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Riyadh Delenda Est!

:: Friday, July 26, 2002 ::

On New York Times - Russia to Build a Second Nuclear Reactor for Iran

The Russian government voiced its right Friday to build a second nuclear power plant in Iran and engage in long-term nuclear cooperation with Tehran despite fierce US criticism of an existing project.

Some noted that Iran may have no intention of buying a second nuclear plant from Russia and read the announcement as a bid by Moscow to up the stakes and win new Western concessions for ending its nuclear relations with a nation identified as a member of an "axis of evil" by Washington.

I hope this is just a bargaining chip, otherwise, Dubya needs to have a chat with his ol' pal Vlad. More nuclear technology in Muslim hands is not a good thing.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:11:00 PM Link
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On New York Times - Legislation to Arm Pilots Gains Support in the Senate

WASHINGTON, July 25 — Senate opposition to arming airline pilots waned further today as two more lawmakers unexpectedly endorsed the idea and positions against it were all but absent at a hearing on aviation security. The only counterargument that the secretary of transportation could offer at the hearing was that the requisite training would cost money.

Senator Gordon H. Smith, of Oregon paraphrased one airline pilot's argument for arming airline pilots this way:

There are armed pilots already, but they're armed with F-15's and F-16's, and they have instructions to shoot us down if we can't keep control over our airplanes.

I think cockpit doors should be armored and kept locked at all times, but having an armed pilot as a next-to-last-ditch defense makes sense to me. I'd rather run the risk of an armed pilot trying to shoot down a hijacker than have an F-16 pilot shoot down the whole plane.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:02:00 PM Link
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On USA Today: Newswire - Bush slams rules in Homeland Security bill

WASHINGTON - President Bush sternly warned Congress on Friday against passing a bill that limits the powers of the head of a new Department of Homeland Security, giving the clearest indication yet that he would veto a Senate measure. Bush has indicated general support for the House version. "A time of war is the wrong time to weaken the president's ability to protect the American people," Bush told a White House audience that included governors, mayors, firefighters, police and lawmakers.

Looks like democrats are more interested in sucking up to the federal employees unions than they are in creating an efficient Homeland Security department. If Homeland Security hires someone who turns out to be a dork, they need the ability to get rid of him. And not after six months of due process hearings. It's outrageous. Congress needs to figure out that we are in a war, not a bridge game.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:03:00 PM Link
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What We Can Learn From Other Cultures

The study of other cultures can be a facinating subject. Every culture has things to teach us about life, and every culture has things to teach us about values. Every culture has its own viewpoint, its own way of looking at the world. For example, in Saudi Arabia, if a woman is in a burning building, and does not time or material to properly cover her head, she is expected to burn to death. In France, where Jews have been viciously attacked and synagogues burned, President Jacques Chirac recently announced in front of Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres that "There is no antisemitism and no antisemites in France." (See what I mean by different values?). One wonders what the French would call antisemitism? Kristallnacht II? Gas chambers? And what about those wild and crazy Palestinians? The latest thing in Palestinian baby fashion is the "suicide bomber look". And look at the UK, our mother country, where a man who kills a robber in self-defense may go to jail for life. Austraila has been having problems with Muslim rape gangs. Americans have much to learn from the rest of the world - how not to run a country. And, most of all, how fortunate we are to be Americans. And the rest of the world has much to learn from us, too. How to unite diverse peoples into one, great nation. How to protect personal freedom without collapsing into anarchy. How to produce truly virtuous men and women, people who will give their lives to save others, not kill them. Anyone can appear "virtuous" in a society where all vice is prohibited. The virtuous man is able choose good even when evil is easy. We currently face difficult times, but we have faced hard times before. Al-Qaida's thugs aren't fit to kiss the asses of the Japanese and German soldiers we defeated in World War II. Comparing our current economic problems to the Great Depression is like comparing a fart to a hurricane. I believe we have the courage and the strength of character to prevail in this war. And we have the greatest asset any nation can have, in time of war. A free people, united in a just cause. When free men go to war, tyrants die. From Sherman's March to the Sea, to Patton's breakout from Normandy, to Desert Storm, American armies have ground the forces of tyranny into paste, burned the paste, and pissed on the ashes. Osama, Saddam - enjoy your lives, make your peace with God. You will be meeting Him soon.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 2:57:00 AM Link
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Fool Us Once, Shame on You. Fool Us Twice, Shame on Us

On BBC Middle East - Deadline looms for Saudi gas deal

The future of a landmark $25bn gas deal between Saudi Arabia and eight western energy firm is hanging in the balance.

The deal represents the first major foreign investment in the Saudi energy sector since it was nationalized in 1975.

Granted, the oil business is a risky one. Most oil wells come up dry, in spite of oil companies' best efforts. But to throw more money into a country that has already stolen billions from you, is just plain nutso. Shareholders in the involved companies should call or write their management, and raise Hell. It's your money they're throwing away. Also, this investment will help the Saudis convert more of their country to natural gas, freeing up oil to be sold to pay for more terrorism. If the oil companies aren't bright enough to drop this deal, the government should block it, on national secucrity grounds. The firms involved are: Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, TotalFinaElf, Occidental, Philips, Conoco, and Marathon. Let them know what you think.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:28:00 AM Link
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Our Wonderful Allies - the French

On BBC World - French spy chief sacked

France's head of espionage is sacked, after reports that his service allowed illegal probes into President Chirac's finances.

Mr Chirac thought the agencies revived old rumours that a covert ransom was paid to Iran in 1988 for the release of five French hostages held by Lebanese militia groups, and that French politicians pocketed part of the cash, the paper said.

Apparantely, the DSGE was meddling in the recent French elections, trying to dig up dirt on Chirac. Bad French! Bad, bad, bad! Both for paying the ransom, and for pocketing part of it.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:56:00 AM Link
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On New York Times: International News - Embattled, Scrutinized, Powell Soldiers On

"A string of internal policy differences and defeats have set off speculation that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell might not last through President Bush's term."

More good news in the War on Terrorism. It would be better if he didn't last through the week. Secretary Powell's willingness to defend State Department's bureaucratic turf, at the expense of our nation's security is (or should be) infamous.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:34:00 AM Link
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On Arab News: Saudis still need sponsorship to visit Singapore

"RIYADH, 25 July ? Saudi businessmen and tourists intending to visit Singapore should still secure a sponsor in the Southeast Asian country, the country?s embassy here said. Singapore introduced the measure last October."We have not canceled the sponsor condition for Saudi visitors," Younus Ashraf, first secretary at the embassy told Arab News."

Does Singapore know something about the Saudis that State Department doesn't?
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:17:00 AM Link
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MEMRI has an interview with Salah Sh'hadeh, commander of the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, who was assassinated by Israel on July 23, 2002.

Seeking Martyrdom Shows Mental Health

Q: "How do you account for the stream of youths [coming] to join the ranks of perpetrators of martyrdom operations? And does this attest to [mental] health or to escape from the frustration and disappointment among the Palestinians?" Sh'hadeh: "The stream of youths [who seek to] attain martyrdom shows [mental] health and the awareness of Palestinian society, and is not a mistake or an escape from a situation of despair or frustration. Many people come to Jihad, and they are willing to lay down their souls - which is the most precious thing a man has. There is a vast difference between someone who sacrifices money or an offering and someone who sacrifices his soul for the sake of Allah to bring happiness to the nation, and to remove its torment and distress. Nevertheless, we cannot provide everyone with a martyrdom operation because the targets are limited and the enemy positions we want to reach are highly fortified. If some of the youths do not follow the military apparatus's instructions, and [set out on operations on their own] without being linked officially to this apparatus, this proves that the [entire] nation has become a nation of Jihad on the threshold of liberation, and that it rejects humiliation and submission."

Wanting to go out with a bang, as it were, is a sign of sanity? If so, let's hear it for lunacy. Seriously, this guy was some piece of work. The Israelis made the world a better place. Even at the cost of 14 "innocent" lives, this guy is someone the world can do without.

Costs and Prices of Martyrdom Acts

Q: "How much does a martyrdom operation cost?" Sh'hadeh: "The cost of an operation varies... Attack operations with automatic weapons cost the price of the weapon, which hold at least 250 rounds, and of the ammunition, and the price of about 10 hand grenades. But some of the operations cost much more and include transporting [the perpetrator]... buying a car, and bribing Jewish collaborators. There are operations that cost a great deal - between $3,500-$50,000, in accordance with the target."

Terrorism is expensive. Cut off the source of money, you shut down the terrorist groups. Who provides the money? Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are the main sources of terrorist funding. We need to cut off the flow of funds by taking down these regimes; the sooner, the better.

Obstacles Facing Hamas—Scarcity of Weapons and PLO's Political Confusion

Q: "What are the obstacles that the Al-Qassam Brigades face?" Sh'hadeh: "The most significant obstacles are the scarcity of good-quality weapons, such as anti-aircraft and long-range missiles. Another significant obstacle is the haze obscuring the political position of the National [Palestinian] Authority. This causes confusion in the military wing [because] it does not set a [clear] position regarding the military operations - that is, whether it is for them or against them. Is it an authority for national liberation, or an authority for autonomy? This matter confuses many Jihad fighters." "In addition, weapons prices have been raised by the bloodsucker arms dealers, so the price of an M-16 has reached $5,000, and each of its bullets now costs $1.50, and a Kalashnikov costs $2,000, and each of its bullets costs $4.00. The military apparatus has managed to meet the challenge of weapons scarcities by collecting donations from people who love supporting the path of Jihad for the sake of Allah. Similarly, the movement has succeeded in manufacturing some of the intermediate weaponry, thus reducing costs. The cost of a rocket [made by the movement] is less than 1% of its cost if we had to buy it."

Let's see: 1 AK-47 @ $2000, plus 250 rounds of ammo @ $4 = $3000 per terrorist, plus additional weapons (grenades, etc.) and equipment. That doesn't count training costs. And "bloodsucker arms dealers"? It's what bloodthirsty, murderous, terrorist bastards deserve. I'm sorry, but I just can't work up much sympathy for a guy like this. He was in violation of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which stipulates in Part 3, Article 28 that "the presence of a protected person [civilian] may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.". He was a mass murderer. He's explaining himself to Allah, and I don't think the big A will be amused. In short, this article sums up why we're right and they're wrong, and why we must win this war at any cost.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:33:00 PM Link
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N.Z. Bear has posted a hilarious article, A Blogger's Guide to Surviving Worldcom. I'm just quoting the first six steps, so go to his site to get the rest.

Step 1: Locate the nearest copy shop. KinkosTM preferable, but any with PC access will do. Step 2: Rent a PC and type your first post-Internet blog entry. Suggested topics include why it's all Bush's fault; why it's all the Democrats fault, and why it's all Robert Fisk's fault. Step 3: With your magic marker, draw the image of your (former) blog home page on your posterboard sheet. Step 4: Print out your first blog entry, and make about 100 photocopies. (Unless you're Glenn, in which case, make about 30,000). Step 5: Exit the copyshop, and select a well-trafficked nearby streetcorner. Step 6: Displaying your new home page posterboard prominently, begin handing out copies of your first blog entry to random passers-by. Shouting out your headline, town-crier style, is permissable but should be undertaken with caution. Headlines like this are OK, headlines like this are liable to draw unwelcome attention from the local constabulary. Do not be discouraged if few of your fellow citizens initially accept the gracious gift of your prose; remember, you are now on the cutting edge of the newest of new media, and pioneers must always face initial resistance. Endeavour to persevere!

Seriously, Worldcom isn't going dark, and neither is the net, but it is a little scary, and N.Z. has given us a little humor to help us laugh at our fears. Thanks, N.Z.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 7:38:00 PM Link
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Oubai Shahbandar, writing on WorldNetDaily, calls on Arab-Americans to reject the left.

The fact of the matter is that America is the last hope for humanity; indeed, it is, I believe, the only hope. So naturally, whenever the standard we-are-victims-because-we-are-[insert your ethnicity here]-so-we-wear-Che Guevara-T-shirts campus political movement rears its ugly head in my university, I can but wonder how well many of those suburbanite socialists would thrive in the Stalinist jails of our family's mother country.

We see so many Arabs trashing America, or at least whining about the mean old Justice Department picking on them, I thought you might enjoy an alternate Arab view of America.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 7:23:00 PM Link
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Joel Mowbray on TownHall.com has this article on Secretary of Appeasement Head-up-his-Colon Powell's disinformation campaign to keep visa issuance under Department of Appeasement control:

Powell's lobbying has badly distorted the truth, and in the rush to complete the Homeland Security bill in a matter of weeks, he has managed to pull the wool over the eyes of many very good Congressmen. About the only thing that might overcome Powell's deceptions is public pressure demanding that State lose its ability to hand out visas. Powell has been spreading a dangerous myth in his furious lobbying campaign: that the President's proposed structure would actually allow Homeland Security to have a real say-so in keeping terrorists from getting visas. The "compromise" that several Congressional committees have settled on would do little more than have Homeland Security issue memos from Washington, leaving "operational control" in the hands of State. Operational control is like possession: it's nine-tenths of the law. If State retains operational control, it would be able to implement--or not implement--regulations issued by Homeland Security in whatever fashion it chooses. The entrenched "courtesy culture" that continues to sacrifice border security at the altar of convenience for foreign visa applicants would thwart efforts by Homeland Security to keep out bad guys, just as it has done to such attempts by the Justice Department. To this day, 10 months after 9/11, State is still fighting proposals to deny visas to suspected terrorists.

We have got to get visa issuance away from Appeasement Dept. These folks either don't care, or don't have a freakin' clue. Contact your congressman and senators and let them know that State Department can't be trusted to adequately screen visa applicants.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:08:00 PM Link
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The Center for Defense Information has this peice on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq:.

On April 3, 1991, UN Security Council Resolution 687 (1991), Section C, declared that Iraq shall accept unconditionally, under international supervision, the "destruction, removal or rendering harmless" of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles with a range over 150 kilometers. On June 9, 1991, UNSCOM, the United Nations Special Commission, conducted its first chemical weapons inspection in Iraq in accordance with the approved and accepted Resolution 687. Since UN inspectors were ousted in late 1998, most intelligence analysts feel that WMD research and development has continued in Iraq. Richard Butler, UNSCOM chairman from 1992 though 1997, stresses that the full nature and scope of Saddam's current WMD programs cannot be known precisely because of the absence of inspections and monitoring. He surmises that it would be "foolish in the extreme" not to assume that Iraq is: developing a long-range missile capability; at work again on building nuclear weapons; and adding to the chemical and biological warfare weapons that were concealed during the UNSCOM inspection period.

The Bush Administration should demand immediate resmuption of inspections, with full and immediate access to any and all Iraqi facilities. If Iraq refuses (as it probably will), we should invade, occupy Iraq, and try Saddam Hussain for crimes against humanity. A secondary benefit of occupying Iraq is that the forces stationed there would be superbly placed to strike at any of our remaining enemies in the region. Iran to the northeast, Syria to the northwest, and Saudi Arabia to the southeast are all easy targets from bases in Iraq.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:57:00 PM Link
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Joel Mobray has an interesting article on National Review Online about State Department's Visa Express program. State Department, in a desperate attempt to keep Congress from stripping them of their visa issuance authority, fired Undersecretary for Consular Affairs Mary Ryan, and shut down the program. Mobray argues that Congress should move visa issuance to the new Homeland Security Department.

But the discussion about the quantity and quality of interviews does not speak to the need for Homeland Security to take over visa issuance as much as State's reckless handling of Visa Express, a program that let in three of the Sept. 11 terrorists in the three months it was in operation before 9/11. Rather than shutting down Visa Express the moment State knew that 15 of the 19 terrorists came here from Saudi Arabia, State only closed this open-door policy after intense criticism. The delay is why State cannot be trusted with the job of safeguarding our border security. Unlike, State, Homeland Security would view visa issuance as a law-enforcement function. Though there's no guarantee, the new department would likely treat applicants from countries that pose known terrorist threats, such as Saudi Arabia, with the scrutiny those applicants warrant. It's also a good bet that Homeland Security agents would be given the freedom by their superiors to ascertain more than someone's name during an interview.

Contact your congressman and senators and let them know that State Department can't be trusted to adequately screen visa applicants.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:43:00 PM Link
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Irfan Hussein, writing in Dawn, a major Pakistani Englisn-language paper has this to say about the state of the Muslim world:

Whenever Muslims look at their economic, political and cultural decline, they are prone to see the hidden hand of western imperialists and Zionist expansionists. This is easier than looking at our own failings when seeking answers. But recently, a group of Arab intellectuals have put their own world under an unsparing microscope and have raised some deeply troubling issues to explain why the Arab world is where it is. Many of the answers to these questions apply equally to Pakistan, so their findings contained in "Arab Human Development Report 2002", published recently by the United Nations Development Programme, deserves serious study by all those who would like to do something to change the status quo, rather than just whinge about it. Consider, for instance, the fact that the combined exports of the entire Arab world minus oil revenues are less than tiny Finland's. The combined GDP of the countries comprising the Arab League is 531 billion dollars or less than Spain's. Despite their oil wealth, Arab countries have not fared well economically: over the last two decades, income per capita has grown at 0.5 per cent per year. 12 million people, or 15 per cent of the working population, are unemployed.

This column illustrates one of my basic themes on this blog: that it is giga-petrodollors which make the Arab states dangerous. Separate them from their oil fields, and they can't afford to bankroll major terrorist groups.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:33:00 PM Link
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Steven Den Beste has an excellent post about the International Criminal Court.

It is the legal equivalent of what Feynman referred to as "Cargo Cult Science". The process takes the form of a law-making effort, and the resulting code will look like laws. There's even a court to enforce it. But on a deep and fundamental level, there's something radically important missing: consent of the governed. Which means it is no more law than Astrology is Science.

:: Riyadh Delenda Est 3:00:00 PM Link
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Dr. Weevil just posted an interesting call for Iran as next domino. I'd love to see the mad mullahs get their comeuppance from the people they've oppressed for the last 20-odd years, but I'd prefer to keep our efforts focused on Iraq short-term, and Saudi Arabia long-term. Consider that once you finish with Iraq, you have 300,000-400,000 troops poised to go east into Syria, west into Iran, or southeast into Saudi Arabia. Could you ask for a better example of what B. H. Liddell Hart called the indirect approach in warfare?
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:58:00 AM Link
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Glen Reynolds at InstaPundit put up this post. the following excerpt is just what Cato has in mind.

The solution to the terrorism issue is to cut off the snake's head -- which I think is in Saudi Arabia, not America. Everything else is just windowdressing and bureaucratic empire-building.

:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:07:00 AM Link
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The Middle East Media Research Institute has this transcript of an interview with Sheikh Dr. Safar Al-Hawali. Here's an interesting excerpt:

The Saudis believe that the glory of the [Islamic] nation appeared when our Prophet taught us the industry of death – when he taught us how to create death. Then life became cheap in our eyes… When one of the sons of our nation is killed, he says: 'I won,' and the master of the Ka'aba swears that he had won. This we see as the industry of death. We in Saudi society and in other Islamic societies have finally realized that this is the right path to tread in order to deal with today's deadly strategic weapons. If America has intercontinental missiles and bombs, then our bombs are the Jihad fighters, whom America has called 'suicide attackers' and we call 'martyrs.' We will develop them because we see them as a strategic weapon…

:: Riyadh Delenda Est 4:02:00 AM Link
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Fox News had the following story about Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani's call for Muslims to condemn terrorism and work with authorities.

"Those who are under the name of Islam and do an action of terror, they are not Muslim anymore," he said. "They are apostate in our religion. They went out of Islam when they killed innocent people."

Could it be that some Muslims are beginning to get it? If this view catches on among Muslims, it could save a lot of lives on all sides.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:12:00 AM Link
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