:: Cato The Youngest ::

Riyadh Delenda Est!

:: Saturday, September 28, 2002 ::

JSOW Revolutionizes Strike Warfare

Everybody who follows US air power developments is, or should be familiar with JDAM, the Joint Direct Attack Munition. JDAM is a GPS/Inertial guidance unit which allows a 2,000 pound bomb to strike within 13 meters using GPS guidance, or 30 meters using Inertial guidance only. It can be launched from up to 15 miles away. They saw extensive and successful use in Afghanistan.

Less well known is the JSOW, or Joint Stand-Off Weapon. JSOW is a GPS/Inertial guided stand-off weapon with a range of up to 40 miles when launched from high altitude. It comes in three versions, designated as AGM-154A, AGM-154B, and AGM-154C. All three use the same weapon body/guidance system. each has a different payload.

The AGM-154A delivers a payload of 145 BLU-97/B combined effect submunitions. the BLU-97/B has a shaped charge warhead, a fragmenting case, and an incendiary ring, making it effective against all soft to medium-hard targets. Think of it as a cluster bomb dispenser that can be launched from beyond the range of all but the heaviest SAMs, and does not require guidance from the launch aircraft after launch. The following is a description of the AGM-154A's first use in Iraq, a mission to destroy Iraqi air defense sites in the no-fly zone.

JSOW is a glide weapon that can be carried by U.S. Navy and Air Force strike aircraft. Using global positioning system (GPS) satellite information for guidance, it finds its way to the target. In less than 10 days, JSOWs were transported from CONUS to the Persian Gulf. On January 25, three JSOWs were successfully launched against Iraqi targets. The lethal effectiveness of these weapons was reconfirmed only days after the Navy declared JSOW operational, ushering in a new era of air combat effectiveness dubbed The Revolution in Strike Warfare.

***

Following two days of training, CVW-11 aircrews employed their newly acquired JSOWs against Iraqi air defenses. The missiles launched against the site provided results that would have previously required a dedicated strike package of 25-30 aircraft. Rear Adm. Alfred G. Harms Jr., commander of the USS Carl Vinson Battle Group, described JSOW as an "awesome new capability," giving the weapon high marks for its ease of mission planning, expanded tactical response, and incredible effectiveness against targets which were previously considered formidable defenses. Harms stated that JSOW will "revolutionize the way we prosecute targets."

Even more interesting, is the AGM-154B. The AGM-154B carries six BLU-108/B submunitions. Each BLU-108/B contains four projectiles, known as "skeets", which it ejects in a cloverleaf-shapped pattern. Each skeet has an infrared sensor which can detect a tank or other armored vehicle. When it detects a tank within range, it fires an explosively-formed projectile through the relatively thin top armor of the vehicle. According to FAS, the AGM-154B is expected to reach Initial Operational Capability in Fiscal Year 2002.

Last, but not least, is the AGM-154C, a navy-only variant, which carries a 500-pound penetrator warhead and delivers it within 10 feet of its intended target. It is expected to be in service next year.

JSOW allows our aircraft to deliver a variety of lethal munitions from well outside the range of most enemy SAMs. This reduces the risk to our pilots, and allows them to concentrate on destroying their targets, instead of dodging enemy fire. It's one more reason why an Iraq campaign should produce relatively low casualties for American forces.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:34:00 PM Link
...

Turkish Security Forces Uncover Weapons Grade Uranium

VOA News has this report.

VOA News - 28 Sep 2002 13:58 UTC

Turkey's Anatolia News Agency reports that security forces in that country have seized more than 15 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium and have arrested two men on smuggling charges.

***

Saturday's seizure comes less than a week after the British government published a report claiming that Turkey's neighbor Iraq has been trying to acquire uranium for a nuclear weapons program.

15 kilos is enough uranium to make an implosion-type device. The South African bombs were gun-assembled bombs containing about 50 kg of Uranium. Enough is enough. Eventually Saddam will get his bombs, if we do not remove him from power.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 2:25:00 PM Link
...

Asymmetric Deterrence

Steven Den Beste has a very interesting article on why the task of deterring Saddam is not as simple as it seems. He uses the example of two drivers who want the to occupy the same piece of pavement - one drives a beat-up pinto, one drives a shiny, new jaguar.

Deterrence, via the threat of massive retaliation, worked in the Cold War because of the psychology of the two sides. What if you face an opponent who doesn't have that psychology? What if you're the guy driving the jaguar who faces the beat up pinto? By which I mean, what if we face someone who's more willing to take that risk than we are? The Soviet Union wasn't, but there's every reason to believe that Saddam is.

Many people have written posts on their blogs, or letters, or articles, saying that even if Saddam does get nuclear weapons that he won't use them against us because we could massively retaliate.

But the situation isn't that straightforward. The threat isn't the same as actual use, and the threat can accomplish things even if actual use might not. Yes, if Saddam uses a nuke on us, we'll turn Iraq into a parking lot, but will we think that the damage we ourselves take in that case will be acceptable?

In other words, if we threaten to use conventional forces to (for instance) defend Kuwait against a second attempt by Saddam to invade and absorb, and if Saddam says that if we do he'll use a nuke against an American city, will we be willing to sneer at him, say "If you do we'll retaliate massively" and then go ahead as if the threat had never been made?

It's very unlikely. We would almost certainly back down. There would be no nuclear exchange, and Saddam would get what he wanted. The pinto would win.

I'd sure as hell hate to have to make that choice. Taking Saddam out now makes more sense to me.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:47:00 PM Link
...

Rumsfeld Says U.S. Has 'Bulletproof' Evidence of Iraq's Links to Al Qaeda

The NY Times has this story.

ATLANTA, Sept. 27 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that American intelligence had "bulletproof" evidence of links between Al Qaeda and the government of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

Mr. Rumsfeld said that recently declassified intelligence reports about suspected ties between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, including the presence of senior members of Al Qaeda in Baghdad in "recent periods," were "factual" and "exactly accurate."

***

Asked by reporters how American officials could be sure of ousting Mr. Hussein, given intelligence reports that he uses several doubles to confuse possible assassins, Mr. Rumsfeld said the administration's goal was to ensure that the Iraqi leader was no longer was in power.

"If he's on the run, he's not governing Iraq," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

Tell'em, Rummy! He can run, but he can't hide. There are two ways of decisively dealing with Saddam doubles. The first is, "Kill'em all, and let Allah sort'em out." The more selective way is to use DNA matching against known relatives of Saddam (he can't have doubles for his entire family). Saddam impersonators should be no more troublesome than Elvis impersonators. At least there aren't as many Saddam impersonators.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:38:00 AM Link
...

Protest organizers promise peaceful gathering

USA Today has this story.

District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey predicted that the protests would be more orderly than those on Friday, when 649 demonstrators were arrested.

Ramsey said Saturday's protesters were "more mainstream" and focused on the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

"They're not talking about shutting down the city," Ramsey said. "They're not talking about giving points out for breaking windows or any of that kind of nonsense."

Chief Ramsey may have hit on a good formula for dealing with these nutsos. Crack down hard, the first day, and make sure the troublemakers stay in jail for the duration of the summit. This reduces the number of hard-core whackos running around on subsequent days, and sends a message to the not-quite-so-crazy. Keep a large, visible police presence, to make sure the remaining protesters know that they will be peaceful, or be arrested and jailed for the duration of the summit. Each day, the police skim off the cream of the nutsos, and what's left is a more peaceful and orderly lot. Property is protected, order is maintained, and those who want to talk get to talk. Everybody's happy, except the nutsos, and I frankly don't give a shit about them.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 10:34:00 AM Link
...

Privatize Saudi Sewage Services

ArabNews has this story.

It is unfortunate that despite the project being of vital importance, operating on a commercial basis and thus generating cash revenues, it remains confined to its early stages and is yet to become reality. Such a project could be undertaken by the private sector which, after building and operating the network, could recoup expenses by selling the service for a fixed period of time.

It would appear that the Saudi government has more shit than it knows what to do with, and needs private sector help. I already knew Saudi Arabia was full of shit, but it's good of them admit it.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 7:28:00 PM Link
...

New Pic Proves It! Guaranteed For Real!

Mike Hendrix at Cold Fury has photographic proof that President Bush was not only involved in the 9/11 attacks, but is too dumb to hold a book right side up.

I suppose by now y'all have all seen that phony photo of Bush holding an upside-down book that the Lefties have been pointing to as a bona fide one-hundred-per-cent authentic indicator of the fact that Bush is dumber than a box of hair. Well, I've run across a photo myself, it really IS for real, and it proves not only that Bush is an idiot but that he did indeed have some sort of sinister prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks! Just click on the "want more?" link below to see it...

Mike, the only problem with this sort of joke, is that the lefties are too damn dumb to realize it's a joke. They'll be passing that picture around for the next six years.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:52:00 PM Link
...

Hating Israel is part of campus culture

Campus Watch has this column by The National Post's Jonathan Kay.

Last week, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a Tel Aviv bus, propelling pounds of densely packed metal shrapnel into the vehicle's passengers. Five people were killed instantly, and 60 others wounded.

The event presumably failed to darken the day of Ted Honderich, a Canadian-born philosopher who teaches at University College London. Last week, he told an audience in Toronto that Palestinians have a "moral right" to blow up Jews. And he encourages them to exercise it: "To claim a moral right on behalf of the Palestinians to their terrorism is to say that they are right to engage in it, that it is permissible if not obligatory."

***

William F. Buckley once said that he'd be better off living in a country governed by the first 100 names in the Boston phone book than by tenured members of the Harvard faculty. He's still right. A five-year-old child has the sense to know that slaughtering innocent civilians is wrong. To convince yourself otherwise, you have to spend years hanging around a university.

Yes. And when Arab "warriors" aren't murdering civilians, they are hiding behind them; another inconvenient fact obvious to everyone but leftist college professors.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 4:53:00 PM Link
...

New Victor Davis Hanson on NRO

Victor Davis Hanson has a new article on Iraq on National Review Online.

True, there is an array of strategic and tactical differences from a decade ago, but I'm not sure that any of the new realities presage a more difficult task than last time. If anything, the challenge is now clearer, more moral — and more suited to our own unique character and strengths.

***

In 1991 we talked not of freedom, but dispassionately of fighting for "jobs" and "security," code names both for oil. And we were ultimately embarrassed about leaving a murderer in power who subsequently butchered his own.

***

Not this time. No one is envisioning anything in postbellum Iraq other than the installation of a consensual government. No American is being told to defend Saudi Arabia or to free Kuwait. Instead our men and women are being asked to liberate an entire country from a fascist, not merely to protect the oil reservoirs of fundamentalists, anti-Semites, and despots. The cause, in other words, is far nobler this time around, and that perception will have a positive effect on our troops.

History shows that when well-led citizen soldiers battle against the forces of tyranny, they are transformed into an almost elemental force. Epaminondas of Thebes and his Boeotian League army crushed the "invincible" Spartan army at Leuctra, marched into Lacedemonia, camped outside Sparta itself, dared the Spartans to fight them again (the Spartans refused), freed the Messinian Helots, and permenantly destroyed the myth of Spartan invincibility. William T. Sherman and his Army of the West cut a 60-mile wide swath through the Confederacy, freeing slaves, destroying railroad tracks, burning plantations (but not small farms), and humiliating the armies of the Confederacy. George S. Patton made his Third Army an engine of destruction that taught the Whermacht how blitzkrieg was waged. From Normandy to the Rhine, and beyond, the only things that could stop Third Army were lack of fuel and the timidity of Patton's superiors. Norman Schwarzkopf crushed the Iraqi army in approximately 100 hours of ground combat. The combination of American air power, and fast-moving armored forces overwhelmed Iraqi forces who stood and fought, and shredded those who tried to run.

Those who believe that Saddam's army will fight better than they did in the Gulf War are mistaken. All of Saddam's vetrans are vetrans of the Gulf War. Most of them are soldiers who surrendered quickly in the Gulf War (most of the ones who didn't surrender died). They know what an American army can do to them.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:02:00 PM Link
...

Gephardt's Solution: "Cancel the Elections"

ScrappleFace has another good one on Dick Gephardt's whiney NY Times op-ed.

"We cannot have elections where the primary issue is a constitutional one, like providing for the common defense," Gephardt added. "The founding fathers never intended to allow voters to decide based on issues of life or death. Elections are about personality, and great slogans like 'It's the economy stupid'."

Gephardt said Congress could either move these mid-term elections to 2004, or change the calendar and declare that this year is actually 2001. He said there was precedent for the latter in our system of changing the clock for Daylight Saving Time.

"You could call this Election Saving Time," he said.

You can call it Election Saving Time, Dick. I call it desperation.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:47:00 AM Link
...

Andrea Has Figured Maureen Dowd Out

Andrea Harris at Spleenville has MoDo the Dodo's number.

I've figured Maureen Dowd out:

Sorry, you're gonna have to to to her site to get the answer. Hint: If you've ever read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, you'll howl.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:50:00 PM Link
...

Shrewd moves in Paris over Iraq

BBC News has this story on France's more cooperative attitude toward the US.

At the Quai d'Orsay, the French foreign ministry, the analysis seems to be this: for better or worse the Americans are going to be driving this process.

For better or worse, it will almost certainly be the US who will be central to any rebuilding - both politically and materially - after any military action.

Sphere of influence

Therefore there is nothing to be gained from alienating the Bush administration - they do not mention Gerhard Schroeder's policy here, but that is what they mean - if we want to reserve our place at the table to be part of the discussions on what happens after Saddam.

The French aren't exactly our best friends in the whole, wide, world, but they apparently can read the writing on Saddam's wall. It reads, "Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin".
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:58:00 PM Link
...

Our Good and Dear Friends, the Saudis

ArabNews cartoonist M. Kahill must have been comparing notes with German ex-justice minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin when he drew this cartoon.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:46:00 PM Link
...

NATO Just Got Bigger

Greatest Jeneration has this post on the NATO decision to admit Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia as members.

The war in Afghanistan "provided opportunities for some countries to show that they were capable of acting like allies," and could make a meaningful contribution, the official added. Bulgaria and Romania both hurriedly offered assistance to the war effort. Bulgaria contributed an airfield for the refueling of tankers supporting the Afghan campaign, and Romania sent a battalion of troops into the war zone, using its own U.S.-made C-130 transport aircraft.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania added their support by sending troops to the new allied air base at Manas in Kyrgyzstan to help provide base security.

Who needs nasty Germany when we've got terrific new nation-friends like these?

Who, indeed? Gerry, are you taking notes? This is how allies behave toward allies.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 6:08:00 PM Link
...

Streisand Uncovers Truth About Saddam-WTC Connection

ScrappleFace separates the truth from the BS (Barbara Streisand) in this story.

(2002-09-26) -- Barbra Streisand, the noted attorney and military expert, announced today that Saddam Hussein "did not bomb the World Trade Center".

Streisand said she reached this conclusion after noticing that those who commandeered the airliners died in the crashes, but that Saddam Hussein is still alive.

There's more. It gets better. Go. Read it. You deserve a laugh today.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 5:44:00 PM Link
...

A Mystery Solved!

Dr. Weevil whacks Hesiod upside the head (a difficult target, to be sure) in this post.

That's just a little bit too clever, and lets the cat out of the bag. This post confirms what I have long suspected, that 'Hesiod' is a low-level employee in the basement of the White House or the Pentagon assigned to discredit the anti-war movement by impersonating an unusually rude, stupid, and dishonest opponent of war on Iraq.

***

Of course, WarbloggerWatch and Level Gaze are also false-flag White House operations, similarly designed to support war on Iraq by discrediting the opposition to it ... No doubt some in the White House think the 'Philip Shropshire' and 'Dr. Menlo' characters in particular skate a little close to the edge, so that their fakeness would be obvious to any intelligent onlooker. However, comments left on the site suggest that even their over-the-top portrayals of leftie whackjobs are plausible to most other lefties.

This one's a real howler, folks! Do not pass this one up.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 3:47:00 PM Link
...

Let Him Squirm

Bloomberg has this story

Berlin, Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is considering visiting the U.S. to try to ease tensions with President George W. Bush over Germany's refusal to take part in military action against Iraq, a government spokesman said.

***

The White House says it's not aware of plans for a Bush-Schroeder meeting. "We're not aware of any plans,'' said National Security Council spokesman Mike Anton.

***

Seeking to mend relations, Schroeder on Tuesday night traveled to London for a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair. Blair is Bush's closest ally in efforts to win support for a possible attack to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

What's wrong, Gerry? Won't anybody talk to you? Maybe that's because we don't want to hear your sorry-ass excuses. Schroeder is almost as bad as Saddam Hussein, in South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:12:00 PM Link
...

Fisk of Fury

TownHall.com just published a really, disgustingly, dumb piece by Arch-Idiotarian Paul Craig Roberts. Roberts' bio on TownHall says that the French inducted him into the Legion of Honor (right next to Jerry Lewis, who is almost as stupid as Roberts). This one's so bad, folks, that Cato must once again summon the powers of his Iron Fisk Technique.

<bad martial arts movie dubbing>
Paul Craig Roberts! You have o-fend-ed United States. You have o-fend-ed Israel. You have o-fend-ed Cato. (not to be confused with Kato). Now you feel Cato's Iron Fisk Technique.
</bad martial arts movie dubbing>

Are your ready for WW IV?

If you're referring to the Arab/Muslim World, I've been ready since 9/11/2001.

Neoconservatives are preparing the groundwork for far-reaching and interminable U.S. involvement in the Middle East.

Far-reaching? Damn right! Interminable? What the hell have you been smoking, Paulie? Do you honestly think that any coalition of Arab powers would last six months against us? Just how short is your attention span, anyway?

Neoconservative leader Norman Podhoretz makes the case in the current issue of Commentary, the influential magazine of the American Jewish Committee, that it is not enough for the United States to attack only Afghanistan and Iraq. Podhoretz argues that "changes of regime are the sine qua non throughout the region."

Well, like, DUH! Did you need Podhoretz to tell you that? I've been blogging on that subject for months, now. Here's the first post I ever put up.

The challenge that President Bush faces, says Podhoretz, is "to fight World War IV -- the war against militant Islam." He identifies the enemies: "The regimes that richly deserve to be overthrown and replaced are not confined to the three singled-out members of the axis of evil" (Iraq, Iran, North Korea). At a minimum, the axis should extend to Syria and Lebanon and Libya, as well as 'friends' of America like the Saudi royal family and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, along with the Palestinian Authority."

With "friends" like the Saudis, who needs enemies? If you honestly think Egypt, Saudi Arabia, or the Paleo-stinian Authority are our friends, Paulie, you should go to work for the Department of Appeasement.

Unlike the Bush administration, Podhoretz realizes that to overthrow the Taliban and Saddam Hussein is merely to stir a hornets' nest, while leaving in place multitudes of anti-Israeli and anti-American militants. Bush must own up to the true task, says Podhoretz, and find "the stomach to impose a new political culture on the defeated" Middle East, just as we did unapologetically to Germany and Japan.

So Bush is either too dumb or too dishonest to realize or admit what he's going to have to do? I feel sorry for anybody who hasn't figured out, by now, that Bush is smarter than he lets on. I wish I had a nickel for every political opponent of George W. Bush who wound up with Dubya's boot up his ass, wondering, "Wha'happened?" As for "honesty", I've looked very carefully at my copy of the Constitution, and I don't see one word that requires the Commander-in-chief to report to Paul Craig Roberts, honestly, or otherwise. Winston Churchill, a man who forgot more about wartime leadership than you'll ever know, Paulie, said, "In war-time, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies." Or, as Will Rogers put it, "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock." Right now, President Bush is saying (to the Saudis) "nice doggie" until he has Iraq.

There is logic to Podhoretz's argument. But do Bush and the American people understand that the imposition of secular democracy on Afghanistan and Iraq are merely beginning steps in the forceful political reconstruction of the entire Middle East by U.S. might?

Hell yes, we do! Just because you think the American people are dumb, doesn't make it so.

Americans are indebted to Podhoretz for making it clear that a U.S. invasion of Iraq is the beginning of World War IV.

I don't owe Podhoretz shit. I figured it out for myself. If it really took you this long to figure it out, you just might be as dumb as you seem to think the American people are.

President Bush and his strategic thinkers should ponder this carefully and be upfront with the American people. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein will not solve the Israeli-American conflict with militant Islam. On the contrary, it will widen the conflict.

It might not solve the conflict, but it's one hell of a start. Let me try to explain this in economic terms, since some of you Idiotarians claim a rudimentary knowledge of economics. Wars are won by logistics, the art and science of getting troops and military stuff where they're needed. You still with me, Paulie? Military stuff is expensive (that means it costs lots of money, Paulie). If the Arabs want to have enough military stuff to put up any kind of fight against us, they're gonna need lots of money. Where do they get most of their money? Oil. Can you say o-i-l, Paulie? I bet you can. The price of oil is determined by how much oil is available, and how much oil people will pay for. This is known as the Law of Supply and Demand. When the supply of oil goes up the price of oil comes down, and vice versa. Once we kick Saddam out, the sanctions on Iraq will be lifted, and they will be able to sell all the oil they can pump. Remember, when the supply of oil goes up, the price of oil comes down. Still with me, Paulie? With oil prices down, the Arab governments will have less money to spend on military stuff. They'll have less money to spend on their people, too. This will make their people mad - at them. Maybe mad at us, too, but definitely mad at them.

How many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, grandsons, uncles, cousins and friends are Americans willing to give to a war, the object of which is the social and political reconstruction of the Middle East?

The social and political reconstruction of the Middle East is necessary to prevent terrorist WMD attacks against the United States and/or its allies. It is not optional, unless you're willing to see the Statue of Liberty blown halfway back to France. As to the cost in American lives, judging by the Gulf War, and the Afghanistan campaign, it'll be ten years before the military casualties equal the civilian casualties from 9/11.

Are the American people prepared to bear the tax and economic burden of such a prodigious undertaking? Indeed, with significant portions of its manufacturing and high-tech capability now located offshore, can the U.S. economy bear the burden?

What burden? This ain't the Warsaw Pact we're talkin' about here, Paulie! Wars are won by logistics, moving more military stuff to the battle than the enemy has. The Arabs ain't got no military stuff, Paulie! Well, they have a little, but they bought most of it from us. Somehow, I think they'll have problems getting spare parts for their American-made stuff.

Would such a struggle leave us exhausted, unable to confront the rising power of an ambitious China?

The Chinese import oil, Paulie. When we end up running the Middle East, we might let them buy some, if they ask nicely.

A more critical question is whether open borders have turned "the American people" into an abstraction. The Washington Post has always favored massive immigration because it builds Democratic voting rolls. But on Sept. 15, the newspaper called the United States a "Tower of Babel" whose sense of community has been shattered by the rise of ethnic media.

The Post is just pissed because people don't have to buy their lousy fish wrappers, anymore. We do need to do a better job of assimilating our immigrants, but that's an entirely separate question from Middle East policy. Quit trying to change the subject to your Buchannite bullshit.

The Post reports that the penetration of what we are accustomed to call the major media is down to 43 percent of the U.S. population and dropping. Increasingly, "people in key metropolitan areas now get their news from ethnic newspaper and broadcast outlets."

In the boardroom at CNN, they say similar things about Fox News. The Post's market share is dropping because nobody wants to read their crummy rag.

California has 500 ethnic newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, and online publications. The Post reports that there are "15 Thai-language newspapers in Los Angeles, several 24-hour radio stations for Pashto and Dari Speakers." Orange County has 30 Vietnamese publications, and California has 7 major ethnic dailies and flourishing Spanish-language TV networks.

LA County's population is nearly ten million. I'm surprised they don't have a 24-hour Pig Latin radio station. They get CNN, too (unfortunately). Most immigrants figure out that you do better in this country if you learn at least some English. Their kids will learn more English. Their grandkids will probably speak English as well as you do. They'll certainly speak it more intelligently. It isn't nearly the problem you seem to think it is.

The Post asks: "If you can't understand what your fellow subway rider is reading, if you can't follow the opinions he or she listens to each night, how can you hope to hold a discussion about national politics? Aren't our opinions and national discourse likely to become ever more Balkanized?" .

If you want to hold a discussion with somebody, the way to do it is to talk to them - and listen to them. We used to think that if we sent our ideas to other countries, people would accept their validity. That's what Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and Radio Marti were all about. Do we no longer trust our ideas to prevail in our own country? We may need to restrict immigration from Muslim countries for a while, as a security measure, but immigration has historically been a source of strength for America. We've skimmed the cream of other countries' populations, taken the people whose dreams were too big for grubby little (fill in the blank) to hold. We've taken their dregs, too, and added them to the alloy that is America. One step ahead of tyranny, one step ahead of famine, they've come to us. We've given them sanctuary, and made them a part of us. America is not a base metal, but an alloy: harder, tougher, more flexible than any other in the world.

Bush should ponder this question before he undertakes to reconstruct the Middle East. He must face the fact that his own country has been reconstructed by massive immigration from the Third World. Are these legions of hyphenated-Americans in sympathy with the neoconservative goals that control U.S. foreign policy?

Unmitigated crap. This is the sort of xenophobic horseshit that Pat Buchannan, and a few other less savory assholes, try to peddle. You understand nothing about what America is about. Every immigrant who comes to our shores is here because he believes America is a better place than the place he came from. A place of freedom. A place of opportunity. You think they want to turn America into a half-assed copy of the place they ran away from? Well, maybe the Muslims do, but they're definitely the exception to the rule.

Before the United States finds itself embroiled in a Middle East conflict for which it lacks both economic means and popular support, I propose a different solution: Terminate the Middle Eastern conflict by inviting the 5 million Jews in Israel to settle in the United States.

I'm not gonna violate Godwin's Law. I'm not gonna violate Godwin's Law ... the hell I'm not! Shut the fuck up, you God-damned Nazi! What you are proposing is just a variation on the Munich Sellout. If France and Germany had offered to resettle the Czechs and give Hitler all of Czechoslovakia, it would be exactly what you are proposing. Get yourself a new tinfoil hat, Paulie. Your old one has obviously worn out. If you think you can buy these Arab cocksuckers off, by giving them Israel, you're the craziest, most ignorant, and just plain stupid, son-of-a-bitch I believe I've ever seen. I hereby apologize to Jerry Lewis, for having compared him to you.

The entire population of Israel amounts to no more than two years of illegal Mexican immigration. The Jews can function here, if they wish, as an autonomous ethnic enclave just like all the other enclaves created by our short-sighted immigration policy.

Do you think the Jews will voluntarily leave Israel? You really need a new tinfoil hat, Paulie. And if they go down, they're gonna take one hell of a lot of Arabs with them. Wait until Nile River flood season, drop a couple of small nukes on the Aswan Dams, and when everybody runs to high ground, lay a few nuclear airbursts on them. No more Egypt. They can handle the rest of the Arabs in a conventional war. If you don't think they'll do it, you don't understand the Israelis. They're descended from people who tried submission, and got Auchwitz. Does the word Massada mean anything to you, Paulie. Trust me, they'll take Massada over Auchwitz every time.

Despite extreme measures, Israel is unable to defend itself from Palestinian terrorists. The United States will not be able to defend Israel or itself from one billion Muslims.

Extreme measures? You call Israel's policies extreme measures? Hell, Paulie, America did worse things to the Indians than anything Israel has tried. Can you say "nits make lice"? Can you say, "The only good Indian I ever saw, was a dead one"? Israel hasn't done shit to the Palestinians. As to defending against the billion Muslims, we will not defend against them. We will attack them. We will attack them, and kill them, until they say, "I will fight no more, forever."

Trying to create a small Jewish state in a sea of Muslims was a 20th century mistake. Trying to reconstruct the Middle East would be a bigger mistake. Why not recognize the mistake, evacuate the Jews, leave the Muslims to themselves and focus on saving our own country?

If there is any lesson to be learned from the history of the 20th century, it is that appeasing murderous thugs never works. They can always think of one more thing to demand. And if we do not break them, they will destroy us, because they hate everything we are, and everything we stand for. If Al-Qaeda had had a nuclear weapon on 9/11, they would have used it. We must break them, and their Arab sponsors, before they get WMDs. They will use them, if they get them. The race is on, and we must win it, or die.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 8:43:00 PM Link
...

DNC Orders Sanctions Against Gore

ScrappleFace has a hilarous story about the reaction to Al Gore's speech criticizing President Bush.

In addition, the former vice president must wear a placard around his neck with the bright green frowning image of Mr. Yuck!, the poison-warning symbol. As he walks down the street, Mr. Gore must ring a bell and shout "Unclean! Unclean!"

This one's good, folks. Check it out.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:16:00 AM Link
...

Who Let the Blogs Out?

The Anti-Idotarian Rotweiler is tearing Robert Fisk (fiskus assholicus) a new one. Here's a small sample:

Bobby "Whack Me, I'm an Idiot" Fisk is at it again in this "Independent (...of Facts)" column:

Tony Blair's "dossier" on Iraq is a shocking document. Reading it can only fill a decent human being with shame and outrage.
This, of course, excludes Bobby Fisk immediately, but let's go on anyway.
Its pages are final proof – if the contents are true – that a massive crime against humanity has been committed in Iraq. For if the details of Saddam's building of weapons of mass destruction are correct – and I will come to the "ifs" and "buts" and "coulds" later – it means that our massive, obstructive, brutal policy of UN sanctions has totally failed. In other words, half a million Iraqi children were killed by us – for nothing.
They were, of course, not killed by anybody even close to fitting the pronoun "us", but that's just par for the cause for the Fisk™. They were, in fact, killed by the sick priorities of the madman that Fisk seems so Hell-bent on protecting from the "US Hegemon™" (just wait until it "Digivolves™").
Let's go back to 12 May 1996. Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, had told us that sanctions worked and prevented Saddam from rebuilding weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Let's go forward to 1998, when now Saddam Hussein fuck-toy Scott Ritter declares that: Again, I'm not going to avoid the issue. The bottom line is that because of Iraq's choosing, they have painted me as a troublemaker in an effort to distract the world's attention away from its failure-Iraq's failure to abide by its disarmament obligations. In doing so they made me a lightning rod for attention, and there many in the U.S. administration of Madeleine Albright included, who felt that my inclusion on certain inspections would attract attention and would become the cause for conflict, and they felt that it should be the inspections, not the inspector, that are at issue, but they just don't get it.

What a diff'rence four years make.
Our Tory government agreed, and Tony Blair faithfully toed the line. But on 12 May, Mrs Albright appeared on CBS television. Leslie Stahl, the interviewer, asked: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?" To the world's astonishment, Mrs Albright replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price, we think the price is worth it."
Could be because, in a rare moment of moral clarity, the two-bit whore for the left, Madeline Not-too-bright, realized that it was Sammy who was choosing to use Iraqi babies as hostages in his attempts at avoiding abiding by the terms of peace that he himself had signed.
Now we know – if Mr Blair is telling us the truth – that the price was not worth it. The price was paid in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.
Murdered by Soddy Hussein and, added to that, 3,000 innocent Americans. But Fisk wouldn't let fact get in the way of a shoddy argument, now would he? Of course he wouldn't, the balding Idiotarian with a Death Wish.
But it wasn't worth a dime. The Blair "dossier" tells us that, despite sanctions, Saddam was able to go on building weapons of mass destruction.
Well hooray! It seems that the Idiotarian-in-Chief, Booby Fisk, has finally been hit a sufficient number of times over the head with the Clue-Bat that he's understood something! But let's not get our hopes up.

Sic'em!
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 10:26:00 PM Link
...

American vs. Continental Foreign Policy

I haven’t done much blogging today, because I’ve spent most of my spare time today trolling participating on a discussion thread on PapaScott’s blog (link via Steven Den Beste).  I tried to reason with them (no, honestly, I really did), but the cultural-historical-political-whatever gap between Americans and Germans can be a real bitch at times. I think I understand this passage from Walter Russell Mead’s book, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World a little better, now.

There are three principal areas in which the differences between the American and Continental contexts block Continentally oriented observers from fully understanding the American approach.

First, there is the problem of economics. For statesmen like Metternich and Bismark, and those in their tradition, politics is everything in foreign policy; economics is, at best, an afterthought. In the Anglo-American tradition economic issues are vital: It is economic success that creates the financial basis for national power. Continental powers dueled over Europe like scorpions in a bottle; the British and the Americans took advantage of this continental preoccupation to build the international economic power that brought both of the English-speaking powers to global hegemony.

It's hard to overestimate the importance of this point. We spent the Soviet Union to death. We spent barely half, as a percentage of GNP, what we spent during WWII, and the Soviets all but bankrupted themselves trying to match us. Our aggressive efforts at international trade, coupled with our productive workforce, provided the capital to fund R&D programs which produced technical excellence in both civilian and military applications. This created a virtuous cycle of improved productivity, which spurred international trade (we had to find someone to buy all our crap), which produced more profits for R&D and plant upgrades, which continued the cycle.

The second distortion that weakens the ability of those wearing the spectacles of Continental realism to see the true nature of American foreign policy has to do with scale. Continental realists are Eurocentric, and see the European continent as the main theater of world politics. For at least three hundred years, the Anglo-Americans have dissented. In eighteenth-century British politics, the “blue water” Tories mostly favored leaving Europe to its own devices while the British navy and British merchant shipping strengthened the British Empire around the world. The dismal battles of the scorpions in their tiny European bottle was a distraction from the real business of Britain, said the Tories. Have a strong-enough navy to, as it were, cork the bottle so that none of the scorpions could crawl out, and Britain would be secure.

This is a blind spot that affects both Europeans and Americans. We Americans tend to forget how the "duel of the scorpions" has shaped Continental foreign policies. The fact that America's NATO presence has made the scorpions play nice for 50-odd years has not changed the traditions, or the basic viewpoint of our Continental allies.

Continental powers and statesmen did not ignore the wider world, but the grim battle among scorpions they could never escape forced their attention and resources time and again away from the wider world and back to the dismal battlefields of Europe. For the Continental powers, European politics was a matter of life and death; world politics was a luxury.

Exactly so. No Continental power has a power projection capability that comes close to matching America's, or even Britain's. Talk of developing a NATO/EU "reaction force" that could respond to a crisis in the Middle East, Asia, or Africa has been talk, and nothing more.

Finally, Continental realism has a third set of assumptions about foreign policy processes that simply makes it impossible for those consciously or unconsciously under its influence to think coherently about American foreign policy. These assumptions include a whole series of ideas about the nature of political power, the role of the state in society, and the strengths and weaknesses of democracy.

From the standpoint of Continental realism, American foreign policy and, for that matter, the whole American government look wrong. Massachusetts congressman Fisher Ames put his finger on the problem in a speech he made to the House of Rpresentatives in 1795: “A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in the water.” Because the raft of American foreign policy lacks all the features that Continental realists look for in a vessel, they consistently fail to grasp the raft’s capabilities.

Continental realists tend to think of diplomacy as a kind of huge, multi-dimensional chess game, best played by a master of the game, someone like a Metternich, Bismark, or Tallyrand. The most respected (in Continental circles) American diplomat of our time is Henry Kissinger. The Europeans liked dealing with Kissinger, because he and they understood each other. Kissinger, however, is the exception, not the rule, in American diplomacy. The American system of government makes it hard for a Kissinger to rise to power. And when one does come along, Congress and the Senate are always looking over his shoulder, kibitzing, publicly giving him stupid advice (which he can't give the response it deserves, because the "advisor" is a committee chairman with more seniority than sense), leaking sensitive information, etc. Even if he can work under these conditions, the longest he can expect to serve is eight years, before his president leaves office.

However, American foreign policy has its moments. The Marshall Plan helped Europe rebuild after the most destructive war the world has ever seen. The Berlin Airlift spared NATO the choice of surrendering West Berlin or fighting WWIII. Ronald Reagan's policies of force modernization and support for resistance movements in Soviet conquests helped bring down the Soviet Union, and his successors' policies helped make that transition a peacful, relatively orderly one. Yes, we did help create Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, but we're in the process of cleaning up those messes. Bin Laden may already be dead, his terrorist network is a shambles. We are now gathering our forces to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, with or without Continental Europe's help. The removal of Saddam will allow the lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq (notice the emphasis on trade), which will allow Iraq to prosper once again (a worthy humanitarian objective). The increase in oil supply will lower oil prices (more economics), which will, in turn, reduce the revenues of the remaining terrorist sponsor nations (even more economics).

We've produced our share of brilliant commanders (Lee, Sherman, and Patton come immediately to mind), but we have won our wars by out-producing our enemies. The Sherman tank was inferior in most ways to the German Panther, but we could build them faster than the Wehrmacht could destroy them.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 7:21:00 PM Link
...

Daily Pundit Gets a Two-fer

Bill Quick tags both German foreign minister Jokester Fishbreath and American secretary of appeasment Head-Up-His-Colon Powell in this post on a NY Times story.

...Mr. Fischer said he telephoned Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who congratulated him on his re-election — a signal that Washington, too, wants to keep lines open to a close ally, the largest country in Europe.

If you frigging morons think Colin Powell is your go-to power guy in Washington, you're even dumber than I initially thought you were. Getting him to talk to you counts for exactly nothing. He's paid to chat with the sort of scum the President wouldn't bother to scrape from the sole of his shoe.

Keep on whining. Nobody here who matters gives a shit.

I couldn't have said it better, myself.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 4:13:00 PM Link
...

Moves by Germany to Mend Relations Rebuffed by Bush

The NY Times has this story.

BERLIN, Sept. 23 — Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who won narrow re-election on Sunday in part by opposing an American war in Iraq, tried today to patch up relations with Washington, but President Bush broke with protocol and refrained from making the customary congratulatory telephone call to the German leader.

In Warsaw for a meeting of NATO defense ministers, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that he would not meet his German counterpart, Peter Struck. Mr. Rumsfeld was blunt about the Schröder campaign.

"The way it was conducted was notably unhelpful and, as the White House has indicated, had the effect of poisoning a relationship," he said, referring to criticism from the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, of the German justice minister, who reportedly compared President Bush's tactics to those of Hitler.

Aware of how angry the Bush administration is, Mr. Schröder announced today that the justice minister, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, would not be joining the new government.

Chancellor Scrotum spends the last three weeks taking cheap shots at America in general, and President Bush in particular, allows his justice minister to make utterly unforgivable comments about President Bush, and offers what must be the most mealy-mouthed excuse for an apology in history. Then he brags about how he's going to patch up the German-American relationship after he's re-elected, and expects a warm welcome at the White House? The firing of justice minister Double-Gremlin should have taken place about five minutes after the interview was published, not after the election was over. It's a good thing that Rumsfeld didn't meet with defense minister Pecker Struck. If they had, the sorry Kraut bastard might have had to change his name to Balls Kicked.

Let's be clear about this. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died to remove Hitler from power. After the war, instead of completely destroying Germany, we helped rebuild it. American airplaines saved West Berlin from starvation during the blockade. Thousands of American troops defended West Germany for over forty years, until the two parts of Germany could be peacefully reunited. We did not deserve Chancellor Scrotum's behavior. We certainly did not deserve justice minister Double-Gremlin's remarks. We did not deserve the German people's apparent approval of them (they elected them, didn't they?), and we will not soon forgive or forget it.

If President Bush hasn't rounded up enough troops to take care of Saddam, I'd like to suggest the 1st Armored Division, and the 1st Infantry Division. They are currently stationed in Germany, where their payrolls and other expenditures boost the German economy. While they're dealing with Saddam, we should make arrangements for them to move to new bases in Poland and/or the Czech Republic. I'm sure both countries would love to have a couple of divisions worth of GIs spending their paychecks in the local economies. Not to mention the nice, warm feeling you get when your country is guarded by two of the most powerful military units in the world. With the fall of the Soviet Union, there really isn't any reason to keep more than a couple of companies in Germany. If American troops are needed in Europe, Poland, the Czech Republic, or one of the Balkan countries would be closer to the action than Germany. Stationing large numbers of American troops in Germany is an obsolete policy, and one that should be changed with all deliberate speed.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:15:00 AM Link
...

Israel launches attacks on Gaza Strip

MSNBC has this story.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, Sept. 24 — Israeli tanks backed by helicopters stormed into Gaza City early Tuesday and battled Palestinian gunmen in clashes that left nine Palestinians dead and 24 injured, hospital officials said. Meanwhile, the siege of Yasser Arafat’s offices continued, after talks on Monday between Palestinian and Israeli officials failed to produce a compromise.

***

AL AQSA LEADER KILLED
One of the nine men killed was Mohammed Kishkho, 45, a local leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia, linked to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. Kishkho died of shrapnel wounds suffered from tank shell explosion, said Dr. Moawia Hassanein at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.

***

The latest operation followed comments by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in which he said Israeli forces would eventually mount an assault in the Gaza Strip aimed at ending the operational capabilities of the Islamic organization Hamas.

Let's hope Sharon can deliver on that promise. The world will be a better place without those murderous bastards.

I also think it's fitting that Kishkho died of shrapnel wounds. Live by explosives, die by explosives. And, unlike the hand-wringers at the Department of Appeasement, I hope Sharon makes Arafat's life pure hell.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 10:51:00 PM Link
...

Welcome Instapundit readers!

Feel free to look around, check out the links, rate my site on BlogHop, and make yourselves at home. Y'all come back now, hear. ;-) Thanks for the link, Glenn.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 3:47:00 PM Link
...

Den Beste Whacks the Krauts

Steven Den Beste explains why Schröder's promises to make it up to America won't be so easy to keep.

There are rumors that Schröder said privately that once he'd won, he'd make it up to Washington. It's not that easy.

One of the articles I've added to my "Essential Library" is Water Mead's article about Jacksonianism. It's now generally accepted that Bush has become a nearly pure Jacksonian. So it's worthwhile to quote one critical section from Mead's article:

Jacksonian honor must be acknowledged by the outside world. One is entitled to, and demands, the appropriate respect: recognition of rights and just claims, acknowledgment of one’s personal dignity. Many Americans will still fight, sometimes with weapons, when they feel they have not been treated with the proper respect. But even among the less violent, Americans stand on their dignity and rights. Respect is also due age. Those who know Jacksonian America only through its very inexact representations in the media think of the United States as a youth-obsessed, age-neglecting society. In fact, Jacksonian America honors age. Andrew Jackson was sixty-one when he was elected president for the first time; Ronald Reagan was seventy. Most movie stars lose their appeal with age; those whose appeal stems from their ability to portray and embody Jacksonian values—like John Wayne—only become more revered.

A word which has entered the English lexicon in the last twenty years ago is "diss". It's a verb, but it's derived from the noun disrespect. When you "diss" someone, you're denying them the respect they deserve. It may have come from inner city blacks, but it's a pure Jacksonian concept: you do not diss someone and expect them to forget about it afterwards. Nor do you buy back the insult with largesse. It doesn't work like that. You may be able to cool a Jacksonian's anger down that way, but you won't regain his friendship

That's a lesson that Saudi Arabia needs to learn, too.

***

But it becomes clear why it is that "many analysts" think this will be enough once you realize that they're all German analysts. You can tell that because "many analysts" also tossed in the following:

German analysts suggested that the United States should nonetheless ask itself why Schroeder's anti-war message went over so well in a country that traditionally has valued close relations with the United States. Commitment to deep transatlantic ties had always been an inviolable part of German foreign policy, supported by a clear majority of the electorate despite differences on particular issues.

What this makes clear is that the "German analysts" don't have a clue about how Americans feel. We don't give a shit why it played well with the German electorate.

***

And I'm getting fucking tired of being told, "Ask yourself why they hate you."

Get this through your head: the fact that someone hates me doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Even if it's 4 billion someones.

I'm tired of it too, Steven. Folks, read this article, even if you don't read anything else today.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:06:00 AM Link
...

Not Small: Big Pox

Bill Quick (Daily Pundit) thinks the delay in bombing Saddam's sorry ass to Hell had more to do with fears of a smallpox attack than military logistics concerns.

More and more, I am coming to believe that the long delay in attacking Iraq had less to do that the necessity for "restocking" military supplies and working out the logistics problems than it did with the possiblity that Saddam either issued a smallpox threat to the Bush administration, or the Bushies had solid evidence that Saddam had the capability to mount such an attack.

Bill goes on to say he believes the vaccine should be made available now, on a voluntary basis. I think he's right.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:25:00 AM Link
...

Rice says US will rebuild Iraq as democracy

The Financial Times has this interview with Condoleezza Rice (link via American RealPolitik).

The US will be "completely devoted" to the reconstruction of Iraq as a unified, democratic state in the event of a military strike that topples Saddam Hussein, said Condoleezza Rice, US national security adviser.

As the White House has begun to consider military strategies in Iraq, Ms Rice said the US would seek a swift victory by using "sufficient force to win".

Ms Rice, speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, signalled US willingness to spend time and money rebuilding Iraq after the fall of Mr Hussein's regime.

The FT story also has a link to a complete transcript of the interview. One of the reasons I am so confident in President Bush's ability to sort out the Middle East/terrorism mess, is that he surrounds himself with smart people like Condi Rice.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:05:00 AM Link
...

EU Fairy Tales from Daily Pundit

Bill Quick has this tale of Tranzi deception.

Andrew Duff, a delegate belonging to the rabidly Eurofederalist British Liberal Democratic Party, has proposed that nations belonging to the Union not be allowed to withdraw from the treaties of membership without the assent of every other member-state. ... During the debates over Britain's entry into the Union predecessor, the Common Market, pro-membership advocates swore it would only ever be the former. Now British Eurofederalists like Duff admit approvingly that it will become the latter.

This story reminded Bill of the tale of the Frog and the Scorpion. I wonder why.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:36:00 AM Link
...

"Please Don't Let That Big Meanie Hurt Me! Whaaaaaaaaaahhhh!

Anti-Idiotarian Rotweiler gives Arafat a first-rate fisking in this post. Here's a sample:

Watching Arafat slide into obscurity is getting funnier with every passing day:

Arafat: Sharon wants to kill me.
If he did, Yasser-boy, you'd be busy plucking raisins from the ass of Mohammed right now.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat spent the past 48 hours phoning numerous world leaders, urging them to stop the IDF operation in Ramallah.
Rumor has it he even phoned the speaking clock of Ulaanbaatar.
He also authorized three senior PA officials to contact the government to try to find a solution to the standoff.
Just hand over the snuffies, Yasser, you can even keep the baby wipes if you do.
Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, phoned Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer yesterday morning, urging him to end the military operation.
Ben-Eliezer was reported to have laughed so hard after he hung up that he nearly got a hernia, one of the most successful attempts on the health of a senior Israeli officials ever.
Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei asked to see Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but was turned down.
Apparently he refused to lift his shirt to prove he wasn't carrying any Semtex.
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat was also rejected.
This, however, was due to Saeb being a notorious nobody.
PA officials told The Jerusalem Post last night that Arafat told several Arab leaders that he believes Sharon is "determined" to kill him.
Nope. He's coming to steal your last boxes of baby wipes, Yasser.
"Sharon wants to kill me, because he wants to take revenge for what happened in Beirut in 1982," a senior PA official quoted Arafat as telling Arab heads of state in a series of phone calls.
No need to go 20 years back in time to find a legitimate reason to put a bullet in your skull, Yasser, and, again, if he wanted to, you wouldn't be making those phone calls.
The anonymous official also quoted Arafat as saying that he would prefer to shoot himself in the head rather than fall prisoner to IDF soldiers.
By all means, don't listen to those defeatists trying to talk you out of it, Yasser, they're all traitors. Here, use my gun.
He said the chairman was critical of the Arab governments for failing to pressure Israel into stopping the attack on his offices.

Arafat warned that "any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian leadership will result in total anarchy in the Middle East," the official said.
Sounds like a giant leap forward for the Middle East, if you ask me. Commence firing.

There's more. You'll enjoy it. Go read it.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 1:11:00 AM Link
...

Iraqi Republican Guard Moved to Undisclosed Location

ScrappleFace strikes again with a hilarious story about Iraq's heightened state of alert.

(2002-09-21) -- The government of the Republic of Iraq, in the first test of its new homeland security system, has moved the elite Republic Guard forces to an undisclosed location.

The entire nation is under "orange" alert status. Stage three in a four stage alert system, orange signifies, "the president of the world's only superpower is massing troops for attack, and other nations are beginning to believe that Saddam is the locus of global evil."

The alert system was triggered when Iraqi intelligence officers picked up "chatter" on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, countless weblogs and others global communication channels.

Saddam finally realized that we don't like him - amazing! I wonder if Saddam made a time-share deal with Dick Cheney to use his undisclosed location.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:31:00 AM Link
...

Iraq FAQ

Martin Devon, at Patio Pundit has put together an Iraq FAQ (link via Cold Fury). Here's a small sample.

4. Is there any evidence that Iraq had anything to do with the September 11th attacks? Why should we wage war against Iraq unless we can prove that a connection exists?

The underlying assumption to this question is that an attack on Iraq can only be justified on the basis of a retaliation for the Sept. 11th attacks. The whole point of the Bush doctrine of pre-emption is to act to remove a threat to the United States before it is attacked. Saddam Hussein poses a grave threat to the U.S. even if he had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks.

That said, there is ample evidence that Iraqi intelligence is tied into terrorist networks. There are many reports of Iraqi terrorist training facilities, including one that had an airplane fuselage for hands-on training in hi-jacking. There are many report of ties between Iraq and the 1993 truck bombing attack on the World Trade Center. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who was responsible for the 1993 attack, was reported to have ties to both Al Quaeda and Iraqi intelligence. It has also been widely reported that Sept. 11 terrorist leader Mohammed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague, though some U.S. intelligence sources dispute this.

There's lots more good stuff where that came from, and Martin says he plans to update the page to keep up with events.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:05:00 AM Link
...

US commandos seen preparing for anti-terror strikes in Yemen, Somalia

The Middle East times has this story.

Several hundred US Special Forces troops are ready in east Africa to make commando raids on al-Qaeda and other targets as a new weapon in the US war on terrorism.

Between 200 and 500 Special Forces are among 800 US soldiers moved secretly in recent weeks to a French military base at Djibouti, according to intelligence sources quoted by the US media. The force also has several dozen attack helicopters.

***

Yemen has denied that US forces will be allowed to stage operations in the country, saying there was only cooperation in the security and intelligence domains.

But a US military official quoted by The New York Times on condition of anonymity said: "We are paying close attention to that part of the world."

"We have forces ready, prepositioned and waiting for actionable intelligence."

***

The deployments have been part of a change of policy in the post-September 11 campaign that saw major military force used against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Now there is a greater apparent preference for well targeted commando raids.

***

"There will be certain cases in which SOCOM will be the supported command. There will be many cases in which they are not," said US Defense Department spokeswoman Victoria Clarke.

SOCOM's responsibilities will inevitably see its duties and means increased, especially as General Franks, who is in charge of the Gulf and Afghanistan region, will increasingly have to focus on Iraq.

It looks like the Bush Administration is paying attention to something besides Iraq. Those who felt Iraq was distracting President Bush from pursuing Al-Qaeda would appear to be mistaken. This is one of the reasons he has a staff.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 11:00:00 PM Link
...

Saudi Arabia says Saudis detained will face Islamic law

CNN.com has this story.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia said it will apply sharia, or Islamic law, to Saudi nationals being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base if they are sent home, the kingdom's interior minister said.

"If they are to be punished, they will be punished according to sharia, the law of the land," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted Prince Nayef as saying during a police meeting late Saturday.

The Saudi interior minister - he's the guy who won't let the FBI talk to terrorist suspects the Saudis arrest - on the rare occasions that the Saudis actually arrest someone for terrorism. He wants us to turn terrorist suspects we captured over to him. Am I the only one who finds this a little ... one-sided?

Suppose, for the sake of argument, we turn these Wahabi nutcases over to the Saudis. The Saudis try them under Sharia. The bad guys tell the judge, who's probably another Wahabi nutcase, that they were just being good Muslims. The judge, being another Wahabi nutcase, finds nothing wrong with the fact that they were killing Americans (ok, trying to kill Americans) and lets them go. The Wahabi nutcases are happy. The nutcase judge is happy. The Saudi Government is happy. Everybody's happy except the poor bastard these assholes do kill, next time.

I'm tired of our government sucking up to these sorry sons of bitches. I say fuck the Saudi interior minister, and the camel he rode in on.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:59:00 PM Link
...

Iraq To Allow Weapons Inspectors Back Unconditionally, With The Following Conditions…

Right Wing News (Conservative News and Views) has this satirical look at Saddam's efforts to Clintonize (as in, "it all depends on the meaning of the word ______) the word "unconditional".

"When are we talking about, a return in 2006? 2007?" said Mr. Sabri, during a preliminary meeting with U.N. officials. "What, sooner? No problem. Just fill out this form. And these inspectors are all to be from Madagascar, right? What, no? No problem. We'll just have to delay things a bit while we hire some new cooks, and redesign the fine guestrooms. We were going for an Afro-Island look. Now it's back to the drawing board. This will all take time. Also, we're going to need some time with the access ramps. What, the inspectors aren't going to be wheelchair bound? Couldn't they be tied to wheelchairs? No, not as a condition, but just as a formality?"

If you don't get a laugh out of this you might be a Saddamite.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 9:30:00 PM Link
...

Welcome Daily Pundit Readers

Feel free to look around, check out the links, rate my site on BlogHop, and make yourselves at home. Y'all come back now, hear. ;-)

Thanks for the link, Bill.
:: Riyadh Delenda Est 12:19:00 PM Link
...