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:: Friday, August 09, 2002 ::

Rumsfeld Says Iraq's Weapons Show U.S. Policy Failing
Bloomberg.com : Top World News
Washington, Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. policy to contain Iraq hasn't worked because Iraqi President Saddam Hussein still has weapons of mass destruction. ... Rumsfeld's remarks are his strongest repudiation of the strategy of containing Iraq that the U.S. has pursued since the 1991 Persian Gulf War and are another sign that the Bush administration sees no alternative to war against Iraq. Armey Raises Caution Rumsfeld's comments on Iraq came in response to statements by Representative Dick Armey, the second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, who said Hussein's refusal to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq isn't sufficient reason to attack. "It is not enough reason to go in,'' Armey said yesterday while campaigning for another House candidate in Iowa. "He has a right to hold dominion within his own national boundaries,'' Armey said. "If we try to act against Saddam Hussein, as obnoxious as he is, without proper provocation, we will not have the support of other nation states.''
Rummy's right, Armey's wrong. When you know that an enemy is developing weapons that can destroy entire cities, it's just, plain, dumb to allow him to continue. You take him down as fast as you can, and as hard as you have to. As for the support of other states, that is a convenience, not a necessity.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:22:00 PM Link
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Our Friends the Saudis
Deroy Murdock on Saudi Arabia on National Review Online
Saudi Arabia aims to hijack Islam everywhere — from Medina to Manila to Manhattan's Islamic Cultural Center on East 96th Street — and infect it with that religion's virulent Wahhabi strain. The goal? An energized, anti-Semitic, anti-Western, anti-American faith. Through the charities, religious schools and mosques they finance, Saudi Arabia would employ Wahhabism to build a bridge to the eighth century.

America should confront the Saudi dictatorship. For starters, President Bush and Secretary Powell should stop glad-handing Saudi officials. Statecraft may require them to work with Riyadh, but there is no need for Crown Prince Abdullah to hobnob at Bush's Texas ranch.

Abundant global oil supplies also would diminish Saudi Arabia's relevance. Thus, Washington should help Russia and West African nations boost their petroleum production. Africa needs the money, and a prosperous, Westward-looking Russia would not likely re-aim its ballistic missiles at America.

Topple Saddam Hussein, if we must. But Rand's scholar is right. Team Bush should stop pretending that Saudi Arabia is Holland with sand dunes.

Toppling Saddam is worth doing, but the job isn't finished 'till the Saudis get done.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:32:00 PM Link
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:: Thursday, August 08, 2002 ::
What Muslims Think of Us
MEMRI just put up this story
Abu Hamza: The West Will Never Reach the Level of Islam; The Only Solution Is to Call on Them to Join Islam Q: "Do you consider yourself British?" Abu Hamza: "I consider myself British to the extent that I use my British documents to move around. If the question is whether I consider myself British because I agree with British policy, the answer is, of course, negative... I live here and I hold a passport. It is a superficial identity; real identity is in the heart and in the mind, and this is the [identity] that drives a man. This [identity] is Islam..."
It looks like he agrees with Cato.
Q: "But in Britain you are respected as a person." Abu Hamza: "And who said that we do not respect a person?! But must we respect a person even when he wants to be an animal?!...There is a difference between a man of intelligence and a man who is crazy or a pervert; [there is a difference between] a natural man and a criminal man... Must we respect someone who boasts of his bestiality? This is inconceivable. This is incompatible with Islamic religious law, or with reason."
Could he be talking about this?
Sheikh Omar Bakri: We Will Transform the West into An Islamic Regime by External or Cultural Invasion Q: "I listened to your lesson on the foundations of belief, and it seems that you are not interested in bringing students into British society - that is, you are not helping them to be British Muslims." Bakri: "In my method of education, I am opposed to the idea of integration. We do not believe that it is permitted to integrate into the societies in which we live. I am not a supporter of seclusion from society, and I am not a supporter of integration into it. I am a supporter of interaction with society, by means of my religion and my belief, in order to change the environment, not to be changed by it..." Q: "And where will this life of estrangement lead?" Bakri: "The life of estrangement will lead... to [a] change in the situation of the country in which we live, as the Muslims changed the situation in Abyssinia and Indonesia. Allah willing, we will transform the West into Dar Al-Islam [that is, a region under Islamic rule] by means of invasion from without. If an Islamic state arises and invades [the West] we will be its army and its soldiers from within. If not, [we will change the West] through ideological invasion from here, without war and killing."
Prominent Muslim leaders preaching this kind of trash talk is one reason I think we ought to round up every non-citizen Muslim and deport them. Anyone who is not a citizen in this country is a guest, and Muslims are wearing out their welcome.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 10:16:00 PM Link
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Israeli Army Strikes Again in West Bank and Gaza
The NY Times has this article.
In the West Bank, troops destroyed four homes — two belonging to suicide bombers, one to a man who supplied explosives for an attack and a fourth to a suspected bombing mastermind. On Wednesday, Israeli military forces pressed their offensive, killing at least six Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
Good for the Israelis! Every dollar the Saudis spend buying these terrorists new houses is a dollar which isn't spent on more bombs and guns. If we will just stand with the Israelis, eventually they will convince the Palestinians that violence is counterproductive. The Palestinian strategy is based on the premise that the world will not allow Israel to respond to terror attacks with comparable brutality. If there is ever to be peace in the region, the United States must convince the Palestinians that we will stand behind Israel, and that we will no longer restrain them in their retaliation.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 7:51:00 PM Link
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Mother of All Babbles - The Sequel
Edinburgh Evening News - Top Stories - Saddam: attackers will die in disgrace
PRESIDENT Saddam Hussein said today that anyone who attacked Iraq would die in “disgraceful failure”. Speaking on television on the anniversary of the end of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, Saddam made no direct mention of the US and Britain’s demand that United Nations arms inspectors be allowed to return. “The forces of evil will carry their coffins on their backs to die in disgraceful failure,” he said.
Yeah, right.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:51:00 PM Link
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Iranian attorney begins five-year prison term for speech on murders of dissidents
NJ.com: NewsFlash
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A lawyer convicted of divulging state secrets in speaking about the murders of Iranian dissidents by government agents began serving five years in prison Thursday, his attorney said. The 1998 killings embarrassed the government and highlighted the power struggle between liberals and conservatives opposed to the reform campaign of President Mohammad Khatami. Attorney Naser Zarafshan, 56, was arrested in December 2000 after giving a speech in the southern city of Shiraz about the slayings of four dissidents by members of Iran's intelligence service. He was found guilty in March on charges of divulging state secrets and of illegal possession of a firearm.
Given the Iranian regime's propensity to murder dissidents, I don't blame Zarafshan for carrying a gun. Seriously, time is running out for the mad mullahs, and they know it. They grow more desperate by the day. They are beefing up their security forces in Tehran following a series of violent protests.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:49:00 PM Link
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Found this on MEMRI - Former Libyan PM: Why Do Arabs Ignore Their Flaws
We ignore [the fact that] we are outside the circle of progressives in this era. We make an ongoing effort to hide this flaw, by boasting of our ability to consume the [West's] achievements, or by attributing these achievements to our 'spiritual' civilization - [while in fact] the legacy of [our civilization] is no greater than memories we compete amongst ourselves in talking about. We imagine ourselves to be superior to the culture of the West; in moments of modesty, we [merely] state that we refuse to learn from Western culture.
Al-Bakkoush is on to something, here. The question is, will his fellow Arabs heed his words, or will they continue down the same self-destructive path they've followed for the last 300-400 years?
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:54:00 AM Link
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ArabNews is reporting that US military brass back Bush
WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, 8 August — Iraqis braced for a US attack yesterday as America’s top military brass threw their unanimous support behind any use of military force to overthrow President Saddam Hussein. Saddam announced plans to address his nation today while US President George W. Bush said Baghdad posed "real threats" but that he would consult with Congress and allies on how to proceed. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney made clear no decision had been made to go to war to oust Saddam. But Cheney also said a return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq may not resolve concerns over Baghdad’s ability to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Good to see the military getting with the program. The Saudis aren't on board, but frankly, who needs 'em? I'd personally rather see a larger force than the 50,000-80,000 figure mentioned in the article, but it's probably sufficient, and we can move in extra troops when it's time to take out Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:19:00 AM Link
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:: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 ::
On NY Times - Bush and Cheney Signal U.S. Resolve to Act Over Iraq
Mr. Bush did not mention Iraq and Mr. Saddam by name, but there was no mistaking the meaning as he mentioned countries run by men "who poison their own people," as Mr. Saddam is believed to have done in poison-gas attacks against Iraqi Kurds. "These are real threats and we owe it to our children to deal with these threats," Mr. Bush said. "I promise you that I will be patient, and deliberate, that we will continue to consult with Congress, and of course we'll consult with our friends and allies. We'll discuss these threats in real terms."
Any government which uses poison gas on its own people has no legitimacy whatsoever. Such a regime is an outlaw nation, and has no moral standing to complain of any treatment it receives from anyone. The sooner we can put Saddam out of his people's misery, the better.

Another benefit of invading and occupying Iraq is that it would leave us in the position of having 300,000 - 400,000 troops poised to strike at any of our other enemies in the region. Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia - Syria would have us on one side, and the Israelis on the other. From Iraq, we could probably take Saudi Arabia with a phone call. The Iranian people would probably dump the mullahs the day after we hang Saddam.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:02:00 PM Link
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New web site - GoodbyeCynthia.com
The time has come for Georgia's greatest political embarrassment, Cynthia McKinney, to return to the private sector where she can no longer cast shame on our great state and nation. McKinney is a loose cannon. Her behavior since taking office, both in and out of the news, shows that she will say and do ANYTHING. She is without peer for making unsupportable claims and bringing dishonor to her constituents.
Almost anyone would be an improvement over Mckinney. I'd like to invite my readers to nominate some alternative candidates. Use the comments link, below to post your nominees. I'll start things off by nominating Bill the Cat, from the Bloom County cartoon strip. Bill has plenty of political experience, having previously been the Presidential nominee of the Meadow Party. I know that some people will object that Bill is dead, but death didn't keep Mel Carnahan from beating John Ashcroft for a Senate seat from Missouri. If Missouri can elect a dead governor to the Senate, the people of the Georga Fourth Congressional District can elect a dead cat.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:28:00 PM Link
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From the "Just When You Think Saddam Can't Get Any Lower Dept."
MEMRI research cited in the media
Iraqi Physician: Saddam's Orders to Cut Off the Ears of Defecting Soldiers and Officers Were Implemented in Iraqi Hospitals The daily newspaper Al-Hayat published an article by Dr. 'Adel 'Awadh, an Iraqi physician who worked in a hospital where the ears of military defectors were surgically removed at the orders of Saddam Hussein. Awadh fled Iraq to avoid performing such surgeries. The following are excerpts of his account:
"The problem started in 1994 when Saddam Hussein issued a presidential order to cut off the ear of any military person who failed to report for military service, or defected from the army. Unfortunately, I had just started my residency after graduating from medical school. I never imagined that an Iraqi physician would be forced to perform mutilating surgeries... But this is exactly what happened... the day came when Iraqi military physicians... were forced to cut off the ears of officers and soldiers..."
I don't know what else to say, except that the sooner this shit-eater is dead, the better.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:39:00 PM Link
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From the "How Dumb Can the US Government Get Dept."
US Funds Will Renovate School Named After Palestinian Terrorist US Funds Will Renovate School Named After Palestinian Terrorist
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Funds from the United States Agency for International Development are being used to renovate a Palestinian high school that was named after a terrorist blamed for the deaths of 37 people, including an American, in 1978. According to the Palestinian Media Watch, an independent Israeli media watchdog organization, an item in the Palestinian newspaper said that the Dalal Mughrabi Girls' High School in the Hebron area is to be renovated with funds from USAID. Dalal Mughrabi was the woman who participated in a bus hijacking in 1978, in which 36 Israelis and an American nature photographer, Gail Ruban , were killed.
Do the bureaucrats in Washington pay any attention to what they are being asked to approve?
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:25:00 PM Link
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Saw this on: NY Times: Top Fugitive Killed in West Bank Assault by Israelis
JERUSALEM, Aug. 7 — Israeli forces kept up their pursuit of terror suspects today, killing a top fugitive on the West Bank and arresting a second described as a local leader of Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade.
Another one bites the dust. Well done!
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:08:00 PM Link
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:: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 ::
Another Reason the Muslims Can't Possibly Win This War
sunspot.net has this article on Anh Duong and the team which developed the BLU-118/B thermobaric warhead bomb.
Destruction of the cave's mouth was frighteningly complete. The bomb had skipped through the entrance and erupted in a violent spray of jagged steel, blasting the walls and floor into dust. Where there was wood, suddenly just ash and vapor. Anh Duong was not impressed. Two months earlier, as American soldiers began the perilous mission of flushing terrorists from the caves of Afghanistan, she and her colleagues had promised to build a powerful new weapon to aid in the fight. Unlike typical bombs, which only blow open a cave's entrance, theirs would create a "thermobaric" blast that could billow through underground passageways, around corners, destroying and killing things deep inside.
Anh Duong is a living symbol of why the United States will win the war against Islamic terror. A Vietnamese immigrant, she and her family barely made it out of Vietnam when the Communists took over. After finishing school, She went to work for the Navy as a chemical engineer, developing rocket motors and gun propellants. She is currently program manager for explosives for the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

Developing a new bomb for the US military is a job that usually takes years to complete. Duong and her team developed the BLU-118/B bomb in just 60 days. Using off-the-shelf guidance units, fuzes and bomb casings, Duong and her team developed a revolutionary new explosive with a burn rate which prolongs the explosion, allowing it to reach further down a cave or tunnel.

A typical explosion might last a few microseconds and course a few hundred feet down a tunnel. But a thermobaric blast, fueled with aluminum and detonated in a confined space, can last several seconds, release seven times more energy and effect a "functional kill" thousands of feet away.
How many Muslim countries would make it possible for a refugee girl to go to college, become a chemical engineer and a manager of weapons development projects? Muslim countries don't extend that kind of opportunity to refugees in general, and they certainly wouldn't give a woman that kind of responsibility. They effectively throw away the intelligence of half of their population. Folks, nobody can afford to give the United States that kind of handicap.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:53:00 PM Link
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Steven Den Beste has an excellent article on strategy and tactics in war. If you don't read another article today, read this one.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:17:00 PM Link
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The The Washington Post has this article on a recent briefing at the Pentagon.
A briefing given last month to a top Pentagon advisory board described Saudi Arabia as an enemy of the United States, and recommended that U.S. officials give it an ultimatum to stop backing terrorism or face seizure of its oil fields and its financial assets invested in the United States.

"The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot-soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader," stated the explosive briefing. It was presented on July 10 to the Defense Policy Board, a group of prominent intellectuals and former senior officials that advises the Pentagon on defense policy.

"Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies," said the briefing prepared by Laurent Murawiec, a Rand Corp. analyst. A talking point attached to the last of 24 briefing slides went even further, describing Saudi Arabia as "the kernel of evil, the prime mover, the most dangerous opponent" in the Middle East.

This is what I've been talking about all along. The heart and soul of the Islamic terror problem are Saudi oil money and Wahabi lunacy. We're going to have to take them down sometime, why not do it now?
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:33:00 AM Link
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The Middle East Media Research Institute has this story on the Resignation of Ayatollah Jalal Al-Din Taheri
Ayatollah Jalal Al-Din Taheri, the Friday preacher of the city of Isfahan, recently announced his resignation from the post he had held for over three decades. He explained that his resignation was in protest of Iran's human rights violations, the regime's failure to meet the people's expectations of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the harsh situation of unemployment, poverty, the spread of prostitution, illegal drug use, and AIDS. Ayatollah Taheri's announcement came on the eve of the anniversary of the 1999 student riots, which had stirred up the country and been harshly suppressed at the time by the regime.
    Taheri's letter addressed five main points:
  1. The Regime's Failure to Live Up to the Public's Expectations
  2. The Security Forces are Responsible for Iran's Bloody Events
  3. Criticism of Clerics and Their Exploitation of Islam
  4. A Call for Ayatollah Montazari's Release
  5. Bemoaning the Degradation of the Clerics' Status

:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:49:00 AM Link
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:: Monday, August 05, 2002 ::
On BBC NEWS - BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel puts freeze on West Bank
Israel has announced a "total ban" on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank, following a series of attacks by Palestinian militants.

Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said the army was "imposing a total blockade of the West Bank. Nobody enters and nobody leaves."

Good for the Israelis! Now if we would just stop admitting Arabs to the US.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:24:00 AM Link
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The Five Pillars of Jacksonianism

Donald Sensing and Steven Denbeste both have interesting articles which link to The Jacksonian Tradition by Walter Russell Mead. According to Mead, Jacksonianism is characterized by an honor code consisting of five principles.
Self-reliance
Real Americans make their own way in the world. Those who don't work, because of laziness, or inherited wealth, are suspect.
Equality
Among those who pull their own weight in the world, there is an equality of dignity and right. The dignity and honor of the self-reliant must be acknowledged by the rest of the world. The self-reliant are entitled to, and justly demand, recognition of their rights and just claims.
Individualism
The Jacksonian has not just a right, but a duty to seek self-fulfillment. Everyone must choose their faith, or non-faith, and their code of conduct, based on their conscience and reason.
Financial Esprit
Jacksonians believe in hard work, but view credit as a basic right, a means for self-discovery and expression. Jacksonians have always supported loose monetary policy, and looser bankruptcy laws.
Courage
Courage is the crowning and indespensable part of the code. Jacksonians stand up for their principles in matters great and small.
Implications of the Code
Jacksonians draw an absolute distinction between those who live by the code, the folk community, and those who do not. Those who keep the code and discharge their responsibilities under it, are united in a social compact. Those who do not, are outsiders, and held in contempt. Those who threaten the safety and well-being of the folk community are enemies, and must be dealt with swiftly, effectively, and thoroughly to insure that they are no longer a threat.
Jacksonian Warfare
Jacksonians recognize two kinds of enemies, and two kinds of fighting: Honorable and Dishonorable. An honorable enemy declares war before beginning combat, adheres to recognized rules of war, and treats civilians and POWs decently. The honorable enemy fights a clean fight, and is entitled to be opposed in the same way. The dishonorable enemy fights a dirty war, and all rules are off. The first rule of Jacksonian war is that all wars are fought with all available force. Limited war is offensive to a Jacksonian. War is not a sport, it is a deadly and earnest business. The second rule of Jacksonian war is that the objective of our forces is to impose our will on the enemy with the minimum number of American casualties. One does not risk soldiers' lives just to give the enemy a "fair fight". Jacksonians tend to believe that it is more important to break the spirit of the enemy than to just destroy his armies.
Magnanimity in Victory
Jacksonians believe that once an enemy has surrendered, he should be treated generously. After WWII, we rebuilt Germany and Japan. Lee's troops left Appamatox Courthouse with their horses and personal arms, and Grant fed Lee's troops from his army's supplies. Not everybody qualifies for magnanimous treatment, however. Those who do not surrender, and those who repeatedly attack the community can expect only the most brutal treatment.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:50:00 AM Link
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On BBC NEWS - BBC NEWS | Middle East | Palestinian support for suicide bombers
The June 2002 poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre showed that a large majority - nearly seven out of 10 people - supported the suicide operations, about 60% of those expressing their "strong" support.

...

However, as Israel has conducted its massive military operations in the West Bank over the past few months, support for suicide operations has weakened, from a high of 74% in December 2001 to the current 68%. The fall is more marked in the West Bank - which has born the brunt of the crackdown - where the figure is 66%.

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More than 51% see the liberation of all historic Palestine - and the removal of Israel from the map - as the true goal of the intifada, according to JMCC's findings. And the Palestinians see the attacks at the heart of Israel as the way to achieve that goal, it seems.

As long as Arabs and other Muslims view terror attacks as helpful to their cause, they will persist in them.
    There are three reasons not to engage in terror attacks:
  1. They are evil, by virtually every religious and ethical code on the planet, including Islam.
  2. They are counterproductive, because they enrage your opposition, and increase their deternination not to surrender
  3. They invite reprisal attacks against your civilians.
Muslims have, so far, rejected the first two arguments against terror attacks. Sharon may succed in teaching the Palestinians that terror attacks do them no good. If he does not, we may need to teach them that a lunatic loaded with a few sticks of dynamite does not compare with a B-52 loaded with napalm. We may need to teach them that it is stupid to kill a few dozen of your enemy's civilians, when he can kill a few thousand of yours in reply.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:22:00 AM Link
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:: Sunday, August 04, 2002 ::
Lost Voices of the Firefighters
JIM DWYER and FORD FESSENDEN, on NY Times - Lost Voices of Firefighters, Some on the 78th Floor
A lost tape of lost voices, ignored until recently by investigators studying the emergency response on Sept. 11, shows that firefighters climbed far higher into the south tower than practically anyone had realized. At least two men reached the crash zone on the 78th floor, where they went to the aid of grievously injured people trapped in a sprawl of destruction.
The tapes have not been released to the public, but Chief Orio J. Palmer's widow, Debbie, had this to say about the tapes: "I didn't hear fear, I didn't hear panic," she said. "When the tape is made public to the world, people will hear that they all went about their jobs without fear, and selflessly."

Islamic societies obsess about virtue, but America - sinful, infidel, America, the "Great Satan" - produces men and women whose virtue is so great, as to utterly defy description. Let the Arab nations beware, for America produces men of equal ferocity and determination. We must now turn that resolve, that courage, that ferocity, to the task of destroying Islamic terrorism. We must be willing to "pay any price, bear any burden", to rid the world of the fanatics who planned the 9/11 attacks. We must embrace the patience and fortitude which allowed us to contain, and destroy world communism. We must be willing, for a time, to embrace the dark side of our heritage, that compassionless ferocity which allowed us to conquer this continent, and utterly crush the Nazis and the Japanese militarists. To do less, is to dishonor the men and women who died saving others on 9/11.

If there is one thing that the history of the Twentieth Century teaches, it that attacking the United States is an act of stupidity, not courage. Know that we are coming, you terrorist bastards, and be afraid.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 10:23:00 PM Link
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On New York Times - After Sept. 11, a Legal Battle Over Limits of Civil Liberty
In the fearful aftermath of Sept. 11, Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed to use the full might of the federal government and "every available statute" to hunt down and punish "the terrorists among us."

The roundup that followed the attacks, conducted with wartime urgency and uncommon secrecy, led to the detentions of more than 1,200 people suspected of violating immigration laws, being material witnesses to terrorism or fighting for the enemy.

The government's effort has produced few if any law enforcement coups. Most of the detainees have since been released or deported, with fewer than 200 still being held.

But it has provoked a sprawling legal battle, now being waged in federal courthouses around the country, that experts say has begun to redefine the delicate balance between individual liberties and national security

If the courts are going to insist that any terrorist who manages to get into this country must be accorded the same treatment as ordinary decent criminals, we need to do everything possible within the law to remove as many illegal aliens from Muslim countries as possible, and we must stop issuing more visas to citizens of Muslim countries, including those who have dual citizenship with "friendly" countries, such as France. If we cannot detain anyone without proof of their guilt, we need to reduce the size of hostile ethnic groups to a level we can adequately watch. I do not advocate curtailing the rights of any American citizens, including Arab-Americans, but anyone in this country who is not a citizen is a guest, and any guest can be asked to leave, for any reason.

I think it is interesting to note the difference in the reaction of Japanese-Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and that of Arab-Americans to the 9/11 attacks. Most Japanese-Americans were mad as Hell at the Japanese. Notwithstanding the fact that they suffered more at the hands of their fellow Americans than Arab-Americans ever will, they eagerly volunteered for military duty, and served with distinction and honor in combat in Europe. Arab-Americans, on the other hand have had little to say about the evil of terrorism in general, and the 9/11 attacks, in particular. They have not besieged recruiting offices, looking for a chance to pay back the sons-of-bitches who screwed up their lives in America. What they have done, is bitch about every real or perceived slight, every effort to make it more difficult for terrorists to operate in this country.

America has taken in tens of millions of people, from all over the world - people fleeing tyranny, people fleeing religious persecution, people fleeing famine, people just looking for a chance to make a better life for themselves and their children. It has asked little of them in return. It has asked that they tolerate their neighbors, that they work to support themselves and pay their taxes, and that they defend America against all enemies. This generation of Arab-Americans is failing in their duty to this country, and if they want to regain the respect of their fellow Americans, they need to get with the program. They need to understand that people who look like them are trying to destroy this country, and that they are going to be watched more carefully than other Americans. They need to volunteer their services as translators, and their knowledge and understanding of the Arab countries we must deal with. They need to volunteer to serve in the military, in fire departments, as EMTs. America sees people who look like them trying to destroy us, Arab-Americans need to let America see people who look like them trying to protect us.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:11:00 AM Link
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