April 07, 2005

New Video of al Qaeda Offensive Against Abu Ghraib (Images)

Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq has released a new video of the two day assault on the Abu Ghraib prison. A short version of the video may be downloaded here. The entire video may be downloaded here (see April 6th). Images from the video are posted below.

What is so interesting about the video is it reveals just how ineffective the terrorist organization was at penetrating Abu Ghraib. Abu Ghraib is a sprawling complex, and the terrorist fire at it from a very far distance. It's a wonder that 2 of the 7 suicide bombers were able to get any where near the walls of the prison.

For instance, as far as I can tell, this is as close as the film maker ever got to the prison. You can see the lights of Abu Ghraib in the distance. (Click images to enlarge) more...

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Pulitzer Judge (update: NOT) Embedded With North Vietnamese

Think this photo is bad?

baughman.jpg

I got my ass fact checked!!!

It turns out the photos in question were not taken by Baughman, instead, this is from a book reviewed by Baughman. So, where was the confusion? Google. I did a Google image search and the bulk of photos that came back for 'J. Ross Baughman' were these.

My apologies. One of the advantages this site has that we can try to repair the damage, right here, in the text of the original post. As opposed to, say, footnote on page A2.

But from that review we learn of Baughman's 'nuanced' vision of war and the media's role in it:

It is these pictures of Jane Fonda or Fidel Castro squired around by smiling NVA, or else the captured, wounded and dead ARVN or U.S. troops that will boil the blood of many American viewers. For them, it will still be too soon to see such pictures.

"The trick here is see beyond the propaganda of the pictures into a different culture," writes Pulitzer-Prize-winning photo critic Henry Allen in the foreword.

Right, let's look beyond acts of treason which demoralized our troops.
Given enough time and distance, old warriors can't help but want to know their enemies better. The anger and fear of battle mature into a clear-eyed, grudging respect, no matter which side happened to win that day long ago.
See how nuance works? You mature to respect your enemy.

What Baughman dismisses in this article is the role of media images in demoralizing troops and support for those troops back home.

He suggests, in his review, that the reason the Vietnamese won that war was that they were simply more prepared to persevere.

Indeed.

But why were Americans not willing to persevere? Why were Americans not willing to commit to total war against North Vietnam, as they had in WWII? Why were we not willing to fight the war to win?

Certainly, the images brought to the American public by the media played some part. In WWII the media played the role of cheerleader. Helping to keep morale up both at home and with the troops. From the time of Vietnam forward, however, the media played no such role.

The next time we go to war the American public must realize this simple fact: the American media does not really care if our side wins.

They do not necessarily wish us to lose, they do not necessarily want our soldiers to die, but they also could care less if we win. It seems to me that the greatest sacrifice one can ask of a fellow citizen is to die in war. If the state can legitimately ask a fellow citizen to do this, then certainly it can ask the media to refrain from publishing photos which might demoralize our troops.

Oh, it gets worse. Much worse. It turns out J. Ross Baughman, one of the judges of the Pulitzer also was embedded with the North Vietnamese. He wanted to show, you know, the 'other side of the war'. You know, the side that was busy killing Baughman's friends from back home.

baughman_vetnam.jpg
Photo above takes you to a few more images of the Vietnam war as seen through the eyes of an American working with the North Vietnamese in order to humanize their efforts of killing Americans toward their final goal of communist oppression.

On a related note, did you know that as a boy Ho Chi Minh is reported to have a pet dog and was a keen outdoorsman?

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Jawalanche

Here are some things I'm reading right now. It's like The Puppy Blender, only we do in one post what it takes him to do in 20!

-More. Dead. Terrorists.
-Tiny little spy planes. No word from Islamic Army in Iraq on tiny little RPG. (via Blogs of War)
-Jurors picked for trial of Islamist traitor in U.S. military. Texas justice, please.
-First the Pulitzers, and now the Peabodys. Not surprising.
-Art Buchwald. Idito.
-U.N. Corruption. Can you use those two words in the same sentence?
-Government sponsored Enron not getting headlines. *shocked*
-Bill Clinton for SC? *Chortle* Right. (via Jeff)
-Commissar is right on the Schiavo meme.
-Government acting like the mafia. Or, why Rusty is a domestic libertarian.
-Gun meet criminal. Nice.
-Sheriff gets tasered on live TV. Beavis moment.
-Another Terri Schiavo?
-La Shawn on MSNBC, while Joyner tells me he's been cancelled. I'm available!
-Jenna Bush bumping and grinding. Please send video!
-Star Wars nerds line up in front of wrong theatre. This explains why the light posting.......
-Domines to charge for delievery? Say it isn't so! (I was a driver for Dominos in college)
-Glenn Reynolds interviews John from Wuzzadem. (via Itsapundit)
-Censorship of the bad kind. Dumbass.
-Blogger smackdown! or troll smackdown. I just love a good fight.
-Support single mothers, visit a strip club. (via Beth)
-Welcome to the strange and growing superpower that is mu.nu.
-Hot. Young. Coeds. I've no idea what Stotch means.
-You live in a zoo....photos.
-Excuse me while I whip this out. Dumbasses.
-EU's "Little USSR", France. Heh.
-Ace is back. Long live Ace.

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Terrorists Plan May 9th Attack in Russia

Chad has the report. Let me just remind our readers that my position on Russia is clear. Despite the fact that Russia has endlessly meddled in the affairs of its proximate neighbors, they are our natural ally in the GWOT in the region.

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Mmmm, Pie

blackberry-pie.gifKnowing that David Horowitz had a pie thrown at him by the tolerant Left is one thing. But ask the important questions! What kind of pie was it? Mmmmm, boysenberry pie.............

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Super Hot Protest Babes Watch (Give 'til it hurts)

I implored, no begged, Michael Totten to snap some super-hot-protester babe photos while raising money for democracy in Lebanon.

You know, you've got to have your priorities.

He tells me via e-mail that he's working on it. Keep. Fingers. Crossed.

In the meantime why not give 'til it hurts to The Spirit of America?

Expect any of the good photos to be posted at Totten's place.

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Illegal Alien Teenage Girls' Suicide Bomb Plot in NY City

Perhaps they've been watching too many Prince videos? Via the Blogfather Charles Johnson this story:

Two 16-year-old girls from New York City have been arrested on immigration charges after federal authorities said they planned to become suicide bombers, according to a published report.

The teenagers were arrested March 24 and were being held in a detention center in Leesport, Pa., The New York Times reported Thursday, citing a government document provided by a federal agent.

According to the document, the FBI found that the girls posed "an imminent threat to the security of the United States based upon evidence that they plan to be suicide bombers," the Times said.

I might just have to rethink my position on The Minuteman Project...

More...

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Oh, THAT Biased Media

John_Kerry_Shotgun.jpg

Click photo above. Related. More. And again.

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April 06, 2005

Editor and Publisher Apologizes for Terrorist Embeds *shock*

Editor and Publisher ought to be renamed, Apologist and Collaborater. Hey, and next time you mention my blog why not drop a link for all that is sacred and holy! You'd think your site wasn't html enabled......

And, as if on cue, you organize your story in such a way as to 1) set up claims of bias in the Pulitzer, in this case we are not talking about partisan bias but anti-American bias--a serious accusation 2) then refute those claims. Nice job.

Does the entire Associated Press corp pay you to kiss their asses or does your tongue just naturally like the brown eye?

And if the Pulitzer really shows war 'as it is', which is a terribly stupid claim given the limitations of space in any publication which inevitably leads to certain photos being picked which tell certain parts of the story and leaving out other photos which tell other parts of the war story, then why were not images of American victories shown or that of Americans happily getting along with children in the street? Or is that part of the war 'as it is' not worthy of the lauds of fellow journalists?

Our objections are not about the war photojournalists and the brave work they do. It is with the hiring of stringers such as Bilal Hussein who is comfortable enough with Abu Musab al Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq or Sheik Abdullah al-Janabi's Mujahidin Shura Council of Fallujah that he can get up close and personal for some nice staged photos.

Our other objection is to the photos selected as worthy of the Pulitzer. Is the Associated Press an American organization or not? Cause, I was kind of under the impression that America was sort of in this little thing called a SHOOTING WAR!

Ernie Pyle is rolling over in his grave, right about now. I wonder if he ever got that up close and personal interview with the Waffen SS he always wanted to do? You know, to show their side of the story. Cause, you know, they had families too. And kids. And flower gardens. And kitties......

Please see these posts for clarification:
The Pulitzer and Terrorist Embeds
Pulitzer Prize Given to Terrorists

Thanks to TR at Exposing the Left for e-mailing me the article.

PS-Bunch, you're an idiot.

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Long Live Kurdistan!

There should be an independent Kurdish state. The blood, sweat, and tears of our Northern Iraqi allies have earned them this right. But if we cannot have a Kurdish state at this time, I guess the Presidency of Iraqi will do. For now.

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Lap Dances Not Protected by First Amendment

When lap dances are outlawed, only outlaws will do lap dances. Appeals court upholds ban on lap dances. Via Interested Particpant who has more. I blame Bush for this creeping fascism......

UPDATE: Related. Strippers arrested for not wearing pasties. more...

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Christian May Receive Death Penalty for Conversion

Yes, they kill you for leaving Islam. Many religions teach that apostates go to hell, but it is only in Islam that in modern times we find a willingness to send the unbeleiver there. In fact, all four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence still agree that the death penalty is acceptable in cases where the apostate refuses to come back to the true faith.

What is almost as troubling is that few moderate Muslims embrace liberal notions of religious freedom. At best, they renounce the death penalty in favor of other penalties--such as fines or jail.

Troubling article:

Christians in Iran have expressed great fears for the life of pastor Hamid Pourmand, a lay leader in a church and a convert from Islam, who will appear before an Islamic court next week to face charges of apostasy. If found guilty he is likely to face the death penalty.
more...

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Noam Chomsky Was Right, There is a Media Bias

When you sit right behind the 10 yard line, pretty much every play seems like it's on the other side of the field. Hence, when Noam Chomsky, who is far-left of even the farthest left Democrats (he calls himself an anarcho-syndicalist), says the Mainstream Media (MSM) is 'right-wing', he is really using the term to describe any one in favor of capitalism. To Noam Chomsky, Ted Kennedy is a raving right-wing lunatic. Ok, maybe not raving, but right-wing nonetheless.

It is therefore surprisig to most people that I am a big fan of Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman's General Propaganda Model as put forth their book Manufacturing Consent.

While Chomsky and Herman's theory was developed to show how corporations control the media for their own anti-democratic purposes, the same theory can also be used to explain all sorts of media biases. Cassandra (via Emperor Misha) has an interesting post on the subject, and does a great job in classifying media bias once it has hapened, but it lacks a theoretical causal underpinning.

When attempting to explain liberal media bias the Propaganda Model does not need any grand conspiracy as the causal mechanism. Instead, it relies on the every day mundane activities of the hiring and editorial process.

Further, the advent of blogging may eventually make this theory arcane. As media voices diversify, the number of actors responsible for making decisions increases. Bias becomes less a concern because the diversity of thes voices are all over the ideological spectrum.

Here are the main causal points of the Propaganda Model, in nutshell:

more...

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The Pulitzer and Terrorist Embeds

Yesterday, a stringer for CBS News was shot by U.S. troops in Fallujah. Steve S. has the report here. So, why was the man shot at? Yahoo News:

The U.S. military said in a statement from Mosul released at the Pentagon that U.S. soldiers had been involved in an engagement with at least one suspected insurgent who was "waving an AK-47 (assault rifle) and inciting a crowd of civilians."

During the incident, "an individual that appeared to have a weapon who was standing near the insurgent was shot and injured. This individual turned out to be a reporter who was pointing a video camera," the military statement said.

Let's get a few facts straight. The individual shot at here may not have been embedded like AP photographers were. He may have just come across this scene after it began.

Maybe.

Paul at Wizbang makes the case and Rathergate note that it is quite possible that the AP stringer who shot this photo just happened upon the scene. Granted.

However, while most of the blogosphere is up in arms against that photo, the really troubling photo is this one.

bilal_hussein_photo_fallujah.jpg

This photo has no other explanation than that of the AP photographer being privy to the highest ranks of the insurgency. The photo was taken in Fallujah, where the 'resistance' was led by two well known terrorist groups, al Qaeda in Iraq and The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, and their salafist sympathizers of the Fallujah Mujahidin Shura Council--the religious leaders of the city that instituted a Taliban-like rule when the U.S. withdrew from the city.

As we noted when that photo was first taken, these 'insurgents' are in clear violation of the Geneva Convention because they wear no identifiable uniform. The photo also appears to be staged. All the evidence seems to suggest that the AP photographer, Bilal Hussein, had access to terrorist forces and was 'embedded' with them in every sense of the word.

Here is one more photo taken by the AP and which helped them win the Pulitzer. This time, the reporter is clearly embedded with Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army at a time when they were fighting U.S. troops. Note, again, the absence of identifiable uniforms. The dove on the fighters shoulder is just the icing on the cake.

mahdi_army_pulitzer.jpg

While it may be argued that the murder witnessed by an AP photographer in Iraq was not staged for his benefit, clearly the above photos were. The Pulitzer Prize was, in fact, given to an organization that has information, ties, and serves the propaganda purposes of terrorists.

Aiding the enemy in a time of war is treason. The AP, an American non-profit organization, is guilty of that crime.

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April 05, 2005

Fascism, thy name is Oh Canada!

Here is a link to the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa's Visa services for Canadian citizens just in case you wish to escape before it is too late.

But I thought it was the other way around? Bush=Hitler, neocon cabal, Patriot act gulags, etc....?

Wrong. The name Michael J. Bryant should send more chills up your spine than John Ashcroft ever did. Captain Ed has the goods.

UPDATE: Either the Canadians have gotten to Ed or he's way over his bandwidth limit. His site is down. Here is the article in question.

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Jawapalooza Coming to Washington, D.C.

Your chance to meet the Rusty Shackleford will be soon if you live in and around our Washington, D.C. I will be there from May 14th to the 22nd. If you'd like to get together for a little shin-dig, some drinks, food, laughs, and maybe see the new Star Wars drop me a line at mypetjawa-at-gmail-dot-com.

Pimps and hoes, all invited!

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Pakistani Nuke Maker A.Q. Khan met Osama bin Laden

Holy freaking schneike! No, this doesn't mean bin Laden has the bomb. What it does mean is that state sponsors of terror, like Pakistan was (and to a lesser extent still is) have (or had) the motivation if not the means of passing on WMD to terrorist organizations.

Via Chad at In the Bullpen who has more analysis here. Sifi (Indian website):

Pakistani scientists Abdul Qadeer Khan and Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood had held meetings with Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders, exchanged letters with militant organisations like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and attended their gatherings and rallies, a media report said.

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Scott Baio Thread

scott_baio.jpgThe people have spoken. We aims to please.

UPDATE: AS A CITIZEN JOURNALIST I DEMAND A SCOTT BAIO INTERVIEW!

Related.

Heh.

UPDATE II: What does Oliver Willis have that Scott Baio doesn't have. I mean, except for this? Or this. Or this. And then there's this. Oh and don't forget that.

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Google is the 'Beast', Al Gore the 'Antichrist'

The Unpopulist reports that Google has put his site up for sale.

My theory? more...

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Taliban Kills 3 Truckers (Calling all Hackers!)

The Taliban is back online. Their site is here, and it's in English. Calling all hackers!

Today the Taliban announced they had killed three truckers near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Way to go Taliban! We see your taking on the big fish these days. What, no women or children to murder?

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