REDUX

How to Piss Everybody Off

If there's one thing about al-Qaeda, they sure do know how to piss everybody off.

First the Americans, then the Saudis, then the UN, and now, the Shia Iraqis.

Najaf, Iraq -- Iraqis here arrested at least four men Saturday in the bombing that killed Iraq's top Shia Muslim cleric. One report said 19 men linked to the al-Qaida network, many of them foreign Arabs, had been rounded up.

U.S. military forces had four men in custody who were initially picked up by Iraqi police or local residents. A senior Iraqi investigator quoted by the Associated Press said those four -- two Iraqis and two Saudis -- gave information that led to the arrest of 15 others. Those detained also included Kuwaitis and Palestinians, the official said.

The Iraqi investigator said the suspects were adherents of the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam, a movement that dominates Saudi Arabia and that has energized Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida movement. But U.S. officials did not immediately confirm those details.

Let's review the bidding, shall we? First they destroy the Twin Towers. Which brings down wrath unlike anything they've ever seen. Then they embarass the Saudis, who finally start cracking down on them. And, just when the world is doubting the legitimacy of the American project in Iraq, they attack the UN -- thus drawing the world into the fray. And, not content to attack American troops -- who seem curiously invulnerable now -- they go and blow up the leader of the largest, organized political group in Iraq, who prior to the attack, had been sitting on the fence.

There's obviously a burgeoning industry in terrorism experts, all of whom have stock in making al-Qaeda into Jihad, Inc. And just live all the Sovietologists, their hyperbole is starting to wear thin on this observer. A serious threat? Are they really a nefarious multinational supercriminal organization with secret bases everywhere? No, these guys are morons of the highest order.

If the United States has alienated everyone in the world (doubtful -- their emnity was just in remission) then al-Qaeda has just pushed everyone back into our camp.

Please God, Not Him

And lo, the angel blew the trumpet and there stood, wreathed in a halo of sulphur....Cruz.

If you want to make California into hell on earth -- he's your man! His Third World political ideas are the carpool lane to the ninth circle of hades. Not only is he going to go, but he's going to take all of us with him.

Not only are his plans to raise money to close the budget,"Tough Love for California", self-defeating

Hear, Hear

au currant links to a post by Michael Totten who calls on the Not-In-My-Name Asshats, etc., to disavow the Indonesian Terrorist who recently sent a shout out to the anti-war nutbags when he said,

I want to thank the Australian people who supported our cause when they demonstrated against the policies of George Bush. Say thank you to all of them.

Totten is quick to point out that the terrorist in question executed the Bali Nightclub bombing.

I agree with him. Let's see the marches and demonstrations against terrorism. Let's see them disavow political violence against civilians. Let's see it. Show us the mettle of your pasture, 'cause I'm doubtin' it like a m*th*f*ck* right about now.

Free At Last

Today, 40 years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered a most powerful and eloquent address at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The success of the Civil Rights movement is a beacon of America's commitment to its ideals. Not only did a disenfranchized minority find its voice and demand their rights be respected, but the majority of the country found that they could no longer sit idly by. Out of this turbulent time we emerged as a nation, proving that the basis for our polity is principle, not necessity.

Everytime I hear his words, I get chills. Even more so when it's got a dope beat. (right-click, y'all)

One More Reason Why Dean is a Jackass

From Fred Hiatt, at the Washington Post:

One multilateral institution that might not fare so well in a Dean administration, though, is the World Trade Organization. In what would be a radical departure, China and other countries could get trade deals with the United States only if they adopted "the same labor laws and labor standards and environmental standards" as the United States. Whether or not that demand was consistent with WTO rules? "That's right." With no concession to their relative level of development? "Why should there be? They have the right to have a middle class same as everyone else."

Dean says, "We've tried it" -- NAFTA, WTO -- "for 10 years, and has it succeeded? No. . . . What's the purpose of trade? If it's to create jobs, we haven't done that in America."

His claim about the purpose of trade is more than a little disingenuous and his rash plan to impose so-called "fair trade" practices would anger our trading partners by its unfettered unilateralism.

Pax Republicana As Far As the Eye Can See

The idea that the United States s moving to the right of the political spectrum is neither new, nor is it news. More writing on the wall was found, interestingly enough, in today’s RSS feeds, which brought new insight into why this trend continues, why it will accelerate in the coming years, and how the GOP will reap the rewards.

Namely,

1. The tolerance underneath of the GOP “big tent”
   
2. The implosion of the Democratic Party
   
3. The increasingly Republican control over “K” street lobbies,
   
4. The rise of the “Deanheads” and the related hippie nostalgia
   
5. And finally, the war on terrorism

Happy Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to Professor Glenn Reynolds!

(via Electric Venom)

Disputing the claim that the Blair Government manipulated intelligence and applied political pressure to its spies, chairman of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee, John Scarlett stood by the dossier they produced on the Iraqi WMD's.

Asked whether intelligence officers were unhappy about the government's use of the 45-minute claim in a September dossier that was used to justify action against Iraq, Scarlett replied, "Not at all."

This firm stand reinforces both the position of the Blair government, and the ugly, emerging truth about David Kelly. "A casualty of his own naivete" is how the Ecnomists' domestic political columnist in Britian, who writes under the "Bagehot" column (08/23/03 print edition only) characterizes him:
"I was not aware of any unhappiness within the intelligence community about the contents in the dossier and the judgments we were making in it," he said.

The claim was attributed to a single, high-ranking Iraqi military officer, and, that if anything, the report low-balled the estimate.

Scarlett said intelligence suggested Iraq could deploy the weapons within a maximum of 45 minutes, but on average closer to 20 minutes.

Moreover, he did indicate that Alistair Campbell, Blair's spin doctor, did in fact try to skew the language of the dossier.

Scarlett said Tuesday he was in charge of preparing the dossier, although he did receive advice on wording and presentation from Blair's main spokesman, Alastair Campbell.

...

According to the Times of London, Scarlett testified that Campbell asked for the language to be "tightened."

Scarlett said Tuesday that Campbell gave advice, but insisted he was never subjected to any political pressure. "None at all," he said.

My only guess is that "tightened" means getting rid of the CYA ambiguities that permeate intelligence work at that level.

A Step in the Right Direction

The Bush Administration has a lot of things coming up in the following weeks. Coinciding with the end of the vacationing season, as well as his own vacation, is the looming 2 year anniversary of 9/11. True to form, he'll unveil some of the nasty little things they've found in Iraq and haven't told us, as well as some new,
funding for rebuilding Afghanistan, all in calculated effort to shape domestic political thinking in time for the kick-off to a new campaign season.

These moves will be dismissed as cynical political gambits, which will miss the point entirely.

Intellectual Nuggets

A yummy bite-sized morsel for your mind from Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind

The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.