November 20, 2004

The Muslim Double Standard In Iraq

UPDATE: The article has now been published in the Arab News, the official paper of Saudi Arabia. Jane has had her editorials published there before and its a good sign that the Kingdom is openning up--even if only a crack.

Our good friend Jane has this article posted at Iraq.net and at her blog. Here's a teaser:

All tactics of the insurgents are excused. Hide among civilians. Justified. Wear civilian clothes. Justified. Shoot from the holy mosque. Justified. Feign death to draw soldiers in (the way one marine died the day before the incident). Justified. Wave a white flag as a ploy. Justified. Booby trap dead bodies. Justified. ThatÂ’s just Fallujah.

Moving outward- Deliberately killing Iraqi civilians daily. Justified. Bombing churches. Justified. Bombing cafes. Justified. Using schools as arsenals. Justified. Attacking the police. Just fine.

The rules of war donÂ’t apply to the insurgents, only the Americans. And if one horrible act occurs at the hands of one American soldier, the world howls. READ THE REST

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Lust for Peace

by Demosophist

I watch LinkTV via satellite every once in awhile, and it's just brimming with these authentic looking and rather exotic documentaries. I saw one today that stars a double amputee in Kampuchea, who invented some special wheelchair that he teaches people to use. Almost as an afterthought to this humanitarian presentation the filmmakers present the US bombing in the '70s and the land-mining of Cambodia that resulted in most of the amputees. And after mentioning that fact they more or less state flatly that the unconscionable bombing and mining left a disorder that "led to" the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. So if I were watching this program and wasn't aware of the details, and perhaps had an innate revulsion for war, I'd just assume that this was all presented honestly. The unavoidable inference is that the US = Khmer Rouge = genocide. more...

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November 19, 2004

Kerry Susses His Problem

by Demosophist
According to John Kerry his problem in the 2004 election was a combination of bad media coverage from conservative sources, and the Bin Laden tape that "scared Americans," before he had a chance to unscare them. So, I guess he missed the whole 9/11 "let's roll" message, huh? Here we are sitting calmly and passively in our seats waiting for the "authorities" to work their protective magic, and the terrorists got us flustered. Damn the luck! more...

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John McCain Lashes Out at al-Jazeera Over Mosque Shooting Video

A lot of conservatives hate John McCain. I've always believed there were two John McCain's: Smigel McCain and Gollum McCain. The Smigel McCain just wants to get along with his masters in the MSM. Smigel McCain brought us campaign finance reform. The Gollum McCain would just as soon kill master like as a sweet slimy fish. I like Gollum McCain. This is Gollum McCain:

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain scolded an Arab television station for repeatedly airing video of a U.S. Marine killing an apparently unarmed man in Iraq but not film of a British hostage being killed by her kidnappers.
"Shame on al-Jazeera and shame on those people for doing what they did," McCain said in response to a question after a speech Thursday....

On whether the government should exercise more control over film and reports by media embedded with U.S. military units, McCain - a Navy pilot held prisoner for years in Vietnam - said he didn't know, but is "deeply, deeply troubled" by the incident.

"We don't know what events led up to it," he said. "All we saw was a flash picture."

UPDATE: Featured at the Politburo Diktat's Show Trial #23

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Former Dallas City Engineer Linked to Hamas

Chad Evans has the goods on former Dallas City Engineer and Hamas fundraiser Mufid Abdulqader. From CBS 11 News:

this professionally accomplished, highly affable public servant by day, was on weekends singing the praises of the terrorist organization Hamas, encouraging martyrs to kill Jews and glorifying violent Jihad.
I'd suggest a more productive moonlighting gig. Maybe a bouncer at one of those upscale Dallas titty bars. They're always looking for closeted homosexuals who don't mind kicking the snot out of drunk accountants who get a little too feely.

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Jawa Roundup on the Religon of Peas

As I said earlier, very little time to blog today. Here's a few interesting tidbits you might find interesting.

Zarqawi beheads two Iraqis in Mosul in front of crowd. New tactic to terrorize population. Hey, it works in Saudi Arabia. Perhaps this is what he meant when he claimed a few days ago that the jihadis were in total control of Mosul? Digger and Alan Brain on the case. Maybe more later.

Jakarta Post: Only 59 percent of Indonesian Muslims "disagree with the (Bali and Marriott hotel bombings)" and 16 percent "support" the killing of innocent people in the name of Islam. The survey was based on 1,200 interviews in 32 provinces with a 3 percent margin of error.

Who really killed Margaret Hassan? Mossad, CIA, anybody--but not Muslims!!

Aaron:Where are the fatwas against Muslims who fight out of uniform, contrary to the Geneva accords?
Where are the fatwas against Muslims who use schools for military headquarters?
Where are the fatwas against Muslims who use hospitals for sniper lookouts?
Where are the fatwas against Muslims who use ambulances not to carry the wounded but to shuttle weaponry?
Where are the fatwas against Muslims who use womenÂ’s burkas to smuggle weaponry?

Indeed!

Yasser Arafat, still dead meat.

About those 'freedom fighters' in Fallujah who were just like, you know, George Washington and stuff (via Bill)

Did I mention a majority of the threats I receive are from Muslims in Europe and that of those the majority are from Scandinavia? You think maybe this might help explain that (via Robert): Dr. Zahid Mukhtar, spokesperson for Islamic Council in Norway, stated that he sympathize with reason why the Dutch film director Theo van Gogh was murdered.

But perhaps the Dutch are getting fed up (via James): Opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of citizens favor a crackdown on Muslim extremists, who are estimated to number as many as 50,000 in the country. "It was a great shock. A wake-up call," said Theo Kwakman, a construction foreman restoring an ancient building along the old Warmoesstraat. "I'm afraid that there will be more Muslims here soon than Christians. "I don't worry about the atheists. They won't do anything. [Muslims] are not all bad. But ... I'm afraid someday one of the tunnels [into Amsterdam] will be blown up."

I noticed this story a few days ago, but McQ does a great job of explaining why the Germans have every right to be afraid of the growing Muslim population there. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

I reported that Zarqawi's Fallujah headquarters had been found two days ago in this post and this one. What I didn't know was that there was an al Qaeda sign outside. More evidence South Park is real.

Dead Iraqi killed in Fallujah mosque interviewed by Oprah. Hillarity ensues.

Iran agrees to stop refining weapons grade nuclear material (oh, but only after they have enough of it to matter).

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Secession

by Demosophist

Well, I realize that the Democrats' recent reflections concerning secession are rather whimsical (as is Ryan Sager's contention that it's a step in the right direction). But lest anyone take this proposal remotely seriously I'd like to point out that had the Democrats won a previous election many consider directly analogous to 2004, the election of 1864, the country probably would have split (or rather remained split). The South would have indulged slavery for a few decades longer, and might even have entered WWI on the side of Germany. It's also the case that by 1896 the same sophisticate vs. rube geographic political divide existed in roughly the same pattern as the 2004 red/blue divide, except that it was the Republicans who were the sophisticates and the Democrats who appealed to populism and traditional "aw shucks" values. There have always been times when the sosphisticated observations of the blue people have restrained the excess naivete of the red people, just as there are times when the good sense of the red people have kept the blue people from servile liquifaction in their excessive esteem for things Continental. But realistically, although as a culture we owe a great deal to Bodine and Montesque, we owe hardly a thing to Rousseau. more...

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Much Work at Tatooine U

Despite the rumors of the fabulous riches I'm getting for maintaing this site, I actually have a full-time job to hold down. Two tests to give today, three tests sitting on the desk still ungraded. Mucho work. Little bloggage today.

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November 18, 2004

Two Arrests Made in Russia over Beslan Massacre

More good news in the GWOT. From what I hear, federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison takes on a whole other level of meaning for terrorists in Russia. As a side note, the evidence against Marina Korigova seems pretty weak. It wouldn' surprise me in the least if she was let go in the future. It also wouldn't surprise me if she was never let go, guilty or not. That's how they play in Russia. MOSNEWS:

Russian security forces have arrested two young people suspected of having assisted the terrorists involved in the Beslan hostage taking in September this year, Russian media reported on Thursday.

One of the alleged accomplices Marina Korigova, 16, was detained in the town of Nalchik in RussiaÂ’s North Caucasian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Investigators claim the construction college student had talked 16 times with Musa Tsechoyev, one of the rebels who took part in the hostage-taking in Beslan. TsechoyevÂ’s body was found among the rebels killed during the storming and later identified....

Another alleged accomplice of Beslan hostage-takers, Akhmed Merzhoyev, 28, was detained in the village of Sapapshi, according to a report by the Vremya Novostei newspaper. Merzhoyev “initially was among the terrorists who masterminded the operation”, the paper reports citing sources in law enforcement agencies. In particular, Merzhoyev is believed to have provided a rebel base in the Magolbek district with provisions.

Furthermore, investigators claim that Merzhoyev had been aware of the terroristsÂ’ plans and intended to take part in the seizure himself. He changed his mind at the last minute.

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More on Fallujahgate and jus in bello

Ace has an excellent essay on the limits of moral action in war. Without even trying, Ace has put forth one of the deepest insights into why the MSM and left are so up in arms over one incident in a Fallujah mosque. Here's the money quote:

We have a huge disagreement in this country about what is and what is not acceptable in this war. Part of this is all just a proxy fight for the leftists' insistence that war itself is unacceptable under any circumstances; having lost that debate decisively, they attempt to engage in guerilla-rhetorical tactics, simply sniping at each and every event that unfolds, in hopes that the accumulation of the little wounds they inflict will ultimately win the war they really care about-- the war on war itself. [Go read the rest!! ]
Jus ad bellum is just war theory that explores when it is moral for to begin or engage in a war. For instance, juss ad bellum theorists generally agree that it's not ok to go to war with another country just because you want its oil. On the other hand it is generally agreed in classic just war theory that its ok to go to war with a neighboring country if the government there harbors outlaws (see Grotius).

Jus in bello explores what is acceptable behavior in a war. For instance, jus in bello theorists generally agree that shooting a woman in the back of the head is not moral action. On the other hand its generally agreed that killing a guy with an RPG pointed at your convoy is ok.

What the modern left has been arguing since the end of WWI is that no war is justified. Thus the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 renounced forever the use of war as an instrument of national policy and the League of Nations was dreamt up as a way for nations to settle their differences peacefully. The UN would later replace the failed League of Nations as a way to end war, but with the proviso that war would be just only when the collective will of the great powers agreed.

WWI and WWII affected the mindset of Europeans in a much different way than it affected Americans. To modern Europeans, Hitler was bad because he had started the war. The war was only just because jus ad bellum had been violated. WWII then was just like any other defensive war, the only type of war the Europeans would ever see as just.

Americans may have had the same initial reaction to why the war was justified, but in hindsight we view Hitler's unjustness very differently. Sure Hitler's aggression made the war just, but there was something different about WWII. It was more just. Why was it more just? It is to jus in bello that we, unconsciencly I admit, rationalize WWII's war. WWII was the good war because of what Nazism did in the war. WWII was the good war not because Hitler or Japan started it. WWII was the good war because of what the Nazis and the Japanese did in the war. It was just because of what the Japanese did in Nanking. It was just because of what the Nazis did in the holocaust.

The average American leftist has more in common with a German because he believes the same thing. War is never justified accept in literal self defense. WWII was just only because it ended war in Europe. With war now over as a fact of life in Europe, the leftists believe that the conditions under which war is justified are so rare that no war could ever really meet their standard for jus ad bellum. All war is now immoral.

The average American, on the other hand is much more willing to accept war's justice if it can end the abuses of a foreign regime. The average American sees the liberating power of war. The average American believes that WWII was good because it liberated Europe from Nazism. The average American believes that WWII was good because it liberated Japan from fascist Imperialism. As long as fascism and its fellowtravellers are alive and well in the world, war will be justified. The average American rejects the notion that all war is immoral. War is moral when it liberates.

This is the basic philosophical difference between America and Europe, and between left and right, over issues of war and peace. The left could care less about the incident in Fallujah. What they care about is ending the war. The incident was just another piece of propaganda for them to use. The war, by definition, was unjust.

Just a few thoughts spawned by Ace. That's all.

(Cross posted at Demosophia and Anticipatory Retaliation)

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Which Light Saber Color is Rusty?

I'm giving a test right now to my night class. So what do I do? Surf the blogosphere, of course! Via the Llamabutchers (who say they got it from Big Stupid Tommy, who got it from Missives Anonymous, who got it from Allison, who got it from Tyler Durden, etc....[somewhere in here there is a philosophy paper to be written, I'm thinking infinite regressions.....])

more...

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Army of Ansar al-Sunnah Threatens Elections

Yawn. Is there any one the Army of Ansar al-Sunnah doesn't threaten to kill? I mean, these are the guys that kill you for driving a truck. They also kill you if you're one of those 'moderate' followers of Muqtada al-Sadr. I don't even want to think about what they'd do if they found out you love bunnies.*

*Related joke of the day via Jeff G.: Three young Islamofascist terrorists—a Saudi, a Yemeni, and a Pakistani—walk into a bar. more...

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French Terrorists Killed In Iraq

The benefits of the Iraq war just keep pouring in. This is called killing two birds with one stone. They're French and they're terrorists. Does it get any better than that? Maybe this is what Jacques Chirac meant when he said the Iraq war was causing a rise in terrorism in the world. Yeah, more French terrorists. BBC (via LGF):

Three Frenchmen have died fighting with insurgents against US-led troops in Iraq, reports say....The men were identified as:

24-year-old Tarek W, from Paris, killed on 17 September

19-year-old Redouane el-Hakim, killed on 17 July (my earlier report here)

Abdel Halim Badjoudj, 19, killed on 20 October.

Linked at OTB, because James Joyner is cool and needs to up that ecosystem thingy.

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Note to Friends

Friends,
As you know I have always blogged anonymously. I originally began blogging anonymously as a way to safeguard my job and my professional reputation. On my blog I choose to let a side of myself out that I do not show my students or my colleagues. Also, I address some sensitive issues in a not so sensitive way. I knew some would take offense at the way I discuss a certain Religion of Peace, but never thought of the long-term consequences of it. In the beginning I expected no one would care about what I had to say. I was wrong.

As a result of the broadening of the audience I have received a number of death threats to me and my family. Hence, the need for me to stay anonymous has transcended my original goal. It is now a safety issue. Up until now I have not taken any of these threats that seriously. For the most part I still think that I'm pretty low on the hit list for Islamic extremists so I'm not terribly worried. But I am a little worried. more...

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Texas SUV Found in Car Bomb Factory in Fallujah

I blame Dick Cheney, Haliburton, and Enron. The real question was whether or not the Neocon Zionists drove the truck directly from Haliburton headquarters or if they took a detour through Israel, home of America's puppetmasters? Oh, and how much did Bush-Hitler know and when did he know it. CNN:

In a separate raid Thursday, the joint forces discovered a car bomb-making workshop in Falluja's industrial section where a sport-utility vehicle with a Texas registration sticker was being converted into a car bomb.

The SUV was sitting in a warehouse surrounded by "bags and bags" of explosive materials. It was being gutted and packed with explosives.

The vehicle had no license plate, but some 15 license plates were inside.

But seriously folks, WTF????

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Zarqawi Letters Found in Fallujah Safe House

Damn Kevin Sites for turning our victory into defeat. Damn him! CNN:

During recent house-to-house raids in southeast Falluja, U.S. and Iraqi forces uncovered what appeared to be an abandoned safe house used by insurgents loyal to both al Qaeda and wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

There were two letters inside the house, one from al-Zarqawi giving instructions to two of his lieutenants in the region. Another sought money and help from the terrorist leader....

It is believed that the two lieutenants mentioned in the letters lived in the house the troops found. It is unclear whether they escaped the violence or were killed in recent battles.

Symbols pledging loyalty to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network also adorned the walls of the house.

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Body Found in Fallujah May be that of Margaret Hassan

The Prime Minister of Australia announced yesterday that the mutilated body of a woman found in Fallujah several days ago was probably that of Margaret Hassan. The PM later issued a retraction. DNA tests are now being run on the body.

Jihadis delivered the videotaped murder of Mrs. Hassan two days ago to al Jazeera television. On the video, Margaret Hassan is dressed in the orange jumpsuit of a prisoner at Abu Ghraib and shot in the back of the head. The body found in Fallujah was mutilated beyond recognition, but news reports indicate the woman had her throat slit. The corpse was also that of a blonde woman. Mrs. Hassan was a brunette.

If this is Mrs. Hassan's body, then either earlier reports were wrong or the terrorists dyed her hair to escape detection while transporting her from Southern Iraq northward to Fallujah. It is also possible that the word 'blonde' was used by an Iraqi to indicate a hair color lighter than the darker brunette more commonly found among Arabs. The good people of Fallujah had chopped off the arms and legs of the corpse. The fact that the throat had been slit might indicate that they were trying to behead the corpse as a final act of humiliation.

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Morning Groan, Virus on My Compueter

Found a virus on my computer. Locked up just as I was about to post. Is today Monday?

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November 17, 2004

Daniel Pearl Murder Suspect Killed In Pakistan

Thank you Lord. Thank you. BBC:

Police in Pakistan have shot dead a suspected Islamic militant wanted in connection with the 2002 kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.
Asim Ghafoor died in a shootout with security forces in the southern city of Karachi, police said.

Officials said he was closely linked to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, on death row for masterminding Pearl's killing. Police say Ghafoor was a member of at least one banned group, and wanted in connection with other attacks. These include the May 2002 suicide bombing outside Karachi's Sheraton hotel in which 14 people died, 11 of them French engineers.

Police say they were acting on a tip-off when they raided what they describe as Ghafoor's hideout in western Karachi. He opened fire as he fled but was wounded when police returned fire, and he later died in hospital, said Javed Shah Bokhari, deputy inspector general of Karachi police...

Mr Bokhari said Ghafoor was a close aide to Pakistan's most wanted militant, Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who security forces killed in September.

"Asim Ghafoor was second-in-command to Amjad Farooqi and had a role in all the terrorist activities orchestrated by Amjad Farooqi," he told the Associated Press.

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More Fallout from Fallujah-gate

Bill Dauterieve sends this e-mail along with a report on how the Arab media uses the Marine killing of an Iraqi in Fallujah as a propaganda tool for anti-Americanism. Since he didn't call patent pending, I decided to share it with you. You'll have to scroll to the end to see the article. It's just as bad as I predicted:

This should have been the week of a great propaganda
victory for us. Now, the Marine might have violated rules of
engagement, but as I recall, the Geneva Convention also allows for the
summary execution of partisans (no uniforms, dressed as civilians,
carrying arms). So no violation of international law there. He may
have violated US and military law.
more...

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