Armies of Liberation

Aghast, the world watched the horrific events of September 11th, 2001, unaware that it was a foreshadowing of a barbaric phenomenon that would spread to Istanbul, to Bali, to Riyadh, to Islamabad, to Baghdad, to Moscow, to Madrid, and to Beer Sheva, that civilians world over would be threatened with random death, beheading and kidnap within a few years. The atrocities have become commonplace in 2004.

Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York at the time of the attacks, led New Yorkers through their finest hour, unbowed, compassionate and determined to stand together. He is often called ‘Americas Mayor.’ During his recent speech at the Republican National Convention held in New York City, Giuliani recalled the day. He spoke of the moment American ’stood face to face with those people and forces who hijacked not just airplanes but a religion and turned it into a creed of terrorism dedicated to eradicating us and our way of life.’ (Read on …)

Doug’s reaction to the French response to terrorists demands that the headscarf ban be overturned:

Oh, you lily-livered appeasemonkey - you did not just say that.

Too bad the tactic has been legitimized by its success in achieving political goals with certain democracies, encouraging further use of the tactics.

The Commissar Notes the following “France’s attitude in the Iraq conflict should give it powerful leverage in Baghdad.” in the Tribune de Geneve. He says:

French comrades make reasonable case, da? Should not all enemies of le cowboy americain stand together?

The enemy of your enemy is still your enemy Jacque.

Before Voted Against Them.

Then, reaching back eight years to one of the more significant efforts to toughen sanctions on the communist island, Kerry volunteered: “And I voted for the Helms-Burton legislation to be tough on companies that deal with him.” There is only one problem: Kerry voted against it. Asked Friday to explain the discrepancy, Kerry aides said the senator cast one of the 22 nays that day in 1996 because he disagreed with some of the final technical aspects. But, said spokesman David Wade, Kerry supported the legislation in its purer form — and voted for it months earlier.

Even Frank Sinatra. Put down the bat Frank! Its only the rat pack after a shower.

From Memri:

Rami Khouri, the editor of the Lebanese Daily Star, published a column titled ‘Time to Implement Presidential Term Limits in the Middle East,’ criticizing, using irony, Arab leaders for ruling for an entire generation. The following are excerpts from the article:(1)

“This is not a facetious or sarcastic proposal, but a considered one. It is dictated in particular by the reality in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, whose three current leaders - Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi, Tunisia’s Zine al-Abidine ben Ali, and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak - have been in power for a total of 65 years … and still counting.

“Mubarak in Egypt assumed office in October 1981, has been ‘elected’ to four consecutive six-year terms, and his ruling National Democratic Party has routinely won over 75 percent of seats in Parliament. Ben Ali in Tunisia took over the presidency in a bloodless coup in November 1987, has been ‘elected’ for three consecutive five-year terms (the last time, in October 1999, with 99 percent of the vote), and two years ago held a referendum that changed the constitution to allow him to run for more than three terms. His Democratic Constitutional Assembly Party won 92 percent of the votes in the May 2000 municipal elections. Qaddafi in Libya, who took power in a military coup in 1969, largely defies historical analysis, because every few years he changes his own title and position, the country’s governance system and ideological orientation, and his relations with neighbors and other states in the region. The current power elite has ruled with him for 25 years - a full generation. (Read on …)

We arent bothered by the UN deadline at all. It never crossed our mind. said Sudans Agriculture Minister Majzoub Al-Khalifa.Sad, very sad. Its not a condemnation of multilateralism, because there is no unified international political will to take any action for the 2500 Sudanese who die daily. The UN 30 day deadline was more reflective of the international communitys desire to support Khartoum than to support its victims.

Tony Sodaro home from Iraq after quite a stint with the CPA. His last picture from Iraq. Stop by and give him a good old VRWC ew-rah! Then check out the photo archives at the bottom of the page.

Rusty has a post on the Wall Street Jounal’s piece on the interviews with bloggers who are covering the Republican National Convention, with pictures of Kevin from Wizbang and others. Go there and read it.

Our much vaunted allies are not sweating the small stuff,
The Rott reports:

The rocketing price of copper has pushed the production cost above the face value of the alloy coins. The alloys are a mix of 75 per cent copper and 25 percent nickel, a metal known to cause skin allergies. One study found that the two-toned coins release up to 320 times the maximum nickel allowed under Brussels’s own regulations.

A little covered story is that the enviro loons at the EU minted a coin that’s poisonous, but only if explosed to moisture from people’s palms. The particular blend of alloys they used emits massive amounts of nickel ions when the surface is moistened, handily turning the coin into a battery.

Ah but not to worry, the French don’t sweat much and they certainly are not in a habit of pulling out money.

UPdate: The above is based on this article in the Telegraph. The esteemed Tim Worstll points out: “1, 2 and 5 cent coins are in fact steel with a copper coating. The price of copper has about as much effect on the production costs as the price of oil does.” Tim says the telegraph does have some things right: “The two tone coins are the 1 and 2 euro, and yes, there really is concern about the nickel contents. Not actually the nickel itself, but the two tone part means that an electrolytic circuit is set up when touched by sweaty hands.”

Well that’s the buzz.
Thanks Gordon for the “heads up.”

Max Cleland is “quite mobile” but Bob Dole scores on points.

Dole told Kerry “I’m not trying to stir anything up, but I don’t believe every one of these people who have talked about what happened are Republican liars.

UPdate: Oh come on, did they really have to make him rollup his sleeve to show the stump? What is this, a Jerry Lewis marathon?

Seems old Chris Mathews couldn’t get anybody from the RNC to come on his show today to discuss Max’s stunt in Texas today. Wonder why? Well no loss really, Mathews just shouts over anybody he disagrees with.

from MEMRI

Journalist and former Kuwaiti communications minister Dr. Sa’ad bin Tefla was interviewed on Jordanian television about the culture of violence in Arab countries. Dr. bin Tefla rejected the notion that this can be blamed on Israel or the U.S., and instead blamed cultural roots, frustration, religious extremism, and intra-Arab violence. The following are excerpts from the interview:(1)

“… Slaughter, destructive abuse, anarchy, and bloodshed in no way resemble Jihad according to Shari’a and resistance. These are anarchy and terrorism [and not Jihad], and they are indications of frustration and of a culture of collective suicide reminiscent of whales.

“I maintain that unfortunately many in television, radio, and the press act according to the story of the one who murders and than attends the funeral of the victim. It is they who have pushed these young people into frustration and caused them to die for nothing and kill others with them, and to divide the world into black and white. I maintain that we are all responsible for this culture, and that Zionism and imperialism have nothing to do with it…” (Read on …)

The attack on Bangladeshi citizens, the attack on the Russian airliners, and the numerous attacks on civilians around the world daily demonstrates the radical Islamists are truly attacking all of humanity and our RIGHT to self-determination. Tieing their goals to short term politcal gains, the nature of their enemy is often masked. Portraying it as the Saudi Royal Family, the Banglashi opposition party and “American imperialism,” it is an attack on every child in the world. The jihadiis, far from fracturing societies, are generating a sense of international brotherhood among civilians, a transnationalism that is forged of a common enemy, and a global identity among earthspeople. We are all New Yorkers. We are all Bangladeshi.

To clarify: There has not been an official or legal finding of fact in the Bangladeshi rally bombing, only a claim of responsibility for the atack sent to and published in a Bangladeshi newspaper by an unknown group threatening to continue their efforts to assasinate the oppostion leader.

“Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” –Thomas Jefferson

“To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” –James Madison

“There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for certain defined purposes precisely stated in a treaty regulating all the details of time, place, circumstance, and quantity; leaving nothing to future discretion; and depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties.” –Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 15

from the Federalist

The Italian government said Tuesday it would maintain its 3,000 troops in Iraq despite an ultimatum from a radical Muslim group holding an Italian journalist and demanding that Rome withdraw its forces within 48 hours. Read the rest at Rusty’s.If only the rest of Europe had this courage…Now let’s find the guy, quickly.

Its past midnight in Lebanon, and there it is: MY ARTICLE in the popular Daily Star. The Star has a relatively progressive opinion section and takes on issues that often taboo in the rest of the ME.

I had sent The Daily Star at least 20 previous submissions in the past year and I dont know what hooked them on this one, except that it was written specifically for a Middle Eastern audience and is very informative. It’s much less of a rant than my last article in the Arab News. If I had to guess, I would say the issues of censorship and politcal strong-arming have ressonance in Lebanon.

Allowing Michael Moore and his mistruths free reign, the Democrats have tried to censor the Swift Boat Veterans. Democrats have attempted to interfere with the publication of the Swift Vets book Unfit for Command and intimidate bookstores that carry it. The Kerry campaign has sent letters to television stations urging them not to run the ad. Kerrys campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Bush campaign of collaboration with the Swift Vets. Kerry is demanding that President Bush, who has long opposed all the 527 political intervention, condemn this one ad in particular.

I did send the article to at least 40 newspapers in the US (all in swing states) and nuthin. I find it consistantly much easier to publish a pro-Bush article in the Middle East than here in the US.

Related : Michelle prints a rather scathing letter from an unaligned Vietnam veteran disecting Kerry’s Book: A lot has been made of John Kerry volunteering for combat. On page 104 of his book, it reads; “John Kerry would be training in San Diego for what he thought would be purely coastal patrolling of Operation Market Time, whose objective was to establish a barrier along the coast of Vietnam to interdict the infiltration of insurgent supplies by sea.”

Article here.

TV Host Chris Mathews will be talking to himself and other Democrats at the Rebublican National Convention (he normally shouts over the Republicans anyway), the Daily News reports.

The Hardball host has apparently been blackballed for his vigorously partisan views, as recently evidenced by his deplorable treatment of Michelle Malkin.

As a result, GOP officials are quietly advising Republicans not to go on his show. ” ‘Hardball’ may seem more like badminton during the Republican National Convention,” the magazine quoted one GOP insider as saying.

“Hardball” executive producer Tammy Haddad didn’t know her show was being blackballed, she said. “We beat everybody up,” she told the magazine.

I wonder if Tammy thinks “beating people up” constitutes good journalism? But I’m sure they are not too worried. Chris normally does most of the talking (or yelling) on the show, and not surprisingly, only his viewpoint gets an airing.

Update: A whole new Chris tonight, the Hulk subdued: he must have read the book, and noted for the first time some of the specific alligations and Kerry’s post war behavior. He also refered to the interview with Michelle. The Money Quote: “I watched the interview 12 times.” hmmmm…..

Care for a little Whine and Jeeze?

Abu Masab al-Zarqawi’s website is back up and running, fatwas and all, Rusty reports. Their American hosting company apparently has fixed that little problem of the American flag that they had yesterday. Using modern marvels to promote an ancient form of fascism, like Hitler used modern fim making to spread his propaganda, Zarqawi and his ilk want to impose a Taliban like state with the blood and fear of Americans, Muslims and humanity. That their host is in the US and probably claiming free speech rights is disheartening. that the ACLU and others would probably defend them, more so. That the Patriot Act is still opposed by anyone, absurd.

On a similiar note, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has a post about US companies that invest funds in terrorist sponsoring states. She links to Divestterror, a group that urges Americans to demand “our public and private pensions plans, college endowments, individual retirement account managers, 401(k) plans, and other investment vehicles exploit the leverage represented by investments in publicly traded companies that operate in terrorist-sponsoring states.” It is a movement similiar to the divestment of South African companies during the apartheid years.

Anybody here
Seen my old friend Gordon?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I’ve seen a lot of things but it seems the Commisar in the Gualg.
I just turned around,
And Rustys gone.

sniff…

Update: Now Baldilocks mysteriously vanished. I’m starting to get suspicious here.

Update YIPPPEEEEE! The Commissar is Back

Rusty did a great job manning the Dictat and
Now we can all start singing a new song:

Aint nothin like the real thing, baby
Nothin like the real thing

This is the first US Presidential election since the enactment of the Campaign Finance Reform Act. And the mud and money are flying more furiously than ever in the US.

The Campaign Finance Reform Act was intended to diminish the influence of rich citizens and lobby groups by limiting individual campaign contributions to $2000. To encouraging free expression of political opinions, individuals and groups are able to run political advertising that does not endorse a specific candidate. The groups may not coordinate with a candidate’s campaign. These ‘independent’ groups are usually called 527s in reference to the IRS code under which they operate.

Unable to endorse a candidate, the 527s instead attack the opposition with a fury more vigorous than a candidate would associate himself with directly. A record level of political advertising is expected this electoral season. Sixty-three million dollars of these ‘independent’ television ads have already run opposing President Bush, and a mere two and a half million against Senator Kerry, all under the guise of independent expression.

The ads have a tendency to stretch the truth. Move-On, one of these 527 groups, ran an ad attacking the Bush administration for cutting education funding and veterans benefits. Based on President Bushs latest budget, both education spending and the Veterans Affairs budget would increase by more than 35 percent.

The latest dust up has come from a small group, The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and a minor $200,000 ad buy. The group purports itself as formed: to counter the false ‘war crimes’ charges John Kerry repeatedly made against Vietnam veterans who served in our units and elsewhere, and to accurately portray Kerrys brief tour in Vietnam as a junior grade Lieutenant.

Mr. Kerry has defined his persona for the American electorate, and his Presidential bid, on his four months in Vietnam. He rarely mentions that he returned from war to throw his metals, or ribbons (no one is sure), over the fence of the White house in protest. He has skimmed over his twenty years in the US Senate to highlight his service in Vietnam. Candidate Kerry accepted his partys nomination with a salute and the words: My name is John Kerry and Im reporting for duty.

The charges by Mr. Kerrys former comrades undercut the premise of his candidacy- that he is more qualified to be president because of his military record. Polling shows the ad by the Swift Boat Veterans has affected American public opinion. The Democrats are in a tizzy and crying foul.

Kerrys surrogates have repeatedly challenged President Bushs service in the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War. Neither President Bush nor Vice-President Chaney saw active duty during the Vietnam War. President Bush has been called a Chicken Hawk by Senator Latenburg (D-NJ) and Vice President Cheney a coward by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Yet any public scrutiny of Kerrys war record is akin to questioning his heroism according to the Kerry camp.

Allowing Michael Moore and his mistruths free reign, the Democrats have sought to curtail the free speech of the veterans in the Swift Boat Group. They have attempted to interfere with the publication of the Swifties book Unfit for Command and intimidate bookstores that carry it. They have sent letters to television stations urging them not to run the ad. They have filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Bush campaign of collaboration with the Swift Vets.

The Democrats point to Bob Perry, a Republican supporter (from Texas!) and his $200,000 contribution to the Swift Vets. They ignore George Soros, who has given 12 million dollars to anti-Bush 527s, and his business partner Peter Lewis who contributed 14 million. The Democrats, typically the party of the little guy, appear unconcerned that the team of Soros and Lewis with their twenty six million dollars is subverting the democratic process, in spite Soros nearly Socialist agenda for the US.

Missing in the Democrats fury and the anti-Bush media coverage in the US is the fact that Mr. Kerry has not released his military records, as Mr. Bush has, or directly addressed the allegations of these men. (Read on …)

Wow, I got a link from Michelle Malkin from a comment i left at Rusty’s My Pet Jawa, the first place I check in when I log on daily.

Rusty, my blogdaddy, had a world exclusive on Zarqawis website being hacked.
My comment: “Ew-Rah!”

And yes, I do think that these sites should be attacked whenever encountered.

I have a great respect for Michelle’s literary skills and for banging out the great columns week after week. I’m trying to develop that skill and its not easy to be readable, interesting, informative, and persuasive. Also she’s very good on air and says the things that need to be said.

So thanks Rusty, thanks Michelle: the war of ideas continues. The battalions are forming up nicely.

for the Dems’s to be crying over Bob Perry’s 200,000 contribution to the swifties, when as mASS BACKWARDS reports near socialist George Soros has spent 12 million on anti Bush 527’s, and Soros’s business partner Peter Lewis 14 million.

Back in March I said: The hippie generation is well entrenched in the ruling class and theyre not going down without a fight. Its the hippies verses the rednecks and nerds. Strength and intellect verses utopian ideology.

I realized today that the hippie generation hasn’t progressed in their political analysis past the paradigm popular in the 1950’s and 1960’s of the “military/industrial complex.” Thus they see the motivation for US actions inIraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Sudan as “It’s all about the Oil.” And they endlessly discuss “Big Corporations” without noticing that most of the GDP comes from small and midsize businesses.

These people are products of the ’60’s when everything was the fault of “the man.” Now they’re all grown up, in positions of power, and still blame mythical government forces for everything wrong in their lives. Extending this simplistic view to international politics, it all must be America’s fault. And the remedy is sensitivity, unless you disagree. Thousands of these throwbacks will appear next week in New York. And each and every one will feel “cool” for participating.

The new Swifties ad will make some of them like Kerry BETTER when they see his long hair and defiance of authority. The rest of America will see Kerry’s actions as harming the POWs still in ‘Nam and there will be no denying it. This time it is on tape. In his own words. There’s no facts or memories involved. America will have to define itself. Is it the Age of Aquarius? Or the New Normal?

Related: How to confuse the hippies from the Leather Penguin.

Slowly recovering from the extremely devasting recent floods, Bangladesh faces another challenge says Rezwan of Third World View:

“The Islami fanatics of Bangladesh show their true colors again. They have been using the religion Islam to provoke the sentiments of the peace loving Bengalis, the majority of whom is good practicing Muslims. Recently a Bengali daily newspaper “The Prothom Alo” has published a series of reports about some Madrasas in remote corners of the country which has been giving training to extremists. The fundamentalists’ response was to burn copies of the Prothom Alo and ransacking its billboards in the capital for publishing the stories….Why the rage against Prothom Alo? Because, the investigative reports have clearly depicted the madrasas’ source of funds (mostly from Saudi Arabia & other Arab countries) and their missions - to clinch power of this country. These extremists have the same ideology of Al-Qaeda & Talibans….BNP do not realise now that their enemy is not the other oppositions, but their coalition partner, the Islamists. ”

Read the rest. There’s also a handy link to relief efforts for the flood victims.

Also today in Bangladesh AP reports: : “A series of bombs exploded as a top Bangladeshi opposition leader was speaking at a rally from atop a truck Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds, witnesses and news reports said….Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 140 million people, has a history of political unrest. It has witnessed two presidents assassinated in military coups and 19 failed coup attempts since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.”

INSIGHTS on the yesterday’s attack from Rezwan who confirms that

the “13 grenades thrown on a crowded Awami League rally in Gulistan yesterday was an assassination attempt on Sheikh Hasina, leader of opposition and former prime minister of Bangladesh. The attack succeeded in killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 300 people….Attacks on the Awami League leadership at different public rallies across the country have increased recently as the party continues to have a firm stand against religious radicals…. If these quarters are not stopped, it will not be long when such attacks would be carried out in BNP rallies too. It is clear now that there are some quarters who wants to annihilate all those who are a threat in their efforts to make this country a Taliban-like state….The Awami League is again misdirecting the anger towards the government (because of power hunger) and again resorting to general strikes (Hartals). The BNP supporters are even thinking that it was AL’s internal clash (They have wildest of dreams without logic). But the blame game would certainly cheer up the perpetrators as they are being untouched and they are heading for their goal.”

Rewan highlights an important element of the representitive political model in majority Muslim countries. Radical Islamists are encouraged to join the political process and often form coalitions with other parties, increasing their popular strength. The goals of these Islamists though are fundamentally opposed to consensus government and self-representation. In the short term, opposition parties are targeted by the zeal of the Islamists, to the approval of their power hungry politicial partners. In the long term, neither the coaltion party nor the nation itself is safe when this fascist ideology is impowered to pursue their goal of a Taliban style state imposed and maintained by force.

Colin Powell weighs in: Washington, DC August 22, 2004:

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific attacks on the Awami League that took place in Dhaka on August 21. The perpetrators of this heinous act clearly intend to undermine democracy in Bangladesh. They must not succeed. The United States expresses its condolences to the victims of these criminal attacks and their families. We reiterate our steadfast support for Bangladesh’s democracy and call for those responsible to be brought to justice. The United States urges all parties to act with restraint and to work together to reduce tensions and respect life.

Najah Ali lost his boxing bout: I was really hoping for a knockout in the fourth round. The Iraqi soccer team has won their game today and moves onto the next level. Ali Mohamed has the wrap-up:

The Iraqi soccer team is one victory away from an improbable trip to the podium.Emad Mohammed’s 12-yard bicycle kick in the 64th minute gave Iraq a 1-0 victory over Australia in the quarterfinals Saturday, putting the invaded, war-torn country in position to compete for only its second Olympic medal in the nation’s history.Iraq will play either Paraguay or South Korea in the semifinals in Thessaloniki on Tuesday. Even a loss in the semis would put the Iraqis in the bronze medal game, where they could become the first athletes from their country to win a medal since Abdul Wahid Aziz’s weightlifting bronze in Rome in 1960.

I had been rooting wholeheartedly for the team when this article, “Iraqi Footballers Fury at Bush,” appeared in the BBC, the NY Daily News, and newspapers around the world yesterday:

Mr Manajid, from Falluja - a hotbed of armed opposition to the US-led occupation in Iraq - said if he was not playing football “for sure” he would be fighting as part of the resistance….Coach Adnan Hamad said he was concerned with what the Bush administration was doing in Iraq. “My problems are not with the American people. They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything,” he said. “The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?”

Asher pointed out the characterization of these views as representitive of the whole team are unsubstantiated and wonders “But did any of the other footballers express different sentiments?” and he quotes Omar of Iraq the Model: “all the reporter could come up with were comments from 2 players and the coach out of 22 players and several trainers, medical staff…etc So if those were the ‘best’ comments he could get, I’m interested to know what were the comments of the others …”

When you add in this photo, they may have a point: maybe that’s not the consensus of the team. (Read on …)

email from activist chat:

On Sunday, August 15, a 16-year-old girl in the town of Neka, northern Iran, was executed. Atefeh Sahaleh was hanged in public on Simetry Street off Rah Ahan Street at the city center.

In her summary trial, the teenage victim did not have any lawyer and
efforts by her family to recruit a lawyer was to no avail. Atefeh
personally defended herself. She told the religious judge, Haji Rezaii,
that he should punish the main perpetrators of moral corruption not the
victims.

The criminal judge personally pursued Atefehs death sentence, beyond all normal procedures and finally gained the approval of the Supreme Court. After her execution Rezai said her punishment was not execution but he had her executed for her ’sharp tongue’.

Related:
from The Iranian A photo essay of Iranian Woman. I was quite surprised at all the hair showing, the jeans, and chic looking duds mixed in with the women in black. Its quite a differant picture than I was expecting, if you’ll pardon the pun. A quote from the photographer:

Once I made pictures on the Tehran bazaar, suddenly an unknown man appeared beside and while we were walking he whispered quickley in my ear: ‘Try to make pictures of the young people, try to show their sadness in the deepth of their heart, try to show it on your pictures!” Then he quickley turned left and disappeared.

(Apologies to any cavemen) even if you didn’t happen to catch Chris Mathews foaming and ranting at his guests views of the Swifties story last night including Larry Thurgow and Michelle Malkin. (Mathews was crazed, crazed I say, even before Michelle come on, so much so that I nuged awake my husband just to watch Mathews implode on air.) I was so disturbed that I sent this email to MSNBC immediately after the show:

Your channel should just put up a banner that says “Vote for Kerry” and let everybody go home. You shouldn’t call your hosts journalists but opinionists, as they are one-sided, present a half story, and treat those with opposing opinions contemptuously. Incidentally, how can Chris Matthew’s rant and foam about a book he’s never read?

I also sent the swifties a donation. It was that over the top. But enough about me. Go read Michelle. She did a great job under extremely hostile circumstance. (I was wondering if Mathews was going to pop her. He was that angry- yelling, spitting, interupting.)

Well, guess what? This foaming jerk Matthews, who called me irresponsible and kicked me off the show admitted that a) he himself had not read the damned book, b) he was not interested in asking Kerry about the specific doubts raised by vets about his wounds, and c) he had not and would not question Kerry about these specific allegations.

“Are you saying he shot himself on purpose?” Matthews hammered. I repeated myself again clearly that I was referring to the allegations about self-inflicted wounds in the book. When I tried to explain that the vets who were with Kerry had cast a lot of doubt on whether enemy fire occurred during the first two incidents, Matthews cut me off again. “Why did you say that?” he badgered. Because, I said, I was talking about what was in the book, which he had admitted he hadn’t read.

“Don’t you wonder?” I asked. “No, I don’t,” he bellowed. “It’s never occurred to me.” With that, I was kicked off the second segment.

Updates: Right on Red posts: The thing to remember about Matthews is that he joined the Peace Corps rather than go to Vietnam. He is consumed with liberal guilt over this, and John Kerry is the Redeemer for his generation - the soldier who was brave enough to go to war, and righteous enough to protest the war when he got back. This is why Matthews takes it so personally to hear Kerry’s war record questioned.

From Balloon Juice: Chris Matthews is now officially off the deep end. …It was stunning.

The Mathews “blog” is availble here, with an email comments link.

LaShawn Barber reports: John Kerrys band of legal thugs is asking Regnery Publishing to withdraw the book that exposes him as a liar. What a gaggle of idiots. (I try not to call people idiots, but it’s Friday and I feel like doing it.)

UPDATE: Mathews curiously “on vacation” tonight. My guesses:
1) he is meeeting with his shrink, working on “rage” issues-a one day intense session;
2) he is crashing hard- a two day sleep;
3) he is reading “Unfit for Command,” a three day marathon with cliff notes.

UPDATE II: MSNBC now airing ad acknowleging book says wound was from ricochet from Kerry’s own grenede but self-inflicted is not a perjorative term in the military.

The Sudan Tribune excerpts:

The present analysis offers an estimated total of 180,000 deaths in Darfur over the past 18 months. This includes a figure of 80,000 violent deaths…The US Agency for International Development’s “Projected Mortality Rates in Darfur, 2004-2005″ suggests that over 2,500 people are now dying daily—mainly invisibly. (Read on …)

What IS that Alston thing all about?

Except that Kerry appears to have simply appropriated the combat record of Lt. Ted Peck, for it was under Peck and not Kerry that Alston received his wounds. As Peck, himself, maintains (and is borne out by virtually all of the relevant combat records):

On the Kerry website, the report of the combat on that day on the 94 boat is posted as occurring during Kerry’s time as skipper of the boat. Peck said Kerry replaced him after the Jan. 29, 1969, event.

Theres more as usual when dealing with Kerry.

Swifties keeping up with the news cycle: “I submitted no paperwork for a medal nor did I file an after action report describing the incident. To my knowledge, John Kerry was the only officer who filed a report describing his version of the incidents that occurred on the river that day. “

Memri: The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa recently reported that Iran has delivered missiles to Hizbullah in Lebanon via Syria, and that Iran and Syria are cooperating closely in missile development and deployment. The following are excerpts of the article:(1)

“Two cargo aircraft landed on the morning of Wednesday, August 4, 2004, at one of the Syrian military airfields in north Damascus. There to greet the planes were Iranian Ambassador to Syria Riza Baqiri and Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mas’ud Idris.”

Al-Siyassa also reported that “several Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had arrived the previous day from their headquarters at a Hizbullah military camp near the town of Qasrbana in al-Buqa’ in order to unload a significant number of surface-to-surface missiles.” (Read on …)

Apparently Tommy Franks was not too impressed with Richard Clark:

I left his office hoping that my emphasis on practical solutions to real problems would spur him to home in on some real targeting opportunities. But I suspected that Dick was better at identifying a problem than at finding a workable solution.

The Redhunter has a few more goodies.

Update on Tommy Franks from that ever vigilent Redhunter: ‘Dick Cheney never asked more than one of two questions at each briefing, but they consistently cut to the core of the issue at hand.’

Carter heckeled in Venezuela

Related: Expectations are that oil prices may rise again now that Chavez has withstood the recall, as many investors may pull back fearing Chavezs socialist leaning government will nationalize the oil industry. Venezuela is one of the USs largest oil suppliers.

Update: Many in the opposition are baffled by the inverse relationship between the projected numbers and those reported by the Chávez regime. One possible clue to this remarkable phenomenon lies with the companies hired to supply the voting machines and the software. Smartmatic Corp., a Florida company that has never before supplied election machinery, is owned by two Venezuelans. (Read on …)

Professor Chaos has the news of Nancy and her paddle.

Good on her. I wish she would speak out for Bush though.

UPDATE: Professor Chaos notes this statement: “She’s in full and complete support of President Bush’s candidacy,” Reagan spokeswoman Joanne Drake said Tuesday.

At a post worth reading in full, which includes the following:

You can’t say if Islam is good or evil without knowing what Islam is. And unfortunately, unlike a political method used by a small number of people, it is very difficult to know what a 1400 year old religion with 1.3 billion believers really “is”.

You certainly won’t find the answer in a few quotes from the Koran, or in the statements of a few Muslims.

Bjorn says:

Something has gone rotten. We can’t blame it on the “left”, the “relativists”, the “PC crowd” or the “multiculturalists”, (and don’t anybody dare blame it on the Muslims). It’s gone rotten here, among people who on 9/11 woke up to the danger of Islamism. The ban Islam meme and all its relatives (Islam is Islamism, Islam is war) must be confronted here, now, before it spreads.

My sympatico John, who has lived and worked in the ME, weighs in:

…. neither America nor the West hates Islam. But there are Americans and Westerners who actually do hate Islam, in all of its manifestations.

Some, like the Norwegian Bjorn Staerk whos cited above, and American Gary Farber, of Winds of Change are challenging the bigots and haters. Their postings are well worth reading.

These two should also serve as examples for Muslims, though. ..

I am gratified to see these bold positions taken. Clearly the vast majority of Muslims do not view their religion as a call to war but rather as a personal connection to God. To condemn all Muslims for the actions of the zealots is similiar to condemning all the US for the lynching of American blacks in the 19th and 20th conturies.

And clearly there is an urgent threat from al-Qaeda, Whabbi extremists and their spokesmen who prey on an often illiterate and impoverished population with their version of Islam. This ideology, their brutal tactics, and global organization are in opposition to the very existance of liberal values and the democratic model.

In the war of ideas, it is clearly counter-productive to paint the all Muslims with a broad brush. As we know, the majority of Muslims do not reside in the Middle East, are peaceful people going about their lives, and are not engaged in a jihad against the US or anybody else.

As John notes, Muslims themselves bear the duty to speak out and act out against their co-religionalists. But the issue in the above posts is our duty, and our struggle against our biases, our fear, and our anger.

To be clear this is an introspective post, as I am sure somewhere on this website some degrogatory remarks (the religion of peas) can be found, especially around the time of the immoliation of the contractors in Fallujah or the beheading of Nick Berg.

Update: a great series that I have been hording for months is Habibee’s Women in Veils, a photo essay on Muslim women from around the world. This series shows the diversity, depth and lifestyles of various women by country. It demonstrates the wide range of interpretations of the veil. It also shows that even in far away lands and unusual garb, women share many interests world over: chatting, food, kids, work.

UPDATE: Bjorn has a follow up post, agin worth the whole read:

The overall tone of the reply is one I’ve encountered a lot lately: “So there are a few extremists. What’s the big deal? Anyway - let’s get back to discussing how evil Islam is.” And that is the real problem here, this willingness to make apologies for extremists, this refusal to focus for long on anything but the threat of Islam. I fear that many have focused so hard on the evil of Islam that they’ve forgotten any other considerations, such as the values of the society they’re supposedly protecting.

No, not in the West Wing….in Apocalypse Now

On more than one occasion, I, like Martin Sheen in “Apocalypse Now,” took my patrol boat into Cambodia….It was only after the sergeant attempted to murder me by dropping a hand grenade in the latrine I was using, was I able to react. I struck the sergeant in the face with a shovel.

Read it all and watch out for the cranky neocon.

From MEMRI

In an editorial in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, Dr. Burhum Ahmad Salih, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and former prime minister of the regional Kurdish government in Suleimaniya, declares that the fight against terrorism is a collective responsibility from which none is exempt. The following are excerpts from the column:

“When you follow the terrorist operations in Iraq from the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003 until today, you see clearly that they are heading toward a slippery slope that has no justification, even according to the perverse logic of the perpetrators. After they have raised the banner of ‘resisting the Occupier’ and targeting the ‘invading forces’ in order to ‘liberate the country,’ they eventually came to attack mosques and churches and markets, and to kill ordinary citizens mercilessly and shamelessly.

“In Ba’quba the terrorists targeted Iraqi citizens who stood in line to enlist in the police force and killed dozens of them and of the police. In the attack last Sunday [August 1] the target was worshippers in churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in coordinated attacks which had a clear purpose; namely, to stir up religious conflicts among members of the one Iraqi family. After having failed in their attempts to stir up civil war among Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen, as well as sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shi’ites, they resorted to targeting unsuspecting Christian citizens, who have coexisted peacefully with their fellow Iraqis for hundreds of years. All of these are easy targets, because it is impossible anywhere in the world - and especially in countries like Iraq, which are founded on the culture of respect for human rights and law - it is impossible in all of these countries to protect every single mosque and church and every shop, university, hospital, market, and institution. It is also impossible to discover the intentions of suicide terrorists before they arrive at the act of suicide unless they declare them publicly. (Read on …)

Please note that Texas is the only state with a legal right to secede from the Union (please refer to the Texas-American Annexation Treaty of 1848). We Texans love y’all, but we’ll have to take action if Kerry wins president over Bush. We’ll miss you, too

There is a twelve point plan at Dagney’s.

And Bruce is Mother Teresea, Who are you?

The Bush campaign’s most lucrative industry is Retired [$17,855,519]
The Kerry campaign’s top industry is Lawyers/Law Firms [$13,462,288]
I guess George has more pinchable cheeks. ( more)

My post showed up in less than 12 hours. It showed up right away. On blogger is would take hours sometimes. I used to have to go into my archives to get the permalink to make trackbacks or wait 12 hours. Oh I’m having fun now.

I just edited without exiting. I like Word Press.

Wow. This is great. I won the blogging package at the Hook-a-Thon. (It was way too cheep so I sent some extra money to Hook.) Lisa at Blogs About Hosting has been so nice and all I had to do was give her my Blogger password and she did all the rest. I was so relieved. It was a perfect transaction for a non-techie like me. Quite inexpensive too. I was quite suprised shocked at how reasonable it is. (For those of you who didn’t key in on Hooks problem- his host dropped him without warning- and Lisa rescued him. ) Word Press is as easy as Blogger. More options and automatic trackbacks too. And you don’t have to wait hours for a post to show up. If I had known how easy it was, I would have done it much sooner.

The following are translations of comments posted in Arabic at the BBC website regarding Sadr.

From BBCArabic.com: I call on the whole world to come to Najaf to bear witness. The BBC should not call these people the Mehdi Army. They are unworthy of this holy name. They kill children because they shake hands with the American “infidels”. How can they claim to be religious?
Benna, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: People here should know that all Najafis totally reject Moqtada Sadr. His militia’s alleged defence of the city is just a cover-up for its members’ reckless acts. They are desecrating the city’s Holy Shrines and treat the local population exactly like Saddam’s henchmen use to.
Jasim Al Zubaydi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am a resident of Najaf. I saw outsider gunmen - some of them foreign - sneaking into the city. Their intention is to threaten its peace and security under the cover of the Mehdi Army. Iraq has become a battlefield for settling scores. Some claim Islam, and they couldn’t be farther from it. There is also involvement by intelligence of neighbouring countries, and farther field.
Najaf Resident, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am from Najaf and I did see a number of Iranians fighting there. A friend of mine saw lots of Iranian weapons in the hands of Al Sadr followers.
Haidar Mohammed, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Large scale arrests of Al Mahdi Army took place in the city of Al Samawa. This was to prevent an outbreak of violence in this city, 80 km from Al Najaf, after militiamen from