June 15, 2005

Flag Desecration Amendment: BAD IDEA

Morality cannot exist without choice. One who is compelled to do good is a slave. As Aristotle argued, slaves cannot be citizens of a society because they are not autonomous and therefore not moral agents. The good society is the one which is given the choice between good and bad, yet chooses the good.

Utopian societies are evil because they force men to do what is seen as proper action. Communism compelled redistribution of wealth by murdering millions. Islamists compel proper religious duty through force of law and penalty of death.

What makes America the last best hope on Earth is that we compel so little of our proper action. As Dinesh D'Souza so forcefully argues in What's So Great About America:

The radical Islamists hate us not because they misunderstand us, but because they understand us all too well. They know that "America is a subversive idea" -- and that the spread of American ideals such as democracy, capitalism, and individual rights will undermine their efforts to establish theocracy. [source]
To pass an Amendment outlawing flag desecration is to take away a little of America's greatness. I am against any efforts to ban flag desecration. USA Today:
The Senate may be within one or two votes of passing a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the U.S. flag, clearing the way for ratification by the states, a key opponent of the measure said Tuesday.
Being against a flag desecration amendment, though, does not mean I support desecrating the flag. I agree with Rob of Say Anything:
The flag is a symbol. A powerful and sentimental symbol, but ultimately a symbol none-the-less. If people feel the need to make statement by destroying that symbol, then so be it. Its a rather ludicrous statement because the symbol theyÂ’re destroying stands for the very freedom that allows them to destroy it in the first place. After all, such open dissent against the government would not be tolerated in a lot of places on the globe. But whatever, thatÂ’s their stupidity and not mine.
Having come out against a Constitutional Amendment outlawing flag desecration, let me just add that there may be certain contexts in which such desecration could give rise to acts of treason or violence. But it is the context in which the act is done, not the act itself, which should be the guiding principle in which the law should be invoked. Inciting to treason is what ought to be outlawed, therefore, and not 'flag desecration'.

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Bin Laden Alive and Well

If a TV reporter can interview a guy who says he knows where bin Laden is, why can't the CIA?

Bin Laden alive and well (thanks readers):

Osama bin Laden is alive and in good health, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar, a purported senior commander of the ousted Afghan religious militia said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday. Pakistan's Geo television broadcast the interview with a man it identified as Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, a former Afghan aviation minister who said he still receives instructions from Omar.

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Rape Victim Ordered to Marry Rapist Father-in-law

This is almost indescribably sick: "An Indian woman who was allegedly raped by her father-in-law is now being ordered by a Muslim council of community elders to marry him."

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The Hansell-Lemay Turning Point

By Demosophist

It's compelling to compare the analyses of two popular bloggers who are frequently at odds, and both of whom think the current effort in Iraq may be falling short of expectations: Wretchard, at The Belmont Club and Larry Johnson, at the Counterterrorism Blog. These represent, at least superficially, somewhat differing perspectives on strategic policy. On the one hand Johnson depicts US policy in the Middle East as a "looming debacle." These are words that we tolerate only if their justification is obvious and irrefutable, for good reason: because they can become a self-fulfilling prophesy. We might be better disposed to such language if the ideas they expressed contained clear alternatives that led to some conclusion other than "debacle," but we still tend to distrust them because they belie what appears to be a short-sighted insensitivity to the public good, whether that perception is actually true or not. more...

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Former Bush Official's 9/11 Conspiracy Theory

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Is this guy for real?? Washington Times:

former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Former chief economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings."

Kevin Aylward notes:
Of course to really earn his tin-foil hat he has to attempt to make the case that no planes hit the twin towers, or the Pentagon, or the field in Pennsylvania
How did that go again? Place tinfoil on head, like so. Alien brain scanning now blocked......

UPDATE: Goldstein: "“Which, where do think the technology for the universal remote came from—humans? Please...”

Ace: "She's on the roof."

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Australian Hostage Douglas Wood Rescued in Iraq

Douglas Wood, an Alamo, California, resident with Australian citizenship, has been rescued by Iraqi forces backed by U.S. troops from his terrorist captors.

Developing. Check back later for updates.......

News.com Australia:

AUSTRALIAN hostage Douglas Wood is well and undergoing medical checks following his rescue more than six weeks after being kidnapped in Iraq.

The 63-year-old engineer, with numerous health problems, was in good health in Baghdad tonight, and he was under the protection of an Australian taskforce sent to Iraq to negotiate his release, Prime Minister John Howard told Parliament.
Mr Wood was freed this afternoon by Iraqi and US troops in Baghdad, Mr Howard said.

"I am delighted to inform the house that the Australian hostage in Iraq Mr Douglas Wood is safe from his captors," he said to cheers in Parliament.

"Mr Wood was recovered a short while ago in Baghdad in a military operation that I'm told was conducted by Iraqi forces."

Mr Wood was well and was undergoing medical checks while in the care of the Australian emergency response team, Mr Howard said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer meanwhile said Mr Wood was in good shape, if mentally exhausted.

He said he had called the Wood family with the good news at 6pm.

A family spokesman said: "They are elated.

"They haven't spoken to him yet but I understand that all of the family know in all parts of the world."

Mr Wood, a US-based Australian with an American wife, Yvonne, and a daughter, Christina, has brothers living in Australia

UPDATE: John Little of Blogs of War points us to this article in The Australian:
Seventeen days later Iraq security forces stumbled by chance on the house where he was being held during an early-morning search in a northern suburb of Baghdad.

In an operation codenamed Lightning and supported by US advisers, the Iraqis were conducting "snap, cordon and search" raids from house to house.

"They just happened to get lucky," a coalition defence source in Iraq said last night. Australian commanders, who had no advance knowledge of the operation, were caught by surprise.

If you are at all interested in the lies being told by the Islamofascist apologist and Grand Mufti of Australia, then you have to read this post by Tim Blair. Sheikh al-Hillali is claiming that it was he who arranged for Wood's release.

UPDATE II: KrilliX adds, "Con un’operazione militare. Senza pagare riscatti e finanziare i terroristi. Evidentemente si può fare anche così." Indeed.

Related posts from The Jawa Report:
Family of Australian Hostage Starts a Blog
Time Running Out for Duglas Wood
Terrorists Issue 72 Hour Ultimatum to Aussies
The Life of a Hostage in Iraq
Australian Douglas Wood in Hostage Video, Appeals to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bush, Howard

Resources:
The Wood family blog--blog started by Douglas Wood's family in an effort to convince the terrorists to let him go.

Others: John Little at Blogs of War, Tim Blair blogging from Australia, Captain Ed, Red at Scared Monkeys, see fatwas issued below for others....

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June 14, 2005

EFF-protecting blogger rights

My darling husband found this website and the accompanying picture:

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Cute, eh?

Anyway, if you care at all about blogger rights you should definitely visit this site. It's worth a look around. Here's an exerpt:

Other ways we're fighting for your rights:

Bloggers can be journalists (and journalists can be bloggers) - We're battling for legal and institutional recognition that if you engage in journalism, you're a journalist, with all of the attendant rights, privileges, and protections. (See Apple v. Does.)

Bloggers are entitled to free speech - We're working to shield you from frivolous or abusive threats and lawsuits. Internet bullies shouldn't use copyright, libel, or other claims to chill your legitimate speech. (See OPG v. Diebold.)

Bloggers have the right to political speech - We're working with a number of other public-interest organizations to ensure that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) doesn't gag bloggers' election-related speech. We argue that the FEC should adopt a presumption against the regulation of election-related speech by individuals on the Internet, and interpret the existing media exemption to apply to online media outlets that provide news reporting and commentary regarding an election -- including blogs. (See our joint comments to the FEC; [PDF, 332K].)

Bloggers have the right to stay anonymous - We're continuing our battle to protect and preserve your constitutional right to anonymous speech online, including providing a guide to help you with strategies for keeping your identity private when you blog. (See How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else).)

Bloggers have freedom from liability for hosting speech the same way other web hosts do - We're working to strengthen Section 230 liability protections under the Communications Decency Act (CDA) while spreading the word that bloggers are entitled to them. (See Barrett v. Rosenthal.)

Check it out, kids.

Cross-posted at Suzanne's blog

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Former Iraq Hostage Says Captors Gave her Rings and Perfume

And from the "Isn't That Special" file.....

Former hostage Florence Aubenas says her captors gave her gifts of two rings and a bottle of perfume when they released her at the weekend after more than five months of captivity in Iraq.

She told her newspaper, Liberation, that one of her guards said, “We have prepared some presents for you” just before she was freed on Saturday. “They gave me two rings and a bottle of perfume.”

Her captors also returned her handbag, which still contained her identity papers and money, and served her tea and roast chicken, she said.

Heartwarming indeed. Just goes to show that even brutal murdering beheading terrorist scumbags can effectively bullsh!^ the press.

BTW, Grundgy Islamofascists who haven't seen a bathtub in months think the French stink too.

Posted by Traderrob

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It's official: Christina Aguilera's Music is Torture

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Ok, I now admit that interogation methods used at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were in fact torture. Ananonva:

Christina Aguilera's music has reportedly been used to interrogate a leading al Qaeda suspect at Guantanamo Bay.

Time magazine says her songs were played to try to break down Mohammed al Qahtani who is believed to be the so-called 20th hijacker.

Qahtani is thought to have tried to enter the US in August 2001 as part of the team which took part in the September 11 attacks.

That's cruel and unusual in my book....

UPDATE: Whoever is in charge over at The Superficial has similar thoughts (and headline...ahem...cough...):

Thanks a lot pussy liberals. This could have been an awesome report if not for you, and they could have replaced the words “dripping water onto” with “slammed a hammer into” and “playing Christina Aguilera music” with “execute”. Honest to God, once I'm in charge, if I see any electronic equipment brought into a room with a guy involved with 9/11, I better hear the phrase, “Red is positve, black is negative” and “don't bother with any KY.”

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Unanswered Questions in the Florence Aubenas Hostage Saga

Were the hostages captives of a criminal gang or terrorists? What was Didier Julia's role? Was a ransom paid? The Bad Hair Blog has the details.

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Porn Star Mary Carey's Dinner with President Bush

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Maybe I'm the last blogger on earth to hear that former California gubernatorial governor and porn star Mary Cary is scheduled to have dinner with President Bush tonight, but no one is going to accuse Rusty Shackleford of not doing his utmost to get to the bottom of this story! Oh Infinite Zeuss, why do you mock me?? Why could I have not been in D.C. this week!!

Via Wonkette and the America Blog I learn that Mary Cary is set to be at National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) fundraiser tonight as the guest of pornographer and president of Kick Ass Pictures president Mark Kulkis.

As we speak Kulkis & Carey are scheduled to be having lunch with Karl Rove. At 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Carey will be at The Coyote Ugly Saloon in Washington, DC, for a pre-dinner press-conference where she will be showing off her dress for this evening's festivities with the President. Mary Cary is going to announce her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of California at the conference.

If you are in the D.C. area, grab a digital cam and get on over there (you have all of 5 minutes to get there). If you need some press credentials I'll be happy to provide you some on condition that you bring a digital cam!

Of course, the mavens over at Wonkette are publishing this because they think it is so ironical. And the gay-outing thugs over at America Blog want to show the hypocrisy of the Republicans inviting a pornorgrapher to a fundraiser. And no doubt this will become something of a minor embarrasment for the administration among inside the beltway pundits tomorrow morning. The kind of story where no one will actually talk about what happened, but all will pause to speak of the effect of what happened on the President's poll numbers, support among Christians, and so forth.

On behalf of all South Park Republicans everywhere let me be the first to say, Mr. President, have an enjoyable dinner with that porn star!

marycareyunclesam1.jpgOn a serious note, there is no way that President Bush knows that Mary Cary is going to be there. It's also very unlikely that KKKarl Rove or any of the Bush people know what Kick Ass Productions is or that Mark Kulkis is an adult film producer. I was never one of those right-wingers who got all over Clinton for having drug dealers in the White House or who got all upset about Gore's campaign fundraising troubles. The reality is that modern campaigns are run like very large corporations, with the people at the top knowing very little about the day to day operations of the organization.

Further, neither she nor Kulkis is actually having dinner with the President as their press release implies. Hundreds of people will be at that dinner. If being in the same room with the President while you put food in your mouth counts as 'having dinner', then I've dined with Senators, had brunch with Kings, and even had tea with the first lady. You know, cause I was in the same room and all....

Anyway, I have no objections to a porn star going to a Republican fundraiser. Heck, I want more porn stars at Republican fundraisers! But this will be a minor embarassment tomorrow if word doesn't get out and Kulkis's invite isn't cancelled in the next few hours, so heads up on this.

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UPDATE: I didn't notice this last week on WND. In it, Cary claims she is a Christian. Ok, maybe Cary doesn't understand what it means to be a Christian or maybe she's just a bad Christian, but that just seems like one of the most idiotic statements ever. Or maybe she read the part about Jesus saving the adultress from those who would stone her Taliban style, but forgot to read on to the next part where he says, "Go and sin no more."

I love this one:

When asked about Bible verses condemning adultery, she responded, "Bill Clinton committed adultery. [Doing] adult movies is acting, portraying a role. It's not Mary Ellen Cook, the real me."
Acting, right. *cough*

Anyway, from the WND article we already get a preview of the brew-ha-ha that's coming down:

"The reason these people are doing this is for publicity and to embarrass Bush," Wildmon told WND. "I think the Republicans can survive this, but they need to go public with an explanation. They need to exclude them or withdraw the invitation. Just doing nothing is the worst thing they can do."
True that. My explanation would be to point out that Jesus also like to dine with sinners. That's the excuse Carter used. After all, if Jimmy Carter can admit to having 'unclean thoughts' in a Playboy interview and still escape with a squeaky clean image, I'm sure President Bush can survive this.

And yes, I'm both a blog pimp and a link whore.....

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Chicago Style

I looked over the account of the suspected twentieth hijackerÂ’s (wait? wasnÂ’t that Moussaoui? Or is he now the 21st hijacker?) interrogation at Guantanamo. Someone leaked a document to Time, which ran to publish its breathless handwringing gotcha scoop. (The whole story is only available to Time subscribers; but hereÂ’s a press release; here are excerpts from the log; and hereÂ’s Brother LileksÂ’ incomparable japery.) I canÂ’t compete with Lileks on this one, but let me throw a thought at you:

Time got played. If this thing wasnÂ’t leaked by Karl Rove himself, it shoulda been.

YÂ’all remember that movie, the Untouchables? Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner) and Malone (Sean Connery), couple other guys go after the oily, brutal Al Capone, played by Robert DeNiro. And the Untouchables quickly realize that the regular methods of police work just donÂ’t apply to this war. When they go on a raid of a liquor warehouse, Capone is tipped off and clears his booze out. And he tips off the media so when Ness opens what he thinks is a crate of liquor bottles, and he pulls out a parasol, a cameraman is there to record his mistake. A picture of Ness looking stupid is on the front page the next day.

It’s funny, when you think about it, how the press were portrayed in that film: they were staunchly anti-crime and kept hassling the cops to end this horrble crime wave–while at the same time they never missed a chance to make the cops look stupid and Capone look ten thousand feet tall and unbeatable. Though they would deny it, they were complicit in Capone’s power. They fawningly took down every single word he said at press conferences, printed his lies, and laughed at his jokes. It was easy to do that. Capone would kill you, the cops wouldn’t. It was easy for the press to swim with that current. Swim against it, prick the ego, tarnish the myth, look too deeply into the abyss, and you would sleep with the fishes.

Sound familiar?

Anyway, Ness is dejected about being set up and at some point early on in the movie, Malone, the gruff Irish beat cop, gives him one of the greatest movie speeches ever:

If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way because theyÂ’re not gonna give up the fight until one of you is deadÂ…Do you want to know how to get Capone? YouÂ’ve got to do it the Chicago Way. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one oÂ’ yours to the hospital, you send one oÂ’ his to the morgue. ThatÂ’s the Chicago way. And thatÂ’s how you get Capone.

The first step in their Chicago-way pursuit of Capone is an interception of a liquor shipment at the Canadian border. Ness shoots a bootlegger outside a small cabin while the other Untouchables, with the help of the Canadian mounties, win a huge firefight nearby. One of the bootleggers is captured alive and brought to the cabin, where he refuses to translate the ledger that conceals Capone’s accounts. Malone grows frustrated with the interrogation and walks outside, picks up the dead bootlegger and slams him against the window of the cabin. He puts his pistol in the dead body’s mouth and yells, “I’ll give you to the count of three to tell me what I want to know!”

Of course the dead bootlegger, he say nothin’, and Malone blows the dead body’s head off, spraying the horrified captive inside with gore. He falls all over himself trying to talk. Malone comes in and says “And don’t let him clean himself until he tells you everything you want to know.”

At this point the prim captain of the Canadian Mounties puffs up and tells Malone indignantly, “I do not approve of your methods!”

Elliot Ness replies, “You’re not from Chicago.”

Now then. Check out the Time piece, where they have an actual log of what we do in Gitmo. Not what we tell the press, but the notes the US government keeps for its own use. The Nazis kept notes, you know, and it hung a bunch of them at Nuremberg. Ours exonerate us.

An interrogator sits on this guys head and reads him the news of the death of Al Qaeda figures. They call him worse than a dog, since dogs at least protect the innocent instead of killing them. They wake him up with pop music and they give him dancing lessons. They hang pictures of nekkid women on his clothes. They monitor his health and try to keep him hydrated despite his refusal to drink enough water. Blackjacks and rubber hoses? No, but they touched an inflated latex glove to his face.

This is, remember, the twentieth hijacker.

The man is being humiliated, not tortured. IÂ’ve had worse in high school. IÂ’ve had worse at church camp.

The tone of the memo is of professionals doing their best to get information from this guy without hurting him. They are exercising enormous restraint and care for his well-being. They even note how often he goes to the bathroom. I guaran-damn-tee you that better men who have done far less are being treated far worse right now, in Lompoc or San Quentin or Soledad prisons, right under the nose of the press and in the custody of the State of California. Bill Lockyer admitted as much in 2001.

This is the twentieth hijacker, and there are no rapes, no whips, no severed tongues, no battery cables, no kicks to the head. There are MRE Boxes with smiley faces placed on his head. And everyoneÂ’s going to realize this. Everyone sees that this is barely even a Chicago Rules interrogation.

Most people realize that the War on Terror must be fought the Chicago Way.

Most people, that is, except the press. TheyÂ’re not from Chicago. After being tricked into publishing this exoneration of Guantanamo Bay, however, they are holding a parasol.

UPDATE: Here’s another comparison between the Terror War and the hunt for Capone–this time looking at the multi-agency task forces and prosecution strategy.

UPDATE II: Now I remember where IÂ’ve heard about these tactics before.

UPDATE III: Geraghty at TKS agrees: this story is now a gift to the GOP.

(Cross posted from Patterico's Pontifications where I'm still posting till Thursday.)

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Hithchens: AI's Broken Moral Compass

As an ex-member of Amnesty International I can only say 'aye' to Christopher Hitchens in Slate:

About Amnesty International's disgraceful performance, however, I can tell as well as ask. I was at one point quite close to its London headquarters, and I used to both carry and return messages for the organization when I went as a reporter to screwed-up countries. The founding statutes were quite clear: An Amnesty local was to adopt three "prisoners of conscience," one from either side of the Cold War and one from a "neutral" state. Letters were to be written to the relevant governments and to newspapers in free countries. Though physical torture and capital punishment were opposed in all cases, no overt political position was to be taken. (I remember there was quite a row when an Amnesty "country report" on Argentina went so far as to describe a guerrilla raid as "daring.") By adhering to these rules, AI became a credible worldwide group to which even the most repressive governments sometimes had to pay attention. All honor to its founder Peter Benenson, who died earlier this year.

And now look. I think it is fairly safe to say that not one detainee in Guantanamo is there because of an expression of opinion. (And those whose "opinion" is that all infidels must die are not exactly prisoners of conscience.) Morally neutral on this point, apparently, Amnesty nonetheless finds its voice by describing the prison itself as "the gulag of our times." No need to waste words here: Not everyone in the gulag was a "prisoner of conscience," either. But if an organization that ostensibly protects the rights of prisoners is unaware of the nature of a colossal system of forced labor and arbitrary detention—replete with physical torture, starvation, and brutal execution—then the moral compass has become disordered beyond repair. This is not even neutrality between the fireman and the fire. It surely expresses a covert sympathy with the aims and objectives of jihad and an overt, if witless and sinister, hatred of the United States. If only this were the only symptom of that tendency.

Hat tip: Steve Green.

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No Michael Jackson Acquitted News (RELIGION OF PEACE UPDATE)

Michael Jackson. Three Iraqis arrested in Germany for supporting terror groups. Michael Jackson. 20 bodies found near Baghdad, murdered execution style. Michael Jackson. PA refuses to disarm Hamas. Michael Jackson. Possible terrorist arrested in New York City. Michael Jackson. Al Qaeda supported by Yemen government. Michael Jackson. Oh so ronery dictator of North Korea helping Iran develop it's 'peaceful' use of nukes by building missile bunkers. Michael Jackson. Terrorists now planning on using babies for bombs (no objection from Planned Parenthood). Michael Jackson. Exiled Italian author Oriana Fallaci is targetted. Michael Jackson. Muslim Brotherhood schools in the U.S. praised by MSM. Michael Jackson. British memo claims no decision for war against Iraq made by Bush. Michael Jackson. On the potential for political compromise in Iraq. Michael Jackson. French sold cell phone hacking codes to Saddam Hussein. Michael Jackson. Terrorists murder 20 more (no duct tape yet reported). Michael Jackson. Four U.S. soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. Michael Jackson. King of Saudi Arabia sued in British court by estranged wife. Michael Jackson. NY Times: Dhimmis to the end.

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Online Instructions: How to get into Iraq and Become a Terrorist

iraq_jihad_routes.jpg Jihadweb has published an online guide on how to become a terrorist in Iraq. The instructions (in Arabic) can be downloaded here by clicking the image to the right. I'm making it available since I have an odd feeling this site won't be up very much longer ;-) [UPDATE: DOWN LIKE A CLOWN CHARLIE BROWN]

After describing how to mentally and physically prepare for becoming a terrorist in Iraq (including the instructions that you should never turn down a suicide mission) the author goes on to give advice on how to get into Iraq. First, get in touch with your local Salaafist group. This would be any mosque with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist groups.

Next, get yourself into Syria. From SITE's translation include:

After providing guidelines through which a potential mujahideen should mentally prepare himself for battle, the author supplies information on how to reach Iraq and the mujahideen. He states that " Salafist jihadists are in most of the Arab countriesÂ…most of these have good relations with the mujahideen groups in Iraq and, through these groups, hundreds of thousands have reached the land of the two rivers." Meanwhile, the author urges readers to be cautious, warning that "Â…getting near some of them may lead to you getting persecuted. Try to get in touch with them in a very secret wayÂ…."


Once the potential mujahid is ready to enter Iraq, the author suggests entering into Iraq "Â…via the Syrian lands." He notes that while "There is a saying that the Syrian regime turns their face [away] from the mujahideen who take secret roads" Syrian authorities are nonetheless "Â…complicating things at the entry and exit front, so make your entry to Syria via Turkey, or for a good reason. Your parents should know the reason [by which you are professing to enter Syria]Â… and it is good if you have your passport with an entry via to Turkey, so you can pretend that youÂ’re in transit to Turkey." One a further note, he suggests that potential insurgents "wear jeans and eat donuts and use a walkman which has a tape of any singer" in order to appear westernized, and thus less of a threat. [full translation available by subscription at SITE]

Just to show you where these guys stand, and to avoid the frequent charge made against me that I don't really know the website in question is pro-terrorist, here is a screenshot of one of their many banners. Any questions?

jihadweb_screenshot_banner.jpg

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Duct Tape Insurgency

Apparently duct tape isn't just for fixing loose tailpipes, repairing broken glasses, or plugging up holes in the trailor roof. It's also great for making sure suicide bombers don't chicken out at the last minute.

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The Mosul Campaign, Reporters, and Your Chance to Help

Frequent commenter Jeremy pointed Michael Yon's website out. Yon is currently in Iraq and makes this great point in his description of the battle for Mosul:

journalist not wishing to embed with US forces is free to apply for an Iraqi visa, fly to Baghdad, and hire a car and an interpreter who can drive them around town. They can knock on doors and talk directly with people; visit hospitals, talk with doctors; stop by the side of the road and talk with shepherds; or even hang out in a village and help make the goat cheese. Iraqi people are generally polite and usually more than willing to offer opinions about what's happening in their neighborhood.

Of course, the major problem with eschewing a close military presence is the enemy's proclivity to kidnap and behead journalists whose reports portray insurgents in a negative or violent way. This puts ethical journalists in a tight spot where they have the freedom to roam but not to report the truth; whereas journalists who embed with US forces often report very negatively.

Couldn't have said it better myself. But isn't the very act of embedding with the terrorists an act of treason? Imagine a reporter from Life magazine deciding to hang out with the Waffen SS, just to get their point of view. There was an age when reporters understood their first allegiance was to their country and not the story. We seem to have forgotten that at some point.

Now, here is your chance to help out. I'll just quote Jeremy's description of what is going on here. Yon describes a 5 year old little girl with a heart condition that can be treated back in the States:

The short version is, the soldiers want to help her, but are being held up by red tape. I have emailed our state's Senators concerning the matter, and thought that perhaps other readers might want to do the same.

I don't imagine myself much of a writer, but I will paste my letter below, in case anyone would like to use what I wrote in whole or in part.


Senator XXXX,

In the Isla Zeral area of Mosul, Iraq, there is a 5 year old girl desperately in need of help. Her name is Rhma Taha Ahmed and she suffers from a heart condition. In mid-May, her father flagged down a passing US Army patrol from the 1-24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division and asked them to look at his daughter. Captain Paul Carron, the Bravo company commander of this unit, decided to take action to help this little girl get the medical attention she so urgently needs. While many American doctors have pledged money or free treatment, this young girl's chance for life is being delayed by bureaucratic snags and red tape. Senator XXXX, our great country has the means to help this young girl before it is too late. We have doctors willing to help her; we have soldiers, in harm's way in the defense of freedom and the Iraqi people, reaching out to a sick child, far above the call of duty. We have every thing we need, letÂ’s not let red tape stand in the way. Senator, you are in the position to expedite the process of bringing Rhma here for treatment. I ask that you help our soldiers and our nation demonstrate their compassion for people everywhere.

Sincerely,
YYYY

To find out your Senators e-mail address, go here.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:18 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 596 words, total size 4 kb.

June 13, 2005

Jawa Report Podcast?

A buddy of mine and I are thinking of doing a podcast. Any one out there ever produce one of these? Need a little help if you can. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 04:34 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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You live in a zoo, you smell like a monkey

Michelle Malkin's blog turns one. Congrats Michelle! Michelle is an example of a media figure doing a blog right.

Now excuse me if I punch out of here early. They painted the hallway here and I'm totally getting high off the fumes.......

Posted by: Rusty at 04:11 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The Horrors of the Gulags

As I've said many times, the main problem with comparing Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo, Cuba, to the Soviet gulags is not so much that it drastically overstates what is happening to prisoners in the US War on Terror, but that it such comparisons minimize the utter horror of the Soviet gulags. My post on the subject is here.

The same minimization occurs when you compare [insert unliked political figure here] to Hitler or [insert perceived problem here] to the holocaust. Some crimes and criminals are so far beyond infamy that to compare any one or any thing to them does a grave injustice to their victims. Comparing Camp X-Ray to gulags is immoral and disgusting because it is an insult to the tens of millions of victims who died under the horrible opression that was the gulag system.

UPDATE: Let me also add that using such terminology is also immoral for consequentalist reasons. If you really believe that Bush = Hitler then, as a moral being, aren't you compelled by conscience to do something about that? Isn't it your moral obligation then to attempt to assasinate the President? If you answer no, then either a) you don't really believe Bush = Hitler or b) you are a moral idiot. But if you answer yes....You see where this is going?

For this reason I have, in the past, called on the government of the U.S. to bomb al Jazeera and have called Noam Chomsky a traitor. If you wish to make the case that the U.S. has some sort of equivelancy to the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany then you are also making the moral case for war against the United States. The reason the jihadis fight the U.S. is not that they simply hate us, but that they believe the lies told to them by al Jazeera and the Leftist Western press. That is, they believe they are engaged in a moral struggle. They are the freedom fighters, we are the Hitlers!

Again, words have consequences. The gulags were genocidal. If the U.S. is actually engaged in such a genocidal endeavor, then it would be the duty of all moral beings to resist--with force. Unless AI is willing to call for war against the U.S., I'd suggest they shut their pie holes.

I've known R.J. Rummel's work for some time in my professional capacity. His specialty is documenting state-sponsored genocide. Thanks to Dean Esmay for pointing out that Rummel is also a blogger. Here is an excerpt from his must read post on the subject of the gulags:

Overall, from 1917 to 1987, Gulag, including transit deaths, probably killed about 39,464,000 Soviet citizens and foreigners. Compare this 6,228.5 mile stack of corpses (assuming each corpse has a width of 10 inches), each a loving, self-conscious human being like you and I, to these totals:

Gulag = 39,464,000 murdered (democide/genocide);
All American executions 1864-1982 = 5,753 killed;
All the Americans killed in all its wars up to the Gulf War = 1,177,936 killed;
The killed in battle in World War I = 9,000,000;
Of World War II = 15,000,000;
All 20th Century international and domestic wars = 35,654,000 killed;
And all major wars 1740-1997 = 20,000,000 killed.

Now tell me again, Irene Khan and William Schulz of AI, that Guantánamo is like Gulag

Posted by: Rusty at 03:28 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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