Archived news and commentary: November 10 - 16, 2003

2003/12/29 - 2004/01/04
2003/12/22 - 2003/12/28
2003/12/15 - 2003/12/21
2003/12/08 - 2003/12/14
2003/12/01 - 2003/12/07
2003/11/24 - 2003/11/30
2003/11/17 - 2003/11/23
2003/11/10 - 2003/11/16
2003/11/03 - 2003/11/09
2003/10/27 - 2003/11/02
2003/10/20 - 2003/10/26
2003/10/13 - 2003/10/19
2003/10/06 - 2003/10/12
2003/09/29 - 2003/10/05

Sunday, November 16, 2003

News and commentary:

"Dhimmitude in Istanbul and Washington" (Robert Spencer, Dhimmi Watch, 2003/11/16)
"After all, who remembers the extermination of the Armenians?", was Hitler's rhetorical question when he gave orders to exterminate Poles. A question which sadly enough seems apt today:
"President Bush said it too: "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attacks today in Istanbul, where Turkey's diverse religious communities of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian believers have flourished together for centuries."
I hate to sound a sour note here, but take a look at this to see how well the diverse communities flourished together in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire and the beginnings of the secular Turkish state: 50 million non-Muslim victims of jihad.
Also note that the non-Muslim population of Istanbul itself has gone from 50% in 1914 to less than one percent today. How could this have happened in a land of such harmonious diversity?" (See also: "Presidential Statement on Istanbul Synagogue Bombings" (usinfo.state.gov, 2003/11/15) and "In Memory Of The 50 Million Victims Of The Orthodox Christian Holocaust" (Raphael Moore, fr-d-serfes.org), which estimates that "over 3.5 million Christians ... were murdered by Turkish persecutions from 1894-1923". (The larger figure includes victims of the Ukrainian Holocaust etc.))

"Purported Saddam Hussein tape aired by Arabic language TV station" (Hamza Hendawi, AP/Boston.com, 2003/11/16)
"An audiotape purportedly made by Saddam Hussein told Iraqis on Sunday to step up their resistance to the U.S.-led occupation, saying the United States and its allies misjudged the difficulty of occupying Iraq. ...
He began by greeting the Iraqi people on the occasion of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and said the "evil ones will not be able to occupy and colonize Iraq."
"They thought and made others think that they were going on a picnic to occupy Iraq and destroy their weapons of mass destruction," the voice said, denying that Iraq had any such arms.
"Iraq will rebel against their evil intentions to colonize it and to wield influence in it," he said. "The evil ones now find themselves in a crisis and this is God's will for them."
He added that "the aggressors have no choice but to leave our nation" and called on "mujahedeen," or holy warriors, to strike coalition forces 'even harder.'"

"Report: Al-Qaida claims responsibility for attacks" (Jonathan Lis, Haaretz, 2003/11/16)
"The Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper published in London reported on Sunday that Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the attacks in Istanbul on Saturday that claimed the lives of 23 people.
Abdel-Bari Atwan, the editor of the newspaper, told Qatari-based satellite television station Al-Jazeera that the statement was sent in an e-mail from an Al-Qaida division called Brigades of the Martyr Abu Hafz al-Masri.
"The statement said that they carried out the operations after they found out that Mossad agents were working at the synagogues and therefore they bombed them," he said."

"The Geneva Conspiracy" (Arno Weinstein, Arutz Sheva, 2003/11/16)
Via Little Green Footballs: "Imagine this: a group of Americans, say presidential candidate Howard Dean, Senators Ted Kennedy, Fritz Hollings and Robert Byrd, go to the wilds of Pakistan and meet with the lieutenants of Usama bin Laden. They carry with them a "peace" proposal hammered out with various al-Qaida supporters in the United States calling for the unilateral withdrawal of American forces from all Islamic countries. They present the proposal to terror agents representing bin Laden, work out the kinks and arrive at an agreement aimed at ending the conflict between al-Qaida and the United States. What would the overwhelming majority of Americans say? In unison, the outcry would be: "Treason!"
This difficult-to-imagine scenario is taking place in the State of Israel, involving key figures of the political Left. A group of Israeli and Arab radicals, with the help of the Swiss government, have formulated what they call the "Geneva Agreement." Many of the same figures responsible for the Oslo debacle have again colluded with a foreign government to bypass the democratic process and undermine the Israeli government. ...
The proper application of the Israeli Penal Code is the right thing to do. The Geneva conspirators are subject to these criminal statutes and it is time that political fears of the Left's wrath are put aside. Prosecute the conspirators. Save Israel from its own demons. And what of the foreign demons? The European Union, most particularly, Switzerland, France and Belgium, are guilty of meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. After a formal Israeli diplomatic request to Switzerland asking it to desist from aiding anti-government activities in the form of funding opposition leaders, the Swiss refused." (Note: Compare this with Friedman's endorsement of the Geneva Accord: "Wanted: Fanatical Moderates" (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times, 2003/11/16))

"The Lessons of a Quagmire" (Max Boot, The New York Times, 2003/11/16)
"While Mr. Bush's plans to accelerate the turnover of political authority to Iraqis and the deployment of Iraqi security forces make sense, for now the brunt of the military campaign will still have to be borne by Americans. If American forces fear to spend time on the streets of Fallujah and other Sunni towns, what hope is there for undertrained Iraqi security officers who will be branded collaborators by their own people?
Even if the American forces do everything right, there is no quick or easy end in sight. No halfway competent guerrilla force has ever been defeated as easily as the Iraqi army was in 1991 and 2003.
The Iraqi guerrillas, like the Vietcong, realize that a conventional military victory is beyond their grasp. Their only hope is to continue ratcheting up the cost of the conflict until the desire of the American public to continue the struggle is shattered. This worked in Vietnam. It might — sobering thought — work today. Is the American will to sustain casualties greater than our enemies' ability to inflict them? Upon that question will turn the future of Iraq."

"London Calling - Bush, Ambushed" (Andrew Sullivan, The Sunday Times/andrewsullivan.com, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain VI: "Afghanistan? We have just seen a new constitution unveiled which both embraces Islam and protects religious minorities and women. If it weren't for Bush, the Taliban would still be in power. Iraq? One of the worst tyrants in history has been toppled, 300,000 mass graves discovered, the marshlands of Southern Iraq are coming back to life, the Kurds and Shia can plan democratic futures, and Bush's policy is still declared a disaster because a few thousand remnants of the old regime, combined with other regional terrorists, are still fighting! The notion that this policy has already failed relies on so raising the bar of success that only a miracle would pass muster. Come back in five years - the only reasonable time period by which to judge Iraq's reconstruction - and we'll talk. Meanwhile, some $20 billion of aid money is coming from American pockets to rebuild a country devastated by totalitarianism. And the architect of this astonishing act of humanitarianism is compared to Hitler in the streets of London. It makes no sense. None. ...
If Bush is an incompetent, so was Truman. And so was Eisenhower. The difference, of course, is that the invasion and occupation of two vast countries thousands of miles away from the United States, and the beginnings of the reconstruction of a terrorized country of 23 million - all this has been accomplished with a speed and efficiency unheard of in human history. Every casualty is a tragedy. But in broad military terms, the Iraq war and occupation has resulted in around 300 combat deaths. That's mercifully, unprecedentedly low, however awful any single loss of life is. To call that military achievement and the painful path to progress in Iraq a disaster, a crisis or a quagmire simply stretches the English language into meaninglessness."

"Why I say welcome" (David Aaronovitch, The Observer, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain V: "The double standards here are obvious but worth a reminder. During the week anti-Bush protesters will, we're told, be splashing red paint to symbolise the spilled blood of the people of Iraq. No such red paint was splashed around London after Halabja, after the 1991 Shia and Kurdish uprisings or during the Iran-Iraq war, almost as if that were not real Iraqi blood. Blood, after all, is only blood if Americans spill it. ...
But our enemy is not America. It isn't America that gives the most effective support to Sharonic intransigence - it's Israeli insecurity that does that. It isn't America that sends ambulances to blow up aid workers or Istanbul synagogues. It is America, above all, that is bearing the cost of helping to create a new Iraq - a new Iraq which, despite the violence, is being born in towns such as Hilla and cities such as Basra. And yet some of our writers and protesters - betraying their own professed ideals - identify with bombers and not teachers, administrators and policemen who are building the country.
Where is the red paint to protest against the blasts at Najaf, of the UN in Baghdad, of the Red Cross, of the synagogues, of the Bali night-club, of the Arab-Jewish restaurant in Haifa? Where are the 'No Suicide Bombings' posters in the Muswell Hill windows? Or do you really believe we can save ourselves by constructing a huge wall around these islands, or around America, and painting it with smileys? That maybe then the ills of the world will leave us alone?"

"Bush's visit is Blair's declaration of independence" (Matthew d'Ancona, The Sunday Telegraph, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain IV: "Even so, the level of antipathy to Mr Bush in this country, as in others, is quite extraordinary. Post-imperial British resentment of US power, the European superiority complex, and old-fashioned Left-wing anti-Americanism have fused in an ugly outburst of fury, directed at the war as an event and the President as a person. To listen to some Labour MPs, you would think that the devil incarnate was due to land on the tarmac on Tuesday night. For many of them - as for the marchers who, on Thursday, will exercise the freedom to protest so brutally denied to Iraqis until the fall of Saddam - anything that Mr Bush does or says is axiomatically wicked. ...
No: it is Mr Blair who is taking a political gamble. As controversial as the Iraq war was, as difficult as its aftermath has proved, I find it shaming that the visit of an American President should generate such ferocious loathing in this country. It is surely a cause for deep embarrassment that special measures are being taken to protect the head of state of our closest ally not only from foreign terrorists, but from Britons themselves: I do not remember any crowd control problems when President Putin, a former KGB chief and pitiless suppressor of dissent, made his state visit in June. The Prime Minister can be the woolliest, most risk-averse of politicians, and the most craven appeaser of focus groups. But on this matter - a visit which has become emblematic of all his troubles - he is standing his ground. As they say in Texas: plenty independent."

"All this just for a photograph with the Queen?" (Mark Steyn, The Sunday Telegraph, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain III: "As to the derangement of the crowd, they are impervious to reason. After two years of warnings from clapped-out Arabists that the incendiary "Arab street" was about to explode in anti-American rage across the Middle East, it remains as unrousable as ever. Instead, it is the explosive European street that remains implacably pro-Saddam, pro-Yasser, pro-jihad, pro-Taliban misogynist homophobes, pro-anyone as long as they are anti-American.
The demonstrations this coming week are best considered in the light of several smaller events: on Remembrance Day in Melbourne, "anti-war protesters" shrieked their way through the service; in Ottawa, "anti-war protesters" sprayed slogans on the National War Memorial a few hours before the start of the ceremony. Bush-hatred is just a form of cultural self-hatred."

"Pomp and protest" (Sandro Contenta, Toronto Star, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain II: "'He's the least welcomed guest these shores have seen since William the Conqueror,' says Scottish independent MP George Galloway, referring to the Norman warrior king who conquered England in 1066. ...
Galloway wants TV images of the protest to resonate in the U.S. media.
Americans have to realize, he says, that Bush's policies have managed to alienate even the people who are, historically, their strongest allies.
He hopes the images will encourage Americans to "rescue the world" and vote Bush out of office. And if they help the British people do the same with Blair, then all the better.
"We don't want the organ grinder, but we don't want his monkey, either," says Galloway, an organizer of the anti-war march that saw up to 2 million people on the streets of London just before Iraq was invaded.
In interviews with British journalists last week, Bush welcomed the protests.
"I am so pleased to be going to a country which says that people are allowed to express their mind," he said. 'That's fantastic. Freedom is a beautiful thing. And the fact that people are willing to come out and express themselves says I'm going to a great country.'"

"It was a good idea at the time" (Julian Coman et al., The Sunday Telegraph, 2003/11/16)
Bush's state visit to Britain I: "The White House is trying hard. But even the new "softer" Bush will have his work cut out to make a success of this week's formal state visit - the first to be made by a US President.
Overshadowed by the bloody aftermath to the Iraq war and the coalition's failure to find Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, the dream visit has turned into a transatlantic nightmare. A trip intended to celebrate the "special relationship" between Tony Blair and Mr Bush has become a frantic exercise in crisis management. ...
Outside, on the streets of the capital, there could be pandemonium. Streets are to be closed off as demonstrators are prevented from marching down Whitehall or gathering in Parliament Square.
In Trafalgar Square, an estimated 100,000 protesters will attempt to confront the so-called "toxic Texan" on Thursday, albeit at a distance. The Islamic Society of Britain has spent a week preparing papier-mache mock statues of the Queen's guest, ready to be toppled, designed to echo the fall of Saddam's statue in the spring."

"The New Iraq Is Grim, Hopeful and Still Scary" (John F. Burns, The New York Times, 2003/11/16)
The best reporter on Saddam's Iraq returns: "Then, many of us believed that Iraqis craved, and deserved, their liberation from Mr. Hussein. Despite all the disappointments of the occupation, there has been little change in that view, judging by what was almost certainly the first scientifically conducted public opinion poll in Iraq, by the Gallup Organization in late September. ...
But against this, and the bedrock on which American prospects here may well depend, was the poll's central finding: that 62 percent believed the ouster of Saddam Hussein was worth any hardships they suffered during and after the invasion. In addition, 67 percent said they believed Iraq would be better off five years from now than it was under Mr. Hussein, against 8 percent who thought it would be worse. ...
"No, no!" one man said. "If the Americans go, it will be chaos everywhere." Another shouted, "There would be a civil war."
"If the Americans, the British or the Italians leave Iraq, we will be handed back to the flunkies of Saddam, the Baathists and Al Qaeda will take over our cities," another man said.
Nobody offered a dissenting view, though many said it would be best if the Americans achieved peace and left as soon as possible. These people, at least, seemed concerned that America should know that the bombers, whoever they were, did not speak for the ordinary citizens of Iraq."

"British Olympic hope 'was Iraq suicide bomber'" (Nick Pelham et al., The Observer, 2003/11/16)
A "jolly fine gentleman": "A 22-year-old martial arts expert from Sheffield who was hoping to fight with the British Olympic tae kwon do team is suspected of being one of the suicide bombers behind the recent spate of attacks in Iraq.
The Yemeni paper Al Ayyam has reported that the parents of a British-based Muslim, Wail al Dhaleai, were telephoned by Islamic fighters in Iraq telling them their son had killed himself in an attack on US troops earlier this month.
The death of Wail al Dhaleai, also known as Wail Abd-al-Rahman, has raised fears that groups of handpicked young British Muslims are heading to Iraq to fight Coalition forces. ...
'Wail was jolly fine gentleman,' said Omar Abdel Qader, chairman of the Al Khair mosque. 'He would spend the last 10 days of Ramadan living and sleeping in the mosque.'"

"Arab League Secretary-General condemns Turkey attack, blames Israel" (SPA/IMRA, 2003/11/16)
"Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa condemned Saturday the bombing of two synagogues in Istanbul, and held Israel responsible for inciting terrorism.
Mussa told reporters at the Arab League headquarters that Israel's constant violations of international resolutions promoted a view that"everything can be violated", and "this is one of the repercussions".
He added that the attack against civilians in Turkey was "unacceptable", but 'ignoring Israel's constant aggressions will, unfortunately, only lead to more civilian victims.'"

Saturday, November 15, 2003

News and commentary:

"A man mourns (L) as people sift through the debris..."
(Reuters, 2003/11/15)
"A man mourns (L) as people sift through the debris after a bomb exploded at an Istanbul synagogue as two blasts struck Istanbul November 15, 2003."

"Two Black Hawks collide and crash, 17 soldiers killed in worst loss of life for U.S. military" (Mariam Fam, AP/Boston.com, 2003/11/15)
"Two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed Saturday night, killing 17 American soldiers in the U.S. military's worst single loss of life since the Iraq war began.
One helicopter smashed into the roof of a house, witnesses said, and there were reports one of the aircraft was hit by ground fire. Five soldiers were injured and one was missing, the military said. ...
The two Black Hawks from the 101st Airborne Division went down in the Borsa residential neighborhood of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.
One soldier at the scene told The Associated Press he heard that one of the helicopters was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade before it crashed, but a U.S. military spokesman said such reports were 'at best speculative.'"

"Synagogue bombings leave Istanbul in mayhem" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/15)
"Rubble and debris littered the historic centre of Istanbul after a double car bombing hit two of the city's synagogues during Shabbat prayers, leaving at least 20 people dead and more than 300 injured.
A crater outside the Neve Shalom synagogue, the largest in the city, illustrated the violence of the blast. Its facade collapsed into the street following the blast which witnesses said was caused by a booby-trapped vehicle.
Two bodies, covered in dust, were left lying in the street, covered by old newspapers. Body parts lay on a car, on a pavement, and outside a shop. ...
In the narrow street leading to the Neve Shalom synagogue, the scene was like a war zone.
The twisted wreckage of a vehicle lay some 15 meters (45 feet) away from the synagogue, debris littered the street, and window frames hung from buildings.
In neighbouring streets, windows were blown in and many of the nearby shops selling lighting fixtures and other electrical goods had their street signs blown away."

"Overhasty clean-up in Riyadh" (Bill Law, BBC News, 2003/11/15)
"The terror war has finally come home to Saudi Arabia, there should be no room left for denial.
There should be no longer any sense that the terrorists could be understood - even forgiven - because they attacked only western targets.
But already the conspiracy theories are doing the rounds.
Some are saying the extremists have been infiltrated by the CIA and Mossad because, as one Saudi lawyer put it me, "who benefits from these attacks?"
And then he answered his own question - 'Only the Americans, only the Israelis.'"

"Britons Dubious About Bush Ahead of State Visit" (Paul Majendie, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/15)
"More than one in three Britons think George W. Bush is stupid and a majority branded the U.S. president a threat to world peace, opinion poll results published on Sunday showed. ...
Blair's ratings have plunged over the war in Iraq, which most Britons opposed. Bush fared no better in a poll conducted by the Britain's Sunday Times which cast a harsh spotlight on the special relationship between London and Washington.
Thirty-seven percent of those questioned thought Bush was "stupid," while a clear majority of 60 percent called him a threat to world peace."

"U.S. Is Set to Return Power to Iraqis as Early as June" (Susan Sachs, The New York Times, 2003/11/15)
Personally, I suspect that this sends the very opposite signal to what the Bush administration hopes: "The Bush administration has agreed to restore independence to Iraq as early as next June, apparently hoping the move will change the perception of the United States as an occupying power and curb the mounting attacks on American forces in the country, Iraqi and American officials said Friday.
The plan to accelerate the transfer of power was put forward by Iraqi leaders this week, and taken to Washington by L. Paul Bremer III, the American administrator in Iraq. Late on Friday, officials said, a newly returned Mr. Bremer hastened to tell members of the Iraqi Governing Council's inner leadership circle that the White House had broadly accepted the plan."

"Why the antiwar left must confront terrorism" (Mark Follman, Salon, 2003/11/15)
An interesting interview with William Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA:
"In his new book, "Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human Rights," Schulz argues that rising global terrorism requires the left "to rethink some of our most sacred assumptions." A vigorous defense of human and civil liberties, while essential to spreading democracy worldwide, is not enough to stop terrorists from blowing up airplanes or shopping malls, he says. ...
Why has the political left failed to articulate an adequate strategy for fighting terrorism since 9/11?
Because of an abhorrence — a quite understandable one — for the Bush administration's policies, there has been a tendency for the American political left and the greater human rights community to downplay the genuine, serious threat of terrorism around the globe. ...
But why else do you think that is? In the book you point out that human rights advocates, as much as anyone, should despise terrorism, and be willing to act against it. Is the human rights community simply too disorganized to combat terror, or is there a deeper ideological problem?
Human rights organizations are basically set up to put pressure on governments, not on more amorphous entities like terrorist groups. The traditional tools we use are generally not going to be effective with terrorists. I doubt Osama Bin Laden is going to be moved by 50,000 members of Amnesty International writing him a letter asking him to refrain from terrorist acts. In the face of a new kind of force in the world that is detrimental to human rights, the human rights community has been slow to adapt to that new reality, in both its understanding and its tactics. There's a cultural lag at work here.
It's a serious problem. It means that human rights advocates are seen solely as harping critics. We certainly need to be that; it's a very important role. But if we fail to engage with the very real, hard decisions that governments have to make about protecting the safety of their citizens, then we'll be dismissed as charlatans, or ideologues who are out of step with reality.

"Slavery lives on in Sudan" (Michael Coren, Toronto Sun, 2003/11/15)
Via Dhimmi Watch: "'Women and children abducted in slave raids are roped by the neck or strapped to animals and then marched north. Along the way, many women and girls are repeatedly gang-raped. Children who will not be silent are shot on the spot. ... Masters typically use women and girls as domestics and concubines, cleaning by day and serving the master sexually by night. Survivors report being called "Abeed" (black slave), enduring daily beatings, and receiving awful food. Masters also strip slaves of their religious and cultural identities, giving them Arabic names and forcing them to pray as Muslims.'
Thus says one leading slavery abolitionist group. ...
This is the reality of Sudan, a country with which Ottawa has good relations and a nation that is accepted in every major international organization, where it regularly votes to condemn liberal democracies. Because it possesses oil, many foreign governments who scream freedom seem to become deaf and dumb about the obscenity of slavery. ...
In fact, millions have been enslaved, murdered, mutilated and abused in this campaign, far more than have suffered in, for example, what are known as the Occupied Territories in Israel. Odd, then, that so much media time is given to that situation, so little to this.
The world ought to look closely at what takes place in Sudan in the months and years to come. There are very powerful and very bad people who will resist ceaselessly the creation of a separate African and largely Christian state on the edge of the House of Islam.
Let us hope the world does not play the role of hypocrite once again. The stench of the blood is becoming overwhelming."

"Bush's visit will be expensive, but America has paid many times over" (Tom Utley, The Daily Telegraph, 2003/11/15)
Utley on the first state visit to Britain by an American President:
"I mentioned the Roman Empire earlier, and I am reminded of the brilliant scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, in which the leader of a Judaean terrorist organisation asks: "What did the Romans ever do for us?" The answer to that question went on for ages. (They gave us aqueducts, education, sanitation, decent roads, the rule of law.)
It occurs to me that the answer would be equally long if the question were now put: "What did the Americans do for us?" For a start, they twice saved us from German tyranny, entering conflicts that were not obviously their own; they rebuilt the economies of Europe and Japan; they gave democracy a chance all over the world; they gave us Hollywood and The Simpsons, the internet and the Boeing 747. Britain's greatest ever contribution to civilisation was the liberal democracy upon which America was founded, and for which its President is now the chief standard-bearer. How dare people quibble about the cost of his visit, when America has paid us a billion times more, in blood and dollars?" (See also: "Scene 9: The commandos" (mwscomp.com), for the script of the scene from "Monty Python's Life of Brian" which Utley refers to: "REG: All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
XERXES: Brought peace.")

"Arsonists torch Jewish school near Paris" (Michel Zlotowski, The Jerusalem Post, 2003/11/15)
"Fire gutted the Merkaz HaTorah Jewish secondary school in the Paris suburb of Gagny in the Seine-Saint-Denis region Saturday morning at 3am. There were no injuries.
Fire started simultaneously in two separate places on the first floor of the school where works were under way. A primary school and a kindergarten for 200 children were to be inaugurated there in January 2004. The arsonist or arsonists broke into the building through a ground floor window. ...
"The criminal origin of the blaze is more than strongly suspected which gives, for this Jewish school, an anti-Semitic and obviously racist connotation," said Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
"This shows that there is still lots of work to do to fight against all forms of anti-Semitism," the minister added."

"Bombings at Turkey Synagogues Kill 20" (James C. Helicke, AP/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/15)
"Near-simultaneous car bombs exploded outside two Istanbul synagogues filled with worshippers Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 300. The government said the attack had international links, raising suspicions that the al-Qaida terror network was involved.
One blast tore apart the facade of Neve Shalom — Istanbul's biggest synagogue and the symbolic center of the 25,000-member Jewish community in this Muslim nation — just as hundreds of people inside were celebrating a boy's bar mitzvah.
Three miles away in an affluent neighborhood, the other blast hit the Beth Israel synagogue, where some 300 people were marking the completion of a remodeled religious school. Six Jews were killed at Beth Israel and many injured, including Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva and his son. Fourteen Muslims were also killed — including two security guards at Beth Israel and one at Neve Shalom. ...
Up to 80 of the wounded were Jewish. Most of the victims were passers-by in residents in the neighborhoods of narrow streets and closely build apartment buildings where many Christian Greeks and Armenians live alongside Muslims. A mosque just a few doors down from Neve Shalom — which in Hebrew means "oasis of peace" — also had its windows blown out."

Friday, November 14, 2003

News and commentary:

"Case Closed" (Stephen F. Hayes, The Weekly Standard, from the 2003/11/17 issue)
"Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein had an operational relationship from the early 1990s to 2003 that involved training in explosives and weapons of mass destruction, logistical support for terrorist attacks, al Qaeda training camps and safe haven in Iraq, and Iraqi financial support for al Qaeda — perhaps even for Mohamed Atta — according to a top secret U.S. government memorandum obtained by The Weekly Standard. ...
The picture that emerges is one of a history of collaboration between two of America's most determined and dangerous enemies.
According to the memo — which lays out the intelligence in 50 numbered points — Iraq-al Qaeda contacts began in 1990 and continued through mid-March 2003, days before the Iraq War began. ...
In addition to the contacts clustered in the mid-1990s, intelligence reports detail a flurry of activities in early 1998 and again in December 1998. A "former senior Iraqi intelligence officer" reported that "the Iraqi intelligence service station in Pakistan was Baghdad's point of contact with al Qaeda. He also said bin Laden visited Baghdad in Jan. 1998 and met with Tariq Aziz." ...
Critics of the Bush administration have complained that Iraq-al Qaeda connections are a fantasy, trumped up by the warmongers at the White House to fit their preconceived notions about international terror; that links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden have been routinely "exaggerated" for political purposes; that hawks "cherry-picked" bits of intelligence and tendentiously presented these to the American public. ...
But there can no longer be any serious argument about whether Saddam Hussein's Iraq worked with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda to plot against Americans."

"Iraq: Too Uncertain to Call" (Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS, 2003/11/14)
A balanced assessment of the "strengths and weaknesses of the approaches taken by the Bush administration, the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraq Governing Council":
"Iraq will not suddenly emerge as a model to the Arab world, and its regional impact on change and modernization will at best be far more limited than many American neoconservatives hoped. At the same time, the US can also "win," in achieving more modest and realistic goals and more importantly so can the Iraqi people. ...
Grand strategy is the key to victory, and victory or defeat is tied as much to politics as to warfighting. This means the Bush Administration faces some hard choices. It seems very unlikely that the current level of fighting will be over before February at the earliest, and may well continue until June or longer. Some casualties and major incidents seem like to occur through the November 2004 election and may well go on as long as the US is in Iraq.
Any effort to "spin" these unpleasant realities out of existence is going to broaden the credibility problem the Administration has developed by underplaying the risks before, during, and immediately after the war. The sooner the Administration prepares the American people and its allies for a long period of low intensity conflict and continuing casualties, the better." (Note: Thanks to Malcolm Smordin for the pointer.)

"Another 'honor' victim: Daughter, raped by brothers, killed by mother" (Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Knight Ridder, 2003/11/14)
Via Best of the Web Today: "Rofayda Qaoud - raped by her brothers and impregnated - refused to commit suicide, her mother recalls, even after she bought the unwed teenager a razor with which to slit her wrists. So Amira Abu Hanhan Qaoud says she did what she believes any good Palestinian parent would: restored her family's "honor" through murder.
Armed with a plastic bag, razor and wooden stick, Qaoud entered her sleeping daughter's room last Jan. 27. "Tonight you die, Rofayda," she told the girl, before wrapping the bag tightly around her head. Next, Qaoud sliced Rofayda's wrists, ignoring her muffled pleas of "No, mother, no!" After her daughter went limp, Qaoud struck her in the head with the stick.
Killing her sixth-born child took 20 minutes, Qaoud tells a visitor through a stream of tears and cigarettes that she smokes in rapid succession. "She killed me before I killed her," says the 43-year-old mother of nine. "I had to protect my children. This is the only way I could protect my family's honor."
The guilty brothers are in jail.
Qaoud's confessed crime, for which she must appear before a three-judge panel on Dec. 3, is one repeated almost weekly among Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel. Female virtue and virginity define a family's reputation in Arab cultures, so it's women who are punished if that reputation is perceived as sullied."

"MSNBC's Arnot Sees Iraqis Angry at TV Coverage, Who "Love" Bush" (Media Research Center, 2003/11/14)
"U.S. TV network news about Iraq as distorted as al-Jazeera? Checking in from Iraq on Wednesday's Hardball with Chris Matthews as part of that show's look this week at "Iraq: The Real Story," Bob Arnot highlighted a Muslim ayatollah in Iraq who "is furious at the press coverage. He says not only American television, but Arabic satellite TV, such as Al-Jazeera and the Abu Dhabi station, have mis-portrayed the great success that is Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein."
Arnot, MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens noticed, documented how "Iraqis themselves are angrier than the American administration about the barrage of negative stories coming out of Iraq" on Arab television.
The night before, on Tuesday's Hardball, Arnot contrasted the negative TV news image of widespread destruction and disgust for Americans with the reality he sees of Iraqis who 'love the Americans and their President for cleaning up their streets, providing clean water, opening the schools.'" (See also the full transcripts: "'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Nov. 12" (MSNBC, 2003/11/12) and "'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Nov. 11" (MSNBC, 2003/11/12))

"Fair-Weather Allies" (James Taranto, Best of the Web Today, 2003/11/14)
"'Japan put off a decision on sending troops to Iraq yesterday, a day after the deadliest attack on coalition forces since the war, and South Korea capped its contribution at 3,000 soldiers,' the Associated Press reports from Baghdad. "In addition, Seoul ordered its 464 troops in southern Iraq to suspend operations outside coalition bases. Denmark also rejected a push by two Danish soldiers unions to add 100 troops to its 410-member force."
But one country that isn't bugging out is Italy, whose soldiers were the target of Wednesday's attacks. "As its tricolor flags flew at half-mast, Italy sent fresh troops to Iraq on Thursday just one day after 18 Italians were killed by suicide bombers there in what one political leader called 'our September 11,'" Reuters reports from Rome." (See also: "U.S. allies will delay bolstering Iraq troops" (Bassem Mroue, AP/The Star Ledger, 2003/11/14) and "Mourning Italy Sends Fresh Troops to Iraq" (Philip Pullella, Reuters/Netscape News, 2003/11/13))

"The European solution" (Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post, 2003/11/14)
A brilliant article on European anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism. Here on an article by Dominique Moïsi, "an advisor to the French Institute for International Relations and a member of the Trilateral Commission":
"...Moissy recently published an article in the International Herald Tribune where he made the case for why Europe is indispensable for America. In his view, America cannot turn its back on Europe because "Europe is America's best protection against its own inner evils – neo-isolationist narcissism and arrogant ignorance of the way others may feel and think."
Moissy also provided a way to mend fences between Europe and the US. The way to rebuild the Atlantic alliance, he argued, was to work together to end Israeli sovereignty. In Moissy's words, "The road to reinvent the West goes through Jerusalem." Moissy urged that Europeans and Americans work together to force Israelis to accept the European financed Geneva "peace formula" which he claims "is the only way out of the abyss into which the region is falling."
The Geneva initiative calls for the institution of an international regime to include military forces from the EU, UN, US, Russia and indeed, Mahathir's Organization of the Islamic Conference that will take over the role of sovereign from the government of Israel. The international forces will be responsible for settling all disputes between Israel and the Palestinian state and will oversee everything from the security of Jerusalem to the use of airspace and the protection of borders. In short, the Geneva initiative that the EU stands so squarely behind, calls for the end of Jewish sovereignty in Israel and the reinstitution of an international mandate like that of the League of Nations." (See also: "The road to a new West goes through Jerusalem" (Dominique Moïsi, International Herald Tribune, 2002/10/31))

"Closing the books on Arafat" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2003/11/14)
Toameh on the reports "revealing that Arafat squirreled away nearly $1 billion in public funds to ensure his political survival", was "transferring $100,000 a month out of the Palestinian budget to his 40-year-old wife" as well as "paying a monthly $50,000 to hundreds of gunmen belonging to Fatah’s armed wing, the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades":
"Needless to say, the Palestinian media, which is entirely subject to Arafat’s patronage, completely ignored the findings of the TV programs (see 'What graft?'). Even the sensationalist Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV stations had nothing to tell their millions of Arab viewers about the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars originally allocated to the welfare and prosperity of the Palestinian people. ...
What graft? Most Palestinians did not hear about the CBS program that disclosed that Yasser Arafat transferred $100,000 a month to his wife, Suha, who lives in Paris.
Nor did they hear about the $1 billion which he reportedly diverted from the PA budget to secret bank accounts. The reason: censorship.
"You can publish almost anything in our media, except for sensitive stories related to corruption and embezzlement of public funds," says one Ramallah journalist. Arab satellite stations, particularly Al-Jazeera, also refrain from dealing with sensitive issues. ...
As one Palestinian editor summed it: 'Thank God we have CBS and BBC to tell us about what is happening in our areas.'" (See also: "Arafat's Billions" (CBS News, 2003/11/09), "Palestinian Authority funds go to militants" (BBC News, 2003/11/07) and "Report: Arafat funnels $100,000 PA aid monthly to wife" (Nathan Guttman, Haaretz, 2003/11/07))

"Al-Qa'ida Commander in Iraq: 'A Terror Attack Against the U.S. With 100,000 Deaths is Imminent; We Ordered the Riyadh Bombing'" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 609, 2003/11/14)
Excerpts from an interview with "a person who introduced himself as Abu Salma Al-Hijazi, one of the Al-Qa'ida commanders closest to Osama bin Laden. The interview was conducted in Iraq, south of Faluja.": "In regard to rumors about a large-scale attack against the U.S. during the month of Ramadan, Al-Hijazi said that "a huge and very courageous strike" will take place and that the number of infidels expected to be killed in this attack, according to primary estimates, exceeds 100,000. He added that he "anticipates, but will not swear, that the attack will happen during Ramadan." ...
When asked about the recent bombing in Riyadh, Al-Hijazi referred to Saudi media reports – which claimed that in the attack Muslim women and children were killed – as "merely media deceit." He added: "This place was under surveillance for many months. Following a thorough investigation, it became perfectly clear to us that the people living there were at least 300 Americans and a large group of Lebanese Christians who had tortured Muslims there, in Lebanon, during the civil war. After consultation, we decided it was appropriate to attack this place and destroy it, including the people who lived there, because it housed Americans and a large majority of Christians holding Lebanese citizenship." (See also: "The Next Terror Attack" (James S. Robbins, National Review, 2003/11/14))

"2003 Palestinian Authority Textbook Calls for Jihad and Martyrdom" (MEMRI, Special Report - No. 22, 2003/11/14)
Excerpts from a "newly-printed textbook produced by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education titled "Islamic Culture," intended for students in the 11th grade":
"Jihad is an Islamic term that equates to the term war in other nations. The difference is that Jihad has noble goals and lofty aims, and is carried out only for the sake of Allah and for His glory... [By contrast] wars by other nations are mainly waged because of wickedness, aggression, love of domination, expanding influence, looting properties, murder, and the fulfillment of ambitions and desires, such as the war that the Western countries waged to exploit Islamic countries for imperialistic purposes, to control their Muslim citizens and to rob their resources and richness..."

"The duality of Iraq" (Fouad Ajami, usnews.com, from the 2003/11/17 issue)
"This is not Vietnam, not by a long shot, but it is complicated enough in its own way. We have taken America's truth to a difficult Arab land. A stranger who ventures into this encounter is confronted with the wildest swings of emotion. Reality shifts. In places, there is hope and a sense that the American mission may yet deliver this tormented country from its terrible history. But there is heartbreak, as well, and nagging doubts that the country may yet thwart the best of our intentions. ...
It is idle to debate now whether this was a war of choice or of necessity. We stand sentry here now, having decapitated the old regime and pledged to build a better one in its place. Our truth is being redeemed in the most painful of ways — by predominantly young men and women who carry the heaviest of burdens — so many of whom have now made the ultimate sacrifice. The question of whether a single national society exists in Iraq is yet to be answered. The insurgency in the Sunni triangle is the rebellion and the rear-guard action of a terrible breed of people eager to restore their own hegemony and the reign of terror that came with it. To a great, liberal country free of tribal and sectarian feuds now falls the grim task of quelling a rebellion of the darkest atavism. Imperial power has always carried with it heartbreak. In the shade of these palm trees of Mesopotamia, the best of our young people give the Iraqis their first exposure to an army that does not plunder and terrorize. May our sacrifices in that land not be in vain."

"Then & Now" (Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 2003/11/14)
An excerpt from "Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think":
"We know that there are three thousand dead. A trillion dollars in capital has been lost; $100 billion in property damage was incurred; and millions of Americans were put out of work. The government itself was transformed — citizens worldwide were delayed and disrupted by increased security measures. Access to public facilities is now restricted. Private nagging fear and doubt about future attacks remain. We will not grasp for years the full interplay of events set in motion by the sudden vaporization of thousands in the late summer of 2001. The orphans and children of orphans not yet born will not — cannot — forget September 11 because they are now part of it forever. ...
Americans once feared to retaliate against random bombings; terrorists now wonder when we will stop — as the logic of September 11 methodically advances to its ultimate conclusion. Aroused democracies reply murderously to enemy assaults in a manner absolutely inconceivable to their naïve attackers."

"Recipe for Disaster" (Amir Taheri, National Review, 2003/11/14)
"After the revolution, Iran's national defense doctrine has been based on the assumption that it will, one day, fight a war with the United States plus its Arab allies and Israel. ...
Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has publicly evoked the possibility of using nuclear weapons against Washington's regional allies, especially Israel.
"In a nuclear duel in the region, Israel may kill 100 million Muslims," Rafsanjani said in a speech in Tehran in October 2000. "Muslims can sustain such casualties, knowing that, in exchange, there would be no Israel on the map." ...
Hamid Zomorrodi, an Iranian strategy expert says it is unlikely that Iran will cripple its national defence doctrine by abandoning its nuclear aspect.
"The real issue is not the bomb," he says. 'Regardless of who rules in Tehran, Iran is sure to have nuclear weapons whenever its leaders decide to have them. The real issue is who will be in control of those weapons and who will be their target.'"

"Seven Lies About Jenin" (David Zangen, Ma'ariv/FrontPageMagazine, 2003/11/14)
Seven lies and an avalanche of hate. Zangen on the Jerusalem premiere of Muhammad Bakri's infamous "Jenin, Jenin":
"At the end of the screening, the hundreds of viewers awarded Bakri and the editor of the film with thunderous applause. Bakri turned to the audience and asked if there were any questions. I introduced myself, ascended the stage and began to systematically list all the lies and inaccuracies in the film.
At first, there was a rustle in the crowd, and then boos and I was called a "murderer", "war criminal" and the like. Before I had even finished my second point, a man from the audience aggressively ascended the stage and tried to grab the microphone from my hand. I decided not to be dragged into violence. I let him take the microphone and walked off the stage. I was surprised that only a few spectators rose to the defense of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I was amazed that the audience was not willing to hear the facts from someone who had physically been there.
It was painful for me as a man, a father and a doctor to hear calls of "murderer" from my own people. I said that I hadn't murdered anyone, but the calls intensified. A powerful hatred was directed towards me. I had an unpleasant feeling that I haven't been able to shake."

"Op-Chart" (Adriana Lins de Albuquerque et al., The New York Times, 2003/11/14)
A chart of security indicators and economic trends in postwar Iraq: "A few main messages emerge. For starters, violence against coalition troops has increased as the occupation has lengthened and, in regard to the all-important objective of winning Iraqi hearts and minds, unemployment rates are still too high. However, most other trends are encouraging — declining crime rates in Baghdad, increasing numbers of Iraqi police officers being trained, and telephone and water services at about 80 percent of pre-war levels. Once one accepts the premise that the United States and its partners are still at war in Iraq, and that the mission there is clearly the most challenging American military operation since the Vietnam War, the most accurate long-term outlook is one of guarded optimism."

Thursday, November 13, 2003

News and commentary:

"U.S. Expats in UK Hit by Wave of 'Anti-Bushism'" (Paul Majendie, Reuters, 2003/11/13)
Ah, the "squandered goodwill" yet again. According to these London correspondents Bush has turned America into a "gun-toting, electric-chairing" ... "rogue state, a pariah nation":
"But now, after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq where British and Americans fought side by side, they face a wave not of anti-Americanism but anti-Bushism.
"It's tougher being an American in London than it used to be. Our President has made it so," said Newsweek Magazine's London correspondent Stryker McGuire.
"Even among friendly Britons, there's a growing skepticism about the gun-toting, electric-chairing land that has let Dubya be Dubya for nigh on three years now." ...
"Right now there is strong anti-Americanism and I compare it to the Vietnam War. Bush has been targeted as the villain in all of this. I think he is even more unpopular than Nixon was."
The New York Times ' London correspondent Warren Hoge told Reuters: "America is now something of a rogue state, a pariah nation."
'People repeatedly say it isn't Americans we don't like, it is just Bush. He pushes hot buttons. Bush has so much to do with this rather stupendous fall-off in American popularity. It is quite amazing to think where we were the day after September 11 and how much of that goodwill has been squandered.'"

"The Bush state visit" (Melanie Phillips, melaniephillips.com, 2003/11/13)
Phillips thinks that "Bush's visit to Britain next week could turn into a major disaster": "The Americans have been going round in a kind of bubble. It's the same bubble, insulating them from the advice of candid friends which they simply override because to listen to it might admit to weakness, which has got them into such terrible trouble in Iraq. If they had bothered to look closely at what has been going on in Britain, they would have seen that the country has been engulfed by a rising hysteria about the US and Bush: an irrationality and complete breakdown in logic, common sense and moral reasoning from 9/11 onwards which has created the ugliest, most prejudiced and most dangerous national mood that I can ever remember. But the Americans, like the Israelis, have been so wrapped up in themselves that they have never opened their eyes to this. As a result, they have been almost entirely absent from the battle for hearts and minds, leaving a vacuum to be filled by the propaganda of noxious ideologues and their compliant fellow-travellers in the media.
The result is that if there are indeed massive, militant demonstrations against Bush next week — and they are being organised by the same people who brought us the anti-globalisation mayhem, but who this time will have the backing of a large swathe of ordinary Brits, too — this will not simply be a political disaster for Bush. It will be viewed as a major triumph by those waging war against the west, and will thus become a potent weapon to be used against us."

"U.S. Forces Launch Operation Iron Hammer" (FOX News, 2003/11/13)
"U.S. forces in Iraq on Wednesday launched a planned and coordinated operation codenamed Iron Hammer that targeted pro-Saddam loyalists, a senior military source told Fox News.
Based on intelligence collected on the ground, U.S. infantry set a number of traps all over Baghdad. Several of those traps — monitored from the air and known as NAIs or Named Areas of Interest — were activated almost simultaneously Wednesday night.
In the most dramatic action, about a dozen Bradley armored vehicles used 25mm cannons to destroy a warehouse used by anti-U.S. forces in southern Baghdad. A special forces AC-130 Spectre gunship also took part from the air, targeting the warehouse with precise fire."

"The dangers of Fisking" (David Pryce-Jones, The Spectator, from the 2003/11/15 issue)
Pryce-Jones on Robert Fisk: "The preconceptions and prejudices that are immortalising Fisk in the English language express an unqualified contempt for America. For him, most Americans are ignorant and arrogant, and their leaders mendacious and cynical power maniacs leading everyone to perdition. Everything wrong with the Middle East is particularly their fault. About a dozen times over the past year Fisk has written that in 1983 Donald Rumsfeld met Saddam Hussein, and this is enough to make the United States responsible for Saddam's crimes. The corpses in the mass graves of Iraq are the result of 'American encouragement of Saddam and treachery'. Supporting the military regime in Algeria, in another instance of their perfidy, the Americans must also be responsible for the 100,000 or more murdered there in the civil war. ...
In this fresh mood of despair, Fisk warned that the United States was going the way of Hitlerism, no less. The department of homeland security, in another example of fisking running away with grammar and meaning, has 'Teutonic roots' because Homeland translated as Heimat in the Third Reich. As for 'Shock and awe', that was 'a classic slogan from the old Nazi magazine Signal.'" (Note: Pryce-Jones' definition of "fisking" is "the selection of evidence solely in order to bolster preconceptions and prejudices", which is different from the normal usage of it in the blogosphere: "To deconstruct an article on a point by point basis in a highly critical manner. Derived from the name of journalist Robert Fisk, a frequent target of such critical articles in the blogosphere." (From Samizdata's Blog Glossary))

"Uncensored Gore" (Marc Cooper, LA Weekly, from the November 14-23, 2003 issue)
More deranged ravings by Gore Vidal: "The USA PATRIOT Act is as despotic as anything Hitler came up with — even using much of the same language. In one of my earlier books, Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, I show how the language used by the Clinton people to frighten Americans into going after terrorists like Timothy McVeigh — how their rights were going to be suspended only for a brief time — was precisely the language used by Hitler after the Reichstag fire. ...
Do you not think of Bush and Ashcroft as Americans?
I think of them as an alien army. They have managed to take over everything, and quite in the open. We have a deranged president. We have despotism. We have no due process."

"A New Democracy, Enshrined in Faith" (Noah Feldman, The New York Times, 2003/11/13)
"The paradox, of course, is that if the people of Muslim countries do get a greater say in their own government, Islamic politics will likely prevail. ...
This leads some to say that we should not promote democracy in the Middle East lest we open the door to elections that might be, in the memorable words of a former assistant secretary of state, Edward Djerejian, "one man, one vote, one time." But calls to preserve the undemocratic status quo fail to acknowledge that the alternative to trying Islamic democracy may be much worse.
It would be equally futile for the United States to unilaterally impose secularization in Afghanistan and Iraq. For a constitution to function, it must represent the will of its citizens. Nothing could delegitimize a constitution more quickly than America setting down secularist red lines in a well-meaning show of neo-imperialism. Rather, our goal must be to persuade a majority of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims that Islam and democracy are perfectly compatible. ...
The draft Afghan constitution is just one possible picture of how Islam and democracy can live side-by-side in the same political vision. There are no guarantees in constitution writing or in nation building, and it is too soon to predict that the idea of Islamic democracy will take hold in practice — in Afghanistan or elsewhere. All we can do is continue to press for democracy in the Muslim world: not because we naïvely expect a victory for secularism, but because freedom only makes sense as a value extended equally to all, to make of it what they will."

"Saddam's Strategy" (Ralph Peters, New York Post, 2003/11/13)
"We made three key errors on Iraq: Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's ideologically driven refusal to deploy enough troops before the war, during the war, after the war and even now; OSD's willful neglect of adequate planning for the postwar period; and the neoconservatives' astonishingly naive support for Ahmed Chalabi, a smooth-talking hustler whose base of support lies in Washington, not in Iraq. ...
If the administration wants to achieve its greater goals in the Middle East, it can't just issue pronouncements and shuffle Baghdad portfolios. President Bush has to clean house in Washington, easing out those who refused to plan thoroughly and honestly for the occupation and who denied our troops the numbers and means they require. Ideology must give way to integrity.
It's difficult to maintain full faith in an administration that can't develop a strategy as creative and comprehensive as one devised by a handful of hunted enemies."

"Hollywood vs. "Stupid" America" (Howard Mortman, MSNBC/FrontPageMagazine, 2003/11/13)
"If you're an American, chances are there's a celebrity who thinks you're dumb. Maybe even stupid. Or an idiot. Or something worse, which we can't print here.
Yes, show a celebrity an American, and that celebrity will show you an ignoramus.
Too sweeping a statement? Perhaps. But what about this Michael Moore screed about Americans in the London Mirror earlier this month? "They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet. ...We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing."...
Ted Turner once said this about television-watchers: "The United States has got some of the dumbest people in the world. I want you to know that; we know that."
Speaking of Ted Turner, Jane Fonda was in Canada this past April and said: "I don't know if a country where the people are so ignorant of reality and of history, if you can call that a free world."
Also in Canada, Martin Sheen said recently: "Every time I cross this border, I feel like I’ve left the land of lunatics. You are not armed and dangerous. You do not shoot each other. I always feel a bit more human when I come here."
Lunatics, ignorant people, dummies — even dumb puppies. Yes, we got 'em all here."

"Susan Sontag Nominee" (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, 2003/11/13)
"'Indeed, today's Washington has a whiff of Soviet ways; suffocating internal discipline, resentment of even reasoned, moderate opposition, and a refusal to admit even the tiniest error. For imperialists, read "evildoers". With their condescending "we know best" attitude, Messrs Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest offer as close an impersonation of the Politburo as you will find. As was said of the pre-glasnost Kremlin then, so with the White House now: you know nothing, but understand everything.' - Rupert Cornwell, the Independent. From all reports, the hatred of George W. Bush is now at fever pitch in London. All sorts of vicious tyrants have met the Queen for state visits - but none will recieve the outpouring of hate that will await Bush. Heads up: this will be a big deal. Hundreds of thousands will likely turn up to protest; the capital city is on the verge of shutting down; there will be demonstrations in Trafalgar Square in which an effigy will be toppled in mimickry of the defeat of Saddam. All this is designed to make the demonstrators to feel good but also to show Americans that even their closest ally despises the president and wants him defeated, humiliated, removed. Even if it means supporting the forces of terrorism in the Middle East. That's how inflamed and irrational this has become." (See also: "By George!" (Rupert Cornwell, Independent, 2003/11/13))

"Fifth Column Watch" (Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, 2003/11/13)
"How can one express adequate horror at Ted Rall's latest rationalization for murdering U.S. and allied troops. Check out this column, written as a memo to Baathists and terrorists now killing Americans - and published on Veterans' Day:

It is no easy thing to shoot or blow up young men and women because they wear American uniforms. Indeed, the soldiers are themselves oppressed members of America's vast underclass. Many don't want to be here; joining America's mercenary army is the only way they can afford to attend university. Others, because they are poor and uneducated, do not understand that they are being used as pawns in Dick Cheney's cynical oil war. Unfortunately, we can't help these innocent U.S. soldiers. They are victims, like ourselves, of the bandits in Washington. Nor can we disabuse them of the propaganda that an occupier isn't always an oppressor. We regret their deaths, but we must continue to kill them until the last one has gone home to America... In this vein we must also take action against our own Iraqi citizens who choose to collaborate with the enemy. Bush wants to put an "Iraqi face" on the occupation. If we allow the Americans to corrupt our friends and neighbors by turning them into puppet policemen and sellouts, our independence will be lost forever. If someone you know is considering taking a job with the Americans, tell him that he is engaging in treason and encourage him to seek honest work instead. If he refuses, you must kill him as a warning to other weak-minded individuals... To victory!

After 9/11, I was roundly criticized for daring to suggest that there were some people in America who wanted the terrorists to win. But if you read Ted Rall and others, there can be no mistake. There is a virulent strain of anti-Americanism in this country. Some, like Rall, are now urging the murder of American troops in defense of Islamist terrorists and the acolytes of one of the most brutal dictators in history. Ann Coulter couldn't invent something this depraved. That's where parts of the left have now come to reside. It's as sad as it is sickening." (See also: "Why we fight" (Ted Rall, UPS/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/11) and "The Ultimate Wingnut" (Michael J. Totten, michaeltotten.com, 2003/11/13): "It does helps to remember something Ted wrote just a little while back: 'On July 5 a bomb killed seven recruits for a U.S.-trained Iraqi police force in Ramadi. U.S. occupation administrator Paul Bremer deplored the murder of "innocent Iraqis." Cops who work for a foreign army of occupation are not innocent. They are collaborators. Traitors. They had it coming.'")

"Like it or not, America is becoming an imperial power" (John Keegan, The Daily Telegraph, 2003/11/13)
"None the less, I suggested, there is a fundamental difference between the British and the American approach. While the Americans, for reasons connected with their own past, seek to solve the Iraqi problem by encouraging the development of democracy, the British, with their long experience of colonial campaigning and their recent exposure to Irish terrorism, take a more pragmatic attitude.
They recognise that Iraq is still a tribal society and that the key to pacification lies in identifying tribal leaders and other big men, in recognising social divisions that can be exploited, and in using a mixture of stick and carrot to restore and maintain order.
To my surprise, this analysis did not arouse American hostility. I formed the impression that Americans thought the British approach thoroughly sensible and would support it if adopted by their own side.
Forcibly, America is becoming an imperial if not an imperialist country. The attitude was exemplified by an encounter I had with a tall, lean, crew-cut young man I met in Washington. Our conversation went as follows: "Marine?" I asked. "Yes," he answered. "Have you been in Iraq?" "Afghanistan. Just got back." The exchange was straight out of Kipling. There is a lot more of that to come."

"Is This Hussein's Counterattack?" (Vernon Loeb and Thomas E. Ricks, The Washington Post, 2003/11/13)
"The recent string of high-profile attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq has appeared to be so methodical and well crafted that some top U.S. commanders now fear this may be the war Saddam Hussein and his generals planned all along.
Knowing from the 1991 Persian Gulf War that they could not take on the U.S. military with conventional forces, these officers believe, the Baath Party government cached weapons before the Americans invaded this spring and planned to employ guerrilla tactics. ...
If these observations are borne out, it would be a significant departure from previous U.S. government assessments. Before the war, the Bush administration never gave any indication that it expected to face a large-scale, planned guerrilla campaign. Just recently, U.S. officials who interrogated former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz and other former Iraqi officials said they found no evidence of such a strategy."

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

News and commentary:

"An Italian Army soldier gestures..."
(AP/Anja Niedringhaus, 2003/11/12)
"An Italian Army soldier gestures next to the barracks building which was destroyed by a car bomb, at the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police in Nasiriyah, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003. At least 17 Italian soldiers and eight Iraqi civilians died."

"Yad Vashem Responds to Anti-Semitic Remarks by Greek Composer & Subsequent Silence of Government Ministers" (Arutz Sheva, 2003/11/12)
"Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis made severely anti-Semitic remarks in recent days, including a statement claiming that the Jewish People is "the root of all evil".
In response, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev, said "Mr. Theodorakis' statements are a symptom of the systematic flooding of Europe with incitement against the Jewish People and the State of Israel. This incitement feeds on the latent anti-Semitism in Europe, which had been dormant since the Holocaust. Unfortunately, it has awakened again."
Shalev added, 'Even worse than the statements themselves is the deafening silence from the Greek education and culture ministers, who were present in the audience when Mr. Theodorakis made them. This silence is proof that false preconceptions and illegitimate views are winning dangerous, tacit approval in what should be the most unlikely places - in this case, the cradle of Western democracy.'"

"Julian Bond Agrees Condi Rice Is 'a Murderer'" (NewsMax.com, 2003/11/12)
"Chairman Julian Bond said over the weekend that he agreed with political cartoonist Aaron McGruder's characterization of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as "a murderer."
Appearing with Bond on the television show "America's Black Forum," McGruder, whose cartoon strip "The Boondocks" has portrayed Rice as a spinster who takes out her personal frustrations by launching carpet-bombing attacks on Iraq, explained his disdain for the highest-ranking woman in U.S. government.
"I don't like Condoleezza Rice because she's part of this oil cabal that's now in the White House," McGruder said, as ABF hosts Armstrong Williams and Juan Williams looked on.
"I don't like her because she's a murderer," the cartoonist announced.
The charged drew immediate condemnation from Armstrong Williams, who complained, "That is totally out of line to say she's a murderer."
Unfazed, McGruder repeated the accusation, stretching out his words, 'S-h-e'-s a m-u-r-d-e-r-e-r.'" (See also: "The Boondocks" (uComics))

"Bomb at Italian Base in Iraq Kills at Least 27" (Andrew Hammond and Khudair Majeed, Reuters, 2003/11/12)
"Suicide car bombers devastated an Italian military police base in the Iraqi town of Nassiriya Wednesday, killing at least 18 Italians and nine Iraqis.
In Washington, President Bush directed Iraq's U.S. governor Paul Bremer to speed the transfer of postwar authority to the Iraqi people. The move followed Bremer's sudden recall to Washington Tuesday for urgent consultations.
U.S. forces hit back against Iraqi guerrillas following a succession of night-time attacks on the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad that has underscored the growing boldness of the insurgents. A military statement code-named the new sweep operation "Iron Hammer." ...
But the U.S.-led occupation forces faced their biggest challenge with a suicide bombing in the southern town of Nassiriya that tore off the front of the three-story concrete building used by Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police. ...
"A truck crashed into the entrance of the military police unit, closely followed by a car which detonated," a spokeswoman for the British-led multinational force in southern Iraq said.
The Italian ANSA news agency cited Giorgio Cornacchione, commander of Italina troops in Nassiriya, as saying there were four suicide bombers in two vehicles with between 330 and 660 pounds of explosives."

"Al Qaeda claims it carried out Saudi bombing" (CNN.com, 2003/11/12)
"Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for last weekend's deadly bombing of a neighborhood in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, according to a statement posted on a Web site affiliated with the terrorist network.
Saudi officials had initially blamed al Qaeda for Saturday's blast, which killed 17 people and wounded 122. The victims were mostly Arabs. Five of them were children.
In the lengthy statement, al Qaeda disputed that, claiming the compound was rented by employees of the FBI and that several of the victims were American, French and German. It also denied that a large number of children died, unless there was a nursery on site."

"Paper says militants rigged Koran with explosives" (Reuters, 2003/11/12)
"Muslim militants planning attacks in Saudi Arabia's holiest city, Mecca, booby-trapped copies of Islam's holy book, the Koran, to kill and maim pilgrims, a leading Saudi-owned newspaper has reported.
The London-based daily Asharq al-Awsat on Wednesday quoted Saudi security sources as saying that this novel weapon was discovered in the arms caches police found after raiding militant hideouts in Mecca and the capital Riyadh in recent weeks. ...
In July, police searching militant caches in Mecca found souvenir clocks resembling the Koran that had been booby-trapped.
Asharq al-Awsat said the militants had also stuffed explosives into water bottles, which pilgrims normally carry into the shrines, and that they were planning to dress up in wigs and women's clothes to become less conspicuous in public. ...
Saudi Arabia has launched a crackdown on suspected al Qaeda militants after triple suicide bombings in Riyadh in May killed 35 people, mostly foreigners.
Since then, Asharq al-Awsat said police had found a large number of meat cleavers and swords, which experts said indicated the militants were willing to hack their victims in the same style as Islamist radicals in Algeria."

"AP, Reuters Omit Terror in Israel" (HonestReporting, 2003/11/12)
"On Nov. 8, the Associated Press released a list of "Recent Terror Attacks Around the World" to accompany reports on Saturday's deadly bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The list notes Islamic terrorism all over the world since 1998, but completely ignores all Palestinian terrorist attacks that occurred in Israel. On Nov. 9, Reuters released a similar list of "Worst guerrilla attacks since September 11" that also omitted terror in Israel entirely.
This is becoming a disturbing pattern in media chronicles of Islamic terror — if it happened in Israel, it just doesn't count: AP published a similar list of "Recent World Terror Attacks" on May 19, which also omitted attacks in Israel, and The New York Times Online devotes a special section to world terror that leaves Israel conspicuously absent." (See also: "Recent Terror Attacks Around the World" (AP/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/08) and "Worst guerrilla attacks since September 11" (Reuters, 2003/11/09))

"Why Israel negotiates with terrorists" (Neill Lochery, National Post, 2003/11/12)
Lochery on the prisoner swap between Israel and Hezbollah: "Sadly, it appears the war is not over for the Hezbollah and Palestinian prisoners which Israel is about to unleash back into the free world. The brutal reality is that of those to be released a sizeable majority will carry out additional attacks against Israelis. Of the last group of prisoners let go by Israel - as a goodwill gesture to the then-Palestinian prime minister, Abu Mazen - some six have been involved in serious crimes since their release, including several in organizing suicide bomb attacks against Israeli cities. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that Israel can expect a wave of terror in the coming months from those it has agreed to release. One wonders what the attitude of the families of the future bereaved will be when they learn the attack was carried out by someone Israel released from prison." (See also: "Israel OKs Prisoner Swap With Hezbollah" (AP/Yahoo! News, 2003/11/09) and "Negotiating with terrorists" (Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post, 2003/11/07))

"The Saudi Revolution" (David Pryce-Jones, The Wall Street Journal, 2003/11/12)
"'Is it a revolt?' Louis XVI asked in 1789. "No, sire, it is a revolution," answered one of his courtiers. In Saudi Arabia the ruling family has long been presiding over a denial of reality to match that of the Bourbon monarchy. The bombing this weekend in Riyadh, which killed 17 people and wounded over 100, suggests that the thousands of princes who control the wealth of that country have trouble in store. ...
Those who gave money to al Qaeda were hoping to buy off Osama bin Laden, insuring themselves against him. But that's not easy. Bin Laden wants to return to a tribal Wahhabi society in its purest form. In his eyes, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia was sacrilege, and he has been threatening to dethrone the Saudi royal family that permitted it. The relocation of U.S. troops elsewhere in the region removes that particular grievance but also leaves the country to its own devices. The ruling family, bin Laden, the Shiites, groups of dissidents and exiles, and everyone else are quite free to struggle for power as best they can without outside interference."

"Christian Arabs possible attack targets" (Estanislao Oziewicz, The Globe and Mail, 2003/11/12)
Via Jihad Watch: "As details emerge about the victims of last weekend's bombing, many observers believe their profile made them targets for the suspected al-Qaeda attack. Ms. Jibran, like her husband whom she married in July of 2002, was Christian. According to Arabic-language news reports, they had also received documentation to move to Canada.
Elias Bijjani, a Toronto-based member of the Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council, said many of the couple's neighbours were also Lebanese Christians. He speculated al-Qaeda was targeting Christian Arabs, rather than Muslims."

"General Vows to Intensify U.S. Response to Attackers" (John F. Burns, The New York Times, 2003/11/12)
"Stung by the deaths of nearly 40 American soldiers over the past 10 days, the top American military commander in Iraq spoke of a "turning point" in the conflict on Tuesday and outlined a new get-tough approach to combat operations in areas north and west of Baghdad, strongholds for loyalists of Saddam Hussein.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said operations would be stepped up against shadowy groups behind the increasing tempo of attacks on American troops in the Iraqi heartland between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. ...
The general described a stark picture of the attacks on American troops, saying they averaged six a day when he took command five months ago, rose to "the teens" 60 days ago, and had increased to 30 to 35 a day in the last 30 days. He predicted that the attacks would increase still further before the intensifying American military campaign began to curb them, an outcome he said was not in doubt."

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

News and commentary:

"The Things They Wrote" (The New York Times, 2003/11/11)
A heartbreaking Veterans Day tribute with excerpts from among the final letters home of some soldiers who have died on duty in Iraq: "Excerpts of letters from Army Pfc. Rachel K. Bosveld, 19, of Oshkosh, Wis., who was killed Oct. 26 in a mortar attack. ...

Monday, Oct. 20

I'm doing great this week. Sure, I've dodged lots of bullets and such, gotten little to no sleep and eaten nasty food, but I am doing great.

I got to drive a tank! I got a tour, learned how to operate everything, load everything, and I got to DRIVE IT! I was tooth from ear to ear!

I'm getting a Purple Heart for the accident, along with eight other people in my platoon. . . . Someone is always getting injured here. There have been no fatalities so far in my company, though, just lots of injuries.

So, how are you? Eighteen days till my birthday! I can't wait! No one probably even knows when it is over here.

Well, bye for now, just wanted to let you know I'm O.K. and I miss you.

I love you,
Rachel"

"Why America is losing the intelligence war" (Spengler, Asia Times, 2003/11/11)
"Muslim students attending the most prestigious Western universities, moreover, hear nothing of the merits of Western culture. Instead, what they learn from post-colonial theory, deconstructionism, and post-modernism is that all culture is a pretext for the assertion of power by oppressors. No qualitative difference separates Dante and Goethe from the meanest screed of the cheapest propagandist. What matters is the sub-text, the expression of power relations buried beneath the rhetoric. They learn of the evil US that slaughtered its native population, oppressed blacks and other minorities, degraded women, marginalized the poor, and operates on behalf of plutocratic financial interests.
Not since Kim Philby was an undergraduate at Cambridge has the intellectual elite of the West been so inclined to bite the hand that feeds it. The degenerate view of Martin Heidegger and Ludwig Wittgenstein, which reduces all faith and conviction to capricious existential choice, dominates the mind of the West. From this standpoint it is impossible to challenge another culture, because all differences are arbitrary to begin with. How is it possible under these circumstances to make ideological recruits?"

"At War With Himself" (Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic, 2003/11/11)
Sullivan on Wesley Clark, whose "fundamental argument is based on an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that even he admits he cannot prove": "But it appears that Clark has something else in mind when referring to these "false pretenses." It comes next in the Boyer piece:

[Clark] then told me - as he has told others - how he came to learn of a secret war scheme within the Bush Administration, of which Iraq was just one piece.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Clark said, he visited the Pentagon, where an old colleague, a three-star general, confided to him that the civilian authorities running the Pentagon - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his team - planned to use the September 11th attacks as a pretext for going to war against Iraq. "They made the decision to attack Iraq sometime soon after 9/11," Clark said. "So, rather than searching for a solution to a problem, they had the solution, and their difficulty was to make it appear as though it were in response to a problem." Clark visited the Pentagon a couple of months later, and the same general told him that the Bush team, unable or unwilling to fight the actual terrorists responsible for the attacks, had devised a five-year plan to topple the regimes in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Iran, and Sudan ... Clark, in repeatedly telling his account, seems to suggest that he had special knowledge of a furtive Pentagon plan that would have the Administration "hopscotching around the Middle East and knocking off states," as he put it. He has acknowledged, "I'm not sure that I can prove this yet."

Let's put this kindly: This is Ross Perot-crazy. First off, there obviously was a primary and clear attempt to destroy al Qaeda and its base of operations in Afghanistan. The war against Saddam was not an alternative to going after Al Qaeda. It was a supplement. You can argue whether it is or was necessary; you can argue about how deeply it is or was connected to the war on terror in terms of tactics, philosophy, and strategy. But the notion that the Bush administration decided to go after Saddam instead of Al Qaeda is just contrary to what we know happened." (See also: "General Clark's Battles" (Peter J. Boyer, The New Yorker, 2003/11/10))

"CIA: Iraq security to get worse" (CNN.com, 2003/11/11)
"A recent CIA assessment of Iraq warns the security situation will worsen across the country, not just in Baghdad but in the north and south as well, a senior administration source told CNN Tuesday.
The report is a much more dire and ominous assessment of the situation than has previously been forwarded through official channels, this source said. It was sent to Washington Monday by the CIA station chief in Iraq.
The source said the memo notes that:
• More Iraqis are "flooding to the ranks of the guerrillas." Many of these Iraqis are Sunnis who had previously been "on the sidelines" but now believe they can "inflict bodily harm" on the Americans.
• Ammunition is "readily available," making it much easier to mount attacks.
The assessment also notes that organization and coordination are getting "tighter" among foreign insurgents - extremists including but not limited to al Qaeda and Hezbollah - and those "displaced people" who lost power."

"BBC appoints man to monitor 'pro-Arab bias'" (Tom Leonard, The Daily Telegraph, 2003/11/11)
"The BBC has appointed a "Middle East policeman" to oversee its coverage of the region amid mounting allegations of anti-Israeli bias.
Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the Nine O'Clock News, has been recruited in an attempt to improve the corporation's reporting of the Middle East and its relationship with the main political players. ...
Relations between the corporation and the Israeli government hit a low point this summer when the latter "withdrew co-operation" in protest at a BBC documentary about the country's weapons of mass destruction.
Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, later barred the BBC from his meeting with the British press during a visit to London.
The BBC has also been the target of Downing Street accusations that it toed a pro-Baghdad line over the Iraq war and that it influenced the Today programme's handling of the