Atlas Shrugs

Another One Bites the Dust: Kuwait PM, Government Resign

All in all it's just another brick in the wall:

From Reuters: Kuwait PM, Government Resign via Pundit Press

Kuwait's prime minister and his government resigned on Monday, bowing to escalating demands by protesters and opposition deputies that he step down over corruption allegations.

The oil-producing state has tolerated criticism of its government to a degree rare among its Gulf neighbours, helping to insulate it from the protest-driven political tumult that has helped topple four Arab leaders this year.

But tensions rose sharply this month when opposition lawmakers and protesters stormed parliament to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah.

"We decided to submit our resignation to comply with the national interest and due to the danger the situation had reached," the state television channel reported Sheikh Nasser as saying.

The storming of parliament followed a request filed by a group of MPs to question Sheikh Nasser, which was blocked by the cabinet in a move decried as unconstitutional by the opposition.

Kuwaiti Times has more on this:

The Islamist Ummah Party welcomed the government's resignation but insisted that the political crisis will continue in the country as long as the root cause of the problem is not resolved. The party demanded in a statement to adopt true democracy by resorting to the elected popular government system instead of the current one. The liberal Progressive Movement called on the government to stop interfering in elections and called for major constitutional and democratic reforms towards a true democratic system. It also called on the ruling family to stop monopolizing the so-called sovereign ministries like defense, interior and foreign affairs.

Lawmakers sue President Obama over Libya

Finally, elected officials are holding a runaway President to account. Does anyone know what the hell we hope to accomplish in Libya? What is Obama's endgame in Libya, aiding al qaeda? On May 20th, the 60th day of Obama's war in Libya, Obama was requird by law to get Congressional approval to continue his ops in Libya. The war he consulted no one about, the war he did not go to Congress on, the tyrant's war.

He is now engaged in four wars: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and a secret war in Yemen, and his strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq has resulted in the highest US military casualty rates, year over year, since  these engagements began (in July 2009, I called it -- Obama's Afghanistan strategy: target US military). He refuses to identify Islamic terror, jihad or religious motivation. His counter terror adviser, John Brennan, says, "jihad is a legitimate tennt of islam," so what exactly is Obama fighting in these four wars, and who is he fighting for?

Mind you, I have little in common with some of the lawmakers who filed the suit (i.e., Kucinich, Conyers, and Rand, for example), but then, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Where the hell is the media? Busy shining his shoes.

Lawmakers sue President Obama over Libya Politico

A bipartisan group of House members announced on Wednesday that it is filing a lawsuit charging that President Obama made an illegal end-run around Congress when he approved U.S military action against Libya.
[....]

the suit will challenge the Obama administration’s “circumvention of Congress and its use of international organizations such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to authorize the use of military force abroad.”

It also will ask a judge to prohibit the White House from conducting a war without congressional approval.

Kucinich has scheduled a press conference at noon in front of the D.C. federal courthouse.

The suit comes a day after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sent Obama a letter claiming that military action in Libya will violate the 1973 War Powers Resolution if it does not end by Friday, 90 days after it began.

The Kucinich-Jones group also includes Democrats John Conyers of Michigan and Michael Capuano of Massachusetts and Republicans Howard Coble of North Carolina, John Duncan of Tennessee, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Ron Paul of Texas, Tim Johnson of Illinois and Dan Burton of Indiana.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57032.html#ixzz1PMrJP4Lw

Nordlinger Does the Desert

Fascinating observations from Jay Nordlinger, who attended the World Economic Forum on the Middle East last week, by the Dead Sea in Jordan. It's an optimist's opinion and it bodes ............ most ill. Read it all - check out this excerpt. hat tip S

 It can be a wondrous thing to hear Arab elites talk behind closed doors. They can be bracingly, sometimes thrillingly, candid. They recognize the problems of Arab society; they are eager to confront and surmount them.

At a lunch, I hear things like, “We Arabs are at the bottom of everything — at the bottom of every index: literacy, capitalism, the rights of women. Everything. In our countries, we have cults of personality, dictatorships, dynasties . . . Where is democracy? Where is rotation in office?

“In the past, extremist Islam was unusual; now it is usual. In the Soviet Union, South Africa, South Korea, there was restructuring. But not in our region. We have no Gorbachev, we have no de Klerk, we have no Kim Dae-jung. The vast majority of our people are chromosomally reasonable and moderate. And the human spirit must be unleashed here.”

How touching it is, too, to hear a Syrian woman plead for human rights. Many of her countrymen — many of her best ones — are in cells.

I wish the whole world could hear what I have heard at this lunch.

But you also hear the old voices — the Old Guard, as I call them. And, as always, they are depressing. They cannot speak without fingering Israel and the United States. In their eyes, everything bad stems from Israel and the United States. And no progress can be made until Israel ceases to occupy the West Bank. (They’re now out of Gaza, of course. Fat lot of good that did.)
Arab countries can’t drop crippling socialism until Israel leaves the West Bank. Nepotism must continue until Israel leaves the West Bank. Women cannot drive until Israel leaves — and “honor killings” must go on. Corruption must prevail in Arab countries as long as Israel occupies the West Bank.
Etc., etc. This attitude is not only insane — it is harmful to the point of destructiveness.

As a rule, I encounter two types of Arab elite: those who recognize Arab problems, and are willing to tackle them; and those who fixate on Israel and America. Members of the former group are so refreshing, you want to hug them; members of the latter group are not just lamentable, but despicable. They are the excuse-makers. And they hold the entire region back.

The excuse-makers, sad to say, occupy positions of power. The other people — the problem-recognizers, and reformers — are on the sidelines. Or quashed by the excuse-makers. (I am speaking in generalities here, of course. It is largely unavoidable. But I ask your pardon all the same.)

There are major Arab excuse-makers here by the Dead Sea — and the leading one, I would say, is Amr Moussa, the longtime secretary-general of the Arab League. He is the epitome, the purest representative, of the Old Guard. But you know who most of the excuse-makers are? Americans and Europeans. Middle Easterners themselves are far more likely to be candid and clear-eyed.

They’re the ones who have to live with these problems. They’re the ones who have to live with a lack of progress. Americans and Europeans can sit in their free societies, fat and happy, and say, “Damn those Israelis, and damn us meddling, injurious Westerners.”

Here is one of the most interesting things I will hear all conference long. An Arab intellectual says, “In our region, we have those who are hardliners for reform and those who are against reform; and we have hardliners against peace and those who are willing at least to consider peace. Unfortunately, the hardliners for reform are also the hardliners against peace.” In other words, these are Islamists — as I understand it — who want to shake up entrenched regimes and make government more accountable to the people. They also, of course, want to make war.

The intellectual says, “Those who are both hardline for reform and hardline for peace are in a tiny, tiny minority.”

There is much to think about in those few lines.

Accurate Middle East Perspective, thankyouverymuch

It is mildly bemusing that politicians in Israel and (the US) move right of center to get elected. It's what the people want. Once elected, they veer wildly to the left to the detriment of civilization.
This may well be Livni's attempt to snatch victory from the hands of likud. But I do not think they can pull that off. You can't fake integrity and courage for terribly long.  Olmerde and company  do not have the spine, the fortitude, the soul to fight for the Jewish people. (Olmert said that the action was intended primarily to improve the security of the residents of southern Israel  - so we now what that means, he will cave when the pressure gets too intense). We saw this in the summer of 2006, the last time Islamic jihad declared war on the Jews.
Israel should rout her enemies and take out Iran's nukes NOW. Before it is too late. But these dhimmi Jews just don't get it and they will continue to appease their executioners.
That's my take.

EXCELLENY OVERVIEW OF OPERATON CAST LEAD

Jordan killed 10,000 to 25,000 "Palestinians" in one month (September 1970)- that's more "Palestinians" in than Israel killed during the three years of increased Palestinian homicide bombings that began with al dura hoax - the second intifada,  in the fall of 2000. The brutality of the Jordanian Army toward Palestinian dissidents and terrorists was far more egregious than anything Israel has ever done but these details have little relevance to the antisemitic narrative being spewed by the left and their media propagandists. (more here) hat tip Joel

Ban Ki-Moon, call your office: Egyptians open fire on Palestinians (Jihadwatch)

Middle East Map (hat tip Nancy)
22 Totalitarian Arab/Islamic Countries
One Tiny Non-Arab/Democratic Country – Israel (in red, below)
Arab Countries – Oil Rich
Israel – No Oil Reserves
Arab Countries Have 800 Times More Land Than Israel
Israel is Only 1/6 of 1% the Size of the Arab Lands
It is so small…it is 1/19th the size of California
Israel: The Most Disputed strip of Real Estate on Planet Earth!

22 Hostile Arab/Islamic Nations Allied With 1.4 Billion Muslims Worldwide

One,Tiny Jewish Nation On The Entire Earth - Israel

In its six decades of history, clouded by almost uninterrupted warfare against it, Israel has made many mistakes:

1.        Relinquishing the Sinai to Egypt

2.        Relinquishing Southern Lebanon to Hezbollah

3.        Relinquishing Gaza to the Palestinians

And the greatest mistake of all:

*Relinquishing Gaza to the "Palestinians"

Since Israel forcibly kicked all Israelis out of Gaza and gave it to the Palestinians, the Gazans have launched daily rocket attacks on the Israeli city of Sderot. These attacks are upon peaceful civilians, innocent men, women and children who are merely trying to live a productive and peaceful life.

As you can see from the map above, the one thing Israel does not have enough of is land. Giving up land in the hopes of having peace has done nothing but give Israel’s enemies closer access to its eventual annihilation. When in the history of the world has a country given up land they captured in a defensive war launched against it by surrounding enemies? Only in Israel has this happened.  So great is their quest for peace.

All 22 Arab Nations incite daily in their (non-free) press for Israel’s destruction. Children in the 22 Arab Nations are being raised with a goal of becoming suicide bombers – killing as many Israelis as possible as they die a martyr. Their mothers celebrate their deaths and the countries hail them as heroes – other children collect trading cards with their pictures and descriptions on them much the same as American Children used to collect baseball cards.

Ahmadinejad in Iran promises to ‘wipe Israel off the map.’ He denies there was a European Holocaust that killed  six million Jews while he plots and plans to carry out a second one. He is rapidly working on Atomic Bombs for just that purpose. We should believe him when he says that is his goal…but no one seems to be.  We should have believed Hitler when he wrote about his intentions to get rid of all Jews…but no one did.

Much thanks to Nancy who pulled this together

What Lebanon Really Means

Barry Rubin over at the GLORIA center explains what is happening in Lebanon. He correctly predicts an ominous outcome  to the Hezbo violent takeover in Beirut.  Their intention was never to be part of the process, their objective was always violent jihad. The Hezbos have been nothing if not consistent in their  objective of an Islamic Lebanon.
Excerpt:

What Spain was in 1936; Lebanon is today.

Does anyone remember the Spanish Civil War? Briefly, a fascist revolt took place against the democratic government. The rebels were motivated by several factors, including anger that their religion had not been given enough respect and regional grievances, but essentially they sought to put their ideology and themselves into power. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy backed the rebels with money and guns. The Western democracies stood by and did nothing.

Guess who won? And guess whether that outcome led to peace or world war.

Funny, I thought September 11 changed everything.

Why should Lebanese Sunni, Druze, and Christians risk their lives when the West doesn't help them? Every Israeli speaking nonsense about Syria making peace; every American claiming Damascus might split from Tehran; every European preaching appeasement has in fact been engaged in confidence-breaking measures.

Hizballah doesn't need to win a military victory but only to show it can win one, using that position of strength to try to force its demands on the moderate government. . The government has already accepted Michel Suleiman, Syria's candidate for president. But Hizballah and the rest say this is not enough: they want veto power over everything.

The goal of Hizballah, and its Syrian and Iranian backers at present is not the full conquest of Lebanon--something beyond their means--but to control the government so it does nothing they dislike: no strong relations with the West, no ability to stop war against Israel, no disarming Hizballah's militias or countering that group's control over large parts of the country, and certainly no investigation of Syrian involvement in terrorism there.

Why, three years after Damascus ordered the murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri do investigators dawdle, having edited out the names of top Syrian officials they blamed for the killing in their initial report?

Israel bombed a nuclear reactor being built in Syria. Rice reportedly opposed the action. The world yawned.

Iran drives for nuclear weapons. There is some effort but too little, too slow. Whether or not the war in Iraq was a mistake, when terrorists murdered Iraqi civilians, much of the West blamed America; all too many Americans agreed.

Far too much Western media, intellectual--sometimes political life--reviles Israel. But Israel is no threat to them; other forces are. And events in Lebanon are one more proof that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is only a portion, say one-fifth, of the wider Middle East crisis.

Many in the West think Israel will pay the price for their follies. But Israel is ready to do what it needs for its self-defense. If anything, the mistakes of the last round in Lebanon reinforced this determination.

Instead, the main victims will be Arabs, mostly Muslims, in Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq, and Lebanon, killed by the various Jihad groups, or ruled by them where they take power or dominate through intimidation. And second they will be Western interests, which would not fare well in a region dominated by a combination of Islamists and those who feel they have no choice but to appease them.

When Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama says he will negotiate with Syria and Iran over Iraq's future, he signals every Persian Gulf regime to cut its own deal with Iran. When his stances convince Hamas that he's the guy for them; when Iran and Syria conclude they merely need stand defiant and wait until January 21 for any existing pressure vanishes, the U.S. position in the Middle East is being systematically destroyed.

Note that this does not make Obama the candidate favored by Arabs in general but only by the radicals. Egyptians, Jordanians, Gulf Arabs, and the majorities in Lebanon and Iraq are very worried. This is not just an Israel problem; it is one for all non-extremists in the region.

If the dictators and terrorists are smiling, it means everyone else is crying.

The Syrian and Iranian regimes know that while they may walk through the valley of the shadow of sanctions they need fear nothing because there are all too many who comfort them.

After all, if the UN human rights committee is run by Libya, if UNIFIL forces in Lebanon tread lightly so Hizballah won't be angry with them, if Westerners tremble and repeal freedom of speech lest some Muslims be offended, why should the "bad guys" worry?

Yet the West doesn't have to play it stupid forever. Now is the time for energetic action on Lebanon to wipe that confident sneer off their faces. To contain Iran and Syria, to buck up the Lebanese government side and all those Arabs who, whatever their faults, don't want to live in an Islamist caliphate.

If you want to know what's wrong, consider Obama's May 10 statement on Lebanon. He starts out playing tough, talking about "Hezbollah's power grab in Beirut....This effort to undermine Lebanon's elected government needs to stop, and all those who have influence with Hezbollah must press them to stand down immediately." He calls for supporting the Lebanese government, strengthening the Lebanese army, and to "insist on disarming Hezbollah."

But how to do this? By "working with the international with the international community and the private sector to rebuild Lebanon and get its economy back on its feet."

In other words, according to the Obama world view, it's a problem of development. If people have more money they won't be terrorists. Of course, that was the policy of Hariri, which was countered by Syria blowing him up. In politics, bombs trump business. And any way you can't have a strong economy with no government and chaos. Part of the mistake here is Obama's assumption that Hizballah (and other radicals) want stability and prosperity. In fact, they want to use instability as blackmail in their pursuit of power. They don't want conciliation. It's a military-strategic problem, not one of community organizing.

The statement continues: "We must support the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions that reinforce Lebanon's sovereignty, especially resolution 1701 banning the provision of arms to Hezbollah, which is violated by Iran and Syria."

Great. But the UN is no substitute for U.S. power. As David Schenker of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy writes, "It is highly unlikely that the UN -- which failed to even prevent the rearming of Hizballah--would agree to more dangerous deployments in Lebanon." America doesn't need a president whose solution is to turn over crises to the UN.

Nor can Obama pass the buck to Lebanon's army. Its commander is Syria's presidential candidate, its soldiers are mostly pro-Hizballah, and the quarter-billion dollars of U.S. aid given since 2006 may well become additional assets for Tehran.

As President Harry Truman said of the president's desk, the buck stops here. So the president of the United States must take the lead, be tough, and make credible threats. What's needed is not a conciliator but a confronter.

These are the questions Obama isn't even pretending to try to answer: Are you willing to fight on this issue? To defy an "international community" that opposes action? To intimidate and defeat the radicals? Answer: No.

But here's the worst part that few in America but everyone in Lebanon will understand all too well: (there's more, go here)

[...]

Here, at the "From Beirut to Beltway" blog, is a typical, sarcastic, reaction by Lebanese government supporters:

"Oh the time we wasted by fighting Hizballah all those years....If only we had engaged them and their masters in diplomacy...sitting with them around discussion tables, welcoming them into our parliament, and letting them veto cabinet decisions. If only Obama had shared his wisdom with us before, back when he was rallying with some of our former friends at pro-Palestinian rallies in Chicago. How stupid we were when, instead of developing `national consensus' with them, we organized media campaigns against Israel on behalf of the impoverished people who voted for them.

"During that time when we bought into the cause against Israel, treating resistance fighters like our brothers, we really should have been `building consensus' with them. Because what we did...was...unnecessary antagonism, a product of a `corrupt patronage system and unfair distribution of wealth.'"

"We stand today regretting the wasted time that could have been wisely spent talking to them, to the Syrian occupiers who brought them into our system, and the Iranian revolutionary guards who trained them.^[1]

The battle isn't over, which is all the more reason for real--not just verbal--international action. Hizballah has made its point for the moment, that it is the most powerful and to it every knee must bend. Yet without serious political and diplomatic support for Lebanon's government and real costs inflicted on Syria and Iran, the battle will be lost eventually.

For all those in the West who don't like Israel, then at least help the people you pretend to like. Back the Lebanese government with real power and aid, covertly or overtly, those battling the radical forces in Lebanon.

Rick: "Sam, if it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?"

Sam: "Um, my watch stopped."

Rick: "I bet they're asleep in New York. I'll bet they're asleep all over America."

Remarks by the President on the Middle East

The Sinister Spin Stops Here

Ted Belman over at Israpundit: IMRA offers these painful, glaring, examples of spin;

1. Spin after Hamas exploited decision of Sharon and Olmert administrations to ignore reality and avoid addressing the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza Strip: “fall of Gaza to Hamas is an opportunity”
 
2. Spin after Fatah terrorists exploit proposed timeout to murder Israelis “now that Fatah has regained the respect of the Palestinian street by murdering Israelis they will be strong enough to make peace”
 
3. Spin after the next shipment of weapons America supplies are turned against Israel “now the world appreciates the sacrifices Israel made to try to bolster Mahmoud Abbas”
 
4. Spin after successful mega attack murders thousands of Israelis “this opens a window of opportunity for the IDF to act without concern for bad press”.]
 
Now Aluf Benn reports Cabinet approves transfer of withheld tax revenues
 
<BLOCKQUOTE> The prime minister added that at Monday’s summit in Sharm el-Sheikh he will present “our expectations as well as our demand for a fight against terror.”
 
  “At the same time, we will declare our intention to assist the new government.”
 
  Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the cabinet that any diplomatic progress would be dependant on the actions of the Palestinian emergency government.
 
  Livni slammed Russia as well as some Arab states for refusing to give their full support to Fayad’s cabinet, accusing them of trying to revive the unity government between Fatah and Hamas and thus thwart any chance of diplomatic progress. </BLOCKQUOTE>
  The spin is that Israel must offer “gestures” or “confidence building measures” to support the Abbas government. I can’t think of one instance where such gestures have resulted in increased support for Arafat or Abbas, or for that matter a benefit for Israel.
 
On the other hand it may be argued that making gestures increased support for their policies of intransigence and violence. Such gestures merely reward intransigence.
The Government of Israel must explain how gestures will rsult in Arab compromises for peace. The latter must be a precondition for the former.
Furthermore it is not enough to say Abbas is moderate or willing to compromise for peace. Such willingness must first be demonstrated by his words to his own constituency and then by action.
Rather than hold the Arab feet to the fire by demanding compromise we say what they want because they won’t say it and because they don’t want it. Similarly we call Islam a religion of peace so Muslims don’t have to take a stand on the issue.
What we say is spin and it doesn’t accord with reality. Abbas has yet to indicate his willingness for substantial compromise. If he is not willing to compromise, why are we sucking up to him. INSS just published a paper First We Take the West Bank…? byAnat Kurz

[..] The common aspiration of Israel and Fatah to prevent the fall to the Islamist camp of the West Bank, as well, does not constitute a basis for agreement on permanent status. Fatah’s main concern now is to block the rise of Hamas power in the West Bank and to regain control in Gaza. Preparing for agreement with Israel – which entails historical concessions – is not on its agenda.
<>In any case, it could not impose any agreement it might negotiate. And Israel’s security and ideological reservations about territorial concessions in the West Bank will continue to complicate the task of reaching a compromise with Fatah – just as they did in the years preceding Hamas’ electoral gains.

Moreover, the current political break between the West Bank and Gaza does not relieve Fatah leaders of their obligations to Gaza residents or signal the end of Hamas’ intention to expand its presence in the West Bank. With the revival of a political process, the West Bank and Gaza will be on the negotiating table as a single entity. And any Palestinian delegation – religious, secular, or mixed – will insist on maintaining that link. Israel will not be able to ignore demands in that spirit, however much they may complicate matters.

Iran's Proxy Syria Behind War in Lebanon

If Israel ever needed a wartime Prime Minister it is now. Instead, Israel is lead by a self serving political hack.

Tragically 40 years after the six day war - Israel is again threatened by the Islamic world. And certainly SYRIA COULD ATTACK ISRAEL WITH IRAQ WMD

Who Is Behind Fath Al-Islam?
By H. Varulkar*

On May 20, 2007, militants from the Fath Al-Islam organization attacked Lebanese Army outposts at the Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Since then, the violence has spread into other areas, including the city of Tripoli, and dozens of Lebanese soldiers, civilians, and Fath Al-Islam militants have been killed.(1)

The Lebanese government and the March 14 forces are accusing Syria of training and arming the Fath Al-Islam militants, and of bringing them into Lebanon. They are claiming that Syria ordered the organization to launch a large-scale attack on the Lebanese army at this point in time so as to prevent the U.N. Security Council from approving the establishment of an international tribunal for the Al-Hariri assassination.

Furthermore, the March 14 Forces link Fath Al-Islam's attack on the Lebanese army to  the threats made recently by Syrian President Bashar Assad, which were reported by numerous media outlets. According to the reports, Assad threatened, in a conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, to set fire to the region "from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean"; another time, he threatened that civil war would break out in Lebanon if the tribunal was approved.(2)

The Lebanese opposition, headed by Hizbullah, accused the Lebanese government, primarily the Sunni Al-Mustaqbal faction led by Sa'd Al-Hariri, of being behind Fath Al-Islam and of funding it.

March 14 Forces: Syria Sent Fath Al-Islam into Lebanon Because of the International Tribunal

With the first reports of Fath Al-Islam's emergence, in November 2006, the March 14 Forces claimed that the Fath Al-Islam militants had been sent into Lebanon by Syria to carry out attacks and to assassinate senior Lebanese officials.

In a communiqué, the March 14 Forces stated that "the Lebanese army, the internal forces, and the citizens in Tripoli and the north have, since [May 20, 2007,] been subjected to an attack that is the realization of the threats made by the head of the Syrian regime – to set Lebanon on fire if the international tribunal was approved."(3)

In a May 21, 2007 editorial, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal wrote that the clashes between the Lebanese army and Fath Al-Islam were the result of orders by Syrian President Bashar Assad: "There is no doubt that the attack by the Fath Al-Islam terror gang on the [Lebanese] army and security forces is connected to the madness [that gripped] the Syrian regime and its subordinates [in Lebanon] with the approach of the date of the approval of the international tribunal in the Security Council under Chapter 7 [of the U.N. Charter]..." Read it all

Israel and Syria going to war?

Mofaz to Rice: Hizbullah Rearming with Missiles that Can Strike Deep into Israel - Yitzhak Benhorin
Mofaz told Rice on Wednesday, "Hizbullah will never leave southern Lebanon. It is arming with missiles that could hit central and even southern Israel." (Ynet News)

Palestinian Rocket Fire Continues

UPDATE: SYRIA BUYING 20,000 LONG RANGE MISSILES BOUGHT FROM RUSSIA. War funding from Iran. Watch FOX news video here. Syria heard saying,"The country should get ready for war." hat tip Josef

Read Michael Totten's interview with Professor Barry Rubin: The Truth About Syria

"We have come to the end of the road"

Naked. Brutal.  Cale Hahn, an American Gentile living in Texas, pens the most powerful straight painful glimpse of the low state of the world. I had to run the whole thing. I had to.

The War's Upon Us
by Cale Hahn

We have come to the end of the road.

"We hoped for peace, but no good has come. A time of healing, but there was only terror." (Yirmiyahu 8:15)

We have come to the end of the road. No more initiatives. No more recycling under different names the same failed formula for Middle East peace. The end of the road is conflagration, not coexistence.

The peace process is dead. The time of wars has begun. Israel has been sufficiently weakened for the Muslim world to once again attempt annihilation of the Jewish state. The facade of Muslim desires for peace is lowered, and behind the curtain looms a violent and murderous religion that brooks no opposition.

The peace process is dead. The time of wars has begun.

Islamic peace is: no god on earth but Allah. Islamic honor may only be restored by the destruction of the Jewish nation. Hence, their nakba is the "catastrophe" of Israel's birth.

The Muslim nations are actively preparing for war; to declare there is hope for peace given the mountains of evidence to the contrary is manic delusion. Unfortunately, those who say these things are currently running the country.

This is precisely the reason the Muslims will soon attack. Israel is led by a coalition of political hacks who exhibit colossal incompetence and cinematic buffoonery. They possess no will to fight beyond a staged photo op. They are hollow men, empty shells without convictions and without courage beyond self-preservation.

As Ehud Olmert confessed, "We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies."

In previous wars, Israel was armed with superior US weapons systems, while the Muslim armies fielded inferior Soviet-bloc material. Though significantly outnumbered, Israel possessed enough of a qualitative advantage to overcome significant quantitative disparities.

Not so anymore. The Muslim nations are armed with the latest Western weapons platforms and, for the first time, possess not only numerical superiority, but qualitative parity with Israel in many areas. Under the auspices of enlisting Muslim support in participating in its "War on Terror," the US has armed Israel's enemies with its latest weapons systems. Examples include Harpoon anti-ship missiles, F-16 fighters, Apache helicopters, Abrams main battle tanks, JDAM bombs, AWACS radar planes and Avenger Air Defense Systems.

Israel has voiced deep alarm to Washington at Muslim weapons parity vis-a-vis the Jewish state, but to no avail. Washington continues arming Israel's enemies, knowing these systems may soon be employed against the Jewish state.

Along with Western weapons, the Muslim armies possess advanced Russian, Chinese, Iranian and North Korean rockets. These will target Israel from the Golan to Eilat, employing the successful strategies garnered from the Second Lebanon War. Utilization of chemical, biological or nuclear munitions cannot be ruled out.

The most likely casus belli is an Iranian terror proxy launching attacks against Israel's borders, forcing Israel to respond in kind. The situation will quickly deteriorate to include rocketing from Syria, Lebanon, Hizbullah, Iran, Gaza and other Palestinian enclaves. These attacks will dwarf the Second Lebanon War in terms of intensity and accuracy.

The Muslim nations will then follow the rocket blitz with conventional forces to rid the Jews from Palestine. Dar-Al-Islaam, at last.

Indeed, this is precisely the reason the US has restrained Israel from responding to the rocket barrages on its southern border. The US is deeply concerned an Israeli invasion of Gaza will trigger a regional war or possibly World War III.

Knock one domino down and it is connected by a tripwire to others, which will blow from Gaza to Afghanistan in a quick succession of cataclysmic explosions. Islamic war planners deliberately engineered the structure as such.

America is feverishly working to keep this from happening. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cautioned, "We've urged them [Israel] to consider the consequences of defending themselves."

But global war is precisely the goal of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is the prerequisite for the Islamic Messiah (the Mahdi) coming upon the world stage to lead the Islamic ummah ("nation") to global victory. Ahmadinejad believes he is the one chosen to usher the Mahdi's coming.

The whole of the Middle East is a mountain of munitions atop a rumbling, ash-belching volcano. Late summer or fall appears to be the intended point of detonation. When it erupts, it will blow the US from the Middle East and propel Israel to the brink of destruction.

These are heady days for the ummah. They are drunk on the power their oil wealth brings. They sense a moment of historic tectonic shift is soon to occur, an imminent glorious triumph over the infidel.

Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons and is restoring Islamic honor by standing up to America. Every Muslim nation is undertaking a massive armament campaign, ironically provided in large measure by America. The US fatally misidentified their enemy as terrorism, when in actuality the enemy is Islam, from which terror springs.

The Muslim nations haven't made the same mistake. They know America's veneration of its economy, and they intend to bring it down in a ruinous, smoldering heap. They intend to drive the US from the region and shut the oil taps to its markets. The OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s is returning, only this time it will be utilized to a much greater effect, intended to destroy the US economy.

America should prepare for numerous terror attacks using conventional and non-conventional munitions. A Department of Homeland Security agent said Al-Qaeda has several South American training camps to instruct terrorists in Spanish and the Hispanic culture and infiltrate them across the US-Mexico border as illegal immigrants. He stated there are several thousands of terrorists who have successfully infiltrated the US and who are awaiting orders to strike.

The coming conflagration in the Middle East may be the trigger to activate these cells; almost certainly, should a shooting war develop between America and either Syria or Iran.

Since the Rabin-Arafat handshake fourteen years ago, 2,000 Israelis have been killed, 14,000 wounded and unnumbered hundreds of thousands psychologically scarred. Israel was willing to pay the price for peace. Time and again, Israel gave faith. Time and again, faith was violated. Time and again, Israel hoped. Time and again, Israel was targeted. 

Israel will learn its lessons. After the war, all of Jerusalem will be free from Islamic domination. No area will be off-limits to Jewish worship.

After the war, all of Jerusalem will be free from Islamic domination.

Israel will not fall. He who keeps her will neither slumber nor sleep. HaShem is faithful to His promises and His people: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." (Psalms 46:10-11)

In a break with protocol, I would like to make a personal appeal. I would like to bring my wife and little girl to Israel to live and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel during this difficult period. I'll need work, and a place to live until we get situated. I lived a year in Israel in 1999 and am well acquainted with the difficulties of living there. But what an amazing country! If there is a place for us, we would come. Please e-mail Texaswatcher@yahoo.com with any suggestions in this regard.

Carter's Failed Presidency and it's Disastrous Effect

It is the continuing Democratic party tradition to accuse the opposition of what they are entirely guilty of.  Never was this as painfully clear as watching the worst President this nation has ever had, by far the most damaging, accuse George W. Bush of being the worst president the nation ever had.

Jimmy Carter making these fallacious remarks denigrating our elected commander in chief  aids and abets an already emboldened enemy.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - - Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter says President George W. Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Full article here

While Carter's domestic policies were Shermanesque (who can forget those 21% interest rates), it was his bungled, traitorous foreign policy that left the biggest scar on the face of humanity.

If there was one single moment in modern world history, when one critical fuck up determined the course of human events it was when Jimmy Carter abandoned our ally in Iran and literally installed the Ayatollah Khomeini as the leader the of the new Islamic state. In every conversation I had ever had with expatriate Iranians this is their mantra.

The following article is anti-American, no doubt, but even with it's decided bias the repercussions of Carter's enormously failed policies are keenly laid out.

From Abu Dhabi to Pakistan, Washington in trouble Axis of Logic
By Sara Flounders

May 15 - The deteriorating global position of U.S. imperialism was starkly exposed in two very different recent visits to Abu Dhabi.

On Friday, May 11, Vice President Dick Cheney stood on the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf in front of the deadly firepower of five F-18 Super Hornet jets to deliver an ominous threat. Cheney declared: ÒWith two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Gulf, weÕre sending a clear message to friends and adversaries alike. ... The United States will stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.

The next day Cheney quietly visited Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a hasty trip to U.S.-controlled regimes, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, to shore up Washington's deteriorating position.

Just one day after the U.S. vice president's visit, and in stark contrast to the low-key reception accorded to Cheney, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Abu Dhabi May 13 to a red carpet welcome. It was the first time an Iranian head of state had visited the UAE since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Besides meeting with top officials in the capital, President Ahmadinejad went to the city of Dubai, where he gave a rousing speech to a cheering rally of thousands who packed a soccer stadium to greet him. This had to have been seen in Washington as another serious challenge to U.S. domination of the region.

The very fact that the tiny, privileged layer of UAE rulers, who have depended on the U.S. military presence in their country to preserve their position, allowed the rally to happen despite a permanent ban on any demonstrations shows just how fearful this grouping is of mass pressure.

The UAE is ruled by a small but fabulously wealthy royal family that holds dictatorial power. No political parties are allowed. There are no elections. Three U.S. military bases are located in the Emirates and U.S. Navy ships dock there regularly.

Out of its population of 4 million, 80 percent are not even considered citizens. Millions of workers in all the Gulf states have a similar status. Whether they have lived in the region for decades or even generations, they are labeled migrant workers.

These workers have no rights to education, health care, pensions, minimum wage or even to form unions or participate in any political activity. Nevertheless, a growing number of strikes and job actions have accompanied political ferment.

Half a million ethnic Iranians live in Dubai, the largest city in the UAE. In three separate public talks during his two-day visit, the fiery Iranian leader called for U.S. troops to "pack their bags" and leave their bases in the Gulf. Asked to comment on Cheney's threats against Iran made two days earlier aboard the USS John C. Stennis, Ahmadinejad replied, "What are these outsiders doing in our region?"

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and even Jordan, are all ruled by semi-feudal monarchies whose power and vast wealth are maintained by the force of U.S. arms and bases in the region. Each of these regimes is fearful that the continued U.S. war in Iraq and the threat of war on Iran can undermine their hated control. In each of these monarchies any efforts at democratic change are brutally suppressed.

In addition to the large force the Pentagon has in Iraq, more than 40,000 U.S. troops are based in other Gulf countries, along with 20,000 sailors and Marines on aircraft carriers and ships.

Ahmadinejad left the UAE for a two-day visit to the neighboring Sultanate of Oman, where the U.S. has use of four airbases. Iran and Oman face each other across the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which two-fifths of the world's oil shipments pass.

[...]

U.S. control eroding

Under the Shah's dictatorship, Washington was able to dominate the entire region by arming the Iranian military. The Pentagon did not need to station tens of thousands of U.S. troops in the Gulf. It did not need a whole string of bases. Iran policed all the surrounding states. But after the Iranian Revolution, Washington's global position changed dramatically.

In 1979, after U.S. corporate power had lost control of the largest, most populous country in the region, it had to get Washington to begin sending U.S. troops and position bases elsewhere in an effort to hold on to its fantastic profits.

Like I said this is an Anti-American article, we didn't lose control -- Carter threw our ally out with both hands. And what hell he wrought.

Today even with two aircraft carrier groups in the Gulf, tens of thousands of troops in the region and 150,000 troops in Iraq "the U.S. imperialists" hold on the region is clearly slipping.

Iran Accelerates

Kumbaya,  brothers. Why can't we all just get along?

More of leftist tool dick sick trick   slick Nic Burns' - mastermind of our appeasing diplomatic policy failure towards Iran.Nations failed to agree on Iran nuclear sanctions. Good job, Condi, Nic - as long as you feel good about yourselves, that's whats important.

As Rice's Iran strategy fizzles, Cheney waits

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his countrymen they needn't worry about Iran's escalating confrontation with the US because he has a direct line to Allah. Allah, he said, has assured him that everything will be just fine. Ahmadinejad also promised that Iran would not cease its enrichment of uranium "even for one day." Iran's nuclear triumph is imminent, Allah's messenger promised. "We have one more step," he enthused, "if we pass that, this [matter] will be attained." Glick more here.

Yediot Ahronot Report [With Photos] 

If anyone still has any doubts about the seriousness of Iranian intentions, the satellite photos reveal the deployment of numerous antiaircraft missile batteries, in a way that is perhaps unprecedented, around the nuclear sites. European intelligence information also points to the presence of Iranian scientists at the recent nuclear test in North Korea. All these things leave no room for doubt that Iran is closer than ever before to putting together the first Shiite atomic bomb.

All Satellite photos here

It seems that the most annoying thing in the context of the Iranian nuclear program is the approach of the IAEA. Although Iran is caught lying over and over again; although it admits to actions that blatantly violate the Geneva  NPT Treaty; although there is a whole string of issues between it and the IAEA on which IAEA experts say that it has not provided even the beginning of satisfactory answers; although it repeatedly threatens to put a stop to the supervision; and although it bars the inspectors access to some of the sites, to experts, and to know-how -- IA EA Director Dr Muhammad al-Baradei, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, insists on drafting a very watered-down of his conclusions and recommendations on the matter. True, even if the Egyptian Al-Baradei was firmer, the United States would still insist on putting together an international coalition to impose strict sanctions on Iran, but it is clear that more incisive statements from him, which are warranted by the facts, would provide the United States with operative ammunition and push Russia and China, which are close to Iran, into a corner. By acting the way he is doing, Al-Baradei is providing these countries with the excuse to continue to sit on the fence and do business with Iran behind everyone's back.

AHMADINEJAD SAYS AGAIN THAT ISRAEL WILL BE WIPED OUT: He adds: "Today scores of Western politicians are in doubt as to the future of this illegitimate regime and its existence has come under question." President Imadinnerjacket

Ken Timmerman says the warning in Ahmadinejad's latest letter is clear: "Dump George W. Bush, allow the Muslims to destroy Israel, and adopt Islam -- or else you will be destroyed. This is Mr. Ahmadinejad's message." More here and here. hat tip FDD

UPDATE: Iran blocks access to YouTube.com Guess Imadinnerjacket didin't get the memo

IRAQ: Austin Bay, Prophet

Sagacity is too small a word for Austin Bay. John Podhoretz calls him Austin Bay, Prophet.  Check it out here at NRO

Austin Bay is both a colonel in the Army Reserve and a Columbia Ph.D in English literature — a true Renaissance man and a supporter of the Iraq war before and after. (He was called to serve in Iraq in 2004.) He has an eye-opening column today about the stakes in Iraq during which he quotes a passage from a December 2002 piece he wrote for the Weekly Standard:

"Pity Gen. Tommy Franks or, for that matter, any American military commander tasked with overseeing a post-Saddam Baghdad. For in that amorphous, dicey phase the Pentagon calls 'war termination' ... U.S. and allied forces liberating Iraq will attempt — more or less simultaneously — to end combat operations, cork public passions, disarm Iraqi battalions, bury the dead, generate electricity, pump potable water, bring law out of embittering lawlessness, empty jails of political prisoners, pack jails with criminals, turn armed partisans into peaceful citizens, re-arm local cops who were once enemy infantry, shoot terrorists, thwart chiselers, carpetbaggers and black-marketeers, fix sewers, feed refugees, patch potholes and get trash trucks rolling, and accomplish all this under the lidless gaze of Peter Jennings and Al-Jazeera."

Wow.

Even Wow ain't big enough.

Condi's Rancid Fruit

Nidra Poller sent me this article in the Jordan Times concerning the ramifications of Condi's speech at the ATFP gala........"it's a case of one foot washing the other...and the feet belong to centipedes."

US- Key to Solving the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

The words we use and the statements we make define who we are, what we believe. The more accurate our pronouncements are, the closer we are to the truth and to understanding each other. The better the understanding, the more engaged we become when the opportunity avails itself.

In her keynote address to the American Task Force on Palestine in Washington, DC on October 11, 2006, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought much understanding to the question of Palestine and to the American role in resolving it. She promised her personal commitment to bringing about a Palestinian state because: “I believe there could be no greater legacy to America than to help to bring into being a Palestinian state for a people who have suffered too long, who have been humiliated too long, who have not reached their potential for too long, and who have so much to give to the international community and to all of us.”

Ugh ........... sinking feeling. Read it all........

 Related:
Atlas Shrugs: ATLAS EXCLUSIVE: Nidra Poller on Condi's Conversion
Atlas Shrugs: Will Condi Rice Take the Veil?

 

Russia in Beirut, the Impending War

Glick writes a scathing expose of Russia's malevolent maneuvers in the Middle East in her seminal piece, "as the storm of war approaches" here.

On Tuesday, Russian military engineers landed in Beirut. Their arrival signaled the first time that Russian forces have openly deployed in the Middle East. In the past Soviet forces in Syria and Egypt operated under the official cover of "military advisers." Today those "advisers" are "engineers." The Russian forces, which will officially number some 550 troops, are tasked with rebuilding a number of bridges that the IDF destroyed during the recent war. They will operate outside the command of UNIFIL.
[...]
Russian backing of Hizbullah, like its support for Syria and Iran, has been matched by its extreme, Cold War-esque hostility towards Israel. On Tuesday, Channel 2 reported that for the past few months Putin has been obsessively demanding that the government transfer proprietary rights and control to the Russian government over the Russian Compound, which has served as a police station since the British Mandate, and other Russian historical buildings in central Jerusalem.
[...]

Then there is Russia's unstinting support for Iran's nuclear weapons program. During the latest of his frequent visits to Teheran Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced, yet again, that Russia opposes all international sanctions against Iran. Indeed, since Iran's nuclear program was exposed three years ago, Russia has acted as Iran's defender against every US attempt to galvanize the international community to take action to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capabilities.

In 1967 Russia played a central role in fanning the flames of war in Syria. In the months that preceded the Six Day War, Moscow fed Damascus a steady diet of false intelligence indicating that Israel was planning to invade. In the summer of 1973, the Soviets also encouraged Syria to join Egypt in invading Israel.

And Abu Dana's (Olmert) response to the impending threat?

According to Channel 2, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is now leaning towards capitulating to Russia's demands and transferring proprietorship over the Russian Compound to the Russian government during his upcoming visit to Moscow.

As to Syria, rather than crafting a Syria policy, the government argues about the desirability of giving Syria the Golan Heights now or later. Above and beyond all else, as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz proclaim, from the government's perspective, the best way to deal with the growing military threats is to ignore them and destroy Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
[...]

ANY OBJECTIVE observer of the developments in our region understands that the storm of war is rapidly approaching us. With Moscow's blessing, the Palestinians, Hizbullah, Syria and Iran are steadfastly preparing for battle.

Not sure what the Israelis are waiting for but the clock is ticking. Throw those bums out.

Related:
Yisrael Beiteinu and the Coalition Government: Coming Closer
PM Olmert Looks to Yisrael Beitenu to Stabilize Coalition

UPDATE: More Russian "peacekeepers" in Georgia here

Palestinian Sunday Bloody Sunday

Twelve Palestinians Killed in Fatah-Hamas Clashes, Fatah Gunmen Threaten to Kill Hamas Leaders - Nidal al-Mughrabi
Fatah gunmen threatened on Tuesday to kill leaders of the governing Hamas group after twelve Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded in two days of fighting between Fatah and Hamas. (Reuters)

Hamas has lost the war for Palestinian public opinion, so where will they go from here? It seems fairly obvious given their history. They must provoke Israel, make war (see Lebanon). If  Hamas can redirect the civil unrest towards a common "enemy" (the Joooooooos)and away from the abject failure of their foreign policy, the bloody clashes that took place between supporters of Hamas and Fatah in Gaza on Sunday might not lead to the  civil war that has been looming for months.

HAMAS WEIGHING LARGE SCALE CONFLICT WITH ISRAEL

Hamas has succeeded in smuggling "hundreds of tons" of weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip and is preparing for the possibility of launching a large-scale conflict with Israel, according to a report by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.

The report, drafted by Fatah's General Security Services and obtained by WND, stated Hamas has smuggled from the Egyptian Sinai desert between several hundred and 1,300 tons of advanced rockets; anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles; rocket propelled grenades; raw explosives; rifles; ammunition; and other heavy weaponry. Hat tip Geoff

Glick: The World according to Olmert

It is the considered opinion of this blog that Olmert is Israel's most inept Prime Minister consequently Israel's most dangerous threat.I said so before he won that dopey election. It was as if the Israelis decided to take a pass after Sharon went dark and Hamas was elected. Iran's nuclear threats are all the more treacherous under Olmert's fumbling, seemingly clownish incumbency.

I think that  toothless UN resolution,  leaving their kidnapped soldiers in the hands of a barbaric enemy, executing a half assed war plan (air, sea, no land?), and finally handing over it's security to a bunch of old Frenchman left Israel vulnerable, compromised. Glick  questions, "So regardless of whether he is honest or crooked, it is abundantly clear that Olmert is incompetent to lead the country. But what can be done to oust him from power? What indeed and how quickly? It seems to me President Bush needs a courageous partner to fight the jihad not a pale version of an appeasing Chirac .

Glick goes on "Israel's alternative leadership - Binyamin Netanyahu, Moshe Ya'alon, Shaul Mofaz, Yuval Steinitz, Natan Sharansky, Uzi Landau and others - is clear. These politicians are capable of dealing with the many challenges that have only multiplied as a result of the Olmert government's incompetence." I quite agree, Benjamin Netanyahu was my candidate then and he is my candidate now, more than ever.

The World According to Olmert Caroline Glick

In his Rosh Hashana interviews, Olmert said that Iran is the greatest challenge that Israel must contend with today. And he is right. But he apparently has no interest in contending with Iran. Olmert told The Jerusalem Post that he trusts US President George W. Bush to handle Iran for us.

"First of all," he said, "I think President Bush has the courage. This is something that is very important. There is no one in the world today who has greater courage and determination, and a sense of mission about these issues, than President Bush, and I admire his determination and sense of mission."

OLMERT IS right about Bush. He is mission-driven and courageous. But he is not all-powerful. In another month and a half, there will be elections to the US Congress and there is a distinct possibility that the Democratic Party - whose leaders have shown no willingness to pay a price to remove the threat of an Iranian nuclear arsenal - will take control of the Congress.

Bush's political challenges make taking concerted steps against Iran difficult. Moreover, it is a fact that Bush doesn't exert full control over his own administration. In just one example, the State Department and the CIA have been undermining his Middle East policies for the past five years.

In light of this, it is unforgivable gross negligence for the prime minister of Israel - whose country Iran has threatened with annihilation - to abdicate responsibility for thwarting Teheran's nuclear weapons program to a foreign leader.

Israel's nuclear concerns are not limited to Iran. There is also Egypt, which just announced its intention to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity. And as with Iran, Olmert's reaction to the news from Egypt has been scandalous. Right after the news broke, Olmert announced that Israel has no problem with Egypt's plans.

Let us for a moment assume that he is right and that Egypt really has no intention today of using the planned reactors for military purposes. Who can guarantee that this will remain the case after Egypt's aging dictator Hosni Mubarak dies? With the ascendance of the Muslim Brotherhood as a political force in Egypt, next to no one assumes that there will be a smooth transition of power to Mubarak's son Gamal, or to any of his other potential heirs.

Moreover, Bush is making a valiant effort to prevent the proliferation of nuclear technology in the Middle East. By rushing to welcome Egypt's initiative, Olmert swept the rug out from under any potential American move to prevent Egypt from taking what could be its first open step toward acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities. How can Washington now express opposition to Mubarak's move - or to the similar initiative being taken by Turkey's Islamist government - when Israel has announced that it supports Egypt's decision?

Read it all.

Photoshopped for me by iHillary

Global Jihad Roundup

Very little has been said in the mainstream media about the Islamic coup in Thailand last week but there is much you should know. Great piece over Canada Free Press here;

The Sword of Islam may not take on the form of war and or terrorism, but take the form of political action, bloodless coups, finance and media propaganda.

CAIR is a good example here.

The actions are to achieve the same goal--the establishment of the Islamic Kingdom of God on Earth and implementation of Shariah law. In the case of Thailand it was a 'bloodless' coup led by Muslim Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin ostensibly to remove a corrupt democratically elected government. As Time Magazine (Asia) on September 25 reported Gen. Sonthi was born near Bangkok, he's the first Muslim in this predominantly Buddhist nation to hold the position. Sonthi is a descendant of Thailand's first Islamic spiritual leader, and his mother was a lady-in-waiting at the royal court. Whether this will lead to an Islamic government is unknown.

In any case the events do not encourage the spread of democracy in the Asia Pacific region. The coup leaders broadcast on September 19 that they have suspended the constitution and dissolved the Cabinet, Senate and the constitutional court. In most ministries, permanent secretaries will take over temporarily, they said. The Associated Press on September 26, 2006 stated that 'The United States has growing misgivings about the behavior of the military men who took power in Thailand and wants them to make good quickly on their promises to move back toward democracy, the State Department said Tuesday' 'Our concern is that Thailand get back on the pathway to democracy,' McCormack said. 'The actions taken in this coup were clearly a setback for Thai democracy."

More on the Islamic war on the west and the coming caliphate;

The 'Axis of Evil' and the Leftist /Marxist -- Islamist Alliance

To Make America Bleed Profusely To The Point Of Bankruptcy

Have the 'Canaries' Stopped Singing!

The Shiite Crescent and the Emerging Sunni Caliphate in South East Asia

The Rise of the East Asian Caliphate

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Prayer for the Apocalypse to Come Soon

Impact of the Thailand Coup on ASEAN Countries and Participants at the First East Asia Summit

The Rise of Mediterranean Caliphate - The Pope Wars

Al-Qaradhawi's (Al-Qaradawi) Plan for the Fall of Rome

Panic at the opera: Muhammad melee

Robert Redeker in the wake of the publication of his article on Islam in Le Figaro: "I am now in a catastrophic personal situation."

UPDATE: From FOX News Al Qaeda's no. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri called President Bush a "deceitful charlatan" in a new video message posted on the Internet Friday by the group's media arm.

The new 17-minute video message, titled "Bush, the Pope of the Vatican, Darfur, and the Crusader Wars," was posted in two parts and carried the label of As-Sahab, Al Qaeda's media arm.

In the first part, which carries English subtitles, Zawahiri is in an office with a lamp, a cannon and a flag bearing "No God, but Allah." In the second, the deputy Al Qaeda leader appears dressed entirely in white and there is no background.

"Bush, you deceitful charlatan, be aware that the liberation of our captives is a debt on our shoulders which we must fulfill, with Allah's help and power," Zawahiri said in the video. Check out their SITE.

LIVE AT NYU: NETANYAHU!

Heckler: "Netanyahu, you're a war criminal!"
Netanyahu: "Now that's chutzpah"

Former PM Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a group of young earnest students today at NYU. Not surprisingly this was not an NYU event, you would  hardly expect the morally confused dhimmi leadership (remember the cartoon-less cartoon panel discussion at NYU?) to bring Netanyahu's powerful, moral understanding to their campus.

No, this dynamic and compelling afternoon was put together by the fledgling new group Caravan for Democracy to help students refute the lies and blood libel infecting college campuses nationwide.

Netanyahu is commanding, impressive. forceful -- I can't help but lick my wounds (still) from his illogical loss in the elections. Bibi belonged in that gallery (Olmert looked so out of his league, not worthy - and he proved he was not worthy.) Of course if I had had my way......amd of course I was right.

Remarkable speech.

HERE IS THE FULL AUDIO, Download NetanyahuNYU.wav, a full transcription will follow shortly. He describes the "laws of war." Netanyahu insisted that we not allow lies to permeate.

"Throughout antiquity, the rise of antisemitism which began about 2,500 years ago, through the medieval period, the modern period, all the assaults on the Jews were preceded by the vilification of the Jewish people, by distortions upon distortions, upon distortions, and protecting ourselves is also defending ourselves against lies. And if I had to say one thing one thing on the college campus I'd say fight this battle. STAND UP, DON'T BE AFRAID Be armed with the facts. Be armed with truth."

"This is the most important thing we can do. And you now have ways of doing it because each one of you is a publishing house. You can educate, you can act, you can fight."

A great speech............here Netanyahu speaks of the "war criminal" canard

Re: Iran's nukes weapons

They are not like the Soviets, not like the communists. The Soviet Union did not put its zealotry above its survival."

"Every hear of a Soviet suicide bomber?" Militant Islam produces hordes of them and they smash into the towers in Manhattan and they smash into the Pentagon and they were going to now, with their own children, aircraft coming out of Heathrow. With their own children - this is pathological."

"A suicide regime may not be deter able. We can not bet the future of the world on the conception of deterrence."

"It's very dangerous. YOU DON'T BET THE STORE ON DETERENCE. YOU MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T HAVE IT. And this should unite everybody."

I just went through a war with a proxy. We were fighting a proxy of Iran. I am the opposition leader, I supported my government. I supported the goals shared by the people of  Israel. You should support the goals set forth the goals by President Bush vis a vis Iran .  Everybody, I don't care who you are. And you know why? Because it's not a question of Iraq -- it's a question of whether this latter day Hitler has nuclear weapons and that is no longer a partisan issue. "

"Think of the consequences of Iran having nuclear weapons. What happens to Iraq? Do you think you can stabilize it? Regimes in the Middle East will fall one after the other. The oil supply will be controlled by Iran. That's the easy part.

It is the severe danger. The real possibility, almost a certainty that they will use these weapons for the first time since Hiroshima."

Netanyahu chided us to come together to fight the gathering nuclear storm.

In speaking of the Jewish struggle, he spoke of the Jews' place in history as powerless.

"The [historical] Jew shifting from powerlessness to power. But I refuse to go back to powerlessness. I'd rather repel the slanders than go back  and become the victim and I'd rather fight  the slander as we fight the other attacks on us."

The crowd disperses after the former PM spoke. The sidewalk is full of this colored chalk ravings.

There were a couple of screaming moonbats but the crowd was hugely supportive. I would have followed the speech with the Netanyahu dinner uptown to finish my previous interview but had to get back for my show . I am sure that Rick at Jewish Current Issues will  post on the dinner shortly.

I will have a full transcript of his remarks a/s/a/p. Every word ws brilliant. Not admonishing, cautionary.

"Repel the lies. I will not go back to those gas chambers. Not those physical ones, not those of the poisoned wells and slanders but the only way that a free society can defend itself  aside from taking up arms is also to light those candles for truth.

What I ask of you tonight is for each of you to light the candle of truth. You know how you do it .....flip on the internet and light many many candles of truth."

Amen.

See also NETNYAHU: NO ROOM FOR PARTIZANSHIP IN JUST WAR

UPDAYE: Click below for complete transcript