devout Christian, and I am vehemently against the tyranny of Islamofascism. I am once again clarifying my stand in case my question below is misunderstood to mean that I am neither interested in the Christian faith nor what it stands for. Caravaggio's painting depicted above 'The Taking of Christ' tells the story, and my question is this: "Can We Get Over It Already?"

I give you one of my favorite quotes from Charles Moore @ The Telegraph published a while back, to be never more relevant as it is today

All I want to ask my fellow Europeans [and Americans] is this: are you happy to help direct the world's fury at the only country in the Middle East whose civilization even remotely resembles yours? And are you sure that the fate of Israel has no bearing on your own? In Iran, the new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes the link. The battle over Palestine, he says, is "the prelude of the battle of Islam with the world of arrogance", the world of the West. He is busy building his country's nuclear bomb."

Just Cause

 

From The Editor-In-Chief of the Arab Times, Ahmed Al-Jarallah, who seems to have an inordinate amount of understanding of the realities facing the present conflict in the Middle East, and the necessity for Israel to do the job of significantly weakening if not eliminating the terrorists, which in effect benefits the entire region. (h/t Dave)

People of Arab countries, especially the Lebanese and Palestinians, have been held hostage for a long time in the name of “resisting Israel.” Arab governments have been caught between political obligations and public opinion leading to more corruption in politics and economics. Forgetting the interests of their own countries the Hamas Movement and Hezbollah have gone to the extent of representing the interests of Iran and Syrian in their countries. These organizations have become the representatives of Syria and Iran without worrying about the consequences of their action.

Recently Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier and bombed Israeli settlements with locally manufactured missiles. Soon Hezbollah followed suit, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. Both these organizations claimed they had kidnapped Israeli soldiers to exchange them for Arab prisoners who are being held in Israeli jails. The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah gave the same reason for kidnapping Israeli soldiers gives us a glimpse [of] their agenda, which is similar to the one followed by Syria and Iran in their conflict with the United States.

While the people of Palestine and Lebanon are paying the price of this bloody conflict, the main players, who caused this conflict, are living in peace and asking for more oil from Arab countries to support the facade of resisting Israel. With the Palestinian Authority close to collapse and the Lebanese government beginning to give up responsibility for what is happening in its territory, Saudi Arabia has been forced to come out of its diplomatic routine and indirectly hold Hezbollah responsible for what is happening Lebanon.

The Muslim Brotherhood And Hezbollah Detonate The Political Bomb

 

BREAKING: Israeli warplanes have attacked a major Lebanese army air base near the Syrian border. It's the first strike on the Lebanese army in Israel's fight with Hezbollah guerrillas.

BREAKING II: Haifa has been hit by two rockets, Hezbollah deny responsibility. Allah @ Hot Air "attack staged by Iran", Saudis are blaming Hezbollah and not Israel for the crisis, plus video.

BREAKING III: Hezbollah denies wanting the soldiers moved to Iran.

Nearly 40 years of pin-point targeted response to Arab rabid hostilities has lead to this perverse situation where the West pays the Palestinian officials, synonymous with the term 'terrorists', billions of Dollars so that they can keep spitting into Israel's face.

Today, we face the ugly reality, that the world at large has been successfully duped to believe that Israel is the aggressor and all the Islamic terrorist organizations are her victims. Now that Hamas has joined the ranks of other terrorist organizations in Government, namely the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (scroll down and read a useful historical overview - a "key to understanding today's Islamic war against the West") and Hezbollah in Lebanon, it is of even greater importance to spread the truth and point the fingers at these murdering thugs as the sole aggressors in this conflict. It is important to remember at all times, that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and Hamas are all united behind their common call for the destruction of Israel.

Plus, we must always remember, that Iran and Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent Syria, are controlling the purse strings of all of them; and naturally have huge influence.

Egypt and Israel maintain that the orders regarding the kidnapping of Cpl Shalit have been coming from the Damascus based Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, that he is masterminding the terms of Shalit's release - after all Mashal declared only Tuesday that he - not Abbas or Haniyeh - is the sole spokesman for the Palestinians, that he is 'the man'. He certainly told the world on 9 December 2005, when addressing a crowd in Damascus, that the informal truce with Israel would end at the end of the year, stating that, "We will not enter a new truce and our people are preparing for a new round of conflict."

Now, Mashal in turn takes his orders directly from his lord and protector, Bashir Assad of Syria. So, it really is one great big happy family out to destroy Israel and to make Arab lands 'Judenrein'.

Somewhere along the way we had an epiphany, whether a lasting one, I cannot tell, nevertheless let us not look a gift-horse in the mouth as they say

The US blamed Syria and Iran for the kidnapping and the ensuing violence. "We condemn in the strongest terms Hizbullah's unprovoked attack on Israel and the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers," National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said.

Well, about time....

If Israel does indeed declare war, she may be forced to include the treacherous Syria, who has been pulling the strings of far too many terrorist attacks.

The Perfect Storm

"Le Thérapeute (the Therapist)" by René Magritte 1937, Private Collection, Switzerland

 

Where do they all go? If al-Qaeda had anything to do with it, we would all be gassed to death.

Well, most won't miss this kind of shortage. Neither will he, for someone else will do all the worrying now. Obviously his version of ahem the iPod is the killer idea that should contribute to his early retirement.

I'm glad to consider myself part of a group of "very few principled others"; especially when up against "the policewomen, [who] were even harsher than their male colleagues. One policewoman chased a man while shouting insulting words at him, words that were insulting from a man’s perspective." Dressing up in sheep's clothing won't make a difference; just return to the more artful deceit gambits until going nuclear underground; especially with him around.

Is the author talking about the President?

He must provide strong leadership under the most trying circumstances. He must exercise impeccable judgment, often at times of extreme stress.

He must inspire public confidence at the very time our enemies are trying to instil panic and fear. If he fails, the consequences for our battle with terrorism will be severe.

Evidently not. But bookmark this story (Rice for President, eh?!) and blast it into the face of the next leftie hysteric.

Ah, Father's Day tomorrow, celebrating, umh, "barely civilised savages who might not manage to wipe their own bottoms, let alone a baby's"; just the thing not to say today... but there is always worse!

Calm down, and instead, when you go to church tomorrpw do take heed of the century old rabbinical wisdom and "pray for the welfare of the government, for, without the fear of it, people will swallow one another alive":

Without this understanding, people do indeed "swallow one another alive" and - one might add in the era of suicide bombings - swallow themselves in the process. [...]

In the past half-century, Muslims have come where the Jews came earlier, and in much larger numbers. Like such Jews, they have sometimes experienced the unhappiness that comes when one's religion is misunderstood or derided. Unlike the Jews, too many of their leaders tend to teach them that such slights must be avenged, that existence as a minority is just a temporary misfortune, not a state to be lived with, and that the law of England is virtually no law at all. If that attitude continues, society is reduced to a conflict about who will swallow whom alive. To avoid that is a huge and urgent task.

Amen to that.

Crystal Ball Glazing

 

It's a busy day.

First the good news: We are still alive, the world has not come to an apocalyptic end. Thank God.

But then again, Victor David Hanson has Europe's days of old numbered and things don't look so good for the 56 kidnapped in broad daylight. "The roundup displayed all the signs of an unrelenting kidnapping epidemic in Baghdad. [...] Usually the hostages are held for ransom. Sometimes they are killed because of their faith or ethnicity." In general, such brazen attacks on what clearly was yet another insolent attack on the civilian population, including Sunni Arabs and Shi'ite Muslims, strengthens rather than weakens people's resolve to restore law and order, irrespective of the disparaging commentary from the MSM and certain 'specialists'.

Back home, prepare for a massive broadside  against the Administration and include me as a puzzled bystander. Tony Snow, you'd better fasten your seatbelt and prepare to defend the legal perils inherent in leaving the definition of whether humiliation is torture or not open to interpretation, especially when facing intense pressure from a hostile public opinion, as the Pentagon's reasoning for striking the Geneva Convention rules against prisoner humiliation from its basic guide to soldier conduct; it's about to get rough and this won't do, even when the President bailed you out.

Let's take heart and keep on pushing back at the growing threat that "a superpower that wallows in paranoia and glorifies self-loathing cannot endure and doesn't deserve to", and oppose those who gratuitously adulterate their self-serving criticism with the tone of righteous sententiousness. Could these strong words from an unexpected source be a sign...?  Or is it too late?

Meanwhile, Andy McCarthy takes the MSM to task over the Canadian terrorist plot, "Once the press finally summons the courage to utter that Muslims have been arrested, its primary duty is to obsess over how the “Muslim community” will react", rather than telling us that their "creed commands them to murder".

I join my friends in Israel and "stand back and watch" the evolving fall-out following the collapsed talks between Hamas and Fatah. Stay tuned for a bloody and most certainly messy wrangling for power and the count-down for Washington's strike against Iranian nuclear installations, "probably before the end of 2006", if Spengler's crystal ball is correctly tuned.

Islam's Perpetual War With The West

"Battle of Abukir" by Antoine-Jean Gros, 1806, Musee National du Chateau, Versailles

 

Don't be surprised to see an even more emboldened Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad in the coming weeks and months - becoming the head of the family tends to have that sort of effect. But I don't mean to be disrespectful about anyone's loss of a loved one and that doesn't exclude even our Thug-In-Chief.

"Any action for the sake of God would not fail." Words from Ayatollah Khomeini, absolute ruler during the first ten years following the 1979 revolution, obtained the title of "Imam", being the highest religious rank in Shia, creator of the theocratic rule over Iran and its first Supreme Leader following the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, define Ahmadinejad's quest. Notice especially the crucial nuance "would not fail"; a major departure from "would be justified". The latter implies deliberation, the former guarantees success. Ahmadinejad's words and actions reveal his total and complete conviction in the absolute truth of Khomeini's words. He does not posture as some would have us believe.

Now, where do you think our Thug-In-Chief sees himself in ten years... Khomeini is his role model and Ahmadinejad believes to be his heir apparent, the one who will continue the process where his mentor left off:

Khomeini did not fulfil his pre-revolution promises to the people of Iran but instead he started to marginalize and crash the opposition groups and those who opposed the clerical rules. He ordered establishment of many institutions to consolidate power and safeguard the cleric leadership. During his early years in power he launched the Cultural Revolution in order to Islamize the whole country. Many people were laid off, and lots of books were revised or burnt according to the new Islamic values. Newly established Islamic Judiciary system sentenced many Iranians to death and long-term imprisonment as they were in opposition to those radical changes.

More of this is in store for the Iranian  people and they know it. After all during the 1970's Khomeini was dependent on help from outside Iran. We forget, that apart from his friends in Beirut, Khomeini was supported by what he called "revolutionary Muslims" in Europe, United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now we know of course... but amazingly, it still seems to come as a surprise.

Take the latest example of the alleged terrorist plot in Canada. Immediate talk of discriminatory backlash is the Muslims' swift switch from the defensive to the offensive. Well, let's try to put an end to that never ending cycle of renewed and conveniently self-imposed amnesia, especially by the members of the MSM and our venerable members of the left performing hitherto unparalleled contortionist acts to keep their NSA and FISA crusade alive. We still remain clueless.

It is not us who are at war with Islam, it is Islam who since time immemorial fuels its hatred against Infidels and since the last decades against secular western democracies and thus has been and remains at war with us. The Islamic Republic of Iran is their role model and we must stop closing our eyes before that truth.

A Bloody Fight For The Integrity Of Iran Ignored By The Media

Cross posted @ NewsBusters

Iran is blocking news from leaking out about the current student unrests and bloody riots on University campuses throughout the country. This however is no excuse for the Western media, who have shamefully ignored the tens if thousands of Iranians protesting against the regime. We should take note:

Iranian security forces fired live bullets, and shots were fired at homes outside the university. One of the students told Rooz: "The university campus is on fire, raids are being conducted throughout the campus, and the students are in fear and anxiety... Gunfire is heard from all directions... There is blood everywhere". The university's telephone lines were reported to have been cut.

Iran Press Service (IPS) reports, that "the new wave of students unrests started a month ago when, on the proposal of Mr. Ahmadi Nezhad [our Thug-In-Chief of course], the government decided to burry remains of “martyrs” of the Iraq-Iran War in the campuses of universities across the nation."

The "enemy", for the Iranian ruling officials is, besides the "Great American Satan" the dynamic, active, prosperous Iranian Diaspora with which Mr. Ahmadi Nezhad, on advises [sic] from the leader, is trying to cut all links.

This isn't just a small band of unruly students. As soon as you are talking about 75% of the entire student body participating in the protests, you have some credible momentum.

Independent sources on the scene said 3,000 of the 4,000 students attending the main campus, and another 2,000 from the law and political science campus were taking part in the protests.

Not surprising, is the Mullahs' attempt to blame the unrest "on trouble-makers disguised as students; [...] the ultra-conservative daily “Kayhan”, a mouthpiece of Ayatollah Khameneh’i, called the student leaders "representatives of the American Congress in Tehran University" and said that the “rioters” had come from outside the university"; [...] "foreign agents" and “professional trouble-makers getting orders from the enemies”.

The 'Deadly Charm' Offensive

 

Ed Morrissey hits the nail on the head when summing up the Der Spiegel interview with Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad (don't miss reading the extraordinary back-and-forth exchange on the issue of Holocaust denial between the interviewer and Ahmadinejad - it would be funny if it wasn't so serious in every respect):

He [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] means to prepare the world for some kind of action against them [the Jews], and this attempt at a charm offensive in Germany was no accident.

'Charm offensive' means of course our Thug-In-Chief's effort to strengthen anti-Semitic neo-Nazi groups in Germany. "I believe that the German people today are also prisoners of the Holocaust." These kind of statements are bound to fall on some fertile ground, especially amongst some particularly economically challenged communities. But I am happy to say, that overall the impact is both politically and socially largely insignificant. The German people know their history and have undergone a thorough catharsis vis-a-vis their collective guilt towards international Jewry.

However, much more significant is the mindset revealed by our Thug-In-Chief. Two possibilities exist. One, he is a Thug - no question about that - and is truly ignorant about historical facts; utterly unschooled, a regular illiterate really. Problem is, he is academically highly accomplished, always the best in his academic and scientific pursuits as well as his executive positions; not to forget his extensive 'accomplishments' as a journalist; writing various political, social, cultural and economic articles; serving as managing director of Hamshahri newspaper, launching various affiliated periodicals and on and on and on. Not the kind of person who doesn't know any better...

Second possibility: Both our Thug-In-Chief and his protégée are setting the stage for a simple but cunning political checkmate for Israel along the lines which I explained two months ago:

His [Mohammad-Ali Angel-of-Death Ramin] logic is as simple as it is evil: Should his committee determine that indeed 6 million Jews had been killed by the Nazis, then another committee must be assembled and determine a just punishment for Germany, which, oh quelle surprise, must include the transfer of German territory so as to establish a Jewish State.

Should it however establish, that Holocaust was a 'Myth', Ramin would have successfully vilified the Jews and exonerated the Nazis. He would then hope to re-open the debate questioning the legality of the State of Israel and bring him one step closer to return Israel's territories to Arab rule. Destruction of Israel is only the last resort option. Much preferred is to usurp Israel 'peacefully', and hand control over to Arab leaders. I wonder what he'd call the new nation...

Much more likely.

The Legacy Of Pax Islamica

"The Pax Islamica" Hawk Dove

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Professor Andrew Bostom has been a hero of mine ever since I finished reading what is now considered the Jihad Bible otherwise entitled "The Legacy Of Jihad". It came as a breath of fresh air amidst the rancid sea of apologists on the left, who have never quite understood the meaning of the word "Jihad", and were busy defending it as a mere spiritual struggle in the path of Allah.

My position on this has been crystal clear from the outset of my writing this blog, and although I have written about it many times before, I shall repeat it for the readers that may not be so familiar with the workings of the "Religion Of Peace".

Recently, apologists in the West have asserted that Jihad means primarily "spiritual struggle." There are several things to be said about this. First of all, the tradition to which they are referring is a late Sufi tradition, of the eleventh century, which divides jihad into a "Jihad of the Sword" and a "Jihad of the Spirit," stating that the former is the "lesser" Jihad and the latter is the "greater." This tradition is not contained in any of the canonical volumes of Sunni traditions, however, and has occupied, historically, only a very minor place in the Islamic tradition.

How do we know this to be so? There have been thousands of books composed on the religious duty of Jihad throughout the 14 centuries of Islamic history. Every last one of those books was about the "Jihad of the Sword" but one - and that one was composed only in the 20th century, by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shi'ite, and not exactly a pacifist. Second, and far more important: all that this tradition states is that the "Jihad of the Spirit" is the greater Jihad; it does not in any way abrogate the "lesser Jihad," the "Jihad of the Sword"- on the contrary. It is not accidental that the word for a Sufi monastery and for a fortress of volunteer border warriors (ribat) is identical in the Islamic languages; the same people who were "struggling in God's path" in the Jihad of the Spirit were simultaneously "struggling in God's path" in the Jihad of the Sword; even the Sufis who invented this tradition saw the two types of Jihad as being complementary, not mutually exclusive. Moreover, even had the late Sufi tradition actually been the dominant one in Islam, it would in no way abrogate the militaristic Qur'anic verses which order the believers variously to "fight' or to "kill" the unbelievers.

Every classical treatise on Islamic government has viewed the primary duty of a ruler as essentially that of ordering the world according to God's will. The world is divided into two mutually antagonistic parts: the "Abode of Islam" (Dar al-Islam), in which God's rule has already been established, and which is ruled according to Muslim law; and the "Abode of War" (Dar al-Harb); that portion of the world which is not yet under God's rule, but which the Muslims must eventually bring into the Islamic oecumene by force or by persuasion. What the apologists are not revealing when they talk of Islam as a religion of peace is that the "peace" they are referring to is a Pax Islamica.

Today we continue with the struggle of sending the message which if understood, will have a profound effect on how we deal with the sort of information given to us by Amir Taheri in the last few days, and which despite constant criticism from the left, culminating even in attempts to discredit him as the sterling journalist which we all know him to be, and calling me a Nazi, still needs to be explained further. Dr.Zin @ Regime Change provides a perfectly  logical explanation: "Why does he say it "envisages" it [the law]? Perhaps it is because it has been reported that a separate dress code for minorities has been included in earlier versions of the proposed law," and the Anchoress makes an intelligent deduction: "Just because a document “makes no mention” of something doesn’t mean a thing is not - under a definition of “standard” - implied."

Truth Or Dare

"Cerberus" by Peter Howson 1992, Private Collection London

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It really doesn't matter whether or not the Iranian Mullahs have actually passed the law forcing Iranian Jews and Christians to wear colored badges identifying them as non-Muslims. To wait for the final approval of Khamenehi, the very person who would have instigated the revival of the 2004 drafted Katami law in the first place, is hardly cause for a credibility check of the supposed "secondary motion" that fits the pattern of laws that Iran has already instituted.

What matters is, that they are not only perfectly capable of passing such a law, but that Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad and his cohort Mullahs are most certainly breathlessly awaiting the day when such laws are testament to their progress towards establishing the Caliphat, complete with Shari'a laws imposing segregation of first class, i.e. Muslims and second class citizens, otherwise known as Dhimmis, whose right to live depends at best on their ability to pay 'protection tax', or Jizya poll tax. Amir Taheri confirms in the article today (NP's is free though), which the New York Post runs defiantly despite yesterday's controversy:

The law mandates the government to make sure that all Iranians wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions reflected in clothing, and to eliminate "the influence of the infidel" on the way Iranians, especially the young, dress.

It also envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct color schemes to make them identifiable in public. The new codes would enable Muslims to instantly recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake, and thus becoming najis" (unclean). [...]

The new law, drafted during the presidency of Muhammad Khatami in 2004, had been blocked within the Majlis. That blockage, however, has been removed under pressure from Khatami's successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. [...]

According to Ahmadinejad, the new Islamic uniforms will establish "visual equality" for Iranians as they prepare for the return of the Hidden Imam. [...]

Religious minorities would have their own color schemes. They will also have to wear special insignia, known as zonnar, to indicate their non-Islamic faiths. Jews would be marked out with a yellow strip of cloth sewn in front of their clothes, while Christians will be assigned the color red. Zoroastrians end up with Persian blue as the color of their zonnar. [...]

The new law imposes a total ban on wearing neckties and bow ties, which are regarded as "symbols of the Cross." Will Iranian Christians be allowed to wear them, nevertheless? No one knows. [...]

One aim of the new law is to impose a total ban on imports of clothes and dress designs from the West. The Majlis hopes that all jeans will disappear form the Iranian scene within five years. The boutiques selling haute couture Western gear for men and women will also be closed over the next few years. A total ban on designer items, marked by logos, will come into force by the end of the year.

'There is no sense in a Muslim man or woman wearing something that is, in fact, an advertisement for an infidel designer or clothing merchant," says Pourhardani. [...]

What is already labeled "the Islamic clothes revolution" will not be limited to Iran. Tehran has already sent a team to Lebanon to inform the Hezbollah of the new law and train cadres to impose it on Lebanese Shiites.

"Our aim is to make sure that every Muslim, wherever he or she happens to be on this earth, is a living and walking symbol of Islam," says Pourhardani.

In any event, if Iran is able to split hairs with their categorical and absolute denial, beware not to take aim at the messenger (I am so sickened by absolutely outrageous journalism like this, that I had better refrain from commenting any further) but instead at the source. Taheri's reporting is based on his deep understanding of the Iranian Mullahs and their long-term intentions. Indeed, we should all be experts, as Thug-In-Chief makes no qualms about his vision, lest we belong to the "reality-based community at Daily Kos".

One can only imagine the rage caused in Tehran's Führer-Haupt-Quartier by each and every new indictment, coherently and expertly penned by Taheri and read by previously ignorant Millions; who believed 'Pax Islamica', or "Islam - the Religion of Peace", to be an unqualified truth; who were ignorant of the still far too little known fact, that it only applies to a dark future, during which all mankind has finally converted to Islam; when finally Jihad is no longer necessary, as all have been subjugated as slaves to Allah.

The immediate benefit of the story is that it serves as a test balloon gaging international reaction and resolve; the windfall for the Mullahs is that it further provides an excuse (as if they ever needed one) for disseminating yet another barrage of anti-Semitic bile and to further fuel Zionist conspiracy theories, along with many who hate Bush more than Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad.

Convert Or Die ... Excuse Me? (UPDATED)

"Painting" by Francis Bacon 1946, The Museum of Modern Art, New York

SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT EXTENSIVE UPDATES SATURDAY MAY 20TH

Anyone awake here?

How many buttons does this man have to push and how far will we let him go? We are out of time already...and we know what the Thug-In-Chief really wants.

A new law has been passed by the Iranian Parliament, (still to be approved by Khamenehi)  to revive the old Caliphate tradition dating back to 717 AD, during the reign of Caliph Omar II, who "did his best to force Jews and Christians to convert to Islam. After a siege of Jerusalem in 638 AD, the Christian and Jewish population finally capitulated to the Arabs and handed over control of the city.

In exchange for their lives and religious identity, the Jews and Christians agreed to an archean set of segregation laws, commonly known as the "Pact of Omar." One of the provisions was that they had to wear a yellow sash in public known as the zunar. Later in the 9th century, it was changed to a yellow Star of David, and a yellow cross."

Adopted by their kindred spirits in arms the Nazis during the Holocaust, no doubt due to the friendship between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Hitler, it now rears its ugly head again:

The law mandates the government to make sure that all Iranians wear "standard Islamic garments" designed to remove ethnic and class distinctions reflected in clothing, and to eliminate "the influence of the infidel" on the way Iranians, especially, the young dress. It also envisages separate dress codes for religious minorities, Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians, who will have to adopt distinct color schemes to make them identifiable in public. The new codes would enable Muslims to easily recognize non-Muslims so that they can avoid shaking hands with them by mistake, and thus becoming najis (unclean).

The new law, drafted during the presidency of Muhammad Khatami in 2004, had been blocked within the Majlis. That blockage, however, has been removed under pressure from Khatami's successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Make no mistake about it, Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad is no fool. This is much more than stubborn provocation; this is about paving the way for the 'final solution'. It is an ice-cold calculation, especially when expressly joining Jews and Christians together as Infidels. The purpose is not to find out how far he can push, but a systematic strategy to de-construct previously held taboos, and by taboos, I mean those established and upheld ever since the Holocaust.

Furthermore, it is a mistake to believe, the target audience is limited to fellow Muslims the world over. It is not, for they are rabid anti-Semites since time immemorial. No, this is first and foremost directed at the West; to expose the intellectual hypocrisy separating Jews and Christians both in Europe and in the U.S.

Christians have no emotional connections to the label and will in most cases simply ridicule the measures. The moment that attitude sets in, it directly undermines the ability to respond with all force and united outrage against this segregating legislation. If one faction brushes it off as an act of anachronistic folly, it cannot stand united with the other in utter condemnation.

Mark my words, all this outrage will do here in the West is in a tragically perverse way not dampen, but instead give rise to hitherto hidden or dormant anti-Semitic sentiments as opposed to galvanize solidarity between Christians and Jews in their uncompromising rejection and immediate formulation of concrete measures which would force the Thug-In-Chief to back down. Nothing less will do. Alas, the tragic reality is, that instead, nothing will be done.

Gathering Storm

"The Fall of the Rebel Angels" by Luca Giordano 1666, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

 

Is it time for Prozac to lift our gathering gloom? No wait, says the Washington Times, remembrance is a better cure. I say keep the lid on the Prozac bottle for rainier days, or try placebos. And if that doesn't work, think of the headache the CIA is facing when Hayden starts spring cleaning and radical downsizing.

Ah, but there is a distraction, the Da Vinci Code; try the critics. Or even better, what about this one: Shortly after Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad's surprise election last year, he read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and had an epiphany. Just when the West comes to terms with the fact that Christ was the Prophet he knew him to be all along, a mere man, not a God, our Thug-In-Chief would explode onto the world stage and proclaim the arrival of salvation for all through the return of the 12th Caliphat, the realization of the global Dar-al-Islam, the time when Islam has subjugated the whole world, the time when Islam will be 'tolerant' for there will be none left to oppose or differ.

And what are the moderates saying? Not the whole world at first; just a "Caliphat that would stretch from Indonesia to Morocco and contain more than 1.5 billion people". Not exactly what the neighbors have in mind.

Meanwhile Turkey is set to become the stage where all witness the undoing of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's legacy of a secular Islamic society.

Now if the Da Vinci Code hasn't inspired our Thug-In-Chief, we sure appreciate the revelation of his ancestry - miraculously separated from yours and mine of course.

There is something there with this ancestry story and our Thug-In-Chief's reaction: “They say they want to give the Iranians incentives. They are treating us like a four-year-old child who can be given nuts and chocolate in exchange for gold,” or was it Bananas...

An Offer We Must Refuse

 

I know we covered the real meaning of Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad's letter to the President in the update of my post Ahmadinejad's Lorem Ipsum, but this article "Mahmoud on a Mission" by Hossein Bagher Zadeh, a human rights activist and commentator on Iranian political and human rights issues, must not be ignored:

The letter by President Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad to President George W. Bush generated a lot of speculations both inside Iran and in the outside world. It was the first time that a president of the Islamic Republic had directly written to the leader of the “Great Satan”, and used polite terminologies in addressing them.

At home, the reformists welcomed it as a breakthrough in the long-standing estrangement between the two governments, while the conservative press hailed it as a grand gesture on par with letters sent out some fourteen centuries ago by the Prophet Mohammad to leaders of the then empires inviting them to the bosoms of Islam. The latter group knew more about the Islamic President than the formers, and their judgements must be nearer to the truth. Ahmadi Nezhad seems to be on a Messianic mission to save the world.

The Islamic Republic President appeals to the religious sentiments of President Bush and in religious texts, finds a common language to talk to him. He reminds him of the follies of the Americans past and present and puts America in the duck for many of the ills of the world. He advises him that “democracy and liberalism” have failed the humankind and invites him to join “people of the world” by submitting to the truth.

He is there to offer him salvation. At the same time, he warns him of the consequences for people who do not follow the right path. He ends his 18-page letter by the words “will of God will prevail over all things” in order to remind the leader of the most powerful nation in the world that some other forces are in action and that he better watch himself lest he finds himself in the wrong camp.

That the letter has been dismissed by its addressee is not of much concern to its writer. It is said that when messengers delivered the Prophet Mohammad’s letter to the leader of the Persian Empire it was dealt with contempt. Soon afterwards, the Empire was trembling under the feet of Moslem soldiers, and then it was history.

Ahmadinejad's Lorem Ipsum

 

SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT UPDATE THURSDAY MAY 11TH

Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad scored quite a success with his 18-page letter to President Bush. Timing was of course carefully orchestrated to coincide with his high-profile visit to a key Muslim country, Indonesia.

Remember 'Lorem Ipsum', the standard placeholder text used in publishing and graphic design to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation? Well, as soon as we realize that our Thug-In-Chief might as well have used such dummy text, that the content never mattered, we understand this simple but as it turns out most effective strategy to shift the dynamic away from being in the defensive and to firmly place the ball into the opponents court. Amir Taheri puts it best:

Something interesting is happening with regard to the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Slowly the blame is shifting from the mullahs to the Bush administration as the debate is redirected to tackle the hypothetical question of U.S. military action rather than the Islamic Republic's real misdeeds. "No War on Iran" placards are already appearing where "No Nukes for Iran" would make more sense.

The attempt at fabricating another "cause" with which to bash America is backed by the claim that the mullahs are behaving badly because Washington refuses to talk to them. Some of this buzz is coming from those who for years told the U.S. to let them persuade Iran to mend its ways. They include German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his British and French colleagues in the European Union trio that negotiated with Iran for years. Preparing to throw in the towel, they now say the U.S. should "directly engage" Iran. That would enable them to hide their failures and find a pretext for blaming future setbacks on the U.S.

The letter is of course just one building block in this effort to ultimately shift the perception of 'Mistrust' from the lying, cheating and generally contemptuous Iranian Mullahs to that of our Administration. Most of our Liberal friends are of course only too eager to support the Thug-In-Chief in his effort, as Mark Noonan @ Blogs for Bush points out:

Honestly, except for his closing mumbo-jumbo about everyone getting ready to worship his version of Allah, there isn't the slightest difference between Ahmadinejad's letter and the average speech by Al Gore, Howard Dean or Russ Feingold.

We are also little surprised to be told by Iranian political analyst Saeed Leilaz that the letter "could have been the beginning of a new process," and that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's reaction, which has of course already been labeled as a 'quick brushoff', would fuel anti-American feelings in Iran; that her response would "strengthen the suspicion (inside Iran) that the U.S. is thinking of a military option only and not a political solution" to the standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Just what the Left wants to hear.

Meanwhile, Iran Focus confirms that 8 out of 10 foreign insurgents in Iraq come from Iran, with the remaining more or less coming from Afghanistan.

"Allahu Akbar" Indeed

SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE MURDER OF ATWAR BAHJAT

Friday evening, time to party. Parents are delighted as boys and girls stay separated; no worrying there. Except, some sons and daughters have not returned home on time. Initial phone calls to friends fail to shed any further light on their whereabouts.

Then comes the phone call from the AVP. You wonder what AVP stands for? Anti Vice Police. "We have arrested your daughter. She was caught attending a mixed-sex party." Anxiously you ask to speak to her. "Not possible, she's still unconscious."

Unconscious? Why unconscious. What happened to her. But then the full extent of the offense begins to dawn on you. Of course, you think, she would have been flogged inside the offices of the Ministry of Justice. They don't wait to carry out the punishment. It's instant. After all, there is no need for a hearing of sorts, no possibility or denial. She was attending a mixed-sex party, that's an unassailable fact.

You picture her back covered in deep lacerations. The pain would have been too much for her to bear. Her beautiful soft and blemish-free skin; she was always so proud of her lovely complexion. And the shame, you begin to feel her utter shame and horrendous humiliation when they forced her to strip off her shirt and bra in front of all these men. No doubt they were cracking jokes and being rude. After all, in their eyes she was practically a prostitute, and as such fair game.

By now your agony is unbearable. You know that this night will forever change her life for the worse. You collapse onto your knees and sob uncontrollably. The shame, the shame she has brought onto your family. What will her father say....

Tehran, Iran, May 05 – Iranian authorities flogged 54 people for attending a mixed-sex party in the northern province of Mazandaran, a state-run daily reported.

The men and women were arrested by the “anti-vice police” in a park in the suburbs of the town of Babol as they were partying during the night, the daily Iran wrote on Thursday.

The report said that all 54 men and women were flogged inside the offices of the Ministry of Justice in Babol.

Co-ed parties are banned in Islamic Iran. Thousands of teenage boys and girls were arrested last year for taking part in similar parties. Some were flogged in public.

These are real people, somebody's real sons and daughters. It's hard not fall into the trap laid out for us by the dry rhetoric of the laconic reporting, if indeed there is any.

Every time this happens, we must allow the enormity of these barbaric actions carried out routinely by the Iranian government to take full effect. We must each time contrast them with our values and beliefs and with our liberties we so treasure.

Every time Iranian youths are subjected to the barbarism of 100 lashes, every time their backs are left covered in huge bloody welts, we need to repeat out loud the words of OutRage!

Dissident Amir Abbas Fakhravar Escapes To The U.S

"Earth could not answer nor the Seas that mourn"

 

"On April 29 secular author and opposition activist Amir Abbas Fakhravar successfully escaped from Iran and is heading for America."

Excuse me, where was I when the news broke out?

Who is he and what is he likely to tell the Administration when he arrives?

Mr. Amir Abbas Fakhravar was born in 1975, is single, and experienced his first jail when he was 17 years old and has been imprisoned 18 times since. He studied law but was forced to abandon it.

In November 2002, Mr. Fakhravar was sentenced to eight years in the 'Evin' prison for criticizing Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, the leader of the Islamic Republic in his book Inja Chah Nist ('This Place is not a Ditch'), short listed for the 2001/2002 Paolo Coelho Literary Prize.

On 18 March 2006 Mr. Fakhravar appeared in court for an appeal hearing but was denied representation by his lawyers. After an argument with the judge he was beaten in front of Bench 26 before being transferred to prison. He is a longstanding critic of the Iranian government and has been demanding a referendum on the future government of Iran.

He has been exiled several times to remote areas in Iran, as well as abducted and thrown into an unknown prison in Oroumiyeh (north-eastern Iran) where he was tortured.

Mr. Fakhravar collaborated with several reformist newspapers, wrote three books, including “Here is Not a Ditch”. After newspapers in Iran reported that the book was presented to the Paulo Coelho Literary Award, security forces raided his house and office and took all the copies, but a diskette was saved and sent abroad, where the book was translated into English and published.

Another book, "Prison Papers”, is an account of life and torture practices in Iranian prisons."

Let us hear what Mr. Fakhravar has to say about the Iranian regime in the following interview with the Iran Press Service (IPS) to get an idea of what we'll learn from him when he gets debriefed over here:

Iran's Deadly Agenda

"The splitting of the Atom (La separation de l'atome)" or "Dematerialization near the Nose of Nero" by Salvador Dali 1947

 

It does not come as a great surprise to us that the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program obtained via my talented friends over @ Vital Perspective

is quite damning and points out the 20 years of Iran's deception and its total unwillingness to answer for conduct. It discloses that Iran has been working on advanced P-2 centrifuges – as Ahmadinejad bragged about last week – revealing a previously unknown secret track toward nuclear bomb fuel, outside of that which the IAEA had been following previously. P-2 centrifuges are more sophisticated and reliable, making it easier for Iran to ramp up the production of enriched uranium.

Their other work – on plutonium, recent successful work on the 164-centrifuge cascade and announcement last week of the production of enriched uranium – and their stated ambition to install 3,000 centrifuges over the next several months is extremely worrisome. You read it here first.

With just 1,500 centrifuges running in concert, Iran could produce enough fuel for a nuclear bomb in less than a year. Iranian officials have stated they will build a full-scale 3,000-centrifuge operation later this year, with the ultimate objective of deploying 54,000 centrifuges by the end of 2007.

According to the report, "gaps remain in the Agency's [IAEA] knowledge with respect to the scope and content of Iran's centrifuge programe. Because of this, and other gaps in the Agency's knowledge, including the role of the military in Iran's nuclear programe, the Agency is unable to make progress in its efforts to provide assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran."

With Tehran continuing to defy the international community, the Security Council is expected to consider the use of strong economic and political sanctions as tools to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons under Chapter VII. Thankfully, most analysts expect a Chapter VII, (i.e., legally binding resolution) to be passed in the coming weeks with or without Russian support. However, our concern remains that valuable time continues to be lost as Iran's scientists race towards technological self-sufficiency, while the international community continues to debate its reaction. The Chapter VII resolution will only provide the legal context for future sanctions, which are not expected until later this year.

The diplomatic track is most definitely coming to a dead end, and Europe will soon have to make its decision. As I have been saying for some time now, Nuclear Jihad is fast approaching and we are running out of time. At least Thug-In-Chief Ahmadinejad's infamous announcement seems to have killed any serious debate stone dead as to whether a military intervention to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb was on the cards. Now we have that out of the way, we are still left with the never ending "Does the President have the authority"...to be the President?

Judging from the recent flurry of commentary, this seems no longer the real issue, but a foregone conclusion--I am discounting those who advocate diplomatic efforts without being backed by a credible threat of military actions, for they are simply pipe-dreams.