Ok I did see FNS yesterday. Carl Levin started off pretty good but then drifted to the same old same old. Chris Wallace did a pretty good job on the Senator but I have one statement in particular that bothered me a bit.
OK Carl let see what Howie can do with that. Saddam was intensely wary of Islamic movements challenging his power in Iraq I can agree with that. But his support of Hamas is well documented. See links below. So what does Hamas have to do with Al-Qaeda? See this post and check the links to understand how this works. Al-Qaeda is an offshoot of HamasÂ’ military wing the The Abdellah Azzam Brigades. Read this and you begin to see the loose relationship. Even Hamas itself is leery of its stepchild. For instance after the bombings in Egypt last summer the Abdellah Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility but that claim was quickly replaced by another claim by an unknown group to downplay the relationship. HamasÂ’ attempts to become a political party are haunted by its past. So while Saddam was careful to keep control of Iraq he supported terrorist activity outside Iraq and lent aid as he could to those who seek to kill Jews and Americans. We donÂ’t often think about the fact that Al-Qaeda was born of the Palestinian conflict. ItÂ’s apparent when Egypt gets bombed but more subtle when the US, England or Iraq is attacked but itÂ’s there none the less.
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I saw that interview, too. Levin's detachment from reality begs the question: what kind of idiots keep electing this incompetent pinhead?
Posted by: The Dread Pundit Bluto at November 28, 2005 12:57 PM (RHG+K)
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Bluto:
Yeah he started off kind of reasonable. I mean the idea that us leaving puts pressure on Iraq to do more makes some logical sense. Not that I think they are quite ready yet but after that it went just plain silly. I started off thinking well this guy is reasonable but like I said all downhill from there. I really liked Kristol's statment that Bush has to say polls be damned and just do the work but Fox does not have that posted.
Posted by: Howie at November 28, 2005 01:01 PM (D3+20)
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And there's the
little tidbit buried in the coverage of Saddam's trial, namely that Saddam loves to spout off Koranic verses when it suits his needs. Moments earlier, following a pattern he established during his initial court appearance 17 months ago, Mr. Hussein invoked a verse from the Koran, on this occasion one that seemed intended to suggest that the ultimate judgment on the events that occurred during Mr. Hussein's 24-year rule in Iraq would rest with God, not with the court. "Do you think that you will enter paradise without Allah judging those among you who fought hard in his cause, and remained steadfast?", Mr. Hussein said, reciting the verse from memory.It's not that he found religion while in prison, but uses religious statements regularly to obtain his goals. That's why the whole notion that he would never work with AQ or the Islamofascist terrorist groups was utter bunk. He'd work with whoever matched up with his own goals. He wasn't above funding Islamic terrorists attacking Israel, and certainly wasn't above hosting Islamic terrorists in Iraq (Abu Nidal among others).
Posted by: lawhawk at November 28, 2005 02:48 PM (eppTH)
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Al-Queda and Hamas ? Hamas is most certainly much more connected to Iran. Al-Queda was formed in Afghanistan. Hamas had volunteers fighting AGAINST Iraq durring the war with Iran. Sunnis and shia have certainly killed a lot more of each other, than christians. Their history is like that of the catholics and the protestents 300 years ago.
Posted by: john ryan at November 28, 2005 07:06 PM (ads7K)
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Did anyone follow the links ? Most show Sadddam's support for Popular Front adn AbuNidal These are groups that have always had big political differences with Hamas. This tenuous attaching of groups reminds me of the left-wing charges of al-Queda being born of the CIA. Or that movie 6 degrees of seperation.
Posted by: john ryan at November 28, 2005 07:23 PM (ads7K)
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Rusty,
I offer you an olive branch and you fart in my face.
You think you hold all the power, but you hold none. You can't ban me. Click, click, click and I get a new IP address.
It is we, the Brotherhood, who hold the power. We demand 10% of all your blog money.
Email me to obtain the exact terms of your surrender.
Posted by: Menezes' ghost's Brother at November 28, 2005 07:31 PM (9Be34)
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Rusty,
I offer you an olive branch and you fart in my face.
You think you hold all the power, but you hold none. You can't ban me. Click, click, click and I get a new IP address.
It is we, the Brotherhood, who hold the power. We demand 10% of all your blog money.
Email me to obtain the exact terms of your surrender.
Posted by: Menenzes' ghost's Brother at November 28, 2005 07:31 PM (9Be34)
8
This is an interesting case. Since the late 1950s, when General Nasser seized control of Egypt, there have been two styles of government in Arab countries -- dictatorships cut from the same cloth as Nasser's, like Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Mohmar Qadaffi's Libya, and fanatical religious regimes like those found in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The dictators divide their time between keeping the population terrorized and therefore under control, and preventing religious revolutions to avoid losing power to a fanatical religious government.
It's precarious at best.
Both systems have one thing in common: their roots can be traced to that magical era when time stopped for Middle Easterners -- the 8th century.
Posted by: Don Long at November 28, 2005 11:18 PM (b2Y3g)
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Anyone who thinks that Saddam and bin Laden couldn't be tactical allies is fooling themselves. There is such a thing as honor among thieves and when you have two cock-sure thugs like them, each one is pretty confident of being able to overrun the other after their short term common goals are met.
History tells us that mid 20th century Muslims were more than happy to align themselves with the Nazis and today's neo-Nazis have now claimed solidarity with Muslims. Saddam, inspite of differences in philosophy, was enamored with bin Laden.
When the common enemy is hated enough politics make strange bedfellows.
Posted by: Oyster at November 29, 2005 05:42 AM (YudAC)
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Iran's terrorists are Islamic Jihad not Hamas,
Posted by: Howie at November 29, 2005 09:27 AM (D3+20)
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