March 12, 2004

Spanish protestors gather for a silent march through Zaragoza on March 12, 2004.
Millions protest over Spain bombs

[Dig the Al-Reuters headline: makes it sounds as if the bombs acted on their power. Typical apologists for terrorists!]

Millions of grieving Spaniards have poured into the streets crying "cowards" and "killers" as Basque separatist group ETA denied responsibility for the Madrid bombings that killed nearly 200 people.

As darkness fell, two million in Madrid alone joined a mass protest, whistling, banging drums, carrying black crosses or candles, and waving placards saying "No More Killing".

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and EU President Romano Prodi joined Spanish leaders and royal family members at the head of the march on Friday in a huge show of unity a day after the bombs ripped through four packed commuter trains.
[...]
A six-and-a-half-month-old baby girl died in hospital on Friday, the latest death from what Spanish media have dubbed "Our September 11".
[...]
Many analysts say any proven ETA involvement in the bombings would likely benefit the ruling Popular Party (PP) in Sunday's general election because of its tough anti-ETA stance.

But they said that if the killings were the work of Muslim militants, it could be viewed as the price for Aznar's backing of the U.S.-led war in Iraq in the face of strong domestic Spanish opposition.
[This is rubbish! Spain was attacked for all the right reasons--to attack their Western, liberal, and free way-of-life, because they took the Right, right side in the War on Terrorism, because they waged the Reconquista to throw out the Muslims successfully in 1492, and even because Spain (with Gibraltar) commands a strategic spot at the entrance to the Mediterranean, as a nice toe-hold on Western Europe and across from the African continent.--Jen]
[...]
Victims of the Madrid bombs included 24 nationals of 11 other countries. Authorities identified 10 of the countries as Peru, Honduras, Poland, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guinea Bissau, France, Morocco and Colombia.
[...]
At Aznar's residence, a silent vigil was broken by an official shouting: "Send the terrorists to the firing squad."

As a loyal member of the EU, Spain has had to embrace a ban on the death penalty; I think we may very well see Spain break ranks with their EUroweenie "brother" nations because they jolly well will execute the men who've committed this mass murder!

Witnesses spoke of their horror at the carnage -- including mobile phones ringing on dead bodies.

This was the detail that unnerved and upset many people when they read it, including yours truly.
How much sadder can Life get?

Fuelling suspicions of a possible al Qaeda link, Spain has found a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic at a town near Madrid.
[...]
Thursday's death toll was the biggest in a guerrilla attack in Europe since December 1988 when a bomb exploded on board a Pan American Boeing 747, bringing it down on the Scottish town of Lockerbie. In all, 270 people were killed.

Got that? Yesterday's bombings and the Lockerbie slaughter were both "guerrilla attacks."
So says Rooters--bast*rds!
What did you see on the faces of Madrilenos yesterday? Sorrow, yes. Shock, yes. And TERROR.
That is terrorism; the essence of terrorism is the horrifying and senseless murder of innocents for political purposes.
I frankly have no idea what constitutes a "guerrilla attack" much less what a guerrilla is, either, except someone like Cuban Marxist Ché Guevara.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Spanish today again.
May the Lord be with them at their time of sorrow and loss.
Viva Espana!
Shame, Espana for electing Zapatero the Terrorist Appeaser!

Iran Freezes U.N. Nuclear Inspections

Iran abruptly froze further U.N. inspections of its nuclear program for six weeks on Friday, throwing into turmoil international attempts to verify Tehran's claims that it is developing atomic power and not weapons.

The move was dismissed as unimportant by Iranian representatives. But diplomats familiar with the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency described it as a potentially insurmountable obstacle to the agency's efforts to deliver a judgment by June on the nature Tehran's past and present nuclear ambitions.

One diplomat described the freeze until the end of April as counterproductive to Iran's stated aim of dispelling suspicions about more than two decades of secret nuclear activities that included uranium enrichment and other activities that can be used to make weapons.

"If they really have nothing to hide, it is further against their interests" to raise questions about why they are placing their nuclear activities off limits to outside inspections, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat said that the move may indicate fear that inspectors will find new incriminating evidence. It could also be an attempt to show "political muscle" at the ongoing meeting of the IAEA board of governors, which is debating how harshly to censure Iran for its spotty record of revealing past nuclear secrets, the diplomat added.

The United States insists Iran tried to make nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. A U.S.official said the freeze on inspections "is going to hurt Iran's chances" of proving the Americans wrong, adding, "if they take a step like this, they certainly look guilty."
[I quite agree.--Jen]

He said the move had alarmed IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who had planned to put the results of his inspectors' new findings into a report by the end of
May for the next meeting of the 35-nation board in June.

Iran "is certainly being pressured by ElBaradei and members of the board to take their measure back," the official told the AP.

An IAEA spokeswoman declined to comment. But the diplomat said the freeze on inspections would likely block the agency's ongoing investigation of the origins of weapons-grade uranium traces that Iran claims was inadvertently imported on equipment it bought for low-grade enrichment as a fuel for power generation.

It would also likely stymie the probe into the scope of advanced nuclear enrichment equipment that Iran admitted only recently - and only after the equipment was found by inspectors, said the diplomat.

The inspectors were to have been in Iran next week as part of the U.N. agency's examination of Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, Pirooz Hosseini, told The Associated Press that the inspections would be postponed because they conflicted with next week's celebration of the Iranian New Year.

Asked why the celebrations - which end well before the end of April - were not taken into account when the invitations were first issued, Hosseini said officials made "a simple mistake."

Iran, which insists its nuclear intentions are peaceful, has threatened repeatedly over the past few days to reduce cooperation with the U.N. agency if its 35-nation board of governors comes down hard on the Islamic republic.

On Thursday, the nonaligned bloc at the board of governors watered down a draft resolution backed by the United States, Canada, Australia and European countries. The Western group then rejected the draft as being too gentle on Iran.

The deadlock left Australian, Canadian and Irish diplomats shuttling between U.S. and nonaligned representatives trying to bridge the differences. A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that U.S. patience was wearing thin.
[Oh, yes! Bet on it.--J.T.]

Another diplomat said the United States and the Europeans considered the nonaligned modifications unacceptable because they did not sufficiently criticize Iran's record on nuclear openness.

Recent discoveries by IAEA inspectors of undeclared items and programs have cast doubt on Tehran's assertions it has no more nuclear secrets.

An IAEA report last month accused Tehran of hiding evidence of nuclear experiments and noted the discovery of traces of radioactive polonium, which can be used in nuclear weapons.

The report also expressed concern about the discovery of a previously undisclosed advanced P-2 centrifuge system for enriching uranium.

Iran asserts its now-suspended enrichment plans are geared only toward generating power.

But on Wednesday, Iran announced plans to resume enrichment, eliciting a negative response from ElBaradei, who said it would hurt Tehran's chances of proving it has no interest in nuclear weapons.

This is an extremely bad development, although not unexpected for those of us who've been paying attention or who are only too familiar with the perfidious mullahs since they ass-umed power in 1979.
Good thing President Bush did this just yesterday:
Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran.
This won't go away by thinking "happy thoughts."
Look for President Bush to go back to the UN and its Security Council for another "High Noon" encounter very soon.
There's a war on and a mini-battle to see which member of the Axis of Evil will have to be taken care of next: Iran or North Korea.

Thousands Protest S. Korea Impeachment

Thousands of angry South Koreans held candlelight vigils across the country to protest the historic impeachment of their president on Friday. An interim head of state known as "Mr. Stability" took control, pledging to keep foreign and economic policies on an even keel.

Oh, brother!
I think that this is so stupid of this nation that it borders on being a moron-a-thon!
The last thing South Korea needs is a power vacuum, but they apparently know best.
Let's hope that Kim Jung-Il doesn't think it's a good thing, too.
Here's to our US military who are guarding that border with North Korea: stay vigilant, stay strong and stay alive!
We love you and appreciate you being there, even if the South Koreans are too addled and silly to do so.

ETA denies role in Madrid bombings - Basque media

Al Qaeda Claims Credit for Madrid Blasts
So who did it?
Which terror group perpetrated yesterday's slaughter of the innocent (which the Lying Liberal Left media started calling a "tragedy" no later than 2:00 PM Thursday).
Some say ETA, some say Al Queda or one of its affiliates.
What if's neither and both?
I think it very possible that in the same way that we've formed a Coalition with our nation-friends Britain, Spain, Poland, Australia and Japan to fight the killers, the terrorists have formed their own "coalition" of evil, sponsored by nation-states like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Korea (maybe Malaysia, too) and consisting of members of ETA, Al Queda, the IRA, FARC, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban, Jemayah Ismalaya, Lashkar e-Tabai, etc to form a new terrorist army of "crack attack" troops, to share funds, technology (like bombmaking), tactics and training grounds and to strategize and execute attacks on a global scale.
The thought is frightening, yet makes sense for them.
The Enemy is a many-headed hydra, but I think that most of us instinctively knew that.
All we have to do is keep cutting off those heads, but as my motto here says," We can do it!"
Never forget--9/11, Bali, the Intifada, 3/11/2004.

March 11, 2004

Inside Europe: Iberian Notes
We're all Spaniards today.
I send my prayers and condolences to those who lost loved ones in the bombings and I want my Spanish friends to know that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them in this crisis and this would be the case no matter what, but Spain has certainly stood by President Bush and the United States since 9/11 in fighting the War on Terror.
This is clearly Spain's 9/11.
We can't bring back the ones who lost their lives today, but we can all work to see that this never happens again anywhere in the world.

173 People Killed in Madrid Explosions

Powerful explosions rocked three Madrid train stations Thursday just three days before Spain's general elections, killing 131 rush-hour commuters and wounding more than 400 in what officials called the deadliest attack ever by the Basque separatist group ETA.

"This is a massacre," government spokesman Eduardo Zaplana said.

In the first attack of the year blamed on ETA, bombs exploded around 7:30 a.m. local time in a commuter train arriving at Atocha station, a bustling hub for subway, commuter and long-distance trains in Spain's capital.

Blasts also rocked trains or platforms at two stations on a commuter line leading to Atocha. The government said there were four blasts altogether.

People in tears streamed away from the station as rescue workers carried bodies covered in sheets of gold fabric. People with bloodied faces sat on curbs, using cellphones to tell loved ones they were alive. Hospitals appealed for blood donations. Buses had to be pressed into service as ambulances.

The attacks traumatized Spain on the eve of Sunday's general election.

The campaign was largely dominated by separatist tensions in regions like the Basque country, with both the ruling conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists ruling out talks with ETA.

But the Socialists came in for withering criticism because a politician linked to the Socialist-run government in the Catalonia region, which also has separatist sentiment, admitted meeting with ETA members in France in January. The Socialists were lambasted as allegedly undermining Spain's fight against ETA.
[...]

"There was one carriage totally blown apart. People were scattered all over the platforms. I saw legs and arms. I won't forget this ever. I've seen horror."
[...]
"People started to scream and run, some bumping into each other and as we ran there was another explosion. I saw people with blood pouring from them, people on the ground," Fernandez said.

At least 131 people were killed and more than 400 were injured, said Pedro Calvo, the Madrid regional government's security affairs chief.

There was no claim of responsibility, but officials immediately blamed ETA. The toll would make Thursday the deadliest day ever in decades of attacks by ETA. Until now, the highest death toll was 21 killed in a supermarket blast in Barcelona in 1987.

Until Thursday, ETA had been blamed for more than 800 deaths in its decades-old campaign to carve an independent Basque homeland out of territory straddling northern Spain and southwest France.
[Sound familiar? Just like "Palestine," Kashmir and Chechnya.--Jen]

Spanish officials had said ETA was against the ropes following the arrest last year of more than 150 members or collaborators in Spain and France, including the leaders of ETA's commando network. Last year ETA killed three people, compared to 23 in 2000 and 15 in 2001.

TA often phones in warnings before detonating bombs, but this time it did not, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said. The bombs went off at the peak of the morning rush hour. No arrests were reported.

"Those responsible for this tragedy will be arrested and they will pay very dearly for it," Acebes said at Atocha.

The government convened anti-ETA rallies nationwide for Friday evening.

"What a horror," said the Basque regional president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who insisted ETA does not represent the Basque people. "When ETA attacks, the Basque heart breaks into a thousand pieces," he said in the Basque capital Vitoria.

"This is one of those days that you don't want to live through," said opposition Socialist party spokesman Jesus Caldera. "ETA must be defeated," referring to the group as "those terrorists, those animals."

In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the attacks terrorist atrocities and a "disgusting assault on the very principle of European democracy."

Straw said that Britain stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Spain and was ready to send any kind of material help needed.

Elsewhere, European Parliament President Pat Cox said the bomb attacks amounted to "a declaration of war on democracy."

"No more bombs, no more dead," Cox said in Spanish before a hushed legislature in Strasbourg, France. "It is an outrageous, unjustified and unjustifiable attack on the Spanish people and Spanish democracy."

I've run out of words to express my psychic shock and horror at this kind of attack since our 9/11 and the Intifada in Israel.
I promise you, Al Queda was involved with this to the max-- numerous links and evidence of cooperation between Al Queda and ETA have been found long before today.
In addition, Spain has made itself a target for being our strong and visible ally in the WOT.
Further, Osama (and his Islamofascist killers) has said on more than one occasion that the radical Muslims want Spain back, so that they can restore the glory days of Islam as they dreamed it was before they were expelled by the Spanish in 1492.
Espana, I am so dreadfully sorry it came to your country this way, but bienvenidos to the Global War on (Islamist) Terrorism.
God rest the souls of the dead and may He heal those who have been wounded.

UPDATE: John is blogging the news from Barcelona at his fine blog Iberian Notes.
Check there for the latest news.

March 10, 2004

Iran Will Resume Uranium Enrichment

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that his country would resume uranium enrichment once its problems with the International Atomic Energy Agency are resolved, and warned European partners it could end nuclear cooperation if they fail to support Tehran.
[Greeeeeaaaaat. Now the mullahs are channeling Kim Jung-Il with the threats. Just what we need.--Jen]

"It's our legitimate right to enrich uranium," Kamal Kharrazi told reporters after a Cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran.

"We suspended uranium enrichment voluntarily and temporarily. Later, when our relations with the IAEA returns to normal, we will definitely resume (uranium) enrichment," Kharrazi said.

Undeclared uranium enrichment by Iran was one of the reasons behind an IAEA probe of Iran's nuclear facilities. The IAEA is holding a meeting on Iran in Vienna, at which the United States had insisted that Iran be declared in breach of its international agreements, including uranium enrichment and plutonium processing. US officials say those activities point to a nuclear weapons agenda.

The key meeting of the UN atomic agency moved closer to agreement Wednesday after the United States and key European powers agreed to praise Tehran's increased openness about its nuclear programs but criticize it for continuing to hide some suspicious activities.

In the draft, United States compromised with Britain, France and Germany to tone down criticism of Iran's continued nuclear secrecy and give some praise of Tehran's willingness to open its programs to outside perusal.

Kharrazi also warned that Iran could end nuclear cooperation, and called on its European partners to resist US pressure at the Vienna meeting.
[...]
He [Kharrazi] warned that Iran would stop cooperating with the three nations if they fail to support Iran.
[...]
The United States insists Iran wants to make nuclear weapons and wanted the meeting to condemn it for not fully living up to pledges to reveal all past and present nuclear activities. But the Europeans wanted to focus on Iranian cooperation with the IAEA that began only after the discovery last year that Tehran had plans to enrich uranium and secretly conducted other tests with possible weapons applications over nearly two decades.
[And then there's their helpful Islamic brother A.Q. Khan with his nuclear Walmart in Pakistan.--Jen]

An enrichment program would be necessary for producing nuclear weapons, which Iran repeatedly has said is not its intent. Low enriched uranium is used as a fuel for electricity generating in nuclear power plants.

I think we all know that Iran doesn't lack for "fuel for electricity generating" without nuke plants...so that's their first lie!
I'm guessing that President Bush is letting Tony Blair have his head on this one, as he did when he backed Tone's drive to get a UN resolution passed before there was military action in Iraq, but I hope that it's only for a short time until this EUro-weasel effort inevitably fails.
It's clear to me that Iran is making nukes and isn't even trying very hard to hide it nor are they ceasing their nuclear activities, if they ever did.
For the EUroweenies' part, I smell Jacque Chirac and Dominique de VILEPin's perfidious, anti-American taint all over this "accord" with Iran which shouldn't shock us now either.
Guess those 2 Froggies want our boycott of France and things French to go on indefinitely.
Freedom fries, anyone?
I think the Iranian people would like to Super Size that order!

March 09, 2004

Achille Lauro Hijacker Abbas Dies

Mohammed Abul Abbas, the Palestinian mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro passenger ship in which an American tourist was killed, has died in U.S. custody in Iraq, Palestinian and U.S. officials said Tuesday. He was 56.

Abbas' small Palestine Liberation Front commandeered the Italian cruise ship, demanded the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and threw an elderly wheelchair-bound Jewish American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, overboard after shooting him.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that Abbas died Monday, "apparently ... of natural causes." He said there would be an autopsy.
[...]
Abbas was captured in southern Baghdad by U.S. forces in a raid in April, and lived the last 11 months of his life in American custody.

Abbas's death was initially announced by officials in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office here.
[...]
When Abbas was captured last spring, the Palestinian Authority demanded his release, saying the United States had pledged not to prosecute him as part of a blanket agreement not to press charges against Palestinians who acted against Israel before interim peace accords were signed in the 1990s.
[We're talking the Oslo Accords here, I assume, and of course, the U.S. and Israel have held up their part of the bargain, while the Paleos most definitely have not. Yet still they behave as if nothing's wrong with holding us to the letter of the "law." What hypocrites, liars and killers.--Jen]
[...]
After Klinghoffer was killed, the other passengers were released after a two-day ordeal and the commandos surrendered to Egyptian authorities, who put them on a flight to PLO headquarters in Tunisia.

U.S. Navy fighters forced the flight down in Sicily.
[I must insert a cheer for our Navy here! Yea!--Jen]
The Italians, to the Americans' dismay, allowed Abbas to flee to Yugoslavia before a U.S. warrant for piracy and hostage-taking could be served.

Abbas disappeared, and international manhunts and a price on his head failed to flush him out. He next turned up in Gaza after granted amnesty by the Israelis.

While out of the limelight for the past decade, Abbas is believed to have continued plying the terror trade from Iraq until his April capture.

Israeli intelligence officials say the PLF faction under Abbas was a conduit for Saddam Hussein's payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
[And yet the Left keeps telling us that Saddam's Iraq had no ties to other Islamist terrorism...--J.T.]

Israel reported earlier this year that it captured several Palestinians who trained at a PLF camp in Iraq and were told by Abbas to attack an Israeli airport and other targets.

Abbas was born in 1948 in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria after his family fled from their home in Tira, near Haifa, when the state of Israel was created.

He attended Damascus University and graduated with a degree in Arab literature. He also became involved in student politics and in 1967 joined George Habash's Marxist/ Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

He fought as a guerrilla, as often against rival Palestinian factions as the Israelis. But Abbas and others felt that group was focusing too much on political philosophy rather than armed struggle.

Tell Satan to throw some more wood on the barbie 'cause Abu's coming down!
What a horrible man--check out his picture if you want to see someone who has dead "shark" eyes.
I'm certain that our military didn't torture or abuse him while he was in custody, which is a real shame, because his death from natural causes was much kinder than poor Leon Klinghoffer's and better than he deserved, but because he didn't meet death through the "glorious martyrdom" of blowing himself up while killing Jews, he won't get those 72 virgins (or is it raisins?) after all.

Democrat voter participation lowest ever

Voter participation in the front-loaded Democratic primaries that helped turn John Kerry into the party's presumptive nominee was among the lowest ever, according to a study released Tuesday.

An estimated 10.3 million people in 19 states and the District of Columbia cast votes in Democratic primaries through March 2, constituting just 11.4 percent of the electorate, said the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.

Every time Chris Matthews covered one of the Dim primaries on BSDNC (MSNBC to them) he'd just about wet his pants with excitement over "record voter turnouts."
Looks like the reality is quite different.
This is what the American electorate does--even the hard core Democrats-- when the candidates have nothing but hatred (for Bush) and revenge (for "Florida 2000") as a platform.
Once you get past the Bush-hate, the Lib Dims have no plans or proposals for anything else the voters are really concerned about, like our national security, or how to handle international terrorism and the spread of WMDs around the globe.

Civil Rights Group Seeks Kerry Apology

The head of a civil rights and legal services advocacy group wants Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to apologize for saying he wouldn't be upset if he could be known as the second black president.

"John Kerry is not a black man - he is a privileged white man who has no idea what it is in this country to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man," said Paula Diane Harris, founder of the Andrew Young National Center for Social Change.

Last week, Kerry told the American Urban Radio Network: "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second."

How hilarious!
Kerry just can't catch a break with his "homies!"
Nor does he deserve one.

Harris also criticized civil rights leaders who "sit back and ignore these types of comments, a practice that further insults African Americans."

"It seems that all these leaders care about is their personal agendas in how a 'John Kerry' will keep up their personal causes," she said.

I never figured out why some African-Americans embraced the concept of Clintoon being the first "black" President, because if he personifies the black race that's not a good thing for anybody.
Good for this lady and for telling it like it is!
Maybe some black people will notice that President Bush has done a lot more to advance the rights and full participation in American life of people of all skin colors and perhaps more than a few will leave the Dimocrat voting "plantation" in the next election.
All things being equal, though, Kerry's campaign is a disaster, but then so is he, so don't color me surprised, just laughing at what a putz he is...Hee-hee-hee!

March 08, 2004

Iraq Cleric Drops Opposition to Charter

Iraq's most powerful cleric signaled to Shiite leaders that he won't object to an interim constitution, clearing the way for the charter to be signed Monday without changes.
[...]
Shiite politicians, who days earlier had refused to sign the constitution because of al-Sistani's opposition to certain clauses, said after talks with the cleric Sunday that they would sign the document unchanged.

Hours later, at least seven rockets exploded in central Baghdad, five of them hitting the al-Rasheed Hotel which houses members of the U.S.-led coalition. At least one person was injured, the U.S. military said.
[...]

Even if the charter is signed, the fallout from the political crisis remains. The squabble exacerbated sectarian tensions and reinforced fears of Shiite domination by the Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities, politicians and observers said. Shiite politicians say they are motivated by a genuine concern to build Iraq's democracy on a sound basis.
[Let's hope they mean it!--Jen]

"To say that the Shiite religious leadership is now meddling in politics is to understate the case," said senior politician Naseer Kamel al-Chaderchi, a Sunni Arab on Iraq's Governing Council. "The majority must not be allowed to usurp the rights of others."
[Amen, Mr. al-Chaderchi! And I'm no Sunni! What Iraq needs is more of a constitutional republic like the U.S.A. and less of a pure democracy by mob majority rule!]
[...]
"You've got people in Iraq who have never experienced democracy, and they're wrestling with some of the big issues of democracy. Democracy's not just about majority rule - it is about protecting minority rights," Bremer said.
[Jerry Bremer is just awesome, isn't he? What wisdom and patience he possesses!]

The adoption of an interim constitution is a key step in the U.S.-backed plan to hand power to the Iraqis on June 30, a date that the Bush administration is keen to keep during an election year in the United States.

Sources closely involved in the constitutional process said the fight over the constitution has poisoned relations between members of the main blocs on the U.S.-appointed council - whose 25 members are 13 Shiites, five Kurds, five Sunni Arabs, a Christian and an ethnic Turk - and eroded the goodwill between them.

"There is a strong feeling there now that the Shiites are pursuing policies aimed solely at protecting their own interests," said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
[Duh.
I wouldn't trust these Shi'ites farther than I could throw them. I worry that they're picking their battles and engaging in magical thinking--which would be so typical. They think that when we hand over "sovreignity" on June 30th, that the Coalition's occupation will end and then they can take over (I think.).
They are in for some unhappy surprises!]
The disputed clause in the interim charter gives Kurds and Sunni Arabs - who together make up 30 to 40 percent of Iraq's 25 million people - the voting power to veto a permanent constitution.

[...]
The Shiites, as well as the Kurds, were brutally oppressed during Saddam Hussein's 23-year rule. His removal gave the Shiites hope that they can translate their favorable demographics into political power. The Kurds, Washington's closest Iraqi allies, saw Saddam's ouster as a chance to enshrine their 13-year-old autonomy in Kurdish regions in the north.

Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow and hope for the best!
However, at some point in time, it's going to be High Noon in Iraq for Bremer and al-Sistani.
And as with Mad Max and Thunderdome, 2 men go in, but only one can emerge victorious and my money's on Paul "Jerry" Bremer.
He'd better win and he has to, because if he doesn't, the gains and sacrifices of Operation Iraqi Freedom will have been for naught.

Tomorrow (Monday), we also have the Muslim-led IAEA dealing with feckless Iran, too:
UN weighs Iran's nuclear project

he UN watchdog is set to consider Iran's controversial nuclear programme in the light of a critical report.

The International Atomic Energy Agency may table a resolution noting its findings that Iran failed to declare activities possibly linked to weapons.

Iran has insisted its programme is purely peaceful and has asked the UN to halt its monitoring.

The US has called for pressure to be maintained on Iran, which it says does not need to develop nuclear power.
[Not when they're sitting on one of the largest deposits of oil in the world they don't and are an IslamoFascist state driven by violent jihad against all non-Shi'ite Muslims!--Jen]
[...]

The IAEA report on Iran, details of which were revealed last month, notes that Iran failed to reveal sensitive research involving advanced centrifuges which could be used in the production of bomb-grade material.

The BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna says diplomats are unlikely to send Iran's case to the United Nations Security Council but they are considering a draft resolution noting the discovery of the omissions.
[I wouldn't bet on it. This issue is going to come before the UNSC whether the BBC or Bethany Bell want it to or not because President Bush and British PM Tony Blair both know that Iranian nukes are a huge problem and that Iran is the next gathering storm on the horizon.--J.T.]
[...]

A senior Iranian official urged the IAEA on Sunday to close its files on the country's nuclear programme and accept that it is a peaceful project.

Hassan Rowhani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the international community must recognise Iran as a civilian nuclear power.

He said Iran had an inalienable right to continue its nuclear programme which had been shown to be peaceful.
[This must be one of those "inalienable rights" that escaped Thomas Jefferson because it's in the Koran and not the Bible. Ya think?]

"That means Iran be recognised as a country having the nuclear fuel cycle, and enriching uranium," Mr Rowhani said.
[...]
US Undersecretary of State John Bolton said last week that America was "absolutely determined not to reduce the pressure on Iran".

"We think the Iranians are still trying to conceal a clandestine weapons programme and that's why the Iranians remain a great concern to the United States," he said while in Lisbon, Portugal.

However, European states led by Germany, France and the UK have favoured a more conciliatory approach to Iran, pointing to the complicated political situation within the Islamic republic.

Pardon me, but what would that "complicated political situation" be to which the EUro-weenie triumverate refer?
Could it be the supposed "reformist" government of Khatami that was just brought to an ignominious end?
Tony Blair is being made a fool of by Chirac and Schroeder for going along with this farce (as usual).
If Tony's on board with President Bush and really meant what he said the other day about the mortal danger of rogue régimes combined with WMDs, then he needs to confront the Iranians about this perfidy along with us!
If left alone, Iran will have nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach Europe by the end of this decade, if not sooner!
So it's going to be time for Tony to pee or get off the WOT pot, as it were.
Ditto for Mohammed El-Baradei, who's been running interference for his IslamoNuclear pals, the mullahs!
(The excitement and plain nuttiness of the world is killing me!
Combined with the insane hate and relentless lies and psychotic rage from the Dimocrat Left here at home, I'll probably croak from the stress long before this November!)

March 07, 2004

Saudi clerics forbid Muslims to watch US Arabic channel

Clerics in Saudi Arabia are venting their anger at a new United States-funded television channel for Arab viewers, saying it was founded to fight Islam and Muslims are religiously forbidden to watch it.

Sheikh Ibrahim al-Khudairi, a cleric and judge in Riyadh, and Sheikh Mansour bin Ahmed al-Hussein, another government-appointed cleric in the Saudi capital, both slammed Al-Hurra. They said no one should work for the station, watch it or support it with advertising.

During his Friday sermon before thousands of worshippers, Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, prayer leader of the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, said that Western satellite channels directed at Arab viewers were part of a 'war of ideas' against the Muslim world.
[That's right, Abdul, and our ideas are way better than your ideas!--Jen]

Al-Hurra, or The Free One, made its broadcast debut on Feb 14 with footage of windows being opened, symbolising freedom, and comments by US President George W. Bush praising Iraq's determination for democracy.

Al-Hurra is the latest US government effort to reach out to Arabs.

The others include the Arabic-language Radio Sawa, also overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors that runs Al-Hurra, and hi, a slick Arabic-English cultural and lifestyle magazine for youth.

In a written fatwa, or religious edict, Sheikh al-Khudairi said last week that Muslims were religiously forbidden to watch the station or have anything to do with it.

The channel was 'founded by America to fight Islam, and to propagate massive decay to Americanise the world', said the edict.
[...]
The channel will cost US taxpayers about US$62 million (S$107 million) in its first year, and US officials have said they hope to air balanced programming to counter what they say is anti-American 'hateful propaganda' in the Muslim world.
[We've got to have something to stand up to Al-Jazeera, Al-Reuters and the Baghdad Broacasting Company!--J.T.]

Sheikh al-Khudairi's edict was not endorsed by the Commission of Senior Clerics, which includes the Grand Mufti of the kingdom, meaning that it does not carry a government approval.
[Uh-huh. Are they sure? These clerics are appointed by the Sauds, but their fatwas aren't "guv'mint approved?" I'm not buying it.]

Satellite stations that claim to speak in the name of freedom and independence are sowing the seeds of doubt' about Islamic principles[Precisely!--Jen], the official Saudi Press Agency quoted Sheikh al-Sudais as saying.

Sheikh al-Hussein, who teaches Islamic law at a school in Riyadh, said there was a consensus among the religious authorities that Al-Hurra was founded with the sole aim of 'weakening the Islamic nation and sowing divisions between Muslim nations'.

What frauds these Saudi Wahhab sheiks are! As if they don't preach against Shi'ites and Shi'ite nations like Iran along with Christians, Jews, Americans and Zionists as "enemies" of the true Wahhab Sunni Muslim faith!
I'm delighted to know that my tax dollars are going to this fine TV broadcasting!
The issuance of this fatwa says 2 things to me: first, if this religious prohibition has the effect that so many others have, Middle Easterners will just be prompted to watch Al-Hurrah more (human nature, don't you know, about having to do something that is taboo).
Second, there obviously are Muslims watching the new channel or their clerics wouldn't have felt the need to issue such a fatwa!
Hurray!
Let Freedom Ring in the Middle East, oh Al-Hurrah!

15 Palestinians killed in IDF Gaza raid

Fifteen Palestinians were killed, among them two children, in an IDF raid on the El-Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday morning. More than 80 Palestinians were wounded in the operation, which began late Saturday night, and which was aimed at nabbing perpetrators of Kassam rocket attacks and bombings.

While Hamas and Islamic Jihad vowed to avenge the deaths, senior Palestinian Authority officials described the operation as a massacre, and called for international intervention.
[Don't they always? The Paleos are NEVER the aggressors and they don't "deserve" to be dealt the ultimate penalty for their murders of innocent Isrealis yada yada yada. I am so very tired of their murderous hypocrisy!--Jen]

In response, Lt.-Col. Ofir Winter of the Givati Brigade told The Jerusalem Post that the soldiers shot "without a doubt" at armed men only.

"They received instructions prior to the operation not to shoot at children," he said. "However, many of the gunmenhid behind hundreds of children and youths, who were called to participate in clashes with soldiers as we prepared to pull out."

Winter said the gunmen threw grenades and shot at soldiers from behind rows of children.
[We know only too well that the Islamist terrorists will use human shields and, of course, child human shields. They doing it in Iraq, too.--J.T.]

"We also saw two explosions within the crowd – possibly bombs that terrorists planned to use against us and that blew up prematurely," he said. "I believe that a number of the casualties stemmed from [those explosions]."

PA Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said on Gaza radio that "Israel talks in English about potential withdrawal, and orders its troops in Hebrew to invade Palestinian cities, towns, villages, and refugee camps – to kill as many Palestinian civilians as possible."

Late Saturday night, Givati forces, supported by armored and engineering units and two Apache helicopters, entered the area between the two camps and the settlement of Netzarim. Soldiers surrounded two buildings where they believed fugitives were hiding, Winter said.

"As soon as we were seen entering the area, Palestinians used loudspeakers to call on 'martyrs' to take to the streets and fight," he said.

Groups of Palestinians then began to shoot at the soldiers, firing RPGs and light weapons, Winter said. As the soldiers prepared to leave, roughly 1,000 Palestinian children and youths, Palestinian gunmen mingled among them, clashed with soldiers. At mid-morning, the troops pulled out of the area, Winter said.

Palestinians said two children and a teenager were among those killed.
[Needless to say, the Paleostinians always say that there were children killed in IDF raids. I'm not so sure they don't do these murders themselves, too.]

El-Bureij camp Mayor Kamal Baghdadi told reporters, "These 'Zio-Nazis' know only the language of bloodshed. MurderBeing murdered is an inherent characteristic of Zionism."
[Strike-out improvement mine.--Jen]

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, declared: "This is a terrorist massacre by the Israeli government. It shows the whole world that the Palestinians are subjected to the worst kind of terror by the Israeli government."

Hamas claimed in a statement that nine of the dead were Hamas members, including local commander Hassan Zahot, 44.

Also on Sunday, during a visit at the Erez crossing following Saturday's thwarted terrorist attacks, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon told reporters that he could not rule out the possibility that the recent escalation in terrorism is due to talk of a possible withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The Erez industrial site remained closed on Sunday and officials did not say when it would reopen, in light of the recent spate of attacks at the site.
"Everything that is happening here leads me to the conclusion that we care about employing the Palestinian families in Gaza more than the terrorist organizations do," Ya'alon told reporters.

The two PA policemen who were killed Saturday, when a Palestinian taxi exploded near their post as they prevented it from crossing to the Israeli side, were identified as Bashir Abu Omrein, 28, and Hussam Aliwah, also 28.
[May Allah--God--rest the souls of these PA policemen. They did the right thing and it cost them their lives.]

The four terrorists who were killed attempting to carry out the attack were identified as Hatem Tafesh and Amru Sayed of Fatah, Muhammad abu Diyeh of HamasIslamic Jihad.

Elsewhere, soldiers in the village of Anza, south of Jenin, blew up a bomb factory found early Sunday morning. Officers said troops found empty mortar shells, pipes, gunpowder, fertilizer used to manufacture explosives, and fuses stored inside the factory.

Check out the AP version of this story for some interesting details and observations:

[...]
Fourteen Palestinians were killed and 81 wounded in more than six hours of fighting on the edge of the Bureij refugee camp.

The battle pitted Palestinians armed with assault rifles, anti-tank missiles and grenade launchers against Israeli troops firing from helicopters, tanks and rooftop sniper positions. Children chased tanks, throwing stones.
[Where are the Paleostinians getting all these arms?!?
The IDF has raided and raided and raided...]
[...]
Palestinians said Israeli soldiers were trying to draw out militants in what appeared to be a new tactic.
[Mazeltov, IDF! Hope it works as well as this raid.]

Armed groups routinely exhort their members over mosque loudspeakers to confront approaching Israeli troops, despite vastly inferior weapons and considerable risk. [Oh, Boo-freaking-Hoo, AP. Are we supposed to feel sorry for them?] Sunday was no exception.

These mosque loudspeakers are a problem for us all over the Islamic world.
At least one of the Iraqi bloggers has complained that they are a constant source of unrest in Baghdad.
If we're going to tame the tiger that is (radical) Islam, we're going to have to find and implement a way for Muslims to be called to prayer and nothing else.
That is, if Islam is to survive this war as a valid religion.
It's up to the Muslims.

Sunday's fighting was part of a recent rise in violence that has been attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to withdraw from most, if not all, of Gaza and parts of the West Bank if there is no progress toward peace in coming months.

Each side seems to be positioning itself to claim a withdrawal as a victory - Israel by pounding the militants hard before a pullout, and the armed groups by stepping up attacks to create the impression they are chasing the Israelis out.
[...]
There are concerns that an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza could push the crowded, impoverished territory into chaos. Already, rival groups are vying for power, as the Palestinian Authority has lost much of its influence, and attacks on Palestinian officials are on the increase.

Here's a grim sign that that is precisely the case in the "Palestinian areas:"
Palestinian Authority to resume executions

In a further attempt to fight spreading anarchy in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, the PA has decided to resume executions of convicted murderers and "collaborators."
[...]
"There is a need for very serious measures to stop the chaos from spreading," said one official.

"Executions serve as an effective deterrence."
At least 10 Palestinians are on death row after being convicted of murder and collaboration with Israel. Under pressure from the international community and human rights organizations, the PA suspended executions in 2001.

Since then Arafat has refrained from approving death sentences issued by various PA courts.
[Arafish should have been an actor. What an Oscar-worthy performance of restraint to fool the EU!]

The decision to resume executions came after thousands of Palestinians attacked the central prison in Gaza City on Friday in an attempt to kidnap four taxi drivers suspected of raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl.

The protesters emerged from a number of mosques following Friday prayers and began marching toward the prison in the security compound known as Saraya. Hurling stones and empty bottles at the building, the demonstrators tried to storm the prison, but were repelled by policemen using live ammunition.
[...]
Raji Sourani, head of the PA's Higher Judicial Council, said the four would be tried before a special criminal court that will be established on Monday. He pointed out that the four, who are certain to be executed, were part of a dangerous gang that carried out a series of murders, rapes, and armed robberies in the Gaza Strip.
[Sounds like a charming place--not. No wonder the Israelis are eager to pull out of there!]

Meanwhile, tensions are mounting between Arafat and some senior PA officials. On Thursday night, members of PA Military Intelligence raided the homes of the bodyguards of Gen. Nasser Youssef, former minister of interior in the PA cabinet, and confiscated their weapons. The force also seized a jeep belonging to Youssef, who is out of the country.

The move follows a confrontation between Arafat and Youssef after the latter complained against the state of chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during a recent meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council in Ramallah. At the peak of the altercation, Arafat threw a microphone at Youssef, accusing him of being a spy for Israel and the US.

PA security sources said Arafat personally ordered Military Intelligence, which is headed by his nephew, Musa Arafat, to carry out the raid. The force also searched the home of Youssef's assistant, Maj. Farid Asaliyeh, and confiscated documents.

We all know that this will get worse before it gets better, but mainly for the "Palestian" terrorists and Arafat.
I pray God that Israel has already seen the worst.
Clearly, the security fence is a true God-send in every sense of the word; terror attacks on Jews in Israel have decreased significantly, the Paleostinian areas have been exposed as the nests of jihadi terror murder that they are and the IslamoNazis will now fight amongst themselves and kill each other over "fault," "blame" and sheer outrage that the whole "Palestinian" dream was written in lies, blood, poverty, human misery and death.

Gay Bishop Takes Over As Head of Diocese

With three mighty thumps on the church door Sunday, V. Gene Robinson knocked and was welcomed into St. Paul's sanctuary, where he officially became the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop.

How soulless and wrong.
This is such a desecration and an abomination that only damning language from the Book of Revelations comes to mind to condemn it.
God help the Episcopal Church because it can't help itself now.
Awful. Just awful.

RushLimbaugh.com Home

This is a photo of an actual lapel button for Roosevelt's 1944 re-election campaign.
IN YOUR FACE to all those whining Leftist Libs who think it's "offensive" and "inappropriate" for President Bush to include images from the 9/11 attacks in his re-election ads!
Hat tip to Rush Limbaugh and the MuseumofWorldWarII.com.