#1
I'll believe it when ZAWI sez it on verified public video or news interview - the Zawi I know is absolutely loyal to Osama and has been for yarns, since forever. *For now, I'm surreally interpreting this article as Zawi wanting = desiring OBL to stay in bed and care for his kidney condition, something which dedic "die-on-my-feet-facing-enemies" Osama would undoubtedly hate.
#1
See also GLOBALPOLITICIAN [Russophobe link] > RUSSIA'S SPETZNATZ AND ISLAMIST/ISLAMIC TERRORISM + MODERN COMMUNIST THEORY AND ITS NEW STRATEGY IN RUSSIA + THE DRAGON'S DAWN: CHINA AS A RISING IMPERIAL POWER + WHY STOP ISRAEL - THEIR VICTORY IS AMERICA'S AND LEBANON'S!?
The history of the PKK from a Turkish perspective. Interesting window into politics / differences among Kurdish leaders. Excerpt:
Güreº spoke of plans for the biggest strike to lay siege on the PKK from the rear. He ordered secret preparations and secret military buildups on the border; otherwise the terrorists will run away, warned Güreº instructing his forces to cross the border directly. Units of the Land Forces moved from northeastern Turkey and relocated here. Güreº had confidence in the field corps engineers; later on he asked for the construction of a suspension bridge for tanks over Hezil Creek. The bridges were built quickly. M-60 tanks used these bridges to take up positions at the PKK points of escape.
When the offensive began, terrorists attempted to flee in the opposite direction but were intercepted by M-60 tanks equipped with night vision devices. The PKK panicked as infantry units paralyzed all movement of the terrorists. Terrorists stuck between M-60 tanks behind them and infantry in front couldn't escape, said the general, Turkish forces conducted the biggest strike.
On the eve of this cross-border operation, Barzani and Talabani failing in an attack against the PKK, asked for help. Therefore, Güreº launched the operation on Oct. 12, 1992.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Turkey should be split. Tearign apart the Ottoman Empire was stopped part way for the political conveninece of the empires in Europe at the end of WW1.
Aremenia should have been its own nation long ago, and so should Kurdistan. From a ethno-geographic perspective, there are large areas in eastern Turkey that are Kurdish not Turkish.
#1
WAFF.com > Iran may intend any J10 purchases from CHINA to be soley for the IRGC, which is indic as a "disturbing development/trend". IMO, new advanced SU-30'units for the IRGC should not be discounted.
Also from the WEEKLY STANDARD > DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIPS + COALITION OF THE INCAPABLE. Both good reads.
It has become obligatory for both pro- and antiwar commentators to never mention the possibility of victory in Iraq. The most that antiwar people will admit is that the surge has gained a temporary military advantage in a war that cannot be won militarily. The most pro-war commentators will claim is that they see the possibility of "success" perhaps, maybe, someday, somehow.
But as of Veterans Day 2007, I think one can claim a very real expectation that next year the world may see a genuine, old-fashioned victory in the Iraq War. In five years we will have overturned Saddam's government, killed, captured or driven out of country almost all al Qaeda terrorists, suppressed the violent Shi'ite militias and induced the Sunni tribal leaders and their people to shun resistance and send their sons into the army and police and seek peaceful resolution of disputes. And we will have stood up a multisectarian, tribally inclusive army capable of maintaining the peace that our troops established.
The reports coming out of Iraq in the last month suggest that we are not yet there but almost. As The Washington Times summarized this week: "the Associated Press reported: 'Twilight brings traffic jams to the main shopping district of this once-affluent corner of Baghdad, and hundreds of people stroll past well-stocked vegetable stands, bakeries and butcher shops. To many in Amariyah, it seems little short of a miracle.' According to The Washington Post: 'The number of attacks against U.S. soldiers has fallen to levels not seen since before the February 2006 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that touched off waves of sectarian killing ... The death toll for American troops in October fell to 39, the lowest level since March 2006.'"
And on Thursday, the New York Times noted: "American forces have routed al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood in Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the 'surge' to depart as planned." Investor's Business Daily assessed: Many military analysts including some who don't support the war have concluded that the U.S. and its allies are on the verge of winning.
Last weekend Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites has nearly disappeared from Baghdad, with terrorist bombing down 77 percent. This was confirmed by Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of U.S. forces south of the capital: "If we didn't have so many Iraqi people coming forward to help, I'd think this is a flash in the pan. But that is just not the case."
All of this is the result of the most underreported successful military operation since the invention of the telegraph. (For a detailed account of Gen. David Petraeus's, and Gen. Raymond Odierno's counterinsurgency campaign see Kimberly Kagan's meticulous article in the Weekly Standard) Posted above.
But the point to take away from the surge is that, though a brilliant military operation, it was never just a military operation. Rather it developed a political, economic and communications infrastructure that is permitting local-level reconciliation. We are creating representative governance from the bottom up not from the Green Zone down. Despite a frail and inept national government, the people in the towns and provinces (under the tutelage of the U.S. military) seem to be forming order out of the chaos.
The victory will not have come cheap. According to the Associated Press 3,861 American troops have been killed in Iraq. Last Sunday I attended a Veterans Day commemoration at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. My only role there was as husband of the keynote speaker. After the formal ceremonies, as we were chatting with people, I had a conversation with a former Marine. He was there with his eight-year-old son. He explained that his 21-year-old the oldest of his four sons had been killed in combat in Iraq just a couple of months ago.
He showed us a picture of his fallen son. He was a good-looking, open-faced kid with a winning grin leaning out of his armored vehicle. He died leading his men to the sound of the guns. He is now buried there in that central Texas veteran's cemetery where last Sunday a hard wind blew, snapping the many Old Glories that stood sentry for our fallen warriors. And the eight-year-old who idolized his fallen big brother can hardly wait to be old enough to join up to finish his brother's job. (Of course, we know that in this world, that job of warrior will never be done as the postwar period ever glides seamlessly into the new prewar period.) Standing there surrounded by thousands of veterans' grave stones, and looking into the faces of the bereaved, I think of these young heroes who today are making victory in Iraq possible what Ronald Reagan said of and to the men who climbed the cliffs at Normandy's Pointe de Hoc (quoting Stephen Spender): "You are men who in your lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with your honor."
Tony Blankley is executive vice president for global public affairs at Edelman International. He is also a visiting senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
#1
In five years we will have overturned Saddam's government, killed, captured or driven out of country almost all al Qaeda terrorists, suppressed the violent Shi'ite militias and induced the Sunni tribal leaders and their people to shun resistance and send their sons into the army and police and seek peaceful resolution of disputes. And we will have stood up a multisectarian, tribally inclusive army capable of maintaining the peace that our troops established.
...while at the same time fighting the "defeatocrats" at home, a hostile fourth estate, a lefty moonbat contingency, and islamofacists who have infiltrated our country...
#2
As said or inferred times before, OSAMA BIN LADE IS IRAN-CENTRIC/FOCUSED, + DESIRES THAT THE ISLAMIST = his OSAMAIAN PERSONAL "APOCALYPSE" TAKE PLACE IN IRAN, i.e. the USA or US-Allies must attack, invade, and occupy IRAN before the MAHDI-HIDDEN IMAM CAN APPEAR. *NO US ATTACK + INVASION OF IRAN = ANTI-US/WEST WOT WILL GO ON INDEFINITELY, at least for as long as OSAMA + Aligned Islamists lead Al-QAEDA + world Radical Islamism.
#3
TOPIX/BRUSSELS JOURNAL/GLOBAL AANALYSIS > WHY SECULARISM CAN'T WORK WITH RADICAL ISLAMISM. Secularism is contempor synonymous wid ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT + [pan]GOVERNMENTISM ONLY, while ISLAMISM IS A BELIEF SYSTEM + RELIGION ENCOMPASSING BOTH GOVT. AUTHORITY/EXISTENCE + POPULAR MASSES-SOCIETIES. Specific organized Govts + Nation-States can be defeated, but its extremely difficult to challenge, fight, and defeat a Local-National-Global SocioCultural and Religious belief system.
WHERE OSAMA IS CONCERNED, THE BATTLE FOR IRAQ, etal. IS TANGENT AND SECONDARY TO THE ISLAMIST APOCALYPSE BEING FOUGHT IN IRAN. IOW, in Osama's mind THE USA-WEST CAN NOT AND NEVER CLAIM PER SE "VICTORY" OVER ISLAM, ISLAMISM, + GWOT, ETC. UNTIL AFTER WORLD ISLAM-ISLAMISM LOSES ITS APOCALYPSE IN IRAN, not in Iraq or anywhere else. OSAMA > THE ONLY OTHER ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE TO IRAN IS THE US-WEST LOSING THE GWOT AND BECOMING ISLAMIST. Latter is similar to hard Leftists accepting the fall of the USSR-Commie Bloc only iff the USA-West become like the USSR-Commie Bloc, i.e. "VICTORS" ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE DOMINATED OR CONTROLLED BY THEIR ENEMIES, LIKE THEIR ENEMIES IN "MIRROR-IMAGE".
Editor of Arab Reformist Website: Dictatorial Arab Regimes are Winning the 'Battle for Hearts And Minds' In America
In an editorial in the Arabic reformist website www.aafaq.org, editor Omran Salman explains the failure of American public diplomacy efforts and blames the dictatorial Arab regimes of being behind the campaigns to smear America as part of their struggle for survival.
The following is the editorial.(1)
"The Distortion of the Image of the U.S. Has Become a Political Objective for Arab Governments in Their Struggle for Survival"
"The news of the resignation of Karen Hughes, the official responsible for American public diplomacy who was tasked with improving the image of America abroad, especially in the Middle East, was received with relative quiet. This was in contrast to the news of her appointment to the position in 2005, which enjoyed wide coverage and high hopes.
"But Hughes failed in her mission, though with distinction, and it is expected, or so it is hoped, that this failure will deliver a severe shock to American diplomacy that may perhaps awaken it from the delusions and bureaucracy that are firmly established in the corridors of the Department of State.
"In any case, it was not destined for that Hughes would succeed in 'winning the hearts and minds of the Arabs' in all circumstances, and this has nothing to do with her skills or her competence.
"According to the Reuters article that reported her resignation, Hughes is known for her fast-talking, enthusiastic style, a trait that was not always well received, particularly in the Middle East.
"But this is not the reason, of course. The distorted image of the United States in the Arab world, at least is not due to lack of information about the motives and nature of American foreign policy, and not because Arab citizens have insufficient information about American life, or the laws or institutions of the United States.
"The residents of the Arab world do not live on another planet, and they are not isolated from the revolution of rapid communication, technology, and the Internet, where anyone can push a button and get the information he wants. Many Arabs have visited the United States or have a relatives or friends living in America.
"The real reason is that the distortion of the image of the United States has become a political objective for Arab governments in their struggle for survival, and a tool to banish the specter of democracy and change in the Arab region.
"Those conducting this smear campaign are primarily autocratic Arab regimes, as represented by Ministries of Information. They have decided to make the United States pay the price for toppling one of their regimes the regime of Saddam Hussein and then calling for reform in the region."
"What Those Conducting American Public Diplomacy Do Not Realize is that, in the Arab World, Little Happens by Chance"
"To this end, they poisoned the views and ideas in the Arab world, and filled the minds of the people with such extraordinary superstitions, fantasies and conspiracy theories, beginning with the accusation that the CIA and the Jews masterminded the attacks of September 11 and not ending with the 'Crusader war' that President George Bush has declared on the Islamic world.
"What those conducting American public diplomacy do not realize is that in the Arab world, little happens by chance.
"When Karen Hughes visited a school in an Arab capital to meet with the pupils, or a social institution to meet with its employees, she thought that people were speaking naturally and revealing what they actually believe their opinions, in fact especially toward the United States.
"Such things may happen in America, where people are free in what they believe and what they say. But it is naive to assume that the same thing happens in the Arab world.
"In the Arab world, numerous authorities intervene to shape peoples views and impose on them what to say. First, there is the information authority, for the most part owned by the government or by agencies close to it; this information, whether it comes in the apparent form of news or opinions, teaches people negative views of the United States day in and day out.
"Then, there is the imam of the mosque. Generally, he is a government official, and it is impossible for him to leave cursing the Jews, the Nazarenes (Christians), and the global arrogance headed of course by America! out of his sermons."
"Those Who Conduct American Public Diplomacy Have Allowed the Arab Governments and Their Corrupt and Despotic Agencies To Deceive Them And Have Then Themselves Attempted to Deceive American Public Opinion"
"And then there is the school a government institution which programs the pupils from childhood on with hostility toward everything non-Arab and non-Muslim, and programs them to believe in declaring other Muslims apostates and infidels, and in jihad, and in the restoration of the Caliphate and the revival of Arab and Islamic glory to which the West is an obstacle!
"Instead of researching the true reasons for the distortion of Americas image in the Arab world, and presenting a list of the organizations and individuals engaged in the distortion which in any case takes place openly, in broad daylight those who conduct American public diplomacy have allowed the Arab governments and their corrupt and despotic agencies to deceive them and have then themselves attempted to deceive American public opinion.
"What they do not know is that they have become a joke in the Arab world, subject to jest and ridicule from all sides.
"Thus, instead of the United States winning the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims, the Arab governments and Muslim Brotherhood have ensnared the hearts and minds of many State Department diplomats, as well as those of some of Washington's influential research institutes."
#1
AS A REMINDER, new book described on WND.COM indics how a small but potent nucleus of Radical/Militant Islamism is claimed to already be established in the USA, and is slowly but steadily growing in size and armed capability.
Nasrallah has appealed to Syrian-installed puppet Emile Lahoud to embark on a "national rescue initiative" so that the country does not fall into the hands of "thieves and murderers who are followers of the American-Zionist project".
Nasrallah said his militia will not recognize a president elected outside the "consensus", and will consider him an "usurper". He added that the presidential election is important because it will determine the role of the army and government in the next period. He said no force on earth can disarm his militia, and that last week's exercises were a "message to the world that the resistance can create a victory that can "alter the face of the region".
Nasrallah also warned against privatizing cell phone companies-- which Siniora's government is trying to do-- threatening future bidders that his Iranian-owned militia will "confront them using legal and legitimate means". Nasrallah, who represents a privatized version of Shia Islam, has his own phone network, and prefers to keep his wiretapping operation undisturbed by giving new licenses or modernizing the service in the land of do as you like.
He also called for early elections, and vowed to accept the result of that election and give the current "fake majority" the right to elect a president if they win two thirds of the seats. He said he considers the results of the last parliamentary elections invalid, because the deputies who allied themselves with Hizbullah during the election have not honored their campaign promise of rejecting UNSC 1559 and protecting the "weapons of the resistance".
Nasrallah denied rumors of impending clashes erupting between Hizbullah and armed elements in the refugee camps near the southern suburbs. The rumors are, mind you, are being propagated by Damascus-based PFLP-GC leader Ahmad Gibril.
The speech, delivered on the occasion of "Martyr's Day", is full of lies and hypocritical claims as usual. It's safe to say that Hizbullah now equates the current Lebanese government and March 14 leaders with the Israeli government. That he hasn't called for jihad against the government seems to be a matter of time. It makes you wonder on what basis Hariri and Berri are meeting. Does Hariri really think he can reach an agreement with people who consider him to be a Zionist thief and murderer?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Compare JPOST Op-Ed > ISLAM AND THE NATION-STATE.
It is interesting that [The Transformers] made 403492 grillion dollars, whereas the Cruise / Redford / Streep oration about War Being Bad averaged thirty-seven cents per theater. As many have noted elsewhere at great length, anti-war movies are unpopular. The theories vary: the public is tired of the war, the movies are lousy, the public doesnt want to see Uncle Sam portrayed as the sort of guy who cant wait to hook up a Diehard to the harbls of an innocent exchange student rounded up in the Bushilter Mandatory Scoop-Up-The-Dusky Initiative. Both sides will probably come to rest on the last answer, but for different reasons. One side takes cruel comfort in the fact that Americans CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH, as another Cruise movie so memorably accused, and the other side is convinced that Hollywood is so besotted by the vapors in its ideological pleasure-dome it cannot conceive of making a war movie that isnt a glass of warm spinach juice or, if its slam-bang rah-rah in concept, is laden down with hints and tics and cues designed to insulate the producers from the inevitable protests from all corners. You can almost hear the sighs of a producer looking at an incredible script about the drive to Baghdad, a straight-forward story that complete with straight-ahead, matter-of-fact drama: its a great script, but my wifes all hooked up with Code Pink. Not that I care; theyre a bunch of nuts. But I cant stand the people who think theyre a bunch of nuts for reasons different than mine. Also Im going to get CAIR writing letters to the editor, and my kid reads that paper. Well, she reads it online. Maybe. I dont know. It would probably show up on MySpacebook or something. But no ones going to get hard looks if Tom Cruise comes out against torture, right? I mean, whos gonna boo that at Cannes?
(Thank you, Mr. Strawman! Thank you for stating so succinctly what I suspect and believe. Remarkable.)
Its an old subject, and I was moaning about this years ago. And I probably said the same thing: wheres our Casablanca?
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2007 06:42 ||
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#1
You'd think someone in Hollywood would try to film “Raven 42: The Leigh Ann Hester Story”.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/14/2007 7:30 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, when squadrons of flying pigs begin performing precision formation aerial stunds over my house.
You should put the http: before your web site designation. Otherwise, browsers try to go to Rantburg.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/14/2007 8:29 Comments ||
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#5
What I wrote Sunday -
They're whining in Hollyweird, no one wants war movies during war. Bull!!!. They don't want pure unadulterated anti-American screed. Check the box office takes for 2006.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $423,032,628
Night at the Museum (2006) $250,863,268
Cars (2006) $244,052,771
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) $234,360,014
The Da Vinci Code (2006) $217,536,138
300 (2006) $210,592,590
source:http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross
The suits lie through their teeth when they say the public doesn't want 'war' movies. "300" was hardly family affair to take the 8 year olds to. Plenty of blood and gore. Even the main characters die in the end. Sacrifice is never pretty, but it holds a lot more virtue than cowardice.
The 300 shows people want heroes. American people will pay to see American heroes. The web identifies plenty in the WoT and they're not the anti-war/American punks who inhabit Hollyweird's universe. There's nothing needed to make up. Hot reality. Real profits.
#8
Maybe Hollywood can make a compromise & create a war movie based on the American invasion of Canada in 1775, led by -- of all people -- Benedict Arnold! The invasion failed, but it is a rattling good story, full of remarkable deeds and heroism on both sides. See Arundel by Kenneth Roberts. It would be a sure-fire hit in Canada, at least. Tom Cruise would be perfect as Benedict Arnold -- both were short men.
#13
It just knocks me out that right now, somebody with $1-2M could get a handful of recent vets as actors, go to Iraq, get cooperation out the wazoo from the US military and the Iraqis, and just make a movie about about real war stories.
Sold back in the US as a "foreign" movie, ironically as all hell, it could portray the truth and make a butt-load of money, maybe $100-200M.
The liberals would have a collective stroke, but the box office would be killer. Even if they banned it from theaters, it would be #1 in DVD sales for a year.
If whoever made the movie really went for the gold, by showing US Army and Marines doing things like rescuing horribly injured children (Iraqi actors) from an elementary school blown up by al-Qaeda; show Iraqi torture rooms right out of the SAW movies; show terrorists trying to murder Iraqis with car bombs.
And show soldiers and Marines just kicking butt all over the place, all by the book and by the numbers. With sky-high morale, and things like scenes of entire units reenlisting, wounded soldiers getting really pissed off and wanting to fight more, and crying over the bodies of murdered children and throwing up when they find mass graves.
Show Iraqis fighting alongside Americans as disciplined and patriotic soldiers and police. No reason not to show them as really good guys, too.
Of course, you could also throw in scenes of cowardly journalists hiding in Green Zone hotels and getting phoned-in propaganda from al-Qaeda as well. The leftists would hate it, but the public would love to see reporters portrayed as the utter traitorous scumbags they are.
#14
Crap. The Bleat is beginning to sound like the Buzz. Either that or he's spent too much time fisking Keillor. Or starting to descend into his winter depression.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
