Saturday, August 12, 2006
On the other hand the Israelis might know that Iran has some WMD capability that no one else has guessed, and be keeping wraps on such information to quell panic, or because there was a massive intelligence failure involved. What else? [ My, we live in interesting times. Or are watching unprecedented disaster unfold. Pray hard. Somehow, I'm guessing we will find the answer soon. August 22nd or no... -ed. ] "
Plan Jael
"The more I look at it, the more I am convinced that the plot in London is indeed connected to the much-discussed August 22nd Iranian "response" to our latest final proposal on their nuclear program. Metaphorically, it fits: lightning bolts in the skies, an epochal, world-changing event, as befits the terrorists' celebration of Mohammed's ride to heaven.Plan Jael was later renamed "Bodyguard" based on Churchill's now-famous quote: "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be accompanied by a bodyguard of lies."
And notice that the Iranians have now backed off that date, blaming, of course, us. [ I'm praying that they have had unforseen technical problems with the centrifuges... -ed. ]
I think that other events were and are planned around the same date, in several different countries. Hardly anyone has noticed that the Germans found some bombs on their trains a few weeks ago. And I expect that other allies will either find, or be subjected to, terrorist acts.
Why? Because the Iranians believe their moment has come, and they are reinforced in believing that by the abject failure of their regime. This combination of the realization of their failure in Iran and their belief that they can truly win their 27-year old war against us, is a very potent psychological force, and I think they are going to go all out to win, fast.
They think they have won, or are winning, in Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, Somalia, and Afghanistan. Why has nobody noticed the advance of the fanatics in Somalia, by the way? Look at a map. Find Somalia. You see its strategic importance. Then ask yourself what we will do when our ships are attacked by the same Iranian missiles that hit the Israeli gunship off the coast of Lebanon...
And then ask yourself why in the world a president who correctly insists that we are at war with Islamic Fascism cannot manage to support freedom in Iran and Syria?
If you've got an answer, I'd love to hear it. It beats the bejeezus out of me. [ And the answer to Churchill's favorite Bible verse is: "Plan Jael". "Plan Jael" was "the 'overall deception policy' of the high commands of America, Britain and Russia to mislead Hitler about Allied strategy and tactics ..., and about military operations that would include the gigantic assault on the Atlantikwall at Normandy." It was "so secret that that its contents would not become public until December 1972, twenty-nine years later." And Ledeen -- and the rest of us who haven't Ostriched -- is praying that W's admiration and study of Churchill has not come to nought. -ed. ]
"
"Was just talking to a friend who was noting that there is intense anger toward Israel within the administration for botching the war. He thinks the attitude was, "What's the point of giving them more time when they do nothing with it?" He thinks it's the worst defeat for Israel since 1948. He also guesses that the reason that the French flipped against the first resolution wasn't so much the Lebanese reaction as the realization of how poorly Israel was faring militarily."
Police and intelligence sources have indicated that the alleged plot which was thwarted last week was targeted at the UK, as well as at airliners heading for the US, and could have caused devastating loss of life and destruction on the British mainland. One Whitehall source said "many dozens" of plots were under investigation, involving "hundreds" of suspects. [ More evidence for this being the "resounding slap" I think. Still seems weak for a "devastating fist-blow" though. I think that's still coming. I'm praying we can stop it also -- although this gives me less confidence that we've actually stopped the "slap"... -ed. ] "
The scenario was that Syria, no military match for Israel, would face a rapid defeat, forcing it to run to Iran, with which it has a defense pact, to come to aid.
Iran, which would be significantly contained by the defeat of its sole ally in the region, would have found itself maneuvered between a rock and a hard place. If it chose to honor its commitment to Syria, it would face a war with Israel and the US, both with military capabilities far superior to Iran's. If Teheran opted to default on its commitment to Damascus, it would be construed by the entire region, including the restless Iranian population, as a conspicuous show of weakness by the regime. Fascist regimes such as that of the ayatollahs cannot easily afford to show that kind of weakness. [ Sharon's incapacitation could turn out to be a pivot of history... -ed. ] "
Winston Churchill's Favorite Bible Passage
"1 After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 2 So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.
4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading [a] Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' "
8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."
9 "Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, [b] the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, 10 where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
11 Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, [c] and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
12 When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.
14 Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men. 15 At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. 16 But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.
17 Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.
18 Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my Lord , come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.
19 "I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
20 "Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.' "
21 But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
22 Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple-dead.
23 On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. 24 And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him. [ I'll let you research why... -ed. ] "
Recent events leave me with little confidence that Bush will pass that test."
Of Conspiracies and Geese
Where are the leaders who teach not self esteem, but self conquest? What great Arab will explain to fellow Arabs that Israel is not the source of any of their problems--not a single one--and what great liberal will deliver the hard news to his fallow trivialers that George Bush is not what is obstructing their spiritual--much less material--fulfillment?"
"i have been working in lebanon since all this started, and seeing the behavior of many of the lebanese wire service photographers has been a bit unsettling. while hajj has garnered a lot of attention for his doctoring of images digitally, whether guilty or not, i have been witness to the daily practice of directed shots, one case where a group of wire photogs were choreographing the unearthing of bodies, directing emergency workers here and there, asking them to position bodies just so, even remove bodies that have already been put in graves so that they can photograph them in peoples arms. these photographers have come away with powerful shots, that required no manipulation digitally, but instead, manipulation on a human level, and this itself is a bigger ethical problem."
"This is not peculiar to the United States. In Britain, the claim has been repeated endlessly that putting criminals in prison "doesn't work" and that various rehabilitation programs "in the community" are more successful in reducing criminals' repetition of their crimes.
When statistical data from the Home Office showed the direct opposite of what was being proclaimed by the Home Secretary, other high officials, the media, and academics, the solution was simple: Such data were no longer released."
"After getting a copy of the original study, I discovered that in the same study -- on the very same page -- statistics showed that (1) Mexican American women received even less prenatal care than black women and that (2) infant mortality rates among Mexican Americans were no higher than among whites.
A few pages further on, statistics showed that American women of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino ancestry also received less prenatal care than white women -- and had lower infant mortality rates than whites.
Apparently prenatal care was not the answer, though it was the kind of answer that suited the mindset of the liberal media and provided an occasion for them to wax indignant."
Friday, August 11, 2006
We will learn more about how the Brits managed to unravel the airline plot in the coming days, but surely it involved extensive monitoring and the strictest secrecy, capped off by an act of preemption when Scotland Yard arrested the plotters. All of these have been in a bad odor among liberals lately. They will say they support them in this case, never mind that they look askance at them during our stretches of complacency. [ Lowry gives them too much credit. They largely think this whole thing was the result of Karl Rove hypnotizing Tony Blair and the whole British police... -ed. ] "
Islamic fascists. [ Now where have I heard of Amin Al-Husseini before? But I don't think they also pointed out that he mentored Arafat (as I also have -- look right). -ed. ] "
Thursday, August 10, 2006
"Michael Chertoff, the US Homeland Security Secretary, said that the British plot was “getting really quite close to the execution stage”. For British and American crisis planners, the date August 22 looms large. This year it corresponds in the Islamic calendar to the day in 1427 which Muslims commemorate as when Muhammad took flight on the winged horse Buraq to the “furthest mosque”, usually assumed to be Jerusalem. Bernard Lewis, an expert on the Middle East, writes: “This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world.”
President Ahmadinejad of Iran has cited August 22 as the date on which he will give his final answer on nuclear development. The suggestion that the foiled British plot involved blowing up aircraft over towns and cities corresponds with a longstanding ambition held by al-Qaeda. [ Where have I heard August 22nd before? We can only pray that this is what Ahmadinejad was going for -- but I remain skeptical we've seen anything yet... -ed. ] "
"Is Iran planning an apocalyptic strike against Israel and/or the United States for August 22? If so, what should the U.S. do to protect Americans and our ally? Such questions are worrying a growing number of officials in the White House, at the CIA, and at the Pentagon, and for good reason.
As a devout Shiite Muslim, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is telling colleagues in Tehran that he believes the end of the world is rapidly approaching. He also believes that the way to hasten the coming of the Islamic Messiah known as the “Hidden Imam” or the “Mahdi” is to launch a catastrophic global jihad, first against Israel (the “little Satan”) and then against the U.S. (the “Great Satan”). What’s more, Ahmadinejad is widely believed to be pursuing nuclear weapons that would give him the ability to carry out his apocalyptic religious views. Some experts even speculate that Iran may already have several atomic bombs and the means to deliver them. [ It would seem to me that the "first against Israel" part is already in progress -- n'est pas? -ed. ] "
Netanyahu on the Tinfoil Apocalyphate
Netanyahu rejects the comparison between radical Islamic terrorists and communists. The main difference, he argues, is that the communists were rational when it came to foreign policy, putting their survival first and always backing down at the last moment, as shown in the Cuban missile crisis. This was not true of the Iranian regime, he said, arguing that they were trying to prompt the return of the Hidden Imam, an event which Shiites believe would be accompanied by an apocalypse. ‘Is it possible in the 21st century to have a resurrection of the religious wars that we thought had ended in the 17th century? Yes, it’s possible. This is what is going on.’"
In any event, the logic becomes most accessible when considered in personal, intimate terms. If a small group among your neighbors refuses invitations to worship in your churches and mosques, to eat the food you prepare in your homes, to marry your daughters, to embrace your nationalisms, or to share your enthusiasm for the ultimate, universally applicable perfection of your Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Catholic, Islamic, Nazi or Communist worldview, then it’s all but certain you will resent the members of that stubborn group – and assume that they exclude themselves from elements of your society due to an innate, obnoxious sense of superiority. [ In other words, they're not part of the "in" crowd. And as everyone knows, "it's not cool to be smart"... -ed. ] "
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Does that sound alarmist to you? If so, I can only reply, wake up, gentle reader. The very people who guard you in your sleep are alarmed on your behalf."
Monday, August 07, 2006
The 36 Percent Problem
"One out of three sounds high, but that may very well be right," said Lee Hamilton, former vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, aka the 9/11 Commission. That congressionally appointed investigation concluded federal officials bungled their attempts to prevent, but did not participate in, the attacks by al-Qaida five years ago.
The poll also found 16 percent of Americans speculate that secretly planted explosives, not burning jet fuel, were the real reason the massive Twin Towers collapsed. [ OK. Now I have the shivers. You're telling me that 1 out of every 6 people I pass on the street in America is completely unhinged from reality. Bonkers. Nuts. Rubber room material. And worse yet, as far as I can tell, they're the ones saying that we're supposed to negotiate assiduously with genocidal lunatics like Ahmedinejad? And sane people are supposed to smile politely and tell them how "smart" they are? Marx was pretty nuts himself, but he was quite right about the second time being a farce... -ed. ] "
UPDATE: Sure enough, 51% of Dems believe it as opposed to 20% or less Repubs... Surprise, surprise...
ANOTHER UPDATE: You can find the rabies antidote here.
Today, for the moment, these media are feeling on the defensive. May they stay that way until they reform. [ Ain't gonna happen. The terrorists will still patronize them. Or do you think they'll patronize LGF instead? -ed. ] "
Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11: A Call to Reflection and Action is the third book on the subject [ Third. You mean like 3
What has become apparent that Reuters has no editorial process for reviewing the photographs they get from their photojournalist stringers. The wire service relies on the photographer for the captioning, and it looks like they just act as an uncritical conduit between the photographer and the newspapers Reuters services. [ Captain Ed is far too generous. al-Reuters is on the other side. -ed. ] After discovering more than one questionable photograph, Reuters has withdrawn all of Hajj's photos -- but they still have not explained how their supposedly professional editorial checks failed to detect these obvious problems with Hajj and his work."
As an added bit of insanity, it is Israel, not Hezbollah, that skillfully manipulates world opinion by being "sophisticated in their handling of the media." But part of Israel's sophisticated media campaign consists of shooting at reporters!"
He is the last honest man, and he may pay the price for it. At least he will be able to sleep at night. And he can take some solace in knowing that history, at least an honest history, will be kinder to him than was his own party."
Are full of passionate intensity. [ neo again! She has her hands directly on it! -ed. ] "
"Yet at this moment Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally. We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us. And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general. I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us."
Sunday, August 06, 2006
""Iran's plot to mine uranium in Africa" and Other Headlines from the War
Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 2:09 PM
That's the headline in the Times of London. Powerline notes the need to "send Joe Wilson to Tanzania so he can come back and explain why this report can't possibly be true.""
"To them, and to hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world, watching Al Jazeera or its like on their TV screens, it looks like Iran is winning one glorious Islamist victory after another, striking blow after paralyzing blow at the once-mighty giant of the Christian West, while we cower in fear, afraid to strike back. We look like losers, while Iran looks invincible, and that image of invincibility is the most effective weapon Iran has in its hugely successful battle for the allegiance of the Muslim masses everywhere. Most Americans are still unaware of Iran’s promise to light up the skies with a great surprise on August 22, but Muslims everywhere are keenly aware of it; most await the day with growing excitement."
While liberal teachers preach, conservative parents must teach their own kids to become screenwriters, journalists, professors, teachers and producers. The rallying cry of Gramsci's acolytes was "Capture the culture." Ours should be "Recapture the culture.""
"Stalin's bloody reign is not without certain irony. Nikolai Yezhov, the young man strolling with Stalin, is shot in 1940. It seems only fitting that when Yezhov is removed from the photograph he is replaced by the waters of the Moscow-Volga Canal. Yezhov was commissar of water transport."
"This Iraqi person, a former counselor at Iraqi embassies, has strong connections with Iraqi embassy in Syria, he knows all Iraqi intelligence men there, and he has no idea that I am working with the Iraqi opposition in Syria.Luckily, we can be absolutely positive that they won't be used on Israel. The heirs of Amin Al-Husseini could never even consider such a thing! At least, not until August 22nd or so...
I used to visit him daily during that period to listen to the important news. When the trucks arrived to Syria, I visited him, told him “Iraqi weapons got inside Syria," he replied “who told you." I said “I have my own resources," he replied “don’t tell any one about that because actually it is inside.""
"UPDATE: Jeff Goldstein looks at the Reuters CYA Statement and decides it “is not too farfetched, I don’t think. After all, I once tried to dust my DVD player with only a desklamp on, and the next morning I noticed that I’d somehow created five new DVD players."
Centerfeud: First Rathergate, Now Reutersgate
The only thing missing is the superscript th. And did I forget to mention PICTURE KILL? Centerfeud has a summary:
"No one is questioning the media's right to cover the destruction in Lebanon, and to provide the critical Lebanese perspective of the damage that is being wrought by Israel's attacks. But it is irresponsible to hand a megaphone to Hezbollah, or to report without establishing the motives of the people supplying the information. Part of Hezbollah's war-fighting strategy is to milk every possible casualty for its propaganda potential, and there is growing skepticism that some (certainly by no means all!) of the images of dead Lebanese civilans are manufactured or manipulated for consumption of both Arab and Western media. This technique of staging and manuipulating media imagery has been honed to an art form by Palestinian propagandists and was exposed in a [film satirizing a] 60-minutes segment titled "Pallywood" [the film is called "Pallywood", not the 60 minutes segment being sartirized]."
“This represents a serious breach of Reuters’ standards and we shall not be accepting or using pictures taken by him,” Whittle said in a statement issued in London. Hajj worked for Reuters as a non-staff freelance, or contributing photographer, from 1993 until 2003 and again since April 2005.
Notice they don’t accept any of the blame themselves, even though any competent editor should have noticed the fraudulent nature of this photograph long before it reached the newswires."
Now Hezbollah has attacked and injured a UNIFIL contingent -- and where is Kofi Annan's outrage? Where is the worldwide media coverage? Where is the global diplomatic condemnation?
Oh, wait a minute -- Hezbollah aren't Jooooooooooos. I forgot."
They Already Knew The Colonists Were Fed Up
Power Line has the definitive post on SWIFTgate.
Stolen shamelessly in it's entirety for your viewing enjoyment.
Benedict Lichtblau indeed.
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The NYeT has me so steaming that this is going to ride on top until at least the war with Iran gets into full stride.
SWIFTgate makes RatherGate look like a tempest in a teacup. Of course, the EneMedia didn't understand squat about that either. Their idea of logical prowess is some pimple-faced twenty-something thinking that Microsoft Word was invented in the 1960s.
UPDATE: Did I forget to mention that the the war with Iran is getting a lot closer to full stride? You just might have noticed that from the focus of my posts. But NYeT has such a "special" place in my heart that I can't knock it from near the top of the hill just yet...
THERAPEUTICS UPDATE: I'm also adding today's Muir near the top of the blog for a while. Humor therapy is becoming mandatory these days...
THE INEVITABLE FAUXTOGRAPHIC UPDATE: And you were wondering: Why does the NYeT stay near the top with the war in full swing and all the fauxtographic collateral damage going on? Aren't we just wasting useless pixels on the irrelevant at this point? Ahh. But it was only a matter of time before they were back in the backward-facing saddle: "Did he collapse from heat exhaustion? Or did the director here simply decided the production was long on rescuers and short on corpses?"
"(2006-08-05) — In what his opponent called a “cynical last-ditch ploy” to win the August 8 Democrat senatorial primary, Sen. Joe Lieberman today endorsed the establishment of a Muslim caliphate and the creation of a vast Islamic homeland in the middle east, including the territory now occupied by the state of Israel.
***
A unnamed source at the Democrat National Committee said he expects the race to tighten considerably now that voters must choose between two “party-line Democrats.”"
"Worshippers of the Twelfth Imam are knows as the Twelvers; and chief among them is Ahmadinejad and the leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Before the revolution, Ahmadinejad belonged to a messianic cult known as Hojjatieh, later disbanded, which believed that chaos will hasten the return of the Mahdi. Today, such extreme conviction is shot through the Tehran regime, especially among the privy council called the Partisans of the Mahdi; and the televising of the combat on the Lebanon front looks to vindicate the prophesy.
When Ahmadinejad says, "Lebanon is the scene of an historic test, which will determine the future of humanity," he is speaking not in the hyperbole of a tyrant but in the language of messianic faith.
What this means now is that the Tehran regime is neither surprised nor intimidated by the scale of the Israeli response to the provocations in Gaza and Lebanon."
"Thanks to the Israeli reader who alerts us to YnetNews.com's update on the Reuters photo alteration that we noted in "Reuters calls the doctor" last night: "Reuters admits altering Beirut photo." As John noted last night, the photographer whom Reuters credited on the photo is the same man who shot some of the famous propaganda images from Qana. Reader William Katz writes:
The key questions: What else has been faked? What else has been manipulated? Who are the people hired by Western news agencies to report from Lebanon? What are their backgrounds? It's time to look even more carefully at Qana."