... a little Iraqi girl named Grace.

Hiding In Plain Sight Update

"The notion that Gorelick's memo had no effect outside the DoJ does not stand up to scrutiny at all, once the fact and intent of including Scruggs and the OIPR become known. This shows why Mary Jo White objected so strenuously to this memo and its implementation, and why she went out of her way to antagonize her bosses at the DoJ with a second and more heated memo predicting, correctly, that such a policy would leave America unprotected against the very people she had just successfully prosecuted.

It's bad enough that Gorelick erected that wall in 1995. It's ludicrous that four years after 9/11, people waste their time defending her and her participation in the 9/11 Commission as a panel member instead of a witness."

Big Mushroom Moderate Herbicide Considered

Shrinkwrapped over at Wretchard's has today's update on the looming mushroom clouds:

Blanknoone
said...

Wretchard,
The Pope is (mis)projecting a Christian philisophical perspective on the Muslim world, and it will fall on deaf ears. Muslims know what Islam teaches...and that is why there is virtually no denunciation of radical Islamists by the supposed Moderate Muslims...."

On the contrary, I think the Pope knows exactly what he is talking about. Much of what we are doing in Iraq, what the Israelis are doing in Palestine, and what the Pope is saying is designed to avoid a world wide conflagration which will occur if the West becomes frightened and enraged by further atrocities. Our responses remain measured, but an Islamic nuke, or a successful chemical weapon attack with mass deaths and, while no one can predict in advance what will tip us, once it happens we will "Let loose the dogs of war" and the Muslim world will be devastated. (I leave out bio attack because if an infectious disease spreads it will destroy the third world via "blowback" much more than damage us.) No one can truly desire such an outcome and thus we wage war with one hand tied behind our back. It is up to the Islamic world to recognize what they are risking and begin their reformation and join the civilized world. Thus far, the omens do not look good but we need to do all we can to diminish their risk and ours. 8:39 AM

However, if we are finally forced to let loose the dogs, any use of nukes by us will likely be quite limited. People forget the fire bombings of Tokyo and Dresden -- I have no doubt that we have modern "black programs" that will produce results just as deadly...

Faiths, Laws and Looming Apocalypse

Wretchard points out that the new pope comes to bat in an eerie and oh so tentative parallel to the fiery beginning of John Paul's reign:

Therefore, the Pope seems to say to the Muslims in the room, survival is in our hands and that means yours too. "You guide Muslim believers and train them in the Islamic faith. Teaching is the vehicle through which ideas and convictions are transmitted. Words are highly influential in the education of the mind. You, therefore, have a great responsibility for the formation of the younger generation."

But W and his State Beheader Apologist Department IS HAVING NONE OF IT. They know oh-so-much more than us little people.

UPDATE: Wretchard's commenters are sharp today. Herewith james h.m. :

Muslims might wish to take note that, for reasons both obvious and obscure, freedom of religion and equal rights for women go hand in hand with prosperity and advancing civilizations. (And so WHY is the US tolerating the prospect of a country we liberated from a hideous dictator becoming an Islamic republic in which individual liberties are circumscribed from the outset and surely will be restricted further in these Islamist times?) 9:24 AM

Has State come up with blackmail material on W?

HUGH: "Nothing yet at the Washington Post or the New York Times, where staffs are probably too focused on Crawford demonstrators to notice the news from London."

"The hard left in America needs to realize a bald, cruel fact: Anyone who sees no moral distinction between Israel and the mullahs of Iran, or sees the U.S. attempt to set up a constitutional republic in Iraq as equivalent to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, suffers from incurable moral cretinism. The more the fervent anti-war base embraces these ideas, the more they ensure that no one will trust the left with national security. Ever.

Will they learn the lesson? Even money says Sheehan will be sitting in the Michael Moore seat next to Jimmy Carter at the '08 Democratic convention."

Playing With Matches

"We blinked a few times, and then all consideration of terrorism was dropped from the task. But not before it was pointed out that we and DIA weren’t really counter-terrorism experts [although we were threat assessment experts], that the problem was probably being worked by so-&-so and such-&-such, and that they probably had better data, more experience, more resources than we did.

That is what Clinton and Gorelik's Wall culture did. It just didn't just prevent more effective cooperation and data sharing; it prevented the whole question of terrorism being addressed in a coherent fashion at all. No one was working the problem effectively, but I bet they all thought -- just like we were told – that someone else was. That’s the "I thought you brought the matches" school of intelligence analysis, and that was the end effect of Clinton's intelligence policy: it turned the whole process of intelligence into one big game of "Who brought the matches?"

And on 9/11 we found out who: Al Qaeda brought the matches."

READ THE WHOLE THING.

"Divert attention? Yeah, that's right Kerry, 9/11 was merely a diversion from the all important issues of goverment run health care, taxation, and the give-aways so favored by Democrats.

And they wonder why, even with the ineptness of Republican leadership, they can't win elections. "

You Didn't Read It Yet Did You?

"One wing of the party under it's leader Leon Blum saw early on that the new German Chancellor whose thugs had been smashing windows and brawling in the street for years was a potential threat and argued that France had to get ready to do something about him, the other wing argued against viewing Hitler in black and white terms. They had a more nuanced view of Herr Hitler. The latter faction were so eager to avoid another war that they ended up sabotaging France's ability to fight. It won't surprise those familiar with French history that a number of the anti-war Socialists ended up in the collaborationist Vichy Regime under German occupation. Or that Leon Blum ended up in Dachau."

You really need to...

"I wish this worked both ways so we could trade Cindy Sheehan for someone who wants to be an American." (HT Glenn)

Proximity Delays

Even CNN couldn't grasp the importance of the letter. They ended up giving more coverage to the impending E-Bay auction of Jennifer Anniston's old love letters than to the missive in which the top Al Queda leader in Mosul writes to the second most wanted man in the world, and describes in amazing detail the weaknesses and impending collapse of the terrorist network in Mosul and surrounds. Only then, did the military ask if wanted to write about the letter.

Every one, even a "higher up" deserves the benefit of the doubt, and should be entitled to one mistake. But how many times, and how many major stories have to be mangled into meaninglessness before someone connects the cables and lets the information flow in a direction other than down the mainstream media drain?

(HT Glenn)

Apparently, W has finally surrendered to hell in Iraq... *^%$&%!

And then there were 2. Or not?

UPDATE: But the only name he remembered? This one looks like it's going to take a while to sort out...

"In our search for root causes, we have blinded ourselves to the most basic of all: the content of the human heart."

"As nearly as I can tell, the Democrats' strategy for winning is simply to be patient and snipe from the sidelines until people get tired of the Republicans, then they'll win by default. OK, that'll probably work eventually—at least briefly—but somehow, I don't think that's how FDR would've played the game.

Of course, for many of us, we're perfectly happy to see the Democrats play it that way. After all, can you imagine Joe Biden being in charge of...well...anything? "

Oh. That OTHER job.

Anti-terror police in China? Really? Only if you consider terrorism to be riots against corruption I suppose. As has been noted elsewhere, the Chinese are curiously exempt from Islam's bloody borders -- since they're the hidden Hitler to the Muslim Mussolinis...

The gloved one yes, but John Wayne? Now there's a showstopper... (HT Drudge)

Exploitation Projection

And just how do you think the left would react if W had a TIA. I find Harry Reid to be puerile at best yet I completely sympathize with the Captain. This highlights perfectly why Christians and Jews are different.

"our confused leaders"

... "another useless diversion for the Democrats."

Today's MSMemory Hole update.

Republicans anti-idiotarians are breaking out all over.

Atta Be Gone

"who will rid me of these meddlesome intelligence agencies?"

Lileks is just too good today not to redux: "Next they can sue the company that sells buses to Israeli cities. All those tempting targets, packed with innocent people. How could an oppressed person resist killing them all? What sort of civilized nation would tempt them so? Especially because they don't have helicopters and night-vision goggles and tanks and missiles. Not that they'd use those devices against Israelis. That would risk a Presbyterian boycott."

Obviously, Bangladesh needs to get out of Iraq! And you haven't seen news of 100 300(!) bombs on the MSM because ... well, it doesn't fit their story line very well does it?

UPDATE: Michael says he told us.

The Peculiar Coincidence

"But they're not anti-Semites. Heavens, nay. Don't you dare question their philosemitism! No, they looked at the entire world, including countries that lop off your skull if you convert to Presbyterianism, and what did they choose as the object of their ire? A country the size of a potato chip hanging on the edge of a region noted for despotism and barbarity. By some peculiar coincidence, it happens to be full of Jews."

And I'm none too happy about my own Lutheran church either!

It's all about pork...

Keeping them poor and stupid...

The hell of puerile minds ... and the REAL pointy hats.

One Of My Cousin Jon's Sons ...

... is in the 82nd Airborne:

IRAQ: The Four Rs and the New Constitution
August 17, 2005: There is a horrific murder campaign going on in Baghdad, with more people being killed by gunfire than by terrorist bomb attacks. Over a thousand people a month are being killed in Baghdad, which is a death rate of 200 per 100,000 population. This is nearly twice what the rate was in Colombia, at the height of the drug and political violence in that country. What is going on in Baghdad is a war of terror and revenge. The terrorists are trying to intimidate people for political, religious or economic reasons. But most of the deaths appear to be revenge killings, with Kurds and Shia Arabs hunting down and killing Sunni Arabs who worked, and killed, for Saddam. These attacks have been going on since Saddam’s government fell, and have been increasing as Sunni Arab gangs lose, to the growing police force, control of their neighborhoods. This is the Sunni Arab nightmare, the a major reason (besides money) for Sunni Arabs supporting anti-government terrorism.

The U.S. 82nd Airborne division is sending one of its infantry battalions to Iraq for a special mission. It’s believed that the paratroopers will be used for the high speed raids against Sunni Arab gangs in western Iraq. These raids have been going on for most of this year and have led to a large number of arrests, and a decrease in terrorist attacks. Hundreds of arms caches, bomb workshops and safe houses have been seized, along with many terrorist leaders. The enemy is fighting back, because this is the homeland of the terrorists, they have nowhere else to go. If the American raids keep up, the terrorists will not be able to sustain their attacks, which is why the number of attacks are declining already.

One form of warfare is increasing in western Iraq. Battles between Al Qaeda gangs and Sunni Arab tribes continue, as the Sunni Arabs get fed up with bullying by foreign Sunni Arab al Qaeda religious fanatics. The al Qaeda gangs have created bases by taking over towns and neighborhoods. Those that do not go along with this, are terrorized into remaining silent, or killed if they appear openly hostile to al Qaeda. These religious fanatics also try to impose stricter life-style rules on the locals, which is really unpopular. Over the last six months, more and more towns, under the leadership of clan and tribal leaders, have offered armed resistance to al Qaeda. These same tribes will fight the Americans or Iraqi troops as well, but for the moment, the government offers medical, or other aid, after the tribes have tossed out al Qaeda gunmen.

The Iraqis did not deliver their new constitution by the August 15th deadline, and the legislature allowed another week to complete the task. What’s holding up the work are the four Rs; Revenge (how much amnesty and power to give the hated Sunni Arab minority), Regionalism (how much independence the Kurds have), Religion (how much influence Islam should have on the legal system) and Resources (who gets how much of the oil money).

The Sunni Arab leadership are trying to get safeguards in the constitution that would limit the revenge the Kurds and Shia Arabs will take on the Sunni Arab community for atrocities committed during the decades of Saddam’s rule. The Sunni Arabs are also in terror of Shia Arabs not only going along with Kurdish demands for permanent autonomy, but also setting up a similar system in the south. Since 1991, when British and American troops (mainly warplanes) kept Saddams troops out of the north, the Kurds have, in effect, been independent. The Kurds have prospered and been at peace. The Shia Arabs have noticed that, and the harsh treatment the Kurds have given to any Sunni Arab gunmen foolish enough to venture into “Kurdistan.”

Religion is an issue because Islamic conservatives in the Sunni and Shia community want the law of the land to reflect conservative Islam. Most Iraqis, especially the women, do not want this, but they do want honest government (which is very rare in the Moslem world), and also note that Islamic rule in neighboring Iran has not produced honest government, and has imposed unpleasant rules on the citizens. But Iran has supported a Islamic conservative militia (the Badr Brigade) in Iraq, and these thugs have been energetic in trying to bully Iraqis to support Islamic conservatism. This is often backfiring on the street, but at the moment, many of the people putting the new constitution together are controlled by the Badr gang, and similar organizations.

And then there’s the money. The Kurds have suggested that they, and the Shia Arabs, take complete control of the oil in their areas (this would be most of the nations oil), and leave the Sunni Arabs in central Iraq with nothing. The Sunni Arabs have been monopolizing the oil money for decades, and feel this freeze out proposal is something that could be done to them by vengeful Kurds and Shia Arabs. The Kurds and Shia Arabs appear willing to compromise by accepting a larger cut of the oil.

Godspeed Joe -- we love you "string pullers"!

What? You didn't hear this on the MS-#@$^*&-M tonight?

Of course it's not sedition -- they're just on the other side.

As I've hinted previously, we need to just start calling it the omission report.

LISTEN TO HIRSI!
UPDATE: It gets worse.

Something to hide?

Still Wall-Able (Danger)?

Via Glenn you need to read Podhoretz latest take that ends thus:

And that, once again, brings us back to...Jamie Gorelick. 9/11 Commissioner. And the architect of the growing "wall" -- the same "wall" that the 9/11 Commission all but ignored, surely in deference to its walking-conflict-of-interest commissioner Gorelick.

How long can she continue to hide in plain sight?

So Sioux him. (HT Hugh)

All For Shame

David Gutmann has a barn burner up that starts out thus:

A heated debate rages over the instigators of murderous jihad. Hawks often portray Islam as essentially violent—a creed for Holy Warriors—while doves usually make a distinction between the Koranic text and the murderous practices of its extreme adherents. Doves argue that Islam is one of the Great Religions, a "religion of Peace," whose Koran has been hijacked to serve the purpose of jihad.

Maybe it is. But in 1948, my Hagana officers told us grunts to kill ourselves rather than face capture by jihadists: "Always keep a bullet or a grenade for yourself" was their considered advice. I doubt that they would have given the same warning were we facing Unitarians or
Anglicans.

Nevertheless, I do not agree with many hawks that Islam by itself is the prime mover of Arab violence. When I consider the obsessions, the language and the actions of the extremists, it becomes evident that, perhaps even more than religion, overlooked aspects of national character contribute to the fevers of jihad. As a Jew who owns a Koran (Oh Imams, is this permitted?) it appears to me that the more lurid stanzas of that generally inflammatory text are being used, by Islamic extremists, to rationalize their fury over perceived insults that have nothing to do with Islam per se.

That fury is not a product of the Koran. Rather, it has to do with a prior, psychological cause: the vulnerabilities of Arab national character, which is centered on the maintenance of honor and the avoidance of shame. Some readers will probably accuse me of psychobabbling. Note, however, that some very smart observers—the Israeli anthropologist Rafael Patai, for instance—have already documented the Arab phobia against the experience of shame.

Can you say "tribalism"?

But then comes the kamikaze punch:

But this tactic [of suicide bombing] is not, I suggest, a product of Islam. Rather, it is a product of the bruised Arab psyche. Remember that the Japanese also turned to suicide tactics in WWII to evade the humiliation of defeat. Though their religion was Shinto rather than Muslim, they too constituted a paradigm shame/honor culture, and defeat brought about, as with the Arabs, a furiously suicidal/homicidal response. After their armies had been defeated, their fleets sunk, their cities set aflame, and their home islands invaded, they launched the kamikaze bomber offensive, thereby committing a hi-tech form of hara-kiri, their usual remedy against intolerable shame. It is in this way that the modern Arab world resembles the Japan of World War II. In both cases it is not religions but psychic wounds, the wounds inflicted by defeat and evident inferiority, that inspire suicide bombers.

It is often asserted that the changes set in train by modernization are particularly toxic to the Arabs. No doubt this is true. But if we are going to be therapeutic, our diagnoses need to be more specific; we need to identify the particular pathogens that are released by modernization. Besides sharpening their sense of inferiority relative to the West, modernization threatens to bring about the liberation of women (as in Afghanistan and Iraq). I say "threatens," because the self-esteem of Arab males is in large part predicated on the inferior position of their women. The Arab nations have for the most part lost their slaves and dhimmis, the subject peoples onto whose persons the stigmata of shame could be downloaded. But anyone who has spent time among them knows that Arab males have not lost their psychological need for social and sexual inferiors. In the absence of slaves and captive peoples, Arab women are elected for the special role of the inferior who, by definition, lacks honor. Arab men eradicate shame and bolster their shaky self-esteem by imposing the shameful qualities of the dhimmi, submission and passivity, upon women. Trailing a humbled woman behind them, Arab men can walk the walk of the true macho man.

Hence the relative lack of material achievement by Arabs: the Arab world has stunted the female half of its brain pool, while the men acquire instant self-esteem not by real accomplishment, but by the mere fact of being men, rather than women. No wonder, then, that the Arab nations feel irrationally threatened by the very existence of Israel. Like America, the Jews have brought the reality of the liberated woman into the very heart of the Middle East, into dar al-Islam itself. Big Satan and Little Satan: the champions of Muslim women.

Did I forget to mention that you should have been sitting down for that?

And what does it say about our feminists and historians that they don't have anything resembling a clue about all of this? I submit the verdict of history will not be kind to them.

RTWT. It's also a new Classic link over right...

"... [they] could well expect to go to heaven because they'd already served their time in hell."

If the able danger was smelly, it should have been placed by the feet. And I don't buy Gorelick as a valid commission member for a millisecond.

On Christian Virtue

1 Corinthians 13:11-13:

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Roger has an update on White Liberals and Black Rednecks.

Looks like you want to stay away from gas stations. Lucky for you, those diabolical neo-cons already are working on the solution. Apparently right alongside GreenPeace...

... the BBC is pro-Israel? Looks like we closed down most of the funny farms just a wee bit too early....

Jooooooos Again

And of course the Jooooooooos should be made to wear yellow stars. LOL

Did I forget to mention that my own ELCA is also nuttier than a Cuckoo Clock?

"No, it is flourishing.”

It would seem the assumption is that most Navy officers just aren't credible? Even for the Captain? Huh?

Jack is back!

"...it is what comes after, and after, and after that will be truly terrifying."

WHAT SHOULD WE DO??? (HT Roger)

SHARKS. JUMPS. DA?

"What we have has massive holes in it, as we have all discovered in the last 72 hours or so."

"That’s precisely why I went back on active duty and served in Iraq."

MARY JO WHITE -- ANOTHER 9/11 COMMISSION. What must Orwell be thinking now?

Heather Once More

Hits one out of the park:

Jackson, Ms., September 14, 1964 (AP) — The U.S. Attorney in Mississippi announced today that a cross had been burned outside the Natchez home of Ben and Tillie Smith. "All signs point to the Ku Klux Klan," said federal prosecutor Ross Hencken, noting that the Smiths had been registering Negro voters. Consistent with the federal government's ban on racial profiling, Hencken announced that he was ordering the National Guard to stop every fifth driver on Highway 61 between Natchez and Vicksburg to search for the perpetrators. Were the guard to look only at white people, explained Hencken, it would "give a pass to all Negroes," and suggest that the "rights and freedoms enjoyed by all should be limited to a select group."

HOO HAW. RTWT.

THE ELEPHANT IN THE (9/11 COMMISSION) ROOM and ABLE DANGER

Tinfoil moves toward center stage... Yes, that tinfoil.

The outline of Trousersgate stiffens... (HT Roger)

UPDATE: "What else got left out because of inconvenience?"

All you need to know about the Euroleft...

QOTD: "If (as the saying goes) hypocrisy is the tribute which vice pays to virtue, then sophistry is the tribute which lies pay to the truth." (HT Hugh)

Taking advantage of short Western attention spans...

"Being unhinged means never having to say you're sorry."

Hiding In Broad Daylight

Gorelick can run by being brazen enough to sit on the 9/11 commission and trying to suppress the evidence against her, but she can't hide... Jamie Gorelick was the architect of the wall -- AND A 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER! Kind of gives new meaning to "hiding in broad daylight", no?

Tomorrow Jerusalem... Did I mention that Jerusalem is mentioned nearly 700 times in the Bible ... and not once in the Koran?

About that Empire State building... Can you say CUCKOO? I thought you could...

"After all, one wouldn't want to inadvertently end up on the same side as Mr. Bush..."

On being a successful subjugate host organism...

Pretty much all you need to know about Err Americaca...

Left them hanging? What a spendid idea!

"... like some association of morons intent on carrying out a function whose purpose no one can remember."

Thought I missed the anniversary of the weekend, didn't you?

Too late...

TAG TEAM.

"Air America looks like the broadcast version of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program, whereby money earmarked to save starving moppets somehow winds up in the bank accounts of bloated self-described do-gooders with political connections." - Mark Steyn

A management update that doesn't fit the MSM story line. So you'll only find out about it at places like here of course...

They only kill the Joooooooos so no problem then...

Presbyterian Anti-Semites.

Conveniently shot dead. You shouldn't have to think too hard to figure out why.

Ten years? Constantly wrong but somehow never discredited...

Orbiting the apocalypse: "But the El Dorado wasn't there; and the really big historical question is why it took the best minds of the West more than 50 years and countless lives to discover that elementary fact. This monumental self-hypnosis calls into question our collective ability to know; and when politicians and media talking heads speak with perfect assurance about "religions of peace" or alternatively, about a "death cult" with bloody borders, how certain are we that our epistemology is any better than that of the 20th century intellectuals?"

A testable argument. I hope he's right.

Did I forget to mention that the largest scandal in history just keeps rolling along?

Comment of the Day

This comment on LGF pretty much says it all about what deep stuff Britain is in regarding shutting down the preachers of hate as a helpful prerequisite to stopping the slaughter:

#122 Harry Flashman 8/5/2005 09:10PM PDT
Everyone who is getting excited here should relax, there's not a hope in hell of getting this through, this is just a case of Tony talking the talk but he won't walk the walk. For a start there is no need for new legislation, the statute books are coming down with existing laws which are simply never used. The reason for this is that the UK signed up to the European Human Rights Code, as soon as a copper tries nicking some imam or mullah he'll be hauled before the courts and get a good kicking for abusing the suspects human rights. The suspect can also accept a large dollop of British tax payer's loot by way of compensation. So who signed up for this insane Human Rights nonsense? Oh that's right, The Right Honourable Mr Anthony Blair PM, and who is the leading Human Rights lawyer in the UK who is usually bringing these cases to the courts? Why it's none other than Ms Cherie Booth (Blair) QC, his lovely wife!

Dream on guys.

WHOOPS! Don't think about this too hard or your head will explode!

They're less inclined to connect to the network and more inclined to blow it up...

Here's something else.

Fishing for blowback -- and how... (HT Drudge)

We can't be at war with Iran dept. They're champions of women's rights and civil discourse, don't you know...

The hard choices of war. (And keep scrolling for the prelude.)

About those ends justifying the means: "And it's very important to investigate every aspect of a prospective Supreme Court justice's life. After all, he may threaten the right to privacy!"

BUSTED.

Those front-page editorials...

Blackout-ron.

Watch for the MSM to furiously stomp this down the MSMemoryHole...

Could it be that bribery has failed them? What would the old man say?

An Intellectual Dynasty?

My Mom never tires of telling people that she went to high school with Arlene Dart -- the mother of Linda Evans of Dynasty fame. Imagine my surprise then when Drudge posts this critique of British society from Joan Collins. Not an intellectual tour-de-force but not exactly the soap opera fluff I was expecting as I read out of morbid curiosity...

11 Cuckoos in 1.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali points out the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM once again. Go girl...

A moderate. Jihad, that is...

"But it's not their kind of story."