Old War Dogs

Wednesday, 13 June 2007

Victory? What Victory?
Contributed by 72nd TCS

The Jewish World Review has picked up the latest issue of Professor Daniel Pipes' newsletter--normally available to subscribers only. Find it here . His column deals with a burning question, namely--

Can the Israel Defense Forces in fact disrupt Iran's nuclear program?

The lead sentence hints strongly that Israel is on its own in confronting the near-term prospect of the Iranian Holocaust Bomb.

Barring a 'catastrophic development,' Middle East Newsline reports, George Bush has decided not to attack Iran. An administration source explains that Washington deems Iran's cooperation 'needed for a withdrawal [of U.S. forces] from Iraq.'

If this unnamed administration source is anywhere near the Sec Def or Condi level, it would seem that the primary emphasis has shifted from victory in the Middle East to withdrawal. Has the message to Iran evolved from "Make nice, not nukes" to "Pretty please, just let us go quietly?" Wiser heads than mine are needed to decrypt that sibylline utterance. Even so, it is safe to conclude that the White House appetite for pre-emption has subsided to somewhere below the level of wishful thinking.

The main body of the Pipes offering concentrates on summarizing and analyzing a think-piece by a pair of MIT scholars who examine Israel's capabilities in depth. Can the Israelis actually do it? The short answer is "Yes," provided the government can steel themselves to face the kind of outcry that followed their attack on the Osirak reactor. Their argument is well worth reading.

At the end, Dr. Pipes speculates on feasibility, and sees a fly in the ointment, a daunting question that planners of such an operation must face and somehow resolve.

In the author's words, without serious comment here--

The great question mark hanging over the operation, one which the authors do not speculate about, is whether any of the Turkish, Jordanian, American, or Saudi governments would acquiesce to Israeli penetration of their air spaces. (Iraq, recall, is under American control). Unless the Israelis win advance permission to cross these territories, their jets might have to fight their way to Iran. More than any other factor, this one imperils the entire project. (The IDF could reduce this problem by flying along borders, for example, the Turkey-Syria one, permitting both countries en route to claim Israeli planes were in the other fellow's air space.)

Is he kidding, or what? Your call.

Contributed by 72nd TCS on June 13, 2007 at 07:59 PM in Coming home, Current Affairs, G W Bush, Iran, Iraq, John "72nd TCS" Werntz | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 09 May 2007

2007.05.09 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: 2007.05.08 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler’s Green.
-Author Unknown (via Sgt Hook)

And there shall our warriors rejoice at the sight as the Dhimmicrats parade by in chains on the way to their eternal reward.

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

US Embassy Attacked During Cheney Visit
Tenet’s Tim Time
Bush Would Veto Democrats' New Iraq Bill
Does the LA Times know about the Fort Dix Six?
The John Doe at Circuit City
Jersey Jihadists, open borders, and the thanks we get
A Little Competence Would Be Nice
Democrats Move Closer To De-Funding
Some other good early morning reads
The political tornado in Greensburg
KS Gov tries her hand at disaster chasing
Video added: Dingy Harry joins in after gov is debunked

Democrats Move Closer To De-Funding
Ed Morrissey

The Democrats have moved closer to using their actual Constitutional power to defund the Iraq war in a compromise bill being floated in the House. In the new supplemental, funding for the troops in Iraq would only be unconditional for two months. After that, it would cease entirely unless the Iraqis passed an oil revenue sharing plan and other restructuring bills that have not progressed as planned:
A House Democratic proposal introduced yesterday that would give President Bush half of the money he has requested for the war effort, with a vote in July on whether to approve the rest, hinges on progress in meeting political benchmarks that Iraq has thus far found difficult to achieve....
One concession has to be made, which is that the Democrats have finally started to work within their Constitutional authority. Prior plans used elaborate ruses to force the President to end the war by juggling troop requirements and the like, all of which infringed on his authority as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Hillary Clinton has begun to pursue an equally noxious violation of the Constitution by attempting to revoke the original authorization for the war, which she and other Democrats claim the President could not veto. It would amount to a diktat by the legislative branch, one about which the Supreme Court would have to squelch its laughter before throwing it out with great force. ...

I hope when the mushroom clouds eventually start rising above the U.S. Reid, Pelosi and Murtha are together so they have a couple of minutes to congratulate each other on how well they handled the war just before they die. Three would be OK. Anything longer is more than they deserve.

***

Don't miss Ed's follow-up post here.

Continue reading "2007.05.09 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup"

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 9, 2007 at 12:01 PM in Caring about our troops, Dem Dumbness, Dem Perfidy, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 08 May 2007

2007.05.08 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: 2007.05.07 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

Justice: Islamist Plot To Attack Fort Dix
Ed Morrissey

The US Attorney's office in New Jersey says that a raid yesterday netted six radical Islamists in the Garden State before they had a chance to conduct a terrorist attack. Their target -- Fort Dix (via Hot Air):
Six people were arrested on Monday in connection with an alleged plot to murder soldiers at Fort Dix, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, said the men are from the former Yugoslavia and were planning to "kill as many soldiers as possible." Five of them lived in Cherry Hill, he said. ...

Michelle Malkin has more here, Allahpundit's tracking the case here, PJM has coverage here. Unsurprisingly, Bob Owens has some of the best coverage you're going to find here. Kim Priestap also has good coverage. Dan Riehl: Duka, Duka, Duka, Mohamad Jihad.

***

Jules Crittenden points out:

Another good reason to round up and deport all illegals, “immigrant” and otherwise, wherever we find them. An illegal immigrant who has been detained and/or deported is one who won’t be driving drunk, committing sexual assaults, murders and burglaries, or planning jihad here.

***

Michelle has lots more here. Don't miss Dan's Riehl's update here.

Below the fold, newest items at the top:

Should We Deal With the (Lesser) Devil?
Iranian Weapons. American Lives.
House Democrats Unveil New Iraq Proposal
Ditch The Accordion
White House, Kansas governor argue over storm response
Signed, signed, everything is signed...
Kansas Governor: Iraq War Slowed Response to Tornado
Kathleen Sebelius' Political Disaster

Continue reading "2007.05.08 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup"

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 8, 2007 at 04:10 PM in Dem Dumbness, Dem Perfidy, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 30 April 2007

2007.04.30 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup
-- Breaking: Bush to veto Oink and Run bill tomorrow
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: 2007.04.29 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

Below the fold (newest items at the top):

Ledeen Responds To Tenet
Broder Sticks To His Guns
The Consequences Of The Democrats' Iraq Policy
A Loser's History
Democrats’ Blood II
Bush Plans to Veto Iraq War Spending Bill on Tuesday
Former CIA Boss Out of Loop on Parts of His New Book
But I won't question his patriotism
Video: Tenet says Iraq wouldn’t have had nukes until 2007 or 2009
Tenet Does 60 Minutes
Afghan Infant Deaths Fall 40,000 Per Year After Eviction of Taliban
A basic tenet of public life, part 2

Who Won Harry?
J D Pendry, CSM, USA (Ret.)

You don't mind if I call you Harry do you? I'm just an Average American and since you preface every statement you make by portending what I want, I thought we would be comfortable using first names. I could call you Senator if you like, but understand that I get a searing pain in my right temple each time I think about that. As you know me so well and seem so concerned about my desires, I'm sure that you don't wish me any discomfort. My faith tells me I should not succumb to fits of rage, but I have simmered a bit about this one Harry. I'll try to be civil, but I may need to ask forgiveness afterwards.

So, if we have lost this war, who won it? You haven't exactly explained that for me or the rest of the Average Americans out here. As the twitch returns above my right temple, allow me to speculate:
"Iraq is, in fact, the central front of al Qaeda's global campaign and we devote considerable resources to the fight against al Qaeda Iraq.

They [Qazali network responsible for the deaths of five Soldiers in Karbala] were provided substantial funding, training on Iranian soil, advanced explosive munitions and technologies as well as run of the mill arms and ammunition, in some cases advice and in some cases even a degree of direction. ...

And there's no question, again, that Iranian financing is taking place through the Quds force of the Iranian Republican Guards Corps. ..." -- General David Petraeus
Does that clear if up for you Harry?

Harry, I think you are a loser and what's more, real Americans don't care for losers -- losers at anything much less war. You see in war, I do not recall there being a second place trophy. ...

Continue reading "2007.04.30 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup"

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 30, 2007 at 01:45 AM in Afghanistan, Dem Dumbness, Dem Perfidy, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 29 April 2007

2007.04.29 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: 2007.04.28 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

Deadlocked War Funding Bill May Halt Troop Carriers

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The armored carrier has a grim black slash across its side, burn marks on the door and a web of cracks along the window.

Like most of the Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles in Anbar province, this one has been hit as many as three times by enemy fire and bomb blasts. Yet, to date, no American troops have died while riding in one.

But efforts to buy thousands more carriers — each costing about $1 million — could be delayed if the White House and Congress do not resolve their deadlock over a $124.2 billion war spending bill.

About $3 billion for the vehicles is tied up in the legislation. The spending plan has stalled because of a dispute over provisions that would set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. ...

Joe Katzman has an excellent related post here.

Bottom line: Replacing HMMWVs with MRAP's saves American lives. The Army and Marines are waiting for money to replace a bunch of 'em. They don't have it yet because the Surrendercrats are playing political games instead of taking care of the troops.

It is my fervent and heartfelt hope that when the jihadis finally manage to nuke DC Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Mad Jack Murtha are just far enough from Ground Zero to see the flash and have a split second to realize what happened before the shock front arrives and liquefies their bodies. Catching the three of them somewhere on the left coast for a moonbat convention would be even better, of course.

Update after a night's sleep and some time to surf the web a little: I don't really want the Three Ratateers to die in the initial blast. I'd much prefer they die slow lingering deaths trapped in the rubble, preferably under the same rubble pile so they have time to congratulate each other on how well they managed the war. (No, Bill isn't "off his meds again." I'm not wishing any worse fate for the Ratateers than will be suffered by thousands of others if they succeed in implementing their proposed policies.)

Below the fold (newest items at the top):

Rice: 'Slam dunk' comment didn't lead to war
Officers: Ex-CIA chief Tenet a 'failed' leader
Scheuer: Don't Buy Tenet
A Basic Tenet of Public Life...
Meet the Press: Harry Reid's Plan for America
Top general: U.S. needs a bigger Army faster
Video: Murtha suggests impeachment
if President doesn’t “compromise”
Good News In Anbar
Saudi’d Straight
And then what?
Terrorists Ecstatic With Democrats' Debate
1st Assault Accordians, Advance to Rear!
"If Osama bin Laden stood up and said 'Here's my timetable for withdrawing from Iraq'...
"I'm ready for my fatwa"
US aircrews show Taliban no mercy
Certified Madness
Winners And Losers
Forgive My Unstiff Upper Lip
Another big fish in Iraq?

Continue reading "2007.04.29 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 29, 2007 at 01:06 AM in Afghanistan, Caring about our troops, Dem Dumbness, Dem Perfidy, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Mad Jack Murtha | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 08 April 2007

McCain Channels Hercules,
The War You're Not Reading About
Contributed by 72nd TCS

What's all this about Hercules? Well, if we can believe a front-page item in the WaPo of Saturday, April 7, Senator John McCain, in his to-be-announced campaign for the presidency, plans to wade all alone into the fever-swamp of the MSM crusade to discredit the war effort and--like Hercules in the Augean Stables--to clear up the whole foul, stinking mess.

The article linked to bears the title "McCain to Stake Bid On Need to Win in Iraq," and is bylined Michael D. Shear, who kicks off with this:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will launch a high-profile effort next week to convince Americans that the Iraq war is winnable, embracing the unpopular conflict with renewed vigor as he attempts to reignite his stalling bid for the presidency.

With the Virginia Military Institute as a backdrop, McCain plans to argue in a speech on Wednesday that victory in Iraq is essential to American security and that President Bush's war machine is finally getting on track after four years, aides and advisers said.

McCain's rosy assessment of safety on Iraq's streets after his recent visit to a Baghdad marketplace was mocked by many, prompting him to tell a television reporter that he 'misspoke' and now regrets the comments. But, in the interview to be broadcast tomorrow, the senator sticks by his defense of the overall war effort, predicting that failure in Iraq would be 'catastrophic.'

Why on earth, if the senator hopes to convince a skeptical public that there is visible progress in Iraq, did he step on his own message by admitting that he "misspoke" when he proclaimed the good news in Baghdad? [ed. note: The reference above to "a television reporter" points to a McCain interview to be broadcast Sunday evening on "60 Minutes" and perhaps watched by millions.] Are his "aides and advisors" asleep at the switch?

Michael Shear dilates upon the generally negative response of the media to the Baghdad press conference:

Wearing a bulletproof vest and surrounded by 100 soldiers in Baghdad's central market, McCain said: 'Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today.' Headlines soon after called his statements 'propaganda' and a 'magic-carpet ride.' The Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore., declared: 'Brainwashed McCain is a straight-talker no more.'

One GOP consultant said of the incident: 'That strikes right at the heart of who people thought he was-- a truth teller.'

Poor John McCain. The Salem, Oregon broadsheet calls him brainwashed and laments the derailing of the Straight Talk Express. An anonymous "GOP consultant" [working for Chuck Hagel?] chimes in. Has the Arizona Republican got a prayer of winning the GOP nomination? At this moment, it would be foolish to speculate. Recent polling results, however, indicate that a solid majority of Republican voters--the only folks who count in a primary, outside of crossover states--remains loyal to the president and his new policy in Iraq. They are unlikely to punish McCain for standing firm.

There are plenty of other reasons why conservatives might want to shun McCain. Like him or not, one has to admire his courage. The man is no weathervane.

*** Webmaster's update: 72nd TCS just sent me a link to this with a suggestion that mention it in a Bill's Bites post. I responded that Senator McCain may not be an "Old War Dog" but he definitely qualifies as an "old war dog" and I think what he wrote qualifies for mention on this site as well:

The War You're Not Reading About
By John McCain

I just returned from my fifth visit to Iraq since 2003 -- and my first since Gen. David Petraeus's new strategy has started taking effect. For the first time, our delegation was able to drive, not use helicopters, from the airport to downtown Baghdad. For the first time, we met with Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province who are working with American and Iraqi forces to combat al-Qaeda. For the first time, we visited Iraqi and American forces deployed in a joint security station in Baghdad -- an integral part of the new strategy. We held a news conference to discuss what we saw: positive signs, underreported in the United States, that are reason for cautious optimism.

I observed that our delegation "stopped at a local market, where we spent well over an hour, shopping and talking with the local people, getting their views and ideas about different issues of the day." Markets in Baghdad have faced devastating terrorist attacks. A car bombing at Shorja in February, for example, killed 137 people. Today the market still faces occasional sniper attacks, but it is safer than it used to be. One innovation of the new strategy is closing markets to vehicles, thereby precluding car bombs that kill so many and garner so much media attention. Petraeus understandably wanted us to see this development.

I went to Iraq to gain a firsthand view of the progress in this difficult war, not to celebrate any victories. No one has been more critical of sunny progress reports that defied realities in Iraq. In 2003, after my first visit, I argued for more troops to provide the security necessary for political development. I disagreed with statements characterizing the insurgency as a "few dead-enders" or being in its "last throes." I repeatedly criticized the previous search-and-destroy strategy and argued for a counterinsurgency approach: separating the reconcilable population from the irreconcilable and creating enough security to facilitate the political and economic solutions that are the only way to defeat insurgents. This is exactly the course that Petraeus and the brave men and women of the American military are pursuing.

The new political-military strategy is beginning to show results. But most Americans are not aware because much of the media are not reporting it or devote far more attention to car bombs and mortar attacks that reveal little about the strategic direction of the war. I am not saying that bad news should not be reported or that horrific terrorist attacks are not newsworthy. But news coverage should also include evidence of progress. Whether Americans choose to support or oppose our efforts in Iraq, I hope they could make their decision based on as complete a picture of the situation in Iraq as is possible to report. A few examples: ...

[Read the whole thing.]

Contributed by 72nd TCS on April 8, 2007 at 12:05 AM in Current Affairs, Iran, Iraq, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, John McCain, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 05 April 2007

Introducing David Hazony
Contributed by 72nd TCS

The "Opinion Journal" newsletter of the Wall Street Journal for Wednesday, April 4 had a long article by guest-author David Hazony. Mr. Hazony, who deserves to be better-known to American readers, is the Editor-in-Chief of AZURE, which originally published his column here. AZURE is a quarterly produced in Israel and bears a strong resemblance to the American monthly Commentary. Like Commentary, AZURE specializes in solid, well-written think-pieces. The right-hand sidebar of its home page [cf. initial link above] links to authors covering the entire spectrum of reasoned commentary, ranging from George Soros by way of Fouad Ajami and Bernard Lewis to Mark Steyn. It offers the think-piece maven just the intellectual fare needed to turn many a night of insomnia into brilliant day.

Mr. Hazony's article, in particular, makes the startling case that the Iranian mullahs have been and are waging a Cold War against the West, comparable to the Soviet pressures that kept us on tenterhooks for four decades. Given the huge discrepancy in size, population, and military might beween the former Soviet Union and Iran, anyone who lived through that era is bound to regard the analogy at first as more than a bit strained. Even so, the most skeptical reader cannot fail to be impressed by the cogency of the author's arguments in favor of his thesis. The mere excerpts that follow cannot hope to do justice to this presentation. They are presented simply as bait, to entice the reader to Read The Whole Thing..

Mr. Hazony comes on strong right at the outset: NOTE: in what follows, block quotes are taken directly from the Hazony article. Intercalated text, aligned flush left, are comments and other asides from 72nd TCS.

A new Cold War is upon us. Though there is no Soviet Union today, the enemies of Western democracy, supported by a conglomerate of Islamic states, terror groups and insurgents, have begun to work together with a unity of purpose reminiscent of the Soviet menace: not only in funding, training and arming those who seek democracy's demise; not only in mounting attacks against Israel, America and their allies around the world; not only in seeking technological advances that will enable them to threaten the life of every Western citizen; but also in advancing a clear vision of a permanent, intractable and ultimately victorious struggle against the West--an idea they convey articulately, consistently and with brutal efficiency.

The term "clear vision" crops up again and again as this article progresses. Sadly, in the context of the response of Western leaders to the Islamic extremist onslaught, the author mentions it only to stress its absence among the elites of our world. Continuing, he writes...

It is this conceptual strategic clarity that gives the West's enemies a leg up, even if they are far inferior in number, wealth, and weaponry. From Tehran to Tyre, from Chechnya to the Philippines, from southern Iraq to the Afghan mountains to the madrassas of London and Paris and Cairo, these forces are unified in their aim to defeat the West, its way of life, its political forms and its cause of freedom. And every day, because of this clarity, their power and resources grow, as they attract allies outside the Islamic world: In Venezuela, in South Africa, in North Korea.

At the center of all this, of course, is Iran. A once-friendly state has embarked on an unflinching campaign, at considerable cost to its own economy, to attain the status of a global power: through the massive infusion of money, matériel, training and personnel to the anti-Western forces in Lebanon (Hezbollah), the Palestinian Authority (Hamas and Islamic Jihad), and the Sunni and Shi'ite insurgencies of Iraq; through its relentless pursuit of nuclear arms, long-range missiles and a space program; through its outsized armed forces and huge stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons; through its diplomatic initiatives around the world; and through its ideological battle against democracy, Zionism and the memory of the Holocaust. For the forces of Islamic extremism and political jihad, Iran has become the cutting edge of clarity.

Muddled thinking, by contrast, is the Order of the Day in Israel, the EU, and the United States...

The West, on the other hand, enjoys no such clarity. In America, Iraq has become the overriding concern, widely seen as a Vietnam-style "quagmire" claiming thousands of American lives with no clear way either to win or to lose. (As the bells of the 2006 congressional elections continue tolling in American ears, it is hard to hear the muezzins of the Middle East calling upon the faithful to capitalize on Western malaise.) Europeans continue to seek "diplomatic solutions" even as they contend with powerful and well-funded Islamists in their midst and their friends among the media and intellectual elites--forces that stir public opinion not against Iran and Syria, who seek their destruction, but against their natural allies, America and Israel.

Throughout the West we now hear increasingly that a nuclear Iran is something one has to "learn to live with," that Iraq needs an "exit strategy," and that the real key to peace lies not in victory but in brokering agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and "engaging" Syria and Iran. The Israelis, too, suffer from a lack of clarity: By separating the Palestinian question from the struggle with Hezbollah and Iran, and by shifting the debate back to territorial concession and prisoner exchange, Israelis incentivize aggression and terror, ignore the role Hamas plays in the broader conflict, and send conciliatory signals to the Syrians. Like the Americans with Iraq, Israelis have allowed themselves to lose sight of who their enemies are, how determined they are, and what will be required to defeat them.

At this point, one thing is eminently clear--Mr. Hazony knows exactly what he thinks, and never permits political correctness or pious sentiment to fuzz his message. We now skip past many lines of closely reasoned discourse, to the bottom line. Those who take up and read, and learn how he gets from here to there, will find the effort exceedingly rewarding.

Yet there can be no question that today, it is Iran that has earned the greatest admiration, given the global jihad its greatest source of hope and funds, and racked up the most impressive victories, taking on the West and its allies throughout the Middle East--and especially in Iraq, where its proxy insurgencies have frustrated American efforts and even brought about a shift in the internal politics of the United States. Iran is not the only foe, but it is the leader among them. It is only through Iran's defeat that the tide of the Second Cold War will be turned.

There you have it--clear, cold and bracing--like a shot of vodka taken in the classic Russian manner.

Contributed by 72nd TCS on April 5, 2007 at 12:22 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 31 March 2007

Boomer: "Iran: Operation Bite"
Contributed by Bill Faith

Boomer emails:

An interesting article which begs the answer to a question. Will this happen?

Better than a 50/50 chance, I'd say.

Iran just keeps pushing the line in the sand further and further, thereby forcing the U. S. to take action. If not to annihilate, then at least to cause a delay in Iran's plans. I'd also expect Israel to be involved. Their very survival depends on Iran being at least crippled. They stand to suffer horrible damage in any case, war or no war.

If I was Iran I'd not let my ships move too far from port. Maybe just leave them tied to the dock. Not that it would make them any safer from any smart weapons that could be used against them. Taking hostages was a mistake on their part. One that could inflict upon them one helluva big bite.

Basically, no matter what Lady Albright says, negotiation with that bunch of loony bins won't work. Didn't work with Saddam. The only thing that will stand a chance to work is F-O-R-C-E and lots of it. We got it.

May I go out on a limb and say something? I don't think we're going to see peace in our lifetime. The world is in it for the long haul. Sad to say.

Boomer

Operation Bite: April 6 sneak attack by US forces
against Iran planned, Russian military sources warn
By Webster G. Tarpley (http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1888.shtml)

Visit Online Journal for excellent articles. Webster G. Tarpley's Website.

Webster G. Tarpley is a journalist. Among other works, he has published an investigation on the manipulation of the Red Brigades by the Vatican’s P2 Suite and the assassination of Aldo Moro, a non-authorized biography of George H. Bush, and more recently an analysis of the methods used to perpetrate the September 11, 2001 attacks.

WASHINGTON DC, -- The long awaited US military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 am on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend, writes the well-known Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov in the Moscow weekly “Argumenty Nedeli.” Uglanov cites Russian military experts close to the Russian General Staff for his account.

The attack is slated to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 am until 4 pm local time. Friday is the sabbath in Iran. In the course of the attack, code named Operation Bite, about 20 targets are marked for bombing; the list includes uranium enrichment facilities, research centers, and laboratories.

The first reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant, where Russian engineers are working, is supposed to be spared from destruction. The US attack plan reportedly calls for the Iranian air defense system to be degraded, for numerous Iranian warships to be sunk in the Persian Gulf, and for the most important headquarters of the Iranian armed forces to be wiped out. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 31, 2007 at 04:52 PM in Boomer, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 22 February 2007

R J Del Vecchio: "Quid, me vexare?"
Contributed by Bill Faith

Email from Del:

Or as the MAD magazine character Alfred E. Neumann used to say, "What, me worry?".

Well, here's why I worry.

1- There have been in the past more than enough examples of crazy/nasty/megalomaniac leaders of nations and movements who did not hesitate to lie, cheat, manipulate, punish, destroy, and murder in pursuit of their own agenda for power, to the point of bringing horrific damage to not only all those they wanted to conquer or destroy, but also their own people. From Napoleon to Pol Pot, we do not lack knowledge of what such people can accomplish if left alone to build engines of destruction while descending into an egomaniac arrogance of invulnerability. Why would we believe none such can exist in the world of today or tomorrow?

2- We have only to glance at North Korea to see a true hellhole on earth, ruled by the present nutcase and his father before him for the past 60+ years, with a starving population but an army of brainwashed automatons champing at the bit to invade South Korea, and an apparent devotion to having nuclear weapons capacity. A government that has defied and manipulated the West for decades, extorting food and energy supplies by threats of violence, while conceding nothing of any meaning at all. What is there to indicate to the madmen at the top that anything can ever happen to really affect them negatively, when the West has acted largely as a supplicant and the worst that happens is the occasional UN embargo that doesn't cause that leadership to be deprived of so much as an after dinner mint?

(Continued "below the fold.")

3- Or we can examine Iran, the modern history of which started with the most blatantly illegal and illicit international outrage of modern times, a 444 day imprisonment of an entire diplomatic staff, for which there were no real negative consequences, but the enormous positive consequence of being the first "little nation" to successfully defy and indeed humiliate the USA. A nation under rule of what is the only real theocracy of modern times, dominated by fundamentalist Islamic thought that has concentrated on hatred of Israel, the USA, and the West in general for over a generation now. A government in power under a radical whose public pronouncements are so strongly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler that people who wish to do so, can dismiss him as a crazy clown (just as Hitler was dismissed by many in the late 1920s). A government which has exported massive amounts of weapons and supplies to radical jihadists in many parts of the Middle East, and very effectively fomented violence and expansion of radicalism in the region, and has yet to suffer the slightest penalty for so doing. A government that continues to defy the world in its drive to also obtain nuclear weapons capacity.

4- Underlying all this is the broad spread of Wahabism throughout the Islamic world, funded in large part by billions in Saudi oil money that has gone to build madrasa schools far and wide, where young boys are inculcated in religious extremism, where fiery preachers learn their trade and end up in mosques from Scotland to Skokie spreading the word that the caliphate must be restored, the infidels conquered or destroyed, and of course, Israel be utterly removed from existence. There are multiple currents in this overall stream of jihadism, the contributions of Hamas and Hezbollah, often allied with Iran, cannot be neglected either, and the incredible perversion of Islam that glorifies suicide attacks against innocents and has mothers rejoicing in their sons' deaths while acting as mass murderers is the most dramatic evidence possible of how a culture of death and destruction has been created and nurtured into significant proportions. And the tactics of terror have rendered mute the great bulk of the moderate communities of Islam across the world. 5- And who is left to counter the growth of these threats to world peace and stability? The UN, which could do nothing in Ruanda, failed in a feeble attempt in Somalia, can do nothing today in Darfur, could not even manage a very public and important program to allow Iraq under Saddam to export oil solely for food to feed his people? Like it or not, the US is the only six-foot-six guy in the room, everyone else is 5'6" or less, and when anyone thinks of heavy lifting to be done, all eyes turn to the red/white/blue. But at the same time, they want, and many of our own people want, us to be able to do things with transparent perfection, so no innocent is even made uncomfortable, much less hurt or killed, indeed, even fanatic killers by their own admission must be treated far better by us than our own convicts on Death Row, and infinitely better than they'd be treated by authorities in their own countries. The least transgression, real or alleged, by our troops is trumpeted as evidence of our utter moral failure and brings screaming condemnation from all sides, while a massive policy of atrocities by anyone else generates at most some expressions of regret. (Or even various levels of excuses as to why such acts are understandable, if not quite excusable.) All of this leads steadily towards inevitable impossibility of achieving any good in the world, and impels Americans back more and more towards feelings and concepts that harken back to the days of Isolationism. (Which didn't work then and sure as hell won't work now.)

6- So we see all these very worrisome things rolling along with no real brakes to be applied by the UN or anyone else. Here is the quote that I am only too sure applies now- "If history teaches us anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly." Today's self-delusion is that the West can walk away from Iraq and let it collapse into complete bloody chaos, and it'll all work out somehow. And just a decade or two from now people will be taking great vacations there, greeted by warm and friendly locals, just as we can today in Viet Nam.

But Iraq is NOT Viet Nam, and rising Islamic extremism is not weak and failing Soviet communism. No, there is no "Green Army" of divisions of men, with tanks, planes, ships, large military bases, etc, threatening to invade like the Panzers into Poland in '39. That doesn't mean there's no real threat in the long term. Iran and North Korea are threats as well. In terms of the world today and these dangers, a very simple principle applies- You can pay now, or you can pay later. And later, the costs will be much, much higher.

I don't have a perfect, easy answer, nobody does. But abandoning Iraq, and continuing to tolerate rogue states that openly threaten the peace and continue to work at gaining nuclear weapons with which to bully and endanger the world are absolutely the wrong answers.

Del

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 22, 2007 at 05:08 PM in Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, NoKo, R J Del Vecchio | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 13 February 2007

The Victory Caucus
Contributed by Bill Faith

From Blackfive:

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."
- Sir Winston Churchill

For a long time have we thought and argued here about how to define victory and how to get the politicians to take a stand for victory. I've been in some discussions with others with the same thoughts and we think that there is demand for a gathering place to talk about winning the war and only winning the war, dedicated to identifying and supporting candidates who are serious about winning the war, and devoted to serious exchanges about the war. As a member of the Board of Governors (including Hugh Hewitt, Dean Barnett, Austin Bay, Frank Gaffney and Ed Morrisey), I am proud to announce the formation of:
The Victory Caucus
"Not a Dime for Defeat, No Matter How Disguised"
We need your help. NZ Bear of the Truth Laid Bear has posted our first message about where you come in: ...

Read the whole thing.

***

Michelle helps spread the word here.

Jules Crittenden links here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 13, 2007 at 12:39 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 26 January 2007

Getting a little more serious with Iran
Contributed by Bill Faith

WaPo: U.S. declares war on Iran in
Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Palestine
Allahpundit

Page A01. I’ll do my best with the blockquote, but you’re crazy if you don’t read the whole thing.
The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran’s influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort…

The new “kill or capture” program was authorized by President Bush in a meeting of his most senior advisers last fall, along with other measures meant to curtail Iranian influence from Kabul to Beirut and, ultimately, to shake Iran’s commitment to its nuclear efforts…

Continue reading "Getting a little more serious with Iran"

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 26, 2007 at 04:06 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 21 January 2007

Jules Crittenden: President follows war precedent
Contributed by Bill Faith

The Next Holocaust Will be Different
Jules Crittenden

Truly great essay by Benny Morris in the Jerusalem Post.
The second holocaust will not be like the first. The Nazis, of course, industrialized mass murder. But still, the perpetrators had one-on-one contact with the victims. They may have dehumanized them over months and years of appalling debasement and in their minds, before the actual killing. But, still, they were in eye and ear contact, sometimes in tactile contact, with their victims. ...

The second holocaust will be quite different. One bright morning, in five or 10 years, perhaps during a regional crisis, perhaps out of the blue, a day or a year or five years after Iran’s acquisition of the Bomb, the mullahs in Qom will convene in secret session, under a portrait of the steely-eyed Ayatollah Khomeini, and give President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, by then in his second or third term, the go-ahead.
Something for Congress to consider as it contemplates childish partisan games. My Sunday column, elaborates on issues raised in a couple of this week’s posts, crossposted from the Boston Herald: ...

I'm still optimistic personally that George Bush will do what's necessary to keep the above scenario from becoming reality. Jules apparently is too, judging from his column:

President follows war precedent
Jules Crittenden

As Congress prepares its attempt to hamstring a president in a time of war, there are certain issues of law and history the Democratic majority may want to consider.

Let’s start with the Constitution. Section 2, Clause 1: “The President shall be the commander in chief.”

Presidents have been challenged before on taking military action without explicit approval by Congress. Thus far, notably in 1850 and 1863, the Supreme Court has upheld their right to do so, particularly when the United States is under attack.

Congress is preparing a resolution to undercut the president’s plan to bring stability to Iraq. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has warned George Bush must seek congressional approval before attacking Iran.

That prospect is raised by Bush’s threat to interdict Iran’s support for Iraq’s Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents, and by the dispatch of a second aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf. Congress of course approved regime change and the invasion of Iraq, a venture now jeopardized by Iranian interference. Our hostilities with Iran date to the 1979 hostage crisis and continued through the Iranian-sponsored murder of 241 U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1983 to the Iranian-sponsored murder of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq today.

Iran now seeks to dominate the world’s richest oil-producing region with terrorism, nuclear weapons and the manipulation of puppet states. An overt declaration of war against Iran could be warranted. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 21, 2007 at 05:44 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 17 January 2007

Fierce criticism mounts as president’s support crumbles
Contributed by Bill Faith

People are tired of his belligerence and policy failures. He’s “strong on populist slogans but weak on achievement,” says one legislator who campaigned for him. Says another, he “keeps making empty promises to people in every city he goes.” His bungling’s already lost one election for his party; how many more will he lose for them by the time his term expires? ...

Read the whole thing, people. Seriously. (Sorta)

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 17, 2007 at 04:15 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 15 January 2007

Ahmadinejad kisser's wife files for divorce
Contributed by Bill Faith

[An item posted here in error has been moved to Bill's Bites.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 15, 2007 at 01:11 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 13 January 2007

They were right then, too, weren’t they?
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

How can it be that I, someone who gave six years of my life in service to my country, a year of that in ground combat in Southeast Asia, can be so completely, bafflingly, out of tune with my countrymen? How is it that so many of them can’t even begin to grasp the threat to their very existence that I and fellow veterans see awaiting them if they remain docile and compliant while a very dedicated and determined Islamic political/religious movement subverts and ultimately destroys all we hold dear? Like others who share my view of such a future, I feel the frustration of a Chicken Little, who knows for a fact, that the sky damned well is really falling, but so what? No one cares as long as it doesn’t land on them today.

Ah, the fools, those silly, weak-willed fools. I can only imagine that many of them are perhaps the very same who gave up their lunch money to the school-yard bullies, who swallowed their personal cowardice behind the shared rationale with others like them that it is better to avoid an immediate, possibly painful, confrontation than to stand up for themselves and what is right, the self-same weaklings who in their college years, hid behind the skirts of a phony, traitorous, peace movement to avoid the possibility of personal physical injury and pain in the Vietnam War.

In their craven youth, these appeasing American citizens set themselves upon a life-long path of yielding to avoid the threat of personal harm or even discomfort. Just as with the schoolyard bully, it is the immediate avoidance of injury and hurt that concerns them. No thought is given to the future when a strengthened, unchallenged bully may decide to do them real harm, because now, emboldened by their meek acquiescence, he knows he can do it and get away with it. No, it is only the coward’s sanctuary of the moment that concerns them; they have been faced down by the bully, and as they slink away in their moral disgrace, they foolishly and irrationally comfort themselves with the thought that perhaps this will be the last time, that perhaps the bully will go away, find another, even more suppliant victim.

Like Europe, hmmm?

One frequent mantra of the Left, that political set that embodies all that I have described above, is, “For the children.” I envision Bill Clinton biting a hole completely through his mendacious, quivering, lower lip when he stands before the media cameras to mourn the tens or even hundreds of thousands of American children whose lives have been snuffed out in the bright, momentary flashes of multiple, smuggled nuclear devices, detonated simultaneously in several major American cities by Islamic bullies emboldened by the lack of resolve of Clinton and his ilk to stand up to them in the schoolyards of Yemen, Tanzania, Nairobi, and Mogadishu. Of course, the bullies are even further encouraged by a vicious American media endlessly, mindlessly and relentlessly attacking those few Americans who would stand up and fight. Through such ongoing, unrelenting capitulation by far too many Americans, Islamic bullies like Ahmadinejad and Osama bin Laden have come to know the truth: far too many Americans truly are paper tigers led by lip-biting, paper politicians.

This is all like some horrible national nightmare where those of us who see the threat and are willing to fight the bullies, have our arms pinioned by the very friends and fellow citizens we seek to defend. Convinced by their own convenient cowardice that resistance is futile, they seek to prove the merit of their weakness by holding back those of us who will stand and fight. In our mutual destruction they will be able to take comfort from the fact that they were right all along, just as were those who shared this philosophy of appeasement in 1940’s Europe, “It is useless to resist.”

Yeah, they were right then, too, weren’t they?

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on January 13, 2007 at 11:38 AM in Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 10 January 2007

On Reflection
Contributed by Bill Faith

Jules Crittenden emails:

"Iran. We are speaking to you... Do you hear us?"

It is important to speak to people in a language that they understand.

... From out of my own state, the shameless Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has called Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam."

The towering irony that it is Kennedy and his ilk, U.S. Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass, among them, who seek to create a Vietnam in Iraq apparently is lost on them. ...

Continue reading "On Reflection"

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 10, 2007 at 03:40 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 09 January 2007

Impeach who?
Contributed by Bill Faith

Iranian reformist lawmakers
move to impeach Ahmadinejad
Allahpundit

An unpopular president suspected of religious fanaticism, whose bellicose foreign policy has alienated the international community, now facing a groundswell of dissent and calls for his impeachment.

It’s nice finally to be able to enjoy this scenario. Thanks to Wes R. for the tip.
Iranian reformist lawmakers have started collecting signatures in Parliament to demand the impeachment of the country’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So far, 38 signatures have been collected out of the 72 required to formally summon Ahmadinejad and request his impeachment…

Referring to a resolution of the UN Security Council unanimously approved on 23 December which imposes sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme, the MP said “it is the last straw which has made Iranians loose their patience.”…

Issa Saharkhiz, [reformist] editor and political analyst, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that “Ahmadinejad’s golden era is over.” ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 9, 2007 at 12:01 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Peacenik Stupidity | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Monday, 08 January 2007

Not Saddam's roommate yet (but he still has a reservation)
Contributed by Bill Faith

Bummer.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 8, 2007 at 11:22 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 07 January 2007

Israel not planning nuclear strike on Iran?
Contributed by Bill Faith

See previous: Making the Mullahs' Wishes come True?, "Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran"

Oy, vey! And I went to sleep on such a high!

Israel Denies Claims It's Preparing Nuke Attack on Iran

Israel's Foreign Ministry is denying a British newspaper report that claims Jerusalem has drafted plans for a low-level nuclear strike on Iran to wipe out its uranium enrichment facilities using nuclear-tipped "bunker busters." ...

Bummer. I'll update my longer post here if/as I learn more.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 7, 2007 at 01:42 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Saturday, 06 January 2007

Making the Mullahs' Wishes come True?
Contributed by George Mellinger

I did not want to know this. At least not now. Not yet. But I desperately want this to be true. Good things should be kept as surprises. And of course you can always count on a reporter to spoil the fun. But now that everyone else knows, you might as well read it too.

ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.

Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources.

The rest is here.

For the longest time I've been insisting that if Amadinnerjacket wants a nuke we should just give him a few. Is somebody finally paying attention? Of course its not an American.

The Emperor Misha I has a thing about buying Pizza for the Israeli Defense Forces every time they snuff a terrorist. Wonder what he'll do if they pull off this deed? It'd deserve something more'n pizza.

Mazel tov!

-Rurik

Contributed by George Mellinger on January 6, 2007 at 07:09 PM in George Mellinger, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, 04 January 2007

Saddam gets a roommate
Contributed by Bill Faith

Iranian Dies Natural Death
Confederate Yankee

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has apparently succumbed to cancer. It is the first natural death reported in Iran this year. ...

I'll probably be updating my post here as the day wears on but I won't update this one.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 4, 2007 at 03:02 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

'OK, so now can we bomb their asses? --- Update 2
Contributed by Bill Faith

I'm too tired to copy it all to this site but do go read my post here and follow the links. I know the Ledeen paper has some big words in it but maybe W. can have someone read it to him. Maybe they can read him the paper I linked to here while they're at it. What is it going to take for this country to start fighting back?

***

I've updated my original post several times. If you haven't read it in the last couple of hours you might want to read it again.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 4, 2007 at 01:26 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Friday, 29 December 2006

Breath of the Beast - a New Blog
Contributed by George Mellinger

Let Old War Dogs be among the first to welcome Breath of the Beast to the blogosphere. His first post was only yesterday. True, one post does not a blog make, but Yaacov writes well

We always get a warning that is clear and unequivocal when evil is stalking us. It is up to us to notice. Warnings are all too easy to dismiss. It is a grave responsibility to pay heed to real warnings. It seems so much easier to convince yourself that the warning is not for you, or that the danger is remote and small.

When Hitler, for example, wrote Mein Kampf, in 1925. He left no doubt as to his intentions. The world dismissed the book as the ravings of a mad man. When he got his opportunity to reach power ten years later, much of the world was surprised that he actually did what he said he would. If they had believed him in the first place and acted on that knowledge with resolution and intelligence millions of lives could have been saved.

The good news is that all you have to do is pay attention, believe what you see and hear and have the strength not to deny it. Evil will almost always inform you of its presence and intentions. I was given a very personal warning twenty-five years ago by a particularly profound form of evil. That evil presence has grown and prospered in the world since then. It has grown and become powerful and menacing and yet, even today, in spite of incontrovertible evidence of its existence many people find it altogether too easy to deny.

It clear that he is a friend, and he seems to be off to a promising start. Let's watch this guy and see what elsle he does. He may become someone significant. Mazel tov!

-Rurik

Contributed by George Mellinger on December 29, 2006 at 04:22 PM in Current Affairs, George Mellinger, Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 26 December 2006

OK, so now can we bomb their asses?
Contributed by Bill Faith

Dear Santa,

I was a good boy all day. I didn't say anything mean or nasty about anyone! Aren't you proud of me?

-- Billy

What's that? I'm supposed to be nice all year? Like hell I will! We're at war, damn it! No more mister nice guy. I'm ready to bomb their asses back to the stone age:

U.S. Is Holding [Iranian Military Personel] Seized in Raids in Iraq

The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington. . . .

Gordon D. Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. The two had papers showing that they were accredited to work in Iraq, and he said they were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued, and he said, “We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees.” ...

Bomb bomb bomb.
Bomb bomb Iran.
Bomb bomb bomb.
Bomb bomb Iran.
Bomb I-ra-a-an. ...

Continue reading "OK, so now can we bomb their asses?"

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 26, 2006 at 12:01 AM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Thursday, 21 December 2006

Teherani Johnni
Contributed by Russ Vaughn

The gift that keeps on giving,
That’s what John Kerry is;
As long as that fool’s living,
He’ll keep us blogs in biz.
Big John’s too dumb to ever get
His big foot from his mouth;
So at ease, relax, you Swiftvets,
His campaign’s headed south.

He began his long tradition,
While still wearing Navy blue,
Of practicing sedition,
Against vets like me, like you.
As a second john in Paris,
He courted Madame Binh,
Who hooked her nail in his naris,
And sent her songbird home to sing.

And now he’s right back to it,
Lurching into media light;
Again he says he’ll do it,
So damn sure he is right.
He’ll go see Imawhackjob,
To plan how we’ll surrender,
Another stab us in the back job,
The only plan Big John can render.

They’ll fete him sure in Teheran,
Perhaps with parades and floats,
A happy, winning, waving John,
So far from those Swift boats.
His treason will put a big smile
On the face of many a Teherani,
So proud of Imawhackjob’s guile,
In creating Teherani Johnni.

Russ Vaughn

Contributed by Russ Vaughn on December 21, 2006 at 12:18 AM in Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Jean Fraud Kerry, Russ Vaughn | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 19 December 2006

Video: Zucker compares James Baker to Neville Chamberlain
Contributed by Bill Faith

It's on nearly every center-to-right site on the web already but it's a can't miss and you absolutely have to see it. If you haven't yet, watch it here. (Bandwidth warning: Dial-up users may not want to click that link.)

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 19, 2006 at 07:15 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 18 December 2006

Mahmoud Invades Mecca?
Contributed by John Werntz

As if Bush & Co. didn't have enough headaches, President Ahmadinejad of Iran threatens to bring on a real migraine. In yesterday's New York Post, Amir Taheri reports on a scheme to disrupt this year's Hajj, or pilgrimage to the holy sites of Mecca. So far, this latest Mahmoud caper has attracted little attention. A print file, more compact and easier to read than the web page, can be found here. The continuation below has five brief paragraphs as a teaser, but the column deserves to be read as a whole.

Briefly, the article deals with a plan to overwhelm the pilgrimage crowd with Iranians, including military and intelligence people, as well as a rent-a-mob of Persian thugs, and some thousands of Hezbollah fanatics. The plan has ominous echoes of 1987 when Iranian miltants, whipped into a frenzy by Khomeini's rhetoric, rioted around the Kaaba. Hundreds of deaths ensued.

There is every indication that Mahmoud is serious. Mr. Taheri writes--

On Friday, a leading cleric with close ties with Ahmadinejad fired what sounded like the first shots in the coming clash with Saudi Arabia over the Hajj. Addressing the Friday prayer congregation in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami warned the Saudi authorities against any attempt at preventing the Iranian pilgrims from "venting their anger at the Crusaders and the Zionists."

An upcoming violent and exceedingly provocative outbreak of internecine enmity among Muslims should be greeted with grins of Schadenfreude by red-blooded Americans, right? Maybe yes, maybe not. It all depends on whether crazy Mahmoud succeeds in his aim of becoming the acknowledged world leader of Islamofascism. He has already spoken openly of the "clash of civilizations," an inadmissible thought that sends shivers up the spine of every prominent Westerner-- whether leader, pundit, or just plain poobah. Anything that furthers that aim has got to be bad news.

Continued...

Here is the lead-in to Amir Taheri's column. [The usual RTWT is implicit.]--

IMPERIALIST IRAN

By AMIR TAHERI

December 17, 2006 -- MILLIONS of Muslim pilgrims from all over the world begin trekking to Mecca for the annual Hajj ceremony next month - and officials in Saudi Arabia, where the "holy" city is located, are on tenterhooks. They fear that Iran's ultra-radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will turn the Hajj into a political demonstration in support of his agenda for a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and what he calls "The Zionist-Crusader camp" led by the United States.

"We know that a lot of agitation is going on," a senior Saudi official claims. "Iranians have been recruiting radicals to send to Mecca from all over the world, including the United States."

The Islamic Republic itself is expected to send 200,000 pilgrims, representing almost 10 percent of the total. Saudi officials claim that some 5 percent of the Iranian pilgrims have always been identified as members of the Islamic Revolutionary Corps and the Islamic Republic's various intelligence services. This year, however, the profiles of Iranian applicants for pilgrimage visas indicate that more than 20 percent may belong to the military or security services.

To these must be added professional street-fighters from the various branches of the pan-Islamic Hezbollah movement, which Iran created in the 1980s as a way to "export" Khomeinism to other Muslim countries. The movement's best-known branch, the Lebanese Hezbollah, has announced it will sending over 3,000 pilgrims this year - all paid for by Iran.

With so many men with military and security backgrounds in Mecca, the mullahs leading the Iranian pilgrims would be in a position to seize control of the space around the black stone of the Ka'aba (The Cube) and use it as a venue for political demonstrations

Contributed by John Werntz on December 18, 2006 at 01:26 AM in Current Affairs, Iran, John "72nd TCS" Werntz | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 14 December 2006

"Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold..." (Updated)
Contributed by Bill Faith

I try not to do a lot of "pure linking" on this site; that's the main reason Bill's Bites exists. I think in this case I'm justified for two reasons:

I feel pretty sure a majority of the OWD pack will agree with the "exit strategy" prescribed in the post I link to.

The site I'm linking to is read by enough seriously influential people that I expect the article to kick off discussions in some important circles and I want OWD's readers to be aware of it.

Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold...
John Hinderaker

Most of our readers know the story of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain at Gettysburg. Ordered to hold Little Round Top at all costs, Chamberlain's 20th Maine fended off one attack after another. Finally, Chamberlain's men were nearly out of ammunition and it was clear they would not be able to withstand another assault. Prudence counseled retreat, but Chamberlain's orders forbade it. The Maine regiment could neither fall back nor stay where it was, so Chamberlain took the only course open to him: he told his men to fix bayonets and prepare to charge.

It strikes me that you, President Bush, are in a similar situation in Iraq. You know (if many liberals do not) that retreat is out of the question. Yet the status quo is untenable. Support for your administration's policy is evaporating. Iraq is being pacified too slowly if at all, and minor tinkering around the edges--a few more men, some more training of Iraqis--won't make much difference. You need a decisive stroke. You need to tip the table over. You need to attack.

Here is how you can do it. In late November, U.S. military sources revealed that they had found irrefutable evidence that Iran is arming the militias who are killing American soldiers: ...

Read the whole thing, for it is excellent.

*** 2006.12.15

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 14, 2006 at 08:29 PM in Bill Faith, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 06 December 2006

A "Modest Proposal" I can back all the way (Updated)
Contributed by Bill Faith

Yeah, Bill's linking again. The author's an ex-Seal with balls enough to suggest even stronger action than I have yet. If he has balls enough to say it I have balls enough to agree. Who's with me? -- Shane, it looks like you probably are. Who else?

A Modest Proposal From the Froggy Study Group
Matthew "Froggy" Heidt

There is no way to sugarcoat the situation in Iraq except to say that what the American people THINK is happening there does not reflect the reality of what is actually occurring. Perception is reality in this case and if the war is perceived to have been lost here where the decisions are made, then like Vietnam, the successes and progress we have made so far don’t count for much. I am not interested in global opinion, elite media spin, or the inane advice of another blue ribbon panel. The US military is f#cking owed its opportunity to finish what it was ordered to start. Nothing else matters, because as Charlie Rangel says, nobody in this country has any connection to the military anyway so why should they care if we want the job done right?

Here’s my strategy for… well, whatever. President Bush has a very narrow timeframe to pursue the victory that he still claims to want in Iraq. He is outta here in two years and nobody but nobody who gets elected President will have a mandate for anything other than total withdrawal from Iraq. In other words, act now, while supplies last. The best chance that the Iraqi military will be able to take over control of its territory is if that territory has been purged of terrorists and militias. I say that we begin that purge… in earnest. The Iraqi Army is not ready for that kind of intense and complex operation so let’s just allow them to sit back in reserve while we commence the bombardment of areas like Sadr City and Ramadi and other areas where undesirables are concentrated. I’m not talking a Fallujah style takedown either-I’m talking a Dresden/Tokyo style deal. Surround the city/neighborhood, tell the military age males who don’t want any trouble to depart the city to the west, the rest to the east, wait a week, and bu-bye. Linebacker III

What will this accomplish? First of all, these kind of definitive tactics when used against a Sunni (Ramadi) town and a Shia (Sadr City) town will have a profound psychological impact on non-al Qaida enemy elements in Iraq. Having threatened and delivered on this threat a total annihilation of two key anti-government strongholds, the next town that we start encircling will start seeing things the way we do and begin to address their own problem children. ...

*** 2006.12.08

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