Archived news and commentary: December 20 - 26, 2004

2004/12/20 - 2004/12/26
2004/12/13 - 2004/12/19
2004/12/06 - 2004/12/12
2004/11/29 - 2004/12/05
2004/11/22 - 2004/11/28
2004/11/15 - 2004/11/21

› From 2001/09/11 -

Sunday, December 26, 2004

News and commentary:

"More Than 7,100 Dead as Quake, Tsunami Devastate Asia" (Simon Gardner, Reuters/My Way, 2004/12/26)
"One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit southern Asia Sunday, unleashing a tsunami on Sri Lanka and India and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives to kill more than 7,100 people.
The tsunami -- a menacing wall of water -- caused death, chaos and devastation across southern Asia. The tsunami, up to 30 feet high, was triggered by an 8.9 magnitude underwater earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
"This is one of the largest earthquakes ever on record," Peter Rees, of the International Federation of the Red Cross in Geneva, told CNN television, adding: "The situation in Sri Lanka ... is extremely serious."
Emergency services were stretched throughout the region popular with Western tourists flying east for Christmas sunshine. Some areas were totally unprepared and the tourists found themselves flung into the jaws of disaster."

"Iran to shoot down ‘flying objects’ near nuclear facilities" (AP/The Daily Times, 2004/12/26)
"Iran’s air force has been ordered to shoot down any unidentified or suspicious flying objects in Iran’s airspace, an air force spokesman said on Saturday, amid state-media reports of sightings of flying objects near Iran’s nuclear installations.
“All anti-aircraft units and jet fighters have been ordered to shoot down the flying objects over Iran’s airspace,” spokesman of the Regular Army Air Force Colonel Salman Mahini said.
Flying object fever has gripped Iran after dozens of reported sightings in the summer and in recent weeks. State-run media has reported sightings of unidentified objects flying over parts of Iran where nuclear facilities are located.
“The unidentified flying objects could be satellites, comets or spying or reconnaissance crafts trying to monitor Iran’s nuclear installations,” Mahini said." (See also: "Dozens of UFO sightings excite Iran" (WorldNetDaily, 2004/04/28))

"Iraq Militants Post Video on Bombing of U.S. Base" (Richard A. Oppel Jr., The New York Times, 2004/12/26)
"The militant group Ansar al-Sunna posted a video on the Internet today purporting to show the explosion last week at a military mess tent in Mosul that killed 18 Americans and four others. The group, which earlier took credit for the attack, said its suicide bomber had spent a long time observing the camp and slipped inside during a change in the guards. ...
"One of our martyrdom lions will infiltrate the enemy camp through one of the gaps and he will take advantage of the change of guards," the man says. "We have been observing their schedule for a long time. This lion will then proceed to his target and we will take advantage of lunchtime. He will storm the dining room where the crusaders and their allies are gathered."
The man in the middle continues: 'Let Bush, Blair and Allawi know that we are coming and that we will chase them all away, God willing.'"

"Statesmen for these times" (Martin Gilbert, The Observer, 2004/12/26)
"People often ask how history will remember our generation of leaders in comparison with Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Many comment that today's leaders look small compared with the giants of the past. This is, I believe, a misconception.
In their day, both Churchill and Roosevelt were frequently criticised, often savagely, by their countrymen, including legislators who had little knowledge of the behind-the-scenes reality of the war. ...
Although it can easily be argued that George W Bush and Tony Blair face a far lesser challenge than Roosevelt and Churchill did — that the war on terror is not a third world war — they may well, with the passage of time and the opening of the archives, join the ranks of Roosevelt and Churchill. Their societies are too divided today to deliver a calm judgment, and many of their achievements may be in the future: when Iraq has a stable democracy, with al-Qaeda neutralised, and when Israel and the Palestinian Authority are independent democracies, living side by side in constructive economic cooperation.
If they can move this latter aim, to which Bush and Blair pledged themselves on 12 November, it will be a leadership achievement of historic proportions."

"In the footsteps of FDR, Truman, JFK" (Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe, 2004/12/26)
"'The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought' — the president was speaking in Washington — "are still at issue around the globe: the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."
George W. Bush has articulated this conviction many times, so it comes as no surprise to hear him say it again. Except that these aren't President Bush's words. The speaker was John F. Kennedy; the words are from his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1961. Moments later came his famous assertion of an American mission to diffuse freedom and decency in the world:
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." ...
Bush has acknowledged his debt to Ronald Reagan, who believed it was America's destiny to bring about the triumph of freedom over tyranny. Reagan made the liberation of captive nations a Republican cause, but for much of the 20th century it was liberal Democrats who championed the spread of democracy in the world. When Bush calls for waking the Arab world from its nightmare of repression and misrule, he is walking in the footsteps of Kennedy, Truman, and FDR. That's something today's Democratic Party might want to bear in mind."

"A little German ray of light in Europe’s sneering darkness" (Michael Portillo, The Sunday Times, 2004/12/26)
"Throughout 2004 European Atlanticists were in retreat. In truth the rout began before the Iraq war when Gerhard Schröder’s government declared its opposition to US policy. Since the end of Nazism Germany had played a dual role as a founder member of the European Community and an ardent supporter of Nato. Schröder bowed to German popular opinion. Abandoning America was a historic error.
Anti-Americanism is at record levels in other traditionally Atlanticist countries such as Holland and indeed Britain, too. The rot has spread to America’s friends in eastern Europe. Last month the Hungarian parliament defeated a government proposal to keep troops in Iraq until after the elections in January. The right-of- centre party, which when in government chafed impatiently to join Nato, campaigned to withdraw the soldiers.
The former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban argued that American torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison “shook the moral foundations” of the coalition’s occupation. So it did. Rumsfeld has exasperated America’s allies. But even so, to alienate America is short-sighted and risky. Blair is one of the few European statesmen who recognises that, and he deserves credit for it."

"I'm disgusted ministers did nothing as Sikhs forced play's closure, says Rushdie" (Rajeev Syal, The Sunday Telegraph, 2004/12/26)
"Salman Rushdie, the author given a death sentence by Muslim clerics for writing the novel The Satanic Verses, has expressed outrage at the Government's refusal to criticise last week's violent protests by Sikhs that led to the closure of a play in Birmingham.
The author told The Telegraph that ministers should have stepped in to prevent the closure of Behzti, which had been staged at Birmingham's Repertory Theatre, and accused them of helping to endanger Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, the play's author.
Mr Rushdie, 57, speaking at his London home, said: "It has been horrifying to see the response. It is pretty terrible to hear government ministers expressing approval of the ban and failing to condemn the violence, when they should be supporting freedom of expression."
His outburst was sparked by the refusal of Fiona Mactaggart, the home office minister, to offer support for either the theatre or the author following protests by a violent mob last weekend. ...
Ms Mactaggart, whose constituency of Slough has a large Sikh population, refused to condemn the mob and told Radio Four's Today programme on Tuesday that the play would be helped by the closure.
"I think that when people are moved by theatre to protest, in a way that is a sign of the free speech which is so much part of the British tradition. I think that it is a great thing that people care enough about a performance to protest," she said." (See also: "Violent Sikh demo forces theatre to cancel play" (Nick Britten, The Daily Telegraph, 2004/12/21))

"Muslim second wives may get a tax break" (Nicholas Hellen, The Sunday Times, 2004/12/26)
"The Inland Revenue is considering recognising polygamy for some religious groups for tax purposes. Officials have agreed to examine “family friendly” representations from Muslims who take up to four wives under sharia, the laws derived from the Koran.
Existing rules allow only one wife for inheritance tax purposes. The Revenue has been asked to relax this so that a husband’s estate can be divided tax-free between several wives.
The move is bound to create controversy if it leads to a change in the rules. It is seen as a breakthrough by Muslim leaders who have been campaigning to incorporate sharia into British domestic law."

"Europe's Muslims May Be Headed Where the Marxists Went Before" (Craig S. Smith, The New York Times, 2004/12/26)
"Young Arabs and Africans here have turned to Islam with the same fervor that the idealistic youth of the 1960's turned toward Marxism.
"Now, religion has become our identity," Mr. Belthoub said last week, sitting in a friend's small apartment in a largely Muslim suburb north of Paris. ...
Like Communism, it represents for many of its born-again adherents a transnational ideology tilting toward an eventual utopian vision, in this case of a vast, if not global, caliphate governed according to Shariah, the legal code based on the Koran.
Many people see the rise of Islam here as a sort of Boabdil's revenge, restoring the faith that withdrew after Boabdil, the emir of Granada, now southern Spain, surrendered the embattled Moors' last foothold in Western Europe 500 years ago.
For them, the religion's return opens another chapter in a centuries-long struggle between Christendom and Islam for the domination of Europe. The Muslim community's high birthrate and the continent's need for more immigration as its native population ages have led to talk about the gradual Islamization of Europe."

"As Nuclear Secrets Emerge, More Are Suspected" (William J. Broad and David E. Sanger, The New York Times, 2004/12/26)
"Nearly a year after Dr. Khan's arrest, secrets of his nuclear black market continue to uncoil, revealing a vast global enterprise. But the inquiry has been hampered by discord between the Bush administration and the nuclear watchdog, and by Washington's concern that if it pushes too hard for access to Dr. Khan, a national hero in Pakistan, it could destabilize an ally. As a result, much of the urgency has been sapped from the investigation, helping keep hidden the full dimensions of the activities of Dr. Khan and his associates.
There is no shortage of tantalizing leads. American intelligence officials and the I.A.E.A., working separately, are still untangling Dr. Khan's travels in the years before his arrest. Investigators said he visited 18 countries, including Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, on what they believed were business trips, either to buy materials like uranium ore or sell atomic goods.
In Dubai, they have scoured one of the network's front companies, finding traces of radioactive material as well as phone records showing contact with Saudi Arabia. Having tracked the network operations to Malaysia, Europe and the Middle East, investigators recently uncovered an outpost in South Africa, where they seized 11 crates of equipment for enriching uranium."

Saturday, December 25, 2004

News and commentary:

"'I won't turn guns on my own people'" (Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/12/25)
"In his first official campaign speech, PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said on Saturday that he would not employ force against any Palestinian group and called for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders as a prerequisite for achieving peace.
"I will not use weapons against any Palestinian," he stressed. "Israel calls them [the armed groups] murderers, but we call them strugglers. The Palestinians have political pluralism just like Israel." ...
One source in the Prime Minister's Office, asked to respond to a speech which also included a call for a release of all security prisoners, Marwan Barghouti among them, said, 'This is an election campaign. What do we expect him to say?'"

"Gunmen Kill Professor of Medicine in Baghdad" (Lutfi Abu Oun and Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 2004/12/25)
"Gunmen shot dead a respected professor of medicine in Iraq on Saturday, the latest victim of postwar violence that has forced thousands of professionals to flee the country.
Hassan al-Rubaiei, 45, was driving along the western bank of the Tigris when gunmen pulled alongside and sprayed his car with automatic gunfire. His wife was in the passenger seat and escaped unhurt. ...
Violence has become a hallmark of academic life in Iraq with professors killed or threatened for their political views or administrative decisions.
The attacks have included professors who attempted to uphold the country's secular tradition and managers of universities and state companies who replaced former ruling Baath Party members.
Gunmen last week killed engineer Kassem Imhawi, who had led efforts to restore the country's telephone network after spending nearly two decades in jail under Saddam Hussein for political activity."

"Army Historian Cites Lack of Postwar Plan" (Thomas E. Ricks, The Washington Post, 2004/12/25)
"'There was no Phase IV plan' for occupying Iraq after the combat phase, writes Maj. Isaiah Wilson III, who served as an official historian of the campaign and later as a war planner in Iraq. ... During the period in question, from April to June 2003, Wilson was a researcher for the Army's Operation Iraqi Freedom Study Group. Then, from July 2003 to March 2004, he was the chief war planner for the 101st Airborne Division, which was stationed in northern Iraq. ...
"Reluctance in even defining the situation . . . is perhaps the most telling indicator of a collective cognitive dissidence on part of the U.S. Army to recognize a war of rebellion, a people's war, even when they were fighting it," he comments.
Because of this failure, Wilson concludes, the U.S. military remains "perhaps in peril of losing the 'war,' even after supposedly winning it."
Overall, he grades the U.S. military performance in Iraq as 'mediocre.'"

Friday, December 24, 2004

News and commentary:

"'I looked into gunman's eyes and saw absolute hatred'" (Simon Freeman, The Times, 2004/12/24)
"Frank Gardner, the BBC security correspondent who was left for dead in Saudi Arabia after being ambushed by al-Qaeda sympathisers, has described how he looked into the eyes of the gunman standing over him and saw "absolute hatred".
Today Mr Gardner gave his first full interview since he and his cameraman, Simon Cumbers, were attacked in Riyadh in June as they filmed outside the house of a suspected al-Qaeda operative. ...
'I looked into the face of the gunman who shot me. I saw in the faces of the gunmen absolute hatred. They had pressed the button of violence and nothing I tried to say to them in Arabic was going to dissuade them. As far as they were concerned I was a heathen, a Western infidel who had come into their area, and this was an opportunity to execute a westerner. ...
We should have been there for five or ten minutes, we were there for 30. I think somebody spotted us out of a window, phoned the militants and said: 'Hey, there are a couple of infidels down there filming. If you're quick, you'll get them.''" (See also: "BBC reporter pleaded for his life" (AFP/news.com.au, 2004/06/08))

"Hamas makes strong showing in elections" (CBC News, 2004/12/24)
"NABLUS, WEST BANK - Hamas will control the town councils of nearly a third of the communities that held elections this week in the West Bank, preliminary election results suggest.
The militant Islamic group won the majority of council seats in nine of 26 towns even though it was competing at the polls for the first time, according to early results obtained by the Associated Press on Friday. ...
The show of support for Hamas came as Fatah leaders push to resume peace talks with Israel. Hamas opposes the negotiations and wants Israel destroyed."

"French hostage recalls his ordeal" (BBC News, 2004/12/24)
Malbrunot II: "One of two French journalists released from captivity in Iraq has said he saw other hostages who were later beheaded.
Georges Malbrunot, giving details of his ordeal in the French media, said he and his colleague Christian Chesnot both feared for their lives at times.
Mr Malbrunot said his captors were driven more by Islamic holy war than Iraqi nationalism.
"One of the lessons we drew from our captivity was that we were immersed in Planet Bin Laden," he said.
When the men were freed earlier this week, their captors said it was because of France's anti-war stance.
But Mr Malbrunot told French television the influence of the al-Qaeda leader was especially strong while they were with "a cell of the Islamic Army in the north".
'We were very aware of the fact that it wasn't the Iraqi agenda that motivated our kidnappers, but the internationalist jihadist agenda.'"

"Militants 'wanted Bush re-elected'" (CNN.com, 2004/12/24)
Malbrunot I: "French journalist held hostage in Iraq for four months says his captors wanted U.S. President George W. Bush re-elected because it would help promote their cause.
Georges Malbrunot, who was released Tuesday along with fellow journalist Christian Chesnot, told CNN the Iraqi militants "need someone tough against them, it's like boxing."
Speaking by telephone from Vichy, France on Friday, Malbrunot quoted his captors as saying Bush's re-election "would improve our ability to fight."
"We vote for Bush because Bush help us a lot by intervening in Afghanistan. So, from that point we could spread all over the world and we are now in 60 countries," Malbrunot cited one of the militants as saying on October 15, two weeks before Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry.
Malbrunot, 41, quoted the same militant as saying: 'Our main targets are Saudi Arabia and Egypt. And because of Bush, if he is re-elected, we are sure that American soldiers will remain in Iraq for years.'" (See also: "Iraq: Kidnapped French reporters freed" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2004/12/21))

"US says suspected suicide bomber probably wore Iraqi uniform" (Rawya Rageh, AP/The Boston Globe, 2004/12/24)
"The suicide bomber believed to have blown himself up in a US military dining tent near Mosul this week, killing more than 20 people, was probably wearing an Iraqi military uniform, the US military said yesterday.
The top US general in northern Iraq said that the bomber may have gotten through the vetting process conducted by US and Iraqi authorities to check the backgrounds of Iraqis joining the security services. ...
The Ansar al-Sunnah Army, the military group that earlier claimed responsibility for the attack, issued a new statement reiterating that it was a suicide bombing.
"God enabled one of your martyr brothers to plunge into God's enemies inside their forts, killing and injuring hundreds," the group said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. 'We don't know how they can be so stupid that until now they have not figured out the type of the strike that hit them.'"

"US may strike at Ba'athists in Syria, official tells 'Post'" (Janine Zacharia, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/12/24)
"The US is contemplating incursions into Syrian territory in an attempt to kill or capture Iraqi Ba'athists who, it believes, are directing at least part of the attacks against US targets in Iraq, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post.
The official said that fresh sanctions are likely to be implemented, but added that the US needs to be more "aggressive" after Tuesday's deadly attack on a US base in Mosul. The comment suggested that the US believes the attack on the mess tent, in which 22 people were killed, may have been coordinated from inside Syrian territory.
"I think the sanctions are one thing. But I think the other thing [the Syrians] have got to start worrying about is whether we would take cross-border military action in hot pursuit or something like that. In other words, nothing like full-scale military hostilities. But when you're being attacked from safe havens across the border — we've been through this a lot of times before — we're just not going to sit there.
"You get a tragedy [like the attack in Mosul] and it reminds people that it is still a very serious problem. If I were Syria, I'd be worried," the senior administration official said."

Thursday, December 23, 2004

News and commentary:

"Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq" (Robert Burns, AP/My Way, 2004/12/23)
"MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, on a surprise Christmas Eve visit with the troops three days after the devastating attack on a U.S. military dining hall here, told soldiers he remained confident of defeating the insurgency and stabilizing Iraq, while noting that to some "it looks bleak."
"There's no doubt in my mind, this is achievable," Rumsfeld, who flew here under tight security, told a couple of hundred 1st Brigade soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division at their commander's headquarters. He promised them that later in life they will look back and feel pride at having contributed to a mission of historic importance.
"When it looks bleak, when one worries about how it's going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done, and that we're in a quagmire here," one should recall that there have been such doubters "throughout every conflict in the history of the world," he said."

"The Struggle for the Middle East" (Reuel Marc Gerecht, The Weekly Standard, from the 2005/01/03 issue)
"Iraq comes first. Senior officials, particularly within the Pentagon, ought now to be waking up each morning and telling themselves that the United States may well lose in Iraq in the next 6 to 12 months unless serious course corrections are made. And if the United States loses in Iraq, the repercussions will seriously weaken America everywhere. If we lose in Iraq, neoisolationism in both the Republican and Democratic parties — the disposition is actually stronger on the left than on the right — will in all probability skyrocket. And if such a retreat could be catastrophic for the West — bin Ladenism and other nefarious forces in the Middle East would be supercharged; Beijing might make a play to squash once and for all democratic Taiwan — then failure in Iraq could conceivably define the post-Cold War world, replacing 9/11 as the signal event of our era."

"Saddam's Secret Campaign to Stop the War - December B" (Accuracy In Media, 2004/12/23)
"The U.S. is engaged in a bloody war in Iraq for the purpose of eliminating the remnants of a terrorist regime, foreign terrorists, and bringing democracy to Iraq and the region. It is a big gamble that has put radical Islam on the defensive around the world. But shocking evidence demonstrates that controversial former U.S. Marine and former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who now writes for the anti-American Arab "news" organization Al Jazeera, was involved in a controversial effort to stop the war by enlisting prominent personalities in a "peace" campaign.
If Ritter had been successful, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could still be in power threatening his neighbors and the U.S. and rebuilding his capability for producing weapons of mass destruction with money stolen from the corrupt U.N. oil-for-food program."

"AP on its Iraqi photographers and insurgents" (Poynter Online, 2004/12/23)
Terrorist Associated Press II. Via Wretchard, who comments: "In this regard, one hopes it is not impertinent to ask whether a photographer who does not "swear allegiance or otherwise join up philosophically with them (insurgents)" can take their pictures. ... If so, at what point did the "brave Iraqi" photographer become aware that the story of the day was going to be the live execution of two Iraqi election workers?
Just asking.":
"From JACK STOKES, director of media relations, Associated Press: [This is a solicited letter regarding Salon's "The Associated Press 'insurgency.'"] Several brave Iraqi photographers work for The Associated Press in places that only Iraqis can cover. Many are covering the communities they live in where family and tribal relations give them access that would not be available to Western photographers, or even Iraqi photographers who are not from the area.
Insurgents want their stories told as much as other people and some are
willing to let Iraqi photographers take their pictures. It's important to note, though, that the photographers are not "embedded" with the insurgents. They do not have to swear allegiance or otherwise join up
philosophically with them just to take their pictures."

"Haifa Street" (Wretchard, Belmont Club, 2004/12/23)
Terrorist Associated Press I: "The execution of Iraqi election workers on Baghdad's Haifa street was probably not, properly speaking, a murder. It was a political act. ... Two or three dozen people, at the most, would normally have witnessed these events. But due to the great good fortune of the killers, a photographer from the Associated Press was present and pictures of the execution were carried on newspapers throughout the globe, sending the executioner's message not merely to a handful of bystanders to hundreds of millions of readers throughout the world.
Salon says:

A source at the Associated Press knowledgeable about the events covered in Baghdad on Sunday told Salon that accusations that the photographer was aware of the militants' plans are "ridiculous." The photographer, whose identity the AP is withholding due to safety concerns, was likely "tipped off to a demonstration that was supposed to take place on Haifa Street," said the AP source, who was not at liberty to comment by name. But the photographer "definitely would not have had foreknowledge" of a violent event like an execution, the source said.

Here was where the killers really lucked out. The AP photographer, though caught at unawares, who definitely had no "foreknowledge" of what was going down and at the worst expected a street demonstration, did not take cover, even as soldiers and Marines are trained to do when shooting starts. He was made of sterner stuff and held his ground, taking pictures of people he did not know killing individuals he did not recognize for reasons he would not have known about. This — in the midst of "30 armed insurgents, hurling hand grenades and firing guns" — as the Associated Press report says." (See also: "The Associated Press 'insurgency'" (Mark Follman, Salon.com, 2004/12/22) and "A gunman, left, shoots and kills a man lying in Baghdad's Haifa Street..." (AP, 2004/12/19))

"More signs of Syria turn up in Iraq" (Nicholas Blanford, The Christian Science Monitor, 2004/12/23)
"DAMASCUS, SYRIA – When US troops stormed the rebel-held city of Fallujah last month, they uncovered photos of senior Syrian officials that have further strained the already tense relations between Syria and Iraq, according to the Iraqi ambassador to Syria.
Several captured insurgents were found in possession of the photographs, confirmation, according to Iraqi officials, that some elements in the Syrian regime — perhaps acting independently — are involved in Iraq's bloody insurgency.
"Prime Minister Iyad Allawi wrote a letter to the Syrians saying he had the pictures but was not going to release them despite being under pressure from the Americans to do so," says Hassan Allawi, Iraq's newly appointed ambassador to Damascus.
The ambassador said that the photographs were found in the possession of Moayed Ahmed Yasseen, also known as Abu Ahmed. He is the leader of the Jaish Mohammed group, which is composed of former Baathist intelligence personnel. One picture showed Mr. Yasseen standing beside a senior Syrian official, the ambassador said. He would not identify on the record the Syrian officials in the photos." (Hat tip: Michael Young.)

"How to destroy tolerance" (Christina Odone, The Times, 2004/12/23)
"What does it take to kill British tolerance? An angry mob closing down a theatre? A writer forced into hiding because of her work? Or do we need to wait for the murder, at the hands of a fanatic, of a Briton accused of blasphemy?
The row at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre has angered even the most broadminded. The liberal dream of a pluralist society where Sikh and secularist, Jew, Muslim and Christian live side by side in harmony, has suddenly been replaced by a dismal reality. A handful of fundamentalists, who are prepared to resort to force to get what they want, overrule the majority.
Nothing is more likely to unleash a vicious backlash against pluralism and inclusivity." (See also: "Violent Sikh demo forces theatre to cancel play" (Nick Britten, The Daily Telegraph, 2004/12/21))

"Suicide Bombing Is Now Suspected in Mosul Attack" (Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Eric Schmitt, The New York Times, 2004/12/23)
"A suicide attacker wearing a bomb-laden vest most likely set off the explosion at a military mess tent that killed 22 in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, American officials said Wednesday, raising the possibility that the bomber was an Iraqi or foreign worker employed at the base.
"At this point it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker," Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Pentagon news conference.
In the hours after the explosion, which included 14 American troops and four American civilian contractors among the dead, military officials speculated that the blast was caused by a rocket.
But F.B.I. and other allied forensic experts later discovered parts of a torso and an explosives belt that they believed were from a suicide bomber, according to a senior law enforcement official in Washington."

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

News and commentary:

"Poll finds most Iraqis plan to vote, many optimistic about the future" (Warren P. Strobel, The Mercury News, 2004/12/22)
"Nearly three-quarters of Iraqis say they "strongly intend" to vote in next month's pivotal elections, and a small majority believe the country is headed in the right direction, according to a major new poll of Iraqi attitudes.
The poll of nearly 2,200 people across most of Iraq found a resilient citizenry modestly hopeful that the Jan. 30 elections will improve life. Iraqis said pocketbook issues such as unemployment and health care are more pressing than the bloody insurgency that claims Iraqi and U.S. lives virtually every day. ...
Nearly 54 percent said Iraq is generally headed in the right direction — compared with 42 percent in late September and early October — while 32 percent said it's headed in the wrong direction. ...
More than 71 percent of those polled said they "strongly intend" to vote, and 67 percent said they believe Iraq will be ready to hold elections by the end of January, compared with 24 percent who said the country won't be ready."

"Iranian TV Drama Series about Israeli Government Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 833, 2004/12/22)
"Iran's Sahar 1 TV station is currently airing a weekly series titled "For You, Palestine," or "Zahra's Blue Eyes." ...
The story follows an Israeli candidate for Prime Minister, Yitzhak Cohen, who is also the military commander of the West Bank. The opening sequence of the show contains graphic scenes of surgery, and images of a Palestinian girl in a hospital whose eyes have been removed, with bandages covering the sockets.
In Episode 1, Yitzhak Cohen lectures at a medical conference on the advances being made by Israeli medicine regarding organ transplants. Later in the episode, Israelis disguised as UN workers visit a Palestinian school, ostensibly to examine the children's eyes for diseases, but in reality to select which children's eyes to steal to be used for transplants. ...
Doctor: "Here you go, sir. Take a look."
Yitzhak Cohen: "Who is this?..."
Military man: "Zahra Abd Al-Rahman Muhammad. Age: seven; blood type: O+."
General: She lives in the central refugee camp. Eye color - green."
Yitzhak Cohen: "Good." ...
General: "Sir, there are 32 children that you haven't seen yet, and there is also a ship docked at the shore with a cargo of artificial fetuses…"
Yitzhak Cohen: 'This one! Her eyes remind me of my wife.'"

"The Lidless Eye" (Wretchard, Belmont Club, 2004/12/22)
Mosul III: "The enemy chose the weakest point he could find to attack; exploited the known limitations of the American response; and understood that he was to all intents and purposes exempted from the condemnation attendant to attacking the wounded and medical personnel. The chaplain and the medical personnel knew this and did not mill around expecting the Geneva Convention to protect them from those who have never heard of it, except as it applies to their own convenience. They knew the true face of the enemy; a face which bore no resemblance to the heroic countenance often presented by the media to the world.
Of the first three factors, the advantage of choosing the weakest point of attack has been a combatant's right from time immemorial. That is a purely military condition. But the enemy ability to exploit the limits of American response and attack medical personnel with public relations impunity are examples of military advantages that arise from political restraints. To the extent the blogosphere can dispel the propaganda cover willingly provided by the Left, people on the home front can help the soldiers in the field. It is necessary to link the war criminal behavior of the enemy with the studied blindness of 'sophisticates' towards their most heinous crimes."

"'I Call the President Imam Bush': A Turning Point in Islamic and World History" (Stephen Schwartz, Tech Central Station, 2004/12/22)
"If one were to rely on the mainstream Western media, one would assume that the situation in Iraq represents nothing more than a disaster and a horrible error by the United States. ... For such commentators, the failure of the Bush intervention in Iraq was a foregone conclusion. In many cases, including those of Arabist and ethnic Arab academic experts, opposition to democratization is based on breathtakingly prejudicial stereotypes. ...
Terrorism continues in Iraq and monopolizes headlines. But there is much more to be said about the situation in that country, and it has to do with much more than the restoration of public services and infrastructure. Perhaps the biggest story left unreported in the West is the extraordinary exuberance about the Iraqi election, set for January 30, among Iraqi Shias. ...
One prominent Shia in the U.S. told me, "I call the president Imam Bush." (In Shia Islam, the imams are the chief religious guides throughout the history of the sect.) "He is a believer in God, he is just, and I believe he will keep his promise to hold a fair election on January 30," my interlocutor said. 'He liberated Kerbala and Najaf [the Shia holy cities]. He has done more for Shias than anybody else in history.'"

"'God Excuse Us, Every One.'" (Denis Boyles, National Review, 2004/12/22)
"According to the International Herald Tribune's in-house excitable boy, William Pfaff, the problem is Bush himself. "A historian in the future, or a moralist, is likely to deem the Bush administration's enthusiasm for torture the most striking aspect of its war against terrorism." Enthusiasm for torture? Make it a moralist, Pfaff, because it won't be an historian. Bill Pfaff, your future is today.
Of course, Pfaff is wrong. Spitting on anyone is not to be encouraged, but it is not torture. Because of the constant hysteria of the press in Iraq (and in Paris, where the IHT is published), the most striking aspect of the war against terrorism is likely to be the increasing caution used in waging — and losing — it. ...
Instead, the press stands in the doorway telling Donald Rumsfeld to apologize. The contextualization by the media of Iraq as a kind of Vietnam with dunes has finally resulted in the popularization of defeat: Reports the Daily Telegraph, a Washington Post/ABC poll shows "a clear majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq is a mistake." We're becoming French." (See also: "Torture reconsidered: Shock, awe and the human body" (William Pfaff, International Herald Tribune, 2004/12/21))

"Playing with fire" (Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, 2004/12/22)
Australia II: "How odd that a Christian pastor has been found guilty of vilifying Islam after quoting the Koran.
Is this really what Premier Steve Bracks intended with his absurd racial and religious vilification law?
Pastor Daniel Scot and Pastor Danny Nalliah were last week found to have committed religious vilification after the first trial under this new law.
Judge Michael Higgins found Scot offended by quoting the Koran in a way that got "a response from the audience at various times in the form of laughter". ...
So what did Judge Higgins finally find in his summary judgment, released in the Friday before Christmas, with the full judgment and penalties still to come? Most of his summary criticises Scot, who had "made fun of Muslim beliefs and conduct". The judge gave 13 examples, starting like this:

"Pastor Scot, during the course of the seminar, made statements --
(1) that the (Koran) promotes violence, killing and looting
(2) that it treats women badly ...
(5) that Allah is not merciful and a thief's hand is cut off for stealing ...
(12) Muslim people have to fight Christians and Jews, humiliate them and fight them until they accept true religion (sic)..."

Indeed, at least eight of the accusations arose from Scot quoting the Koran at the seminar, and -- it seems to me -- for the most part accurately." (Hat tip: Melanie Phillips.)

"Death Knell of the West" (Robert Spencer, FrontPageMagazine, 2004/12/22)
Australia I: "Two Christian pastors in Australia have been found guilty of religious vilification of Muslims. The decision threatens us all.
One of the pastors, Daniel Scot, is Pakistani. He fled his native land seventeen years ago when he ran afoul of the notorious Section 295(c) of the Penal Code — which mandates death or life in prison for anyone who blasphemes “the sacred name of the holy Prophet Muhammad.” ...
Scot went to Australia, only to run afoul of that nation’s new religious vilification laws. Last Friday, Judge Michael Higgins of The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found him guilty of vilifying Islam in a seminar hosted by his group, Catch the Fire Ministries. The judge noted that during the seminar, Scot stated that “the Quran promotes violence, killing and looting.” In light of Qur’anic passages such as 9:5, 2:191, 9:29, 47:4, 5:33 and many others, this cannot seriously be a matter of dispute. ...
When during the trial Scot began to read Qur’anic verses that discriminate against women, a lawyer for the Islamic Council of Victoria, the organization that brought the suit, stopped him: reading the verses aloud, she said, would in itself be religious vilification. Dismayed, Scot replied: 'How can it be vilifying to Muslims in the room when I am just reading from the Qur’an?'" (See also: "Freedom of Speech, GONE" (Peter Stokes, Catch the Fire Ministries, 2004/12/17): "Judge Michael Higgins’ decision has severe consequences for religious freedom, and free speech generally, in Victoria and across the whole nation. ... As a consequence of this decision, any publication, sermon, conference or public address about any other religion, even quoting text from religious books or documents could now be deemed vilification.")

"Love-hate affair" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/22)
A report from Switzerland: "During a walk in the Claraplatz neighborhood of Basel, an area that has become home to large number of Indian, Moroccan and Albanian immigrants, elderly Swiss-German women walking miniature dachshunds and gray-haired couples walking along the Rhein refused to give their names, but were nearly unanimous in the way they had voted — "nein" [to clarify and streamline the Swiss citizenship process].
Their reasons varied: "There are too many of them." "They make too much noise." "I've lived here my whole life. Now, I'm afraid." "Be careful if you go over there."
Tapping this Swiss anxiety, Mr. Blocher's "Vote 'No' 2 X [times]" featured political advertisements that the Swiss newspapers regularly compared with Nazi propaganda posters and charts of the 1930s and 1940s.
One featured black and brown hands, in the old socialist painting style, each grabbing a Swiss passport from a basket.
Another showed a graph projecting the growing foreign population in Switzerland at intervals 40 years out until there are no Swiss left in Switzerland — a near replica of Nazi anti-Slav posters on display at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington." (See also: "The Italian dilemma" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/21) and "Tolerance tested in Holland" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/20))

"More than 60 are wounded; radicals claim responsibility" (Jeremy Redmon, Richmond-Times Dispatch , 2004/12/22)
Mosul II. "Editor's note: Redmon and photographer Dean Hoffmeyer, who are with the 276th Engineer Battalion in Iraq, were sitting down to lunch in the dining tent when the attack came. They were not injured.":
"Hundreds of U.S. soldiers had just sat down for lunch about noon when the blast hit the giant dining tent.
The force of the explosion knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats. A fireball enveloped the top of the tent, and pellet-sized shrapnel sprayed into the men.
Amid the screaming and thick smoke that followed, quick-thinking soldiers turned their lunch tables upside down, placed the wounded on them and gently carried them into the parking lot.
"Medic! Medic!" soldiers shouted.
Medics rushed into the tent and hustled the rest of the wounded out on stretchers.
Scores of troops crammed into concrete bomb shelters outside. Others wobbled around the tent and collapsed, dazed by the blast.
"I can't hear! I can't hear!" one female soldier cried as a friend hugged her."

"Mess Tent Blast Kills 19 GIs" (Karl Vick, The Washington Post , 2004/12/22)
Mosul I: "An explosion tore through a crowded U.S. military mess tent in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people and wounding about 60. Fifteen of the dead were U.S. soldiers, and most of the casualties were Americans who had just sat down to lunch.
It was the deadliest attack on a U.S. military installation in the 21 months since the war in Iraq began. ...
But in an online assertion of responsibility for the attack, a radical Muslim group described "a suicide operation." Military officials said the cause of the blast was under investigation, and some security experts said the extent of injuries indicated that it was possible a bomb had been planted inside the hall. ...
The Web posting of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna, which asserted responsibility for the blast, referred triumphantly to the Black Hawk medevac helicopters that insurgents saw flying out of the base."

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

News and commentary:

"Mascal" (Chaplain Lewis, Training for Eternity, 2004/12/21)
A first-hand account of the Mosul attack: "Regardless of what some may say, these are not stupid people. Any attack with casualties will naturally mean that eventually a very large number of care givers will be concentrated in one location. They took full advantage of that. In the middle of the mayhem the first mortar round hit about 100 to 200 meters away. Everyone started shouting to get the wounded into the hospital which is solid concrete and much safer than being in the open. Soon, the next mortar hit quite a bit closer than the first as they "walked" their rounds toward their intended target...us. Everyone began to rush toward the building. I stood at the door shoving as many people inside as I could. Just before heading in myself, the last one hit directly on top of the hospital. I was standing next to the building so was shielded from any flying shrapnel. In fact, the building, being built as a bunker took the hit with little effect. However, I couldn't have been more than 10 to 15 meters from the point of impact and brother did I feel the shock. That'll wake you up! I rushed inside to find doctors and nurses draped over patients, others on the floor or under something. I ducked low and quickly moved as far inside as I could."

"Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq Leaves 24 Dead" (Michael McDonough, AP/Yahoo! News, 2004/12/21)
"An explosion ripped through a mess tent at a military base near Mosul where hundreds of U.S. soldiers had just sat down to lunch Tuesday, killing 24 people and wounding more than 60, officials said. A radical Muslim group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack on a U.S. base in Iraq.
The dead included U.S. military personnel, U.S. contractors, foreign national contractors and Iraqi army, said Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of Task Force Olympia in Mosul. ...
The force knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats as a fireball enveloped the top of the tent and shrapnel sprayed into the area, Redmon said.
Amid the screaming and thick smoke in the tent, soldiers turned their tables upside down, placed the wounded on them and gently carried them into the parking lot, Redmon said.
Scores of troops crammed into concrete bomb shelters, while others wandered around in a daze and collapsed, he said.
"I can't hear! I can't hear!" one female soldier cried as a friend hugged her."

"Iraq: Kidnapped French reporters freed" (AP/The Jerusalem Post, 2004/12/21)
"Two French reporters held hostage for four months in Iraq were released Tuesday and handed over to French authorities, the government announced.
"I have a profound joy in announcing to you that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot have just been freed by the Islamic Army," Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told the upper house of parliament.
The reporters were in the hands of French authorities in Baghdad, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous."

"Press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Dr Iyad Allawi" (10 Downing Street, 2004/12/21)
Blair II: "I have just visited members of the Electoral Commission and met some of their staff, and I said to them that I thought that they were the heroes of the new Iraq that is being created, because here are people who are risking their lives every day in order to make sure that the people of Iraq get a chance to decide their own destiny democratically. And I would just like to say this very strongly to the outside world, whatever people's feelings or beliefs about the removal of Saddam Hussein and the wisdom of that, there surely is only one side to be on in what is now very clearly a battle between democracy and terror, and on the one side you have people who desperately want to make the democratic process work and want to have the same type of democratic freedoms that other parts of the world enjoy, and on the other side people who are killing and intimidating and trying to destroy a better future for Iraq."

"Blair flies to Baghdad" (Paul Waugh, The Evening Standard, 2004/12/21)
Blair I: "Tony Blair made a surprise visit to Baghdad today for talks with the Iraqi prime minister.
He flew into the Iraqi capital under tight security and a news blackout, after a resurgence of bloody violence against the US-led coalition.
Later he is due to meet British troops to thank them and issue a message of defiance to terrorists determined to derail planned Iraqi elections next month.
US army chiefs thanked Mr Blair for the "absolutely key" role of Black Watch troops in recent weeks.
Mr Blair flew into Baghdad airport in an RAF Hercules before being whisked over the city's rooftops to the heavily fortified Green Zone."

"Make No Mistake" (David Brooks, The New York Times, 2004/12/21)
"How did we get to this sudden moment of cautious optimism in the Middle East? How did we get to this moment when Egypt is signing free trade agreements with Israel, when Hosni Mubarak is touring Arab nations and urging them to open relations with the Jewish state? How did we get to this moment of democratic opportunity in the Palestinian territories, with three major elections taking place in the next several months, and with the leading candidate in the presidential election declaring that violence is counterproductive? ...
And yet here we are in this hopeful moment. It almost makes you think that all those bemoaners and condemners don't know what they are talking about. Nothing they have said over the past three years accounts for what is happening now.
It almost makes you think that Bush understands the situation better than the lot of them. His judgments now look correct. Bush deduced that Sharon could grasp the demographic reality and lead Israel toward a two-state solution; that Arafat would never make peace, but was a retardant to peace; that Israel has a right to fight terrorism; and that Sharon would never feel safe enough to take risks unless the U.S. supported him when he fought back.
Bush concluded that peace would never come as long as Palestine was an undemocratic tyranny, and that the Palestinians needed to see their intifada would never bring triumph. ...
We owe this cautiously hopeful moment to a series of unfortunate events — and to a president who disregarded the received wisdom."

"We are committing cultural suicide" (Anthony Browne, The Times, 2004/12/21)
"Compare and contrast 1:
(a) Sikhs storm a theatre in Britain showing a play depicting rape inside a Sikh temple;
(b) The Red Cross bans Nativity scenes in its shops;
Compare and contrast 2:
(a) Christmas trees and decorations are banned in Saudi Arabia;
(b) Christmas trees and decorations are banned in Britain’s Jobcentres.
The extremes that other religions go to preserve their cultural heritage is only matched in Christianity by its extreme death-wish. ...
No, the real Christophobes are the self-loathing, guilt-ridden politically-correct liberal elite, driven by anti-Christian bigotry and a ruthless determination to destroy their own heritage and replace it with “the other”. It is the American Civil Liberties Union that is threatening lawsuits against any schools that allow the singing of carols and the BBC’s editorial policy bans criticism of the Koran, but not the Bible.
In reality, the Christophobes are acting against the interests of ethnic minorities. By stripping Britain of its culture and traditions, they are causing a dangerous rising tide of anger. It prevents social cohesion and integration — who could want to integrate into a culture that is committing suicide?"

"Violent Sikh demo forces theatre to cancel play" (Nick Britten, The Daily Telegraph, 2004/12/21)
"A theatre yesterday bowed to pressure from violent religious activists by cancelling the run of a play depicting rape and murder in a Sikh temple.
Two days after protesters smashed windows and tried to storm the stage at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, its executive director said that, faced with a repetition of the trouble, he could not guarantee the safety of his staff or the audience.
A series of meetings involving the theatre, police and the local Sikh community failed to resolve the issue.
Stuart Rogers, the theatre's executive director, said afterwards that "very reluctantly" he was cancelling the last 10 performances of Behzti (Punjabi for dishonour).
This is thought to be the first time a play in Britain has been halted during its run by violent religious protests and raises the question of freedom of speech." (See also: "Tale of rape at the temple sparks riot at theatre" (Tania Branigan, The Guardian, 2004/12/20))

"The Italian dilemma" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/21)
"VERONA, Italy - A towering statue of Daniele Comboni, the first bishop to Africa, embracing two black children marks the entrance to the Veronetta neighborhood.
In the shadow of the monument inscribed with the words, "Either Blackness or Death," Marco Corini serves espresso and cappuccino to locals he has known his entire life.
"Veronetta has always been a poor neighborhood. I was born here. I grew up on these streets. I moved away 10 years ago. It has changed an awful lot in the last 20, 30 years," he said, looking out his cafe window.
"There is crime, vandalism. ... They killed someone here a month ago. The area is not nice anymore."
Just across the Adige River lies Verona's 1,900-year-old Roman Arena, where early Christians were devoured by lions and Maria Callas once sang her arias. Nearby stands a balcony said to be the one where Romeo and Juliet fell in love.
Veronetta has been invaded by Africans from Ghana, Nigeria and Sudan — and more recently outsiders from Eastern Europe, Mr. Corini says.
"The Italian people have all gone. The authorities don't look after us. Veronetta is filled with extracomunitario," he said, using the Italian word for immigrants from outside the European Union." (See also: "Tolerance tested in Holland" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/20))

Monday, December 20, 2004

News and commentary:

"She owes blood to the entire humankind"
(Al-Manar, October 2002)
From "Al-Manar TV" (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, October 2004): "A fragment from an incitement video clip repeatedly broadcast on Al-Manar: the Statue of Liberty, its face depicted as a skull and with a knife in its hand and two cannons at its feet, along with the following inscription: “She owes blood to the entire humankind” (Al-Manar, October 2002)."

"Hezbollah slams Paris for decision to take “al-Manar” off the air" (Maariv, 2004/12/20)
"In response to France’s decision to take the Hezbollah affiliated television station “al-Manar” off the air in the republic, the Lebanese terror organization’s deputy general secretary, Sheik Naim Kassam, slammed Paris and said, “The case has proven that France is still an imperialist nation”.
According to Kassam, “If France thinks that it can block “al-Manar”, it is deeply mistaken. It is no more than a tool in the hands of the United States”.
Kassam added, “France has turned into a country that quells civil liberties, with emphasis on the freedom of expression. It is trying to return to its days as an imperialist power”.
The station received a permit to broadcast in France only a month ago. However, one of its commentators had managed to stir uproar when he accused Israel of spreading AIDS throughout the Arab World.
The sheik also attacked the US for its declaration of “al-Manar” as a media that sponsors terrorism. “After its actions against the station, the US is the last country in the world that can call itself a democracy”.
The American decision was reached after the station aired photos of the Statue of Liberty covered with blood and equated President Bush to Nazi murderer Adolf Hitler." (See also: "U.S. Designates Al-Manar TV as 'Terrorist'" (Reuters, 2004/12/17))

More on Al-Manar:
"French court to stop Hizbullah television" (Michel Zlotowski, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/11/30)
"MEMRI TV Project: Mothers of Hizbullah Martyrs: We are Very Happy and Want to Sacrifice More Children" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 819, 2004/11/25)
"Hezbollah-linked TV station allowed to broadcast in EU" (AFP/Yahoo! News, 2004/11/19)
"Hezbollah TV" (Shawn Macomber, FrontPageMagazine, 2004/05/07)
"Al-Jazeera, Al-Manar reporters aided terrorists" (Margot Dudkevitch, The Jerusalem Post, 2004/04/08)
"Al-Shatat: The Syrian-Produced Ramadan 2003 TV Special" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 627, 2003/12/12)
"Syrian-Produced Hizbullah TV Ramadan Series' Video Clip of a 'Blood Libel'" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 623, 2003/12/08)
"Syrian Produced Hizbullah TV Ramadan Series - Video Clip of Ritual Murder" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 610, 2003/11/18)
"Syrian Ramadan TV Series on Hizbullah's Al-Manar: 'Diaspora,' Episode I" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 598, 2003/10/29)
"Hezbollah: 'A-Team Of Terrorists'" (CBS News, 2003/04/18)
"Not Just Anti-Semitic Lies!" (Ehud Ya'ari, The Jerusalem Report, from the 2002/12/16 issue)
"Anti-US Sentiment Rises in Lebanon Over 'Terror' War" (Reuters/FLAYM, 2002/11/21)
"In the Party of God" (Jeffrey Goldberg, The New Yorker, from the 2002/10/14 and 21 issues)
"4,000 Jews, 1 Lie - Tracking an Internet hoax" (Bryan Curtis, Slate, 2001/10/05)

"Another Year At War" (Ralph Peters, New York Post, 2004/12/20)
"As 2004 draws to a close, our military can be proud. Once again, our troops de feated our enemies, redeemed the mistakes of our civilian leadership and defied the prophets of disaster.
Iraq will shortly hold national elections. Afghanistan is a functioning democracy, despite the critics who claimed the goal was impossible. Islamic terrorists remain on the run, unable to strike our homeland. And the battle with terror in the Middle East has taken a terrible toll on our enemies. ...
Had the Pentagon's civilian leadership planned thoroughly for the occupation, allocating robust forces and delegating real authority to battlefield commanders, our casualties would be far lower today and Iraq would be a much more peaceful place. For the sake of our troops, we need to hope that the civilians who send our forces into battle have learned the time-honored lesson that you can't do military operations on the cheap. ...
It's going to be a needlessly dark holiday season for hundreds of thousands of military families torn asunder by faulty Pentagon planning. And still our troops maintain high morale. Even as the media made the ugly-but-minor mess at Abu Ghraib prison the event of the year, our soldiers were fighting, winning, building a new democracy and refusing to quit, no matter how difficult the conditions.
Whatever errors their leaders may have made, our troops never failed us."

"Viva La Lebanese Hatred!" (Steven Stalinsky, FrontPageMagazine, 2004/12/20)
"Over the past few years, France has won the reputation as being the leading anti-American voice of the Western world. Of late, news has been trickling out of France which suggests that President Chirac has taken his opposition to the U.S. to a new level. One example includes allowing the pro-Ba’th pro-Saddam group “La Resistance” to operate out of Paris. The group’s main goal is to support killing U.S. troops in Iraq. (For more information visit http://comitesirak.free.fr/eng/why.htm).
Another example of anti-Americanism occurred less than two weeks ago when the French government hosted Lebanese Parliamentarian Walid Jumblatt, Head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who enjoyed an unprecedented state visit to France. ...
This is significant because Jumblatt is known for his vehement anti-American statements and antagonistic stance toward the U.S. On November, 19, 2003, it was reported that the State Department cancelled Jumblatt’s diplomatic visa following revelations that he expressed regret that Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz was not killed in a missile attack during a visit to Baghdad.
More recently, Jumblatt gave an interview to the Arabic London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on February 12, 2004, in which he said: 'We are all happy when U.S. soldiers are killed [in Iraq] week in and week out. The killing of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is legitimate and obligatory.'"

More on Walid Jumblatt:
"Lebanese Member of Parliament Walid Jumblatt Interview: Al-Qa'ida and bin Laden are Tools of U.S. Intelligence Agencies" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 702, 2004/04/28)
"Lebanese Member of Parliament: 'The Fall of One Jew, Whether Soldier or Civilian, Is a Great Accomplishment'" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 649, 2004/01/23)
"Lebanese Druze Leader: Bush 'Mad Emperor,' Rice 'Oil-Colored,' Blair 'Peacock' With A 'Sexual Complex'; 'My Joy Was Great' at Columbia Disaster" (MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series - No. 466, 2003/02/07)

"Saddam, from His Prison Cell, Urges Iraqis to Unite" (Suleiman al-Khalidi, Reuters/My Way, 2004/12/20)
"Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appealed to Iraqis from his prison cell to unite against what he called U.S. efforts to sow sectarian divisions, his lawyers said on Sunday.
Ziad Khasawneh, a Jordanian lawyer and spokesman for Saddam's defense team, told reporters: "President Saddam Hussein urged the unity of his Iraqi people, regardless of their religious and ethnic creed, to confront U.S. plans to divide their country on sectarian grounds."
Saddam relayed his messages through Khalil Dulaimi, an Iraqi lawyer and member of the defense counsel who met the ousted leader for more than four hours on Thursday -- Saddam's first access to lawyers since he was arrested a year ago."

"Tale of rape at the temple sparks riot at theatre" (Tania Branigan, The Guardian, 2004/12/20)
"With its depiction of rape and murder within a Sikh temple, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's drama was bound to upset critics who felt that its title Behzti - Dishonour - encapsulated the slur it cast on their faith.
But few anticipated that a small-scale production by a young playwright could spark the violent confrontation that this weekend resulted in thousands of pounds worth of damage and clashes with riot police at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Simmering discontent boiled over on Saturday night as 400 Sikhs attempted to storm the theatre. At the height of the fracas, 85 police officers - 30 in riot gear - were deployed to hold back demonstrators and part of the Broad Street entertainment area was sealed off. Three men were arrested for public order offences and have been released on police bail. Ms Bhatti was yesterday refusing to comment, apparently because she has already been threatened with violence."

"Tolerance tested in Holland" (Tom Carter, The Washington Times, 2004/12/20)
"AMSTERDAM - Parliamentarian Geert Wilders sees himself as the legendary Dutch boy, finger in the dike, holding back a rising tide of immigrants that threatens to swamp the Netherlands and all of Europe.
"Immigration is the biggest problem that Dutch society is facing today," said Mr. Wilders, in his office in The Hague.
"We have been so tolerant of others' culture and religion, we are losing our own. ... Europe is losing itself. ... One day we will wake up, and it will be too late. [Immigration] will have killed our country and our democracy."
The intense politician spoke under the watchful eye of bodyguards, as his picture has been posted on Muslim Web sites calling for his beheading.
Mr. Wilders' passion reflects a problem confronting much of Europe.
Old, cold and settled in its ways, the Continent struggles to absorb waves of immigrants, to protect itself from the growing hatred of Muslim militants in their midst and to live with the dark fear of a world spinning out of control."

"At Least 64 Dead as Rebels Strike in 3 Iraqi Cities" (John F. Burns, The New York Times, 2004/12/20)
"Only days into Iraq's six-week election campaign, car bombers struck crowds in Najaf and Karbala on Sunday, killing at least 61 people and wounding about 120 in those two holy Shiite cities. In the heart of Baghdad, about 30 insurgents hurling grenades and firing machine guns pulled three election officials from their car in the midst of morning traffic and killed them with shots to the head.
Taken together, the attacks represented the second-worst daily civilian death toll from insurgent mayhem in Iraq since the American military occupation transferred formal sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government nearly six months ago. ...
In Karbala, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle amid minibuses at the entrance to the city's bus terminal. In Najaf, a car bomb exploded in a central square crowded with people watching a tribal leader's funeral procession, among them the provincial governor and the city's police chief, both of whom escaped unhurt."

 

See the archive for earlier news and commentary.

 

Copyright © Watch 2001-2006.
Copyrights of quoted materials belong to their respective owners.

"When people accept futility and the absurd as normal, the culture is decadent. The term is not a slur; it is a technical label."

Jacques Barzun

Articles of the week

"Losing the Enlightenment" (Victor Davis Hanson, OpinionJournal, 2006/11/29)

"Allah’s England?" (Daniel Johnson, Commentary. November 2006)

"'Sex in the Park': The latest doings of the Danish imams" (Henrik Bering, The Weekly Standard, 2006/11/18)

"Narcissism on Stilts" (Harold Evans, New York Sun, 2006/11/16)

"Terrorists are recruiting in our schools, says MI5 boss" (Philip Johnston, The Daily Telegraph, 2006/11/10)

› AOTW Archive



From the archives

Oriana Fallaci, R.I.P.

"The Rage, the Pride and the Doubt" (Oriana Fallaci, The Wall Street Journal, 2003/03/13)

"How the West Was Won and How It Will Be Lost" (Oriana Fallaci, The American Enterprise, from the January/February 2003 issue)

"On Jew-hatred in Europe" (Oriana Fallaci, dennisprager.com, 2002/04/13)

"Anger and Pride" (Oriana Fallaci, dennisprager.com, 2001/12/19)

Weekly archive

2006/12/04 - 2006/12/10
2006/11/27 - 2006/12/03
2006/11/20 - 2006/11/26
2006/11/13 - 2006/11/19
2006/11/06 - 2006/11/12
2006/10/30 - 2006/11/05

› From 2001/09/11 -



Monthly index

December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006

› From September 2001 -



Author index

› Ajami, Fouad - Johnson, Paul
› Kagan, Robert - Ye'or, Bat



Support Watch

Please feel free to donate if you enjoy the daily content and links Watch provides:

Contact Watch

Email:
watch-at-windsofchange.net