March 11, 2005

Ok, More Sgrena than you ever thought possible

Wait, so even the Italians didn't know of Sgrena's release?

Giuliana Sgrena photoshop contest.

Sgrena, the musical.

Stalin vs. Bukharin--Sgrena's take.

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Jeff Gannon Was Real Journalist

I'm tired of disproving the lies of a lady who claims we nuked Iraq (you know, Giulana Sgrena). I'm thinking that maybe what this blog needs is some more Jeff Gannon? Confederate Yankee has more. I apologize in advance over his lack of nude pictures.

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NPR Misses Sgrena's Big Lie

NPR ran a six minute segment of an interview with Giuliana Sgrena yesterday. Sylvia Poggioli, in typical NPR fashion, let's Sgrena's inconsistencies pass. Here is a transcript of the lie I caught Sgrena telling:

(Poggioli's voice) She [Sgrena] denies the U.S. military account that the Italians' car was speeding, that soldiers made hand signals, and flashed warning lights to get it to stop.

(Sgrena's voice then a translation) Suddenly we were riddled by gunfire, but the lights went on only after we had been hit.

Had Poggioli been doing her job and checked Sgrena's story with one of the versions of her story she told in the past, she would have immediately caught the lie. Here is what Sgrena says in her own Il Manifesto article:
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired
Which is it Sgrena? The US says they attempted to slow the vehicle down by shining a warning light at the car. Sgrena originally admits that this is the case, but then changes her mind later. Why? Because the tale she tells NPR is much more damning than the orignial tale she told which on this one point meshes with the US version.
According to the division, the patrol attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car."
We've already accounted for her lies here and here and how they simply do not mesh with the the physical evidence. But many of her inconsistencies can be accounted for as mere differences of perception. This one, though, is an out-and-out lie.

Can some one please remind me why US taxpayers are paying Sylvia Poggioli's salary if she believes her job is to smear the good name of US soldiers and repeat the lies and inconsistencies of a woman actively working for their deaths?

UPDATE: Captain Ed notices more evolution in the Sgrena story. With each day, her story cahnges and gets worse and worse.

UPDATE II: Right-wing Nuthouse on the same page. OCC chronicle speculates on what I have been saying since the beginning.

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Gone Fishing

I need a break. Going fishing.

UPDATE: Back early. Got skunked. Water level was much lower than I expected and wind was way up. Nice to get out, though.

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Phillipines Paying Ransom for Hostage (Again): Roy Hallums-Libya Connection

INQ7 News reprints this Philippine Daily Inquirer
story:

AFTER a long silence, the captors of Roberto Tarongoy have released a video of their Filipino hostage which was aired by the Al-Jazeera Arab television network on Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, however, would not comment on reports that the video showed Tarongoy in an orange outfit -- a sign that he is nearing execution -- and that it conveyed the two conditions given for his release which the Philippines should meet in four days.

The hostage takers have reportedly demanded that the government recall all Filipino workers in Iraq and stop whatever cooperation it is giving to the United States military in Iraq.

Today the Philippines admits to paying ransom. Notice the Libya reference which is important. Daily Tribune (Philippines):
Once more, the Arroyo government is claimed to be negotiating the release of hostaged Filipino accountant Roberto Tarongoy by his captors, with a counter offer of $6 million, or $4 million short of the earlier $10 million demanded by the Iraqi rebels, a reliable source from the Department of Foreign Affairs told the Tribune yesterday.

It was not known whether President Arroyo will again be tapping Libya for the ransom money, although the source pointed out it is likely for her to seek the help of Saudi Arabia in raising the funds, as Mrs. Arroyo was reported to have done the Saudi government a “big favor” by ordering the release from immigration detention of suspected al-Qaeda financier, Mohammed al-Sughayir...

The Philippine government also yesterday claimed to have identified the kidnappers of the Filipino accountant, but insisted it has only been negotiating with them through intermediaries.

Roberto Tarongoy was abducted along with his colleauge the American Roy Hallums on Nov. 1st of last year.

Digger reports that on "July 2004 the Philippine government reportedly paid $6 million for hostage Angelo De La Cruz. Of the $6 million for De La Cruz, $5 million is said to have come from Libya". This becomes very important in light of the statement made by Roy Hallums in a video released on January 25th (I transcripted the video here):

I am asking for the help of Arab rulers, especially President Muammar Gaddafi because he's known for helping those who are suffering.
The fact that Gaddafi has helped pay ransom in the past makes Roy Hallums' statement more clear.

So the Philippine government a) has identified the kidnappers b) is paying ransom.

a) If the kindappers have been identified then the Fillipino government has a moral obligation to turn that information over to the coalition forces. Coalition forces have freed a number of hostages in the past.

b) By paying ransom the Fillipino government funds terrorist activities which will lead to more death and destruction in Iraq and only encourage more hostage taking.

In related news friend of The Jawa Report and ex-wife of Roy, Susan Hallums was reminding the President of the plight of her husband and of American hostage Thomas Hamill. Susan is said to be in contact with both the Hamill family and the wife of Roberto Tarongoy. In response, the White House issued this statement:

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hallums family. We are aware of the situation. Any time there is an American held hostage, it is a high priority for the U.S. government.

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin. Digger has a lot more as well.

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Spain Surrendered to Terrorists One Year Ago Today

One year ago today an al Qaeda cell calling itself "the death smoke squad" bombed four seperate trains in Madrid, Spain, killing 191 and wounding over a thousand more. Al Qaeda had demanded Spain withdraw its troops from Iraq. As a response to the bombing, Spain did just that.

As a result of Spanish withdrawal from Iraq the terrorists began a new round of threats, hostage taking, and murder. Whether or not the Spanish people intended to cave to terrorists is irrelevant for the likes of bin Laden and Zarqawi. They perceived Spain had given in to their demands therefore their strategy had worked.

Let's not forget that the goal of Islamic "terrorists" is not to "terrorize". The goal of Islamic terrorists is to restore the Caliphate to its maximum borders, which includes most of Spain.

Last night Muslim clerics in Spain issued a fatwa against Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, for inspiring the Madrid massacre. Let us not forget that many of these same clerics hope for the same goal as bin Laden--an Islamic state ruling Spain. They may disagree with the means of achieving the ends, but the ends would be a fascist state worse than anything Franco ever imposed.

Spain, we feel for your loss. Spain, we also condemn you for adding fuel to the fire of global jihad.

Blog reaction: more...

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March 10, 2005

Why We Shot at Sgrena and Killed Nicola Calipari

Major K. reports an incident in Iraq, where he is stationed:

A short distance from our FOB, A US convoy was driving down the road. As they headed to their destination a civilian vehicle pulled on from a side alley and attempted to get into the convoy....Unable to deter the vehicle from approaching the US convoy or make it pull over, the IPÂ’s [Iraqi Police] fired at the engine of the encroaching vehicle. At this point, the driver detonated the IED inside his vehicle. Yes, this was a classic VBIED.

This suicide bomber killed himself and the four IPÂ’s in the vehicle holding him at bay. The device was so powerful that the bomberÂ’s vehicle was literally obliterated. The engine block was thrown over 25 meters. The IPÂ’s vehicle was nothing but a burned out shell. All four IPÂ’s inside perished in the blast, but not a scratch was inflicted on the vehicles or personnel of the US convoy.

Hat tip to John Donovan who reminds us that it's not just Americans who are dying for Iraqis, but Iraqis dying for Americans.

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Muslims Fired for Praying on the Job at Dell

I sympathize with these dudes, I really do, but the problem with Islamic prayers are that they are set by the solar time of day in Mecca (ie, sunrise and sunset rather than a certain time of day). What do you expect Dell to do, shut down the entire assembly line because a handful of workers can't keep the same schedule?

The Tennessean:

"They told us that we cannot pray at sunset,'' Nuur said. ''They told us that we would have to wait for our break.''
Oh no! Discrimination!! Bigotry!!! Bias!!!! Nazis!!!!

Oh, wait:

''Dell values diversity in all areas, and that includes religious beliefs,'' Dell spokesman Mark Drury said. ''The company's practice is to accommodate religious beliefs, so long as the accommodations are reasonable, don't disrupt business operations and are consistent with our policies on operating a respectful workplace.

''Employees are allowed time off with pay to pray. We have traffic-free areas for them to use for prayer.''

Sometimes those religious needs conflict with the business, though.

''When granting time off during a shift on a manufacturing line would be disruptive,'' Drury said, ''we have worked out reasonable accommodations, such as a tag-out procedure when employees can leave the line to pray and return, allowing the next employee time to leave the line to pray.''

For some odd reason, when I tell my Dean I need time off to pray, I get this sort of look...you know?

hat tip: Kevin Aylward

UPDATE: Meanwhile IKEA plays the dhimmi to the tea. This article describes how IKEA only shows men in its instuction brochures (IKEA sells unassembled furniture) so as not to offend the sensibilities of Muslims who might be offended at the thought of *shock* a woman putting together furniture. (hat tip Opinionbug)

Paranthetically, I was once in Sweden on a holiday and visited IKEA in its native land. My take? Swedish women are way overrated.

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Egypt's Baghdad Bob

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, better known as "Baghdad Bob", is well-known for his quips about how the US was losing the war. My favorite was "There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!" even as tanks could be seen across the Euphrates river on live television.

Today, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit joins the ranks of reality deniars such as Baghdad Bob for his denial that American foreign policy is responsible for the sea-change in Iraq. The WaPo artcle is here. Read it, you'll get a good laugh.

My favorite line: ""I think Egypt is a lighthouse for the Middle East." Classic.

The Commissar has more.

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The Dan Rather Farewell Post

Dan who?

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Suicide Bomber Kills 36 at Shiite Mosque

A homice bomber blew himself up today at a Shiite Mosque in the insurgency stronghold of Mosul. The blast is reported by the AP to have killed at least 36 people and injured 25 others.

Large parts of Mosul are effectively controlled by insurgents. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (Iraq) is also said to have a stronghold there along with the Kurdish Salafist group Ansar al-Sunnah. Yesterday, Zarqawi claimed personal responsibility in the Sadeer hotel bombing because "there were a large number of Jews" in the buildiing.

AP:

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shiite mosque during a funeral Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, killing at least 36 people and injuring 25, witnesses and hospital officials said.

U.S. troops cordoned off the area in the northeastern Tameem neighborhood near the mosque. Civilian vehicles helped ambulance crews in ferrying casualties to hospitals.

At least 36 people were killed, said Dr. Saher Maher, speaking from a hospital in the city.

The explosion took place during a funeral in the courtyard of a mosque that was still under construction.

''As we were inside the mosque, we saw a ball of fire and heard a huge explosion,'' said Tahir Abdullah Sultan. ''After that, blood and pieces of flesh were scattered around the place.''

Rows of overturned white plastic chairs were stained in blood. Body parts, believed to be of the bomber, were spread around the area, and the smell of gunpowder filled the yard. Windows of nearby cars were shattered.

''After the cloud of smoke and dust dispersed, we saw the scattered bodies of the fallen and smelled gunpowder,'' said Adnan al-Bayati, another witness.

The mosque is located in a poor Mosul neighborhood and surrounded by many homes.

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Church Report: Torture and Abuse Not U.S. Policy, Clears Top Officials

Navy Vice Admiral Albert Church will testify before Congress today that while prisoner abuse and torture has occured at the hands of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, the abuse was not due to US policy, was not wide spread, and not systematic--multiple sources are reporting this morning. The Church report also outlines a number of new recommendations aimed at further reducing prisoner abuse.

The New York Times (subscription) sums up the findings:

Admiral Church's report faults senior American officials for failing to establish clear interrogation policies for Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving commanders there to develop some practices that were unauthorized, according to the report summary. But the inquiry found that Pentagon officials and senior commanders were not directly responsible for the detainee abuses, and that there was no policy that approved mistreatment of detainees at prisons in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Kevin McCullough, who has much more, summarizes the Church reports findings:
1. There was no policy that condoned torture.

2. There was no policy that encouraged abuse.

3. There was a lot of inconsistency across interrogation techniques. Many of those techniques were developed in the combat theater and migrated to other areas.

4. There was a general lack of military command guidance in dealing with the CIA. [Church] found 30 ghost detainees. One such detainee was in that status for 45 days.

5. There were missed interrogation opportunities in part because the military failed to take account of lessons from prior conflicts
.
6. There was no guidance to CENTCOM or by CENTCOM on interrogations.

While the general thrust of the Church report is that US policy did not directly lead to the torture and abuse of detainees, the international media has jumped on the report, following the lead of the New York Times, focusing instead on tales of the abuse that did take place. The International Herald Tribune, based in France, runs with the headline "Abuse of Afghan villagers by GIs is reported to Congress" and cites the New York Times as its source.

It is our opinion that the specific tales of abuse should have remained classified and the report should only contain a general accounting of abuses. The inevetable outcome of the public airing of specific abuses will be to bolster the claims of terrorists that the fight against Coalition forces in Iraq is a just one. Members of Congress could have been briefed on the classified portions of the document in private.

The goal of the report, it should be remembered, is to find ways to prevent abuse in the future. The Times claims that:

Three senior defense officials said Wednesday that the new procedures clarified the prohibition against the use of muzzled dogs in interrogations, gave specific guidance to field units as to how long they could hold prisoners before releasing them or sending them to higher headquarters for detention, and made clear command responsibilities for detainee operations.
Vice Admiral Church and other Pentagon officials are scheduled to testify before Congress today.

UPDATE: Interesting note from Wired:

A 21-page unclassified summary of the report was to be released at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The full 368-page report is classified.
Is the story run by the New York Times, and sure to be the focus of the foreign and jihadi press, about abuses part of the classified report? If so, who leaked it? more...

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Zarqawi Claims Sadeer Hotel Bombing Attempt to Kill Jews

In several communications, yesterday, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (Iraq) claimed responsibility for the Sadeer hotel bombing. In a statement allegedly written by Zarqawi himself, al Qaeda claims that the hotel was bombed because "there were a large number of Jews and Israeli Mossad agents in the hotel." (full translation here)

On the progress front, though, the Iraqi Interim government now claims that 18 of 20 top leaders of the terrorist network have been killed or captured.

The two leaders that remain at large are Zarqawi and Abu Talha. Evan Kohlmann, of the Counterterrorism Blog, has a translation of the press release here.

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Sgrena Finds Oswald's 'Magic Bullet'

In another contradiction from earlier stories, Giuliana Sgrena's boyfriend now claims she "collected handfuls of bullets on the seats." In related news, eye-witnesses to the Sgrena shooting now are reporting that they heard shots fired from "the grassy noll". Developing....... (multiple shout-outs to the many people who tipped me on this)

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March 09, 2005

On the 100 mph question

Isn't it more likely that the military official who told ABC that Sgrena's car "was traveling in excess of 100 mph" is a little confused about the metric system and meant to say "100 kph"? That would be about 60 mph, still too fast for a bombed out Baghdad road yet consistent with Sgrena's (or at least, one of her contradictory) version and the US version of the story.

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Calling All Hackers

Let me just put in a quick plug for Hagganah Internet. What we do here is make fun of terrorists and expose their evil agenda. What he does there is he takes those bitches out!

What many in America do not understand is that terrorists are linked together with a common ideology. That ideology is not 'terrorism'. 'Terrorism' is a means to an end, the end, however is just as frightening as the means. The ends are the global caliphate under sharia law as first envisioned by The Muslim Brotherhood at the fall of the Turkish empire.

I condemn the IRA, but I don't consider them a major threat to Western Civilization. On the other hand, The Muslim Brotherhood has (at least publicly) renounced violence yet I consider them a far more dangerous organization.

The jihadi networks are bound together through internet sites and discussion boards where they give each other support, instruction, and even coordinate attacks.

The FBI and CIA still operate in pre-9/11 mode when it comes to these terrorist web sites. That is, the operators of these websites are largely ignored or when attention is paid to them it is in the guise of a criminal indictment. If 9/11 taught us anything, it is that we cannot treat the jihadi terrorists as criminals. This is war, and pro-active cyber-warfare must be part of that strategy.

Internet Hagganah is committed to exposing the terrorists by revealing the web sites they use and hosting companies which allow them to operate. Many might be surprised to learn that the majority of jihadi websites are hosted on American or European servers.

If you have, er, special skills that might help in taking down some of these websites you might want to pay Aaron's Internet Hagganah a visit.

In the past few weeks a number of jihadi sites have been, er, forced to find other hosts. For instance, the Aaryan Nation website which openly encourages the jihad against America has recently been *cough* shut down.

If you don't have these special skills, another strategy is to contact the webhost and pressure them to remove the terrorists' content. Internet Hagganah on an almost daily basis reveals who those webhosts are. For instance, a company in Denmark has been hosting a website which raises money under the guise of an 'Islamic Charity' but which openly boasts in Arabic about how those funds are used in Iraq to fuel the insurgency.

Last bleg--if you want to help make Internet Hagganah a semi-regular visit.

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Wow....

.....man, I miss living in the Mountain West. This is why.

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We Got Another Zarqawi Aide, Syria Implicated

Kuna:

Iraqi security forces arrested a leader of one of Musaab Al-Zarqawi's terrorist cells in Baquba, northeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad on Wednesday.

An Iraqi police source told reporters that soldiers of the Iraqi Army captured Taifor Abdulsattar Malallah one of the "princes" of Musaeb Al-Zaraqi's terrorist group in Baquba.

The source who preferred anonymity said the army raid resulted in the capture of Bakir Al-Hiraibi, one of Malallah's close aides, and five others of his cell members wanted by the Iraqi government. The captured have "confessed to executing many criminal attacks against Iraqi police and National Guard in addition to planting explosive devices," he said.

Interrogations have revealed that all those arrested have relations with a country neighboring Iraq, he said.

Hmmm, I wonder which country that could possibly be????? Thanks to Reliapundit for e-mailing this to me.

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Giuliana Sgrena's Lies, Inconsistencies, and Treason

Giuliana Sgrena's version of events leading up to the death of Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari are inconsistent and just don't add up when compared with the physical evidence. But Sgrena's crimes are far worse than the minor infraction of being a propagandist with a political axe to grind against the US. Giuliana Sgrena is a traitor to the Italian people. While Italian troops were in a shooting war with Iraqi insurgents, Sgrena worked to bolster the spirits of those attempting to kill her fellow citizens. An Italian Tokyo Rose, Sgena used the tools of her trade to undermine the morale of Italian soldiers and bolster the spirits of the terrorist forces they were fighting.

Was Giuliana Sgrena a neutral observer reporting both sides of the conflict or was she actively working to undermine Italian efforts in Iraq?

Here is Sgrena in her own words on the plane taking her to Iraq courtesy of a translation by Zacht EI:

Be careful not to get kidnapped,' I told the female Italian journalist sitting next to me in the small plane that was headed for Baghdad. 'Oh no,' she said. 'That won't happen. We are siding with the oppressed Iraqi people. No Iraqi would kidnap us....

'The Americans are the biggest enemies of mankind,' the three women behind me had told me, for Sgrena travelled to Iraq with two Italian colleagues who hated the Americans as well...

'You don't understand the situation. We are anti-imperialists, anti-capitalists, communists,' they said. The Iraqis only kidnap American sympathizers, the enemies of the Americans have nothing to fear.

Sgrena admits being an enemy of America. How can one be the enemy of America in a war in which Italy and America are on the same side and yet remain loyal to Italy?

Wouldn't it have been treasonous for an American to work for the German conquest of Russia during WWII? Would such a traitor be able to claim, "Hey, I'm not against America's war with Germany. I just hope Germany defeats Russia." more...

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Mount St. Helens Volcano Erupting

Mount St. Helens is spewing some ash this afternoon. Here is a live images from Johnston's Ridge observatory at Mount St. Helens. Other images and news from the volcano are posted below.

See, I'm interested in all things that explode. After all, volcanos are nature's nuclear bombs!

Here is a live image of Mount St. Helens. If you don't see anything it's either a) night b) erupting. In case of b please evacuate. Thank you.

more...

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