a reader's e-mail to Jonah Goldberg of National Review
David Letterman's to ten list 7/19/06 which seems to have just been pulled off the net.
Top Ten Signs There's Trouble At The New York Times
10. Extensive coverage of recent fighting between the Israelis and the lesbians
9. Pages 2 through 20 are corrections of previous edition
8. Every sentence begins "So, like"
7. TV listings only for Zorro
6. Weather forecast reads "Look outside dumbass"
5. Multiple references to "President Gore"
4. Obituary includes list of people they wish were dead
3. Headlines fold over to create surprise mad magazine-type hidden message
2. Restaurant critic recently gave IHOP four stars
1. Reporting that Oprah isn't gay, but Letterman is
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2006 10:53 ||
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#1
11. Pinchy must sell big house in the Hamptons. Reduced to renting.
#4
Ted Kennedy , the man who drowned my daughter and let her die. Posted on the first page.
Posted by: Chappaquiddick Volunteer Fire Station ||
07/24/2006 15:17 Comments ||
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#5
World News posted
Determined Villagers, Coalition Funds Build School
Coalition Forces Asadabad Provincial Reconstruction Team and Qamchai
villagers celebrate the grand opening of the first school in their region
By U.S. Army Capt. Juanita Chang
Combined Task Force Thunder
KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2005 Insurmountable terrain and high river waters did not thwart the determined residents of a village here from building a first-rate school for area children.
Thanks to the funding of the Coalition Forces Asadabad Provincial Reconstruction Team and the determination of the local residents, Qamchai village celebrated the grand opening of the first school in their region on Jan. 17.
We had to use donkeys to carry each of the bricks up the mountain, said Engineer Hafizullah, responsible for the construction of the project.
When the river rose we even had to construct boats to carry the bricks and cement across, he said.
Both school buildings have eight classrooms capable of holding 20 children each, allowing a total of 320 children to attend school at one time. The plan is to allow boys and girls to attend the school at different times or on different days.
The future leaders of Kunar and Afghanistan will come from these classrooms, U.S. Army Capt. John Wilt
Take care of this school and dont let anyone destroy it, Hafizullah pleaded to the village residents in attendance.
The local police chief also made a speech beseeching the residents of the valley to protect the school and others who bring education to the region.
The new principal for the school said local villagers were so determined to bring education to the area that everyone pitched in according to their ability.
This school is not only for religious studies but also for education for this world, the principal said. Religious studies are for the next world, but education is for our life in this world, he said.
This school is the first public facility to be built in this region and the residents expressed their gratitude to the coalition forces by presenting all the attending members with gifts of traditional Afghan rugs or clothing.
U.S. Army Col. Gary Cheek, commander of Combined Task Force Thunder, crosses the river on the way back from attending the grand opening of the Qamchai school in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 17, 2005. Each brick and the cement to build the school had to be carried across the river and up a treacherous mountain on donkeys. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Juanita Chang
Local Afghan boys sing songs celebrating the grand opening of the Qamchai school in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, Jan. 17, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Juanita Chang
The future leaders of Kunar and Afghanistan will come from these classrooms, said Capt. John Wilt, the team leader for Civil Affairs Team-A from the Asadabad Provincial Reconstruction Team.
Posted by: The real world ||
07/24/2006 15:22 Comments ||
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#6
Would you be surprised, if they print the truth's such as these. The end is surely near.
Posted by: Larry King ||
07/24/2006 15:34 Comments ||
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#7
10. Extensive coverage of recent fighting between the Israelis and the lesbians
9. Pages 2 through 20 are corrections of previous edition
8. Every sentence begins "So, like"
7. TV listings only for broadcast networks, like it was in the 1960s.
6. Weather forecast reads "It's Bush's Fault!"
5. Multiple references to "President Gore"
4. Obituary includes list of people they wish were dead
3. Headlines have nothing to do with stories
2. Restaurant critic attacked Kosher food as "evil"
1. Reporting that Homosexuals aren't gay, that most of them are frequently depressed
Rep. Dennis Kucinich was just on Fox, being interviewed. When asked if Kucinich agreed that Hezbollah is a pack of murdering terrorists, Kucinich became aggitated and stated that 'Hezbollah is part of the elected government of Lebanon.'
When he was asked is he agreed that Hezbollah must be destroyed, he replied, 'I agree the war must be ended.'
When the interviewer, clearly incredulous, gave Kucinich another chance to denounce Hezbollah, Kucinich would have none of it, and even more aggitated, repeatd that Hezbollah is part of the elected government of Lebanon that has the right to exist and be included in any negotiations.
He refused to condemn Hezbollah or call for its end. He also refused to defend Israel.
#2
In their topsy-turvy view, Hizbully is an underdog and no matter how rabid, they will be on its side.
Add the rampant anti-semitism that became an unquestioned lockstep fashion in LLL circles and you have Donks asking themselves after elections: "Where we went wrong? What can we do? We have to become more radical!"
#3
Even for the Democrats as they are today, Representative Kucinich is an outlier. I wouldn't hold the rest of the party responsible for his absurd or vicious maunderings, no more than I'd hold the Republicans responsible for the vacuous idiots who occupy their fringes. And when the rest of the party openly turns their backs on Kucinich, as the Republicans did to David Duke, then I will begin to hope that the Democrats have grown up enough to be taken seriously.
Aside: I heard a serious interview on NPR yesterday where the interviewee said actually said that the White House had managed to set things up such that we now have a one-party system in this country (hint -- not the Democrats), and that he forsaw this lasting at least several more election cycles.
#6
This isn't new for Mr. Kucinich. The following statement is on his website:
Kucinich Speaks Out as Tensions Escalate in Middle East
July 6, 2006
Congressman Kucinich issued the following statement this week on the current situation in the Middle East:
"The lack of proportionality of Israel's response to the kidnapping of the soldier compounds a human rights disaster which has been building in the Palestinian territories and could set the stage for reigniting a cycle of extreme violence.
"The world community, led by the United States and Israel, must see the humanitarian imperative of relieving the suffering of innocent people in Palestine who are without the most basic of human necessities such as food, water, electricity, health care, housing, and economic security, in part because they exercised their right to self determination.
"The Hamas government needs to ensure the safe return of Cpl. Shalit and renounce its previous statements calling for the destruction of Israel, and end attacks against innocent Israeli civilians.
"Likewise, the Israeli government needs to halt its incursion into Gaza, withdraw its troops, facilitate payments to Palestinian civil servants, and renew its commitment to a viable two state solution which will ensure the survival of both the Palestinian and Israeli people. Such a commitment can only come about from a common recognition of common humanity.
"The governments of Israel and Palestine should exercise caution and compassion in the name of joint security and peace in the region. Peace will not prevail unless both sides are willing to call a cease fire, stop provocations and make concessions for their joint security, ensuring peace through building enduring structures for social and economic justice.
"The United States, which has played a role in building tensions, can ameliorate them by pursuing peaceful diplomatic initiatives to end the cycle of violence. The world community is best served by helping warring factions step back from the brink of war and begin a new effort to achieve a lasting peace. The United States has the moral obligation to lead this effort."
If he has any say in American foreign policy the U.S. will cease to be an Israeli ally.
#7
I don't think most Dems know who the hell he is. He got a grand total of one delegate in 2004. I mean, hell, the Rev Al Sharpton got more than that.
(via LGF)
The founder of Air America says the antisemitic and/or anti-Israel posts erupting out of the progressive blogosphere must be a plot.
Probably masterminded by Karl Rove.
Because true "liberals" would never hold such opinions.
Gotta be a plot.
"I came to the conclusion that the hostile comments about Israel on these liberal blogs are not coming from true liberals. Most of the anti-Semitism comes from racism and most of the racism I have experienced has come from the far right, not the left.
"So my conclusion is that the bloggers who violently hate Israel and see it in black and white terms are not really liberals. They may even be anti-Semites, but they are not representative of the liberal community that was so active in achieving racial and ethnic equality. It is a contradiction for a true liberal to be an anti-Semite.
Furthermore, I would not put it past the right wing to flood the liberal blogs with hateful criticisms of Israel to advance a perception that liberals are anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. And I see Karl Roves fingerprints all over this."
Note similarities to radical Islamic turnspeak and conspiracy delusions. Note also that the lefts anti-Israel problem has gotten so bad that the financiers feel they need to respond.
#5
He's just declared about half of Daily Kos, two thirds of Democratic Underground, Cindy Sheehan, International ANSWER, St. Rachel of Pancake Corrie and the ISM, and most of the rest of the folks on the other side antiwar movement to be Rove operatives.
Wow.
Is this the beginning of the Great Netroots Fratricidal Civil War?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2006 10:59 Comments ||
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How do we know Sheldon Drobny wasn't put up to this by Karl Rove? Wheels within wheels within wheels within wheels...
#13
The the anti-jewish character of the left was made plain to me years ago by a brother. He is a jew hater and has even poisoned his kids minds. His great grandmotehr was Jewish. He is teh typical lefty that makes heros out of the PLO and terrorists.
This is nothing new it's just becoming more plain as the left shows it's true colors. If they take power in this country we are in for a world of misery and travail.
#14
The left (socialism) has always been antisemitic; jewry = bankers, capitalists,... most of the left's founders like proudhon were AFAIK rabid antisemite, and don't forget marx himself, with his "identity" hatred of the jews.
For the new antisemitism of the left ("jews = zionists = racists = westerners"), I'd recommand this book by a french researcher called Pierre-André Taguieff (I've read the french original, IIUC, don't know if this one is a separate english book or a translation).
July 24, 2006
by Scott Ott
(2006-07-24) After learning that the battle between Israel and Hezbollah could have been prevented if Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, had been the U.S. Commander in Chief, President George Bush today dispatched Sen. Kerry to the war-torn region to get this thing solved.
Sen. Kerry, a career Vietnam veteran, who told a political gathering in Detroit yesterday that we must destroy Hezbollah and that the president has been absent on diplomacy, said he would bring his own brand of diplomatic destruction to the terrorist group.
Senator Kerrys presence and intellect alone should bring a swift end to hostilities, said Mr. Bush, who admitted that he, and the State Department, had kind of put the Middle East thing on the back burner while following televised coverage of the Tour de France bicycle race.
In related news, as hostilities along the Lebanon border approached the two-week mark, the crisis was officially added to the list of bad things that would not have happened during a John Kerry presidency.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/24/2006 11:54 ||
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Thought this was a Scrappleface but hey why not send Kerry to Lebanon--that could solve at least one problem (there's always the friendly fire excuse)?
#2
This would be soo cool, gosh Iran, China, and North Korea could man the UN peace keeping forces. Kerry would be so proud! Viet Nam could run the forces in Israel. It would be like ol home week for Kerry.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/24/2006 13:17 Comments ||
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This is not to be taken lightly.
My diplomatic skills are essentially French, so I may have to change my underwear color. The down side is there's nobody there at my pay grade to negotiate with. Call me vallet...where's my dinnerjacket ?
#4
If it were not for me, and the information afforded to nothing less than a vietnam veteran "hero" (3 purple hearts). Al gore would not have been humanly capable of creating the Internet. Furthermore, I have instituted a microsoft speelchecker so that my secretary can dissimimanate my commands.
Posted by: Rick ||
07/24/2006 14:50 Comments ||
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#5
Can I come too?
Posted by: Jimmah Carter ||
07/24/2006 14:52 Comments ||
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#6
I have become the voicxe fer Jon keary, geez I should have remebered to change my signiture so that all would not confuse Mr kearry's wisdom wit my own
Posted by: Rick ||
07/24/2006 14:53 Comments ||
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Israel's war reveals a division between the liberal blogosphere and the Democratic party. by Dean Barnett (of SoxBlog fame), The Weekly Standard
WHEN THE BOMBS began to fall in the Middle East, the Daily Kos had a problem. And the Daily Kos's problem could soon be the Democratic party's problem.
On the one hand, one of the most solid blocks of support for the Democratic party is America's Jewish community. Not only do America's Jews tend to vote for Democrats, they tend to actively campaign and raise funds for politicians on the left. But for many American Jews, even the most liberal, Israel's welfare is a going concern. Politicians who enter the Democratic party (and for that matter the Republican party) usually make a conspicuous show of the fact that they are "right on Israel."
The vast majority of American political sentiment supports Israel while it is engaged in a shooting war with Hezbollah. To date, not a single prominent American politician has issued a statement that could be construed as being less than whole-heartedly supportive of Israel.
On the other hand, there is the Daily Kos community. As proprietor Markos Moulitsas frequently notes, the Kos community is representative of the "people-powered movement." They are not led by one person; indeed, they are not led at all.
The miracle of the Kossacks is that they are tens of thousands of like-minded people who have used the site to find one another. Although they differ on many details, they tend to monolithically detest George W. Bush and American conservatives. They also tend to distrust or loathe anything or anyone that winds up in Bush's literal or metaphorical embrace. Like Joe Lieberman. Or Israel.
THE CONFLAGRATION in Lebanon has provided an example of the people-powered movement's potential to be a liability for the politicians who have tried to curry favor with it.
Perhaps sensing that this issue could highlight just how far removed the Kos community is from the American mainstream, Moulitsas and his other front-page bloggers have opted to ignore Israel's war. Combined, the half dozen front-pagers have written exactly one post on the subject. And that post, authored by Moulitsas, simply declared that he wouldn't write anything further on the subject. So while the most important story of the year develops, the nation's leading progressive blog has chosen to focus on the Indiana second district House race between Chris Chocola and Joe Donnelly. Nothing wrong with that; it's their prerogative to blog about whatever they like.
But inside the Kos diaries, it's been a different story. The conversation in the diaries has been overwhelmingly anti-Israel--and potentially disastrous for the Democratic party.
One diarist labeled Israel "a destabilizing force in the region" and saw "no difference between Iran's support of Hezbollah and Hamas in the form of finances and even arms and The United States' financial support of Israel." Before modifying this diary into a more moderate form, the author opened his essay with the declaration, "Israel is showing the entire world why the Iranian President was absolutely right to suggest that Israel cease being a sovereign state as is."
Echoing the themes of moral equivalence and hostility towards the Jewish state, another diarist observed that, "War is nothing but terrorist attacks. Call it what you will, whatever rhetoric you want to use . . . when it comes down to it, that's all it is. Israel committed terrorism today. And we helped to fund that terrorism." [Ellipsis in original.]
It's important to note that hundreds of comments following these and other diaries hostile to Israel voice similar sentiments. Links to multiple instances of anti-Semitic moonbattery follow. Query (as they are supposed to say in those great East Coast law schools that I couldn't afford to go to), does this mean that these Daily Kos diarists are Karl Rove's secret agents?
THESE DIARIES AND COMMENTS come from the people who power the people-powered movement. It is worth remembering that less than a month ago a Who's Who of elite Democratic politicians trundled off to Las Vegas for the Yearly Kos convention, desperately seeking the community's imprimatur. . . . Joe Lieberman's Democratic primary opponent, Ned Lamont, has so closely identified himself and his candidacy with the site that he gave Moulitsas a starring role in one of his campaign advertisements.
Yesterday on his website, Lamont issued the following proclamation:
At this critical time in
the Middle East, I believe that when Israel's security is threatened, the United States must unambiguously stand with our ally to be sure that it is safe and secure. On this principle, Americans are united . . . All Americans want the kidnapped [Israeli] soldiers to be returned and this cycle of violence to end, based on the principles of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 of 2004, which calls for Hezbollah militias to be disbanded and disarmed, with the government of Lebanon taking full control of all of its territory. It is not for the United States to dictate to Israel how it defends itself.
But a glance through the Daily Kos diaries reveals that not all Americans are united on such matters . . . . Some Americans believe that Israel should not exist. And these are the Americans that Lamont and other Democrats have so eagerly embraced.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2006 12:21 ||
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#4
The Kos movement has also supported Mark Warner who is pro Israel. In Warner's case, he hired a friend of Markos to help with his presidential campaign.
#5
Interestingly enough, while Kos is hammering any other Dem who comes out in favor of Joe Lieberman, he seems to be giving Warner a pass. Wonder why that could be? [/smirk]
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2006 14:34 Comments ||
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#6
Let's be clear, there are several Kos 'diarists' who believe that the creation of Israel was a mistake (ours, of course), and that Israel should cease to exist. They're divided on what to do with all the Joooz. You can guess.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2006 14:40 Comments ||
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#7
For an insight into the typical idiocy aired on Daily Kos, one need look no further than the Kos Kleaning Lady:
#10
Someday, America is going to pay a horrible price for the Democratic Party's cynically calculated decision to suck up to its Leftist lunatic fringe in the last two elections.
Already, our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are paying a price in blood for the Democrats' perfidy: every IED that is set off, every RPG and mortar round that is fired, every bullet from an AK-47 or a jihadi sniper's Dragunov, comes from an enemy who is being deliberately and knowingly encouraged by the U.S. Democratic Party to believe that if he but keeps on fighting just a little bit longer, America will once again run away with its head hung down and its tail between its legs, just like it did in Beirut and Mogadishu. Were it not for the Democratic Party giving aid and comfort to the enemy, it would have given up many months ago.
Instead, the enemy hears some Donk asshole like Jack Murtha babble incoherent bullshit about "responsibly redeploying" our troops out of Iraq to some "nearby" base in, say, Okinawa, and all he can say is, "Allahu Akhbar!!!!"
The Left, and Islam: that's the REAL axis of evil.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
07/24/2006 17:56 Comments ||
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What do you say to a Prime Minister who, a few days after ruling out the re-introduction of a POTA-like legislation, admits to a meeting of Chief Secretaries that our response to terrorism has been "inadequate"? Should we praise Manmohan Singh for realising the truth? Alternatively, should we pillory him for abdicating one of the prime responsibilities of government-the protection of the citizen?
Since the serial blasts in Mumbai on July 11, the Government has been conducting itself like a headless chicken. Having flaunted a ritualistic G-8 condemnation of the bombings as a spectacular diplomatic triumph, it went into a tailspin after the world leaders greeted the charge of the ubiquitous Pakistani hand with more than a measure of scepticism. To cap it all, the country had to be subjected to the cocky insolence of President Pervez Musharraf demanding "proof" of Pakistan's involvement. Having put the "peace process" on hold before embarking for St. Petersburg, Manmohan Singh returned a mellowed man.
Nor have things been any better on the domestic front. First, there was the outrageous insinuation by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh that Hindu groups had a habit of committing atrocities and blaming the "other". The theme was gratefully echoed by loose cannons like the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid and the redoubtable general secretary of the West Bengal CPI(M) Biman Bose. The Shahi Imam was addressing his congregation after Friday prayers and Bose was addressing a Milli Council meeting in Kolkata. Like good secularists they felt that a convenient way of averting awkward questions of culpability is to turn victimhood on its head, even if it means whitewashing murderers. Second, there were desperate attempts to deflect attention from the Government's own failings by attacking Narendra Modi for what he did not say in Mumbai last week and Jaswant Singh for what he did not do in Kandahar seven years ago.
Finally, in an act that straddled a twilight zone between stupidity and lunacy, the Government decided to ape totalitarian China and block access to blogsites. Reuters quoted Gulshan Rai, director of the Government-run Indian Computer Emergency Response Team justifying the ban because "the blogs are pitting Muslim against non-Muslim."
The Government's disorientation is not the result of some Inspector Clouseau being at the helm. It is a consequence of its inability to face up to the political ramifications of the Mumbai blasts. The investigations may not have produced concrete results as yet but they definitely point to the involvement of home-grown Muslim terrorists.
This comes as no surprise. The March 1993 blasts were also the handiwork of home-grown terrorists, many of whom subsequently fled to Pakistan, as were the Ghatkopar and Gateway of India bombings in 2003. The 1993 and 2003 blasts were attributed to retaliation for the Mumbai and Gujarat riots respectively. What was the July 11 carnage meant to convey? That jihadis have the ability and technology to bleed India to death?
Since no group has yet claimed responsibility, the motives are still a matter of conjecture. However, the portents from the Varanasi bombings, the RDX haul from Ellora and the foiled fidayeen attacks on Ayodhya and the RSS headquarters in Nagpur are ominous. Despite official attempts to point accusing fingers at foreign paratroopers, all these incidents involved Indian jihadis. In other words, while there may be an overseas command centre of global jihad - maybe located in Pakistan - the war is actually being conducted by fiercely motivated locals.
The leadership of the Indian Muslim community can no longer take refuge in denial. Nor is there any percentage in appealing to Sonia Gandhi to stop racial profiling by the police. After Mumbai, the community bears a collective responsibility for isolating and hounding out the radicals. For this to happen, it is incumbent that Indian Muslims dissociate completely from pan-Islamism. A clutch of half-baked and fanciful theories of ummah victimhood in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, et al, are responsible for turning gullible youth into monstrous killers.
Posted by: john ||
07/24/2006 09:57 ||
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Am I the only one disturbed by a minister in Mulayam Singh Yadavs government asking for a Muslim Pradesh in western Uttar Pradesh? Is there nobody in Dr Manmohan Singhs Cabinet who thinks this a worrying development? It seems that way. Two days after The Times of India reported Azam Khans demand, Dr Manmohan Singh and his Cabinet met and discussed the following subjects. The Sixth Pay Commission, cultural cooperation with Ireland, ties with Fiji, the protection of tigers and amendments to the Right to Information Act. Not one word about the dangerously divisive demand by one of Mulayams senior colleagues. Do we have a government in Delhi or not? Do we have a Prime Minister?
As someone who was in Mumbai on the day the bombs went off and has been here ever since, I ask these questions not just on my own behalf but on behalf of the people I meet every day in this city. Like them I am beginning to worry about whether Dr Manmohan Singhs government is capable of defending us against the jehad that is being waged against us so successfully that if it continues unchecked, it could cause a civil war and worse.
Nearly 200 people were killed in the carnage on Mumbais trains and the only response we have seen from the Government of India is a ludicrous attempt to censor the Internet and vague allegations against Pakistan. For a start this has to stop. Next time an Indian government wants to blame Pakistan for terrorism it should do so when it can provide us with evidence. Or we end up helping Pakistan instead of nailing it and, more importantly, we mislead Indians into believing that the problem we face is entirely the creation of a ubiquitous foreign hand.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john ||
07/24/2006 00:00 ||
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why it is so easy to get hundreds of thousands of Muslims on to the streets against cartoons they have never seen and an American president, and so hard to get them out when 200 citizens of their city are killed for nothing.
And when you answer that question, the "war on terror" can begin to be fought...
Posted by: john ||
07/24/2006 8:11 Comments ||
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To the Kurds, Kirkuk was always a Kurdish-majority region shared, they readily admit, with other communities over which they fought and suffered, from Arabisation to forced depopulation to genocide. In their view, the Baathist regimes removal created an opportunity to restore Kirkuk to its rightful owners. They have done much in the past three years to encourage the displaced to return, persuade Arab newcomers to depart and seize control of political and military levers of power. Their ultimate objective is to incorporate Kirkuk governorate into the Kurdish federal region and make Kirkuk town its capital.
To the other communities, the Kurdish claim is counterfeit, inspired primarily by a greedy appetite for oil revenue, and they view the progressive Kurdish takeover of Kirkuk as an outrage. To the Turkomans, in particular, the growing Kurdish presence has caused deep resentment, as they consider Kirkuk town historically Turkoman (while conceding that the Kurds are a significant urban minority, as well as an outright majority in the surrounding countryside).
The Kurds rising power has allowed them to create institutional faits accomplis that now threaten to bring the Kirkuk conflict to a vigorous boil. Their prominent role in drafting the constitution in 2005 enabled them to insert a paragraph that ordains a government-led de-Arabisation program in Kirkuk, to be followed by a census and local referendum by the end of 2007. However, while the constitution puts them formally in the right, neither any of Kirkuks other communities, significant parts of the central government nor any neighbouring state supports these procedures. Turkey, in particular, has indicated it will not tolerate Kirkuks formal absorption into the Kurdish region, and it has various means of coercive diplomacy at its disposal, including last-resort military intervention, to block the Kurds ambitions.
Within a year, therefore, Kurds will face a basic choice: to press ahead with the constitutional mechanisms over everyones resistance and risk violent conflict, or take a step back and seek a negotiated solution.
Passions may be too high to permit the latter course but, on the basis of two years of conversations with representatives of all Kirkuks communities, as well as of the governments of Iraq, Turkey, the U.S. and the Kurdish federal region, Crisis Group believes a compromise arrangement that meets all sides vital interests is attainable.
Failure by the international community to act early and decisively could well lead to a rapid deterioration as the December 2007 deadline approaches. The result would be violent communal conflict, spreading civil war and, possibly, outside military intervention. It is doubtful that an Iraq so profoundly unsettled by sectarian rifts and insurgent violence would survive another major body blow in an area where the largest of the countrys diverse communities are represented. Executive Summary And Recommendations at link
#1
Their prominent role in drafting the constitution in 2005 enabled them to insert a paragraph that ordains a government-led de-Arabisation program in Kirkuk, to be followed by a census and local referendum by the end of 2007. However, while the constitution puts them formally in the right, neither any of Kirkuks other communities, significant parts of the central government nor any neighbouring state supports these procedures.
How typically Arab. yeah, sure, we signed off on it as part of the deal - but we didnt' MEAN it. Just cause it's in writing and agreed upon by all parties as a requirement to move forward, so what. That was then. Now we intend to back out of our end of the deal.
Soooooo typical and the reason they can't function worth a darn. How can a society that prides itself in its ability to lie, cheat and deceive ever manage a democracy? They are so far from getting it that it's mindboggling.
#2
The Kurds have control over Kirkuk and won't give it up without a huge fight. I understand they can mobilize 10,000 fighters in Kirkuk in a few hours.
The real battle will be over Mosul, which is an Arab pocket surrounded by Kurdish dominated rural areas.
DISPROPORTIONATE. Destabilising. Disgraceful. With a unanimity we have become all too familiar within Irish political pronouncements on the Arab-Israeli conflict, this is how representatives from all parties have described Israel's military response to Hizbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and its bombing of Israeli cities over the last week.
While scoring high in the categories of alliteration and dramatic effect, such cliched responses lack moral clarity and show no evidence at all that our leaders understand what this conflict is about. There is an unthinking assumption that any sustained Israeli assault on Hizbollah is automatically bad for the prospects of an Israeli-Palestinian peace, bad for the stability of Lebanon, and bad for the West.
But, what if the opposite is true? What if an Israeli military campaign that demoralises and weakens Hizbollah is a good thing?
Continued on Page 49
We can say without a doubt that the war of attrition against the city of Haifa and its residents is a tale of two cities: Tyre in Lebanon versus Haifa in Israel. The Hezbollah unit deployed in Tyre and its environs has been bombarding Haifa with Syrian rockets and upgraded Iranian-made Katyushas. If this unit is not destroyed, it will continue to target Haifa. As such, it is odd that the Israel Defense Forces ground operation that began Sunday was not immediately directed against the threat from Tyre.
In recent days, the air force has targetted Tyre, but this was not sufficient. The fact is that on Sunday dozens of rockets were fired from the area of Tyre toward Haifa, causing casualties. It is clear that the center of Hezbollah's campaign of attrition is Haifa, and most of the launches take place from Tyre and its environs. Therefore, at this time, this target is more important than Beirut and the Shi'ite quarter of Dahiya, and clearly more important than the little villages in southern Lebanon's central front. Without an immediate destruction of the rockets in the area of Tyre, the war of attrition against Haifa - the third largest city in Israel - will not end.
In the front lines against Israel in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has deployed two units. The first, Nasser, involves 500 men who hold positions and outposts between the villages in the central to the eastern zones of the front. It is mostly equipped with short-range rockets. This unit is responsible for most of the rockets fired against central and eastern Galilee. Most of the rockets land in fields, but there have been strikes against Safed, Meron, Nazareth and others. The second unit is deployed in the area of Tyre, and is equiped with longer-range rockets. This is where the Syrian-made 220mm rockets with warheads of several dozen kilograms are based.
Continued on Page 49
#1
If these 'civilians' are muzzies, then they are 'insurgents' and should be eliminated anyway.
The sooner we decide to kill them all, the sooner we end this World War Five bullshit.
1) Tyre's on the coast, so it is far more easily resupplied and reinforced than most places in Lebanon.
2) Israel knows where each and every rocket / missile comes from. As a professional military with all the tools, this isn't even remotely in doubt.
3) The range. Everything you need to know is on a map.
4) The missiles are definitely Syrian / Iranian sourced.
5) Hezb has many collaborators and sympathizers, but there are surely innocents among the populations of most (all?) cities.
6) Leaflet the place with notice of its impending destruction. Then follow through and level it or take the casualties of a Fallujah-style assault or cordon / search. In any case, it has to be cleaned - and kept clean - it's just too damned close to the border and, as said above, is too easily resupplied / reinforced.
This is a war. Bad shit happens to those on the wrong side. The facts of war supersede wishes and PC BS. Make it happen.
wxjames - are you coming unglued? This is the second comment today that suggests you are.
#4
#1 wxjames - if someone tries to kill my Muslim friends, you may be very surprised at who winds up dead.
Courtesy of my and my two friends, Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson.
Also courtesy of their friend Elizabeth, and her friend Mr. Remington.
NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE NUTS.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/24/2006 15:39 Comments ||
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#5
Mobile launchers can be hidden and deployed anywhere. Destroyer those in Tyre poses the same problem that NATO had when they went after Serb tanks in Kosovo: Serbs could hide them in garages.
Again, unless Iran is taken out Israel will face future missile threats, with the entire country being the target. We need to take Newt Gingrich seriously when he says he is in World War 3. Hiroshima...Nagasaki...
All Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims; it is for the community leaders to identify jihadi elements amidst them, says François Gautier
The Mumbai bombings have once again thrown up the same questions: Is it possible to have a dialogue with today's Islam? Does it listen to reason? Does plain logic work? Will it ever stop killing innocent people in the name of god?
There is a Central Government that is blatantly pro-Muslim, making sure that more and more Muslims are appointed to top Government posts. It is endeavouring to carve a sizeable chunk of reservation for Muslims, as seen in Andhra Pradesh, and constantly pandering to India's Muslim minority. The bombings also take place in Maharashtra, a State governed by the Congress, where many Muslims live and work, the financial capital whose prosperity benefits all, including Muslims.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john ||
07/24/2006 18:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
Muslims in India and elsewhere in the world do not understand that we are slowly losing our innocence
How true...
Posted by: john ||
07/24/2006 20:55 Comments ||
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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.
To the Kurds, Kirkuk was always a Kurdish-majority region shared, they readily admit, with other communities over which they fought and suffered, from Arabisation to forced depopulation to genocide. In their view, the Baathist regimes removal created an opportunity to restore Kirkuk to its rightful owners. They have done much in the past three years to encourage the displaced to return, persuade Arab newcomers to depart and seize control of political and military levers of power. Their ultimate objective is to incorporate Kirkuk governorate into the Kurdish federal region and make Kirkuk town its capital.
