March 3-4, 2007
Mar 03 01:41 The Truth About the Surge Mar 03 06:34 Gladly Mar 03 07:18 McCain 'Collapse' Debated Mar 03 09:53 Saturday's Pet Peeve Mar 03 11:42 A New Ellison Flap Mar 04 00:21 Wishful Thinking Mar 04 07:38 Coming Later Today Mar 04 17:49 Joe Kaufman vs. CAIR Mar 04 21:48 Check This Out
Prior Years: 2006
The Truth About the Surge
If ever you need a factual accounting of what's happening in Baghdad, you can't go wrong reading Ralph Peters' columns. Today's is no different. Here are the key bullet points to Peters' column on the progress being made:
- Of the five additional U.S. brigades headed for Baghdad, only one is in place, with the second starting to arrive. Yet the city is already quieter and safer. The terrorists continue to detonate their bombs, with suicidal fanatics targeting the innocent - but sectarian killings (death-squad hits) have dropped from over 50 each night down to single digits.
- The tactic of stationing U.S. units and their Iraqi counterparts down in the Baghdad 'hoods is already paying off. (It should have been used from the outset, instead of hunkering down on massive bases. But better late than never.) The effort has triggered a flood of intelligence tips: When citizens feel safe, they cooperate. And when they help us, our success compounds.
- U.S. commanders now have a lot of experience in Iraq. They're not wide-eyed kids at the circus anymore. They understand there are no uniform, easy answers to Iraq's violence and complex allegiances. As a senior officer put it, "Every neighborhood and city is unique, with their own challenges."
- We hear the bad news from the rest of Iraq, such as this week's monstrous car bombing of children at play on a soccer field in Ramadi, but we don't hear that such attacks by al Qaeda operatives have infuriated mainstream Sunni sheiks and their tribes, who increasingly make common cause with us and their government. And winning over the Sunni "middle" is crucial to Iraq's future.
- We'll never stop all suicide bombers and car bombers, but our security crackdown has already taken out two major Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) factories. And we took down a huge arms cache late last week.
- No one's getting any "Mission Accomplished" banners ready to go, but front-line leaders in Iraq are convinced the situation just isn't as hopeless as politicians back home insist. I don't know a single officer in-country who believes the reporting from Iraq gives an honest, balanced picture.
The nutty Pelosi-crat proposal to restrict the mission of U.S. troops to "training Iraqis and defeating al Qaeda." Would our troops have to wait to return fire until they checked the ID cards of their attackers? If they saw a massacre of women and children in progress, would we want them to stand by until they received a legal opinion as to whether the killers were bona fide foreign terrorists?It's great having someone like Col. Peters saying that the Democrats' plan isn't worth the paper it's printed on. Democrats like John Murtha like telling us that President Bush and Vice President Cheney don't know what they're talking about because they didn't fight in wars. They can't use that excuse with Col. Peters because he's been in war before.
This ain't the NFL, where everybody wears a uniform and plays by the rules. Proposals to limit the freedom of action of our troops reflect domestic politics at their shabbiest and you and I know it. Our troops need fewer restrictions, not more.
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007 1:43 AM
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Gladly
Howard Dean is demanding the GOP denounce Ann Coulter for calling John Edwards a faggot. I hope that they do that ASAP. A number of bloggers have criticized her for it. Here's what Captain Ed said about Coulter's unwelcome bombshell:
First, criticizing Coulter's use of the word "faggot" is not a suppression of free speech; it is an exercise of free speech. We're not advocating her arrest for using the word. We're just saying it was stupid, unnecessary, and hateful. This is no different than Melissa McEwan calling Christians "Christofascist Godbags" and Amanda Marcotte's incendiary hate speech about Catholics. We howled about that when John Edwards hired them; why do we defend Coulter's appearance at CPAC?Here's Dean Barnett's reaction:
Idiotic. Disgusting. Stupid. Moronic.Here's my two cents worth: When Ann Coulter fell in love with hearing her own voice, she abandoned any sense of self-control. When President Bush nominated John Robert to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, she railed that "We don't know anything about" Roberts. Two hours later, Hugh Hewitt gave a detailed dissertation on Roberts' history as a lawyer appearing before the Supreme Court, his having been filibustered by the Democrats, even his history in the Reagan administration.
I guess you could say that Ann loves to shock us, but at this point, who's shocked? She obviously can't behave well enough to attend a respectable political gathering. It's not a lack of intelligence. It's an indifference to self-control and a preening sort of narcissism that compels her to need the spotlight, even if it's unflattering.
At the time, I said that if she didn't know anything about Roberts, she should've gotten on the computer and dug out the information like I did before "flapping her gums" like a windbag who just needed to hear her voice. I agree with Dean that it isn't that she lacks intelligence; it's that she lacks message discipline. I agree with Captain Ed that "it was stupid, unnecessary, and hateful."
In short, Coulter shouldn't be invited to speak at CPAC ever again. She should be shunned by anyone who cares about advancing the conservative cause. Instead of headlines like "Rudy wows CPAC" or "Romney a Hit at CPAC", the only headline getting any attention is Coulter's bigoted statement. She should be ashamed of herself. We need to put her out of our misery.
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007 6:35 AM
Comment 1 by elisa at 03-Mar-07 06:38 PM
I've never cared for Coulter, or anyone else who uses name calling and ad hominem attacks instead of debating the issues. I don't think a knee-jerk "denouncement" is always the way to go, though. The likes of Coulter are harder hit by being ignored. Ignored, and NO LONGER INVITED TO GOP FUNCTIONS.
McCain 'Collapse' Debated
ABC and the Brookings Institute are co-sponsoring a series of debates on the issues facing 2008 voters. In the first debate, it was debated what impact the Iraq War was having on McCain's plunge in the polls. Here's a little taste of what was said:
"Rudy is very much locked in to the president's policy," said Duberstein, adding that Romney, who is at 4 percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, has no choice but to support the president's position, given Duberstein's prediction that a huge preponderance of Republican primary voters will support Bush's pursuit of a robust policy in Iraq.I agree with Donilon that "McCain is the un-change." He's the status quo candidate, hoping to ride his good media relations and support of the Iraq War to victory. That won't work with the conservatives he needs for victory. They demand that candidates talk about their guiding principles, their positions on the biggest issues of the day and their fidelity to conservative principles.
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"In a change dynamic, McCain is the un-change," said Tom Donilon, a former Clinton administration official who has served as senior adviser to Democratic presidents and presidential candidates for 20 years.
If I were giving McCain a report card, he'd get an F- on "fidelity to conservative principles" for his undercutting President Bush's judicial nominees with his 'Gang of 14' stunt, his role in writing BCRA, which will be found unconstitutional the minute sane judges hear the case, and for his teaming with Ted Kennedy to write an immigration 'reform' law that isn't a reform.
I agree with Duberstein that McCain's plunge isn't tied to his supporting President Bush's Iraq War plan. It's tied to McCain's willingness to abandon conservative principles to be popular with the media. If there's anything that a conservative won't tolerate, it's being stabbed in the back by someone who thinks of himself as being bigger than the movement.
I didn't anticipate McCain's collapse to be this big this fast but the fundraising numbers don't lie. They're telling him that his views, other than on Iraq, just don't mesh with mainstream conservatives.
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007 7:19 AM
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Saturday's Pet Peeve
After reading this press release, I'm again reminded of one of my pet peeves with the DFL. Here's the section that got my attention:
Counting inflation, the state has $1 billion in one-time money left over from the current fiscal year and is even for the upcoming two-year budget cycle. "Any new investments we make must be targeted for our schools, health care, relief from property taxes, roads, and taking care of our veterans," said Haws. "We don't have the resources to go much beyond those key priorities."Just last weekend, Haws told me that he believes in zero-based budgeting. It seems to me that there's more than enough wasteful spending that could be eliminated to more than offset whatever inflation exists. Which brings me to my pet peeve.
[Haws & Hosch] stressed the need for caution given recent national and global economic news.
I've read scores of DFL documents, all of which speak to the need to 'invest more', which is code for "We want to spend like drunken sailors." As I said here, I've asked specific questions about serious oversight hearings into identifying wasteful spending. With Democrats holding control of the Senate seemingly forever, it isn't possible to convince me that there isn't a ton of wasteful spending factored in. Combine that with all of the silly legislation that's pending & you've got a potential budget crisis just waiting to happen.
The truth is that Democrats will spend the next two years talking about how we really don't have a surplus. They'll do that in an attempt to convince voters that tax cuts are impossible & that tax increases might be needed. It's also their goal to use this debate to justify their predisposition to raising taxes.
It's time that conservatives turned up the heat on the DFL for their reckless spending habits & their genetic predisposition to raising taxes.
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007 9:53 AM
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A New Ellison Flap
It seems that people are treading lightly when it comes to anything that might remotely be considered a criticism of Keith Ellison. Here's what started the latest Ellison-related fiasco:
A Minneapolis police lieutenant faced an internal investigation after fellow officers reported he had made remarks implying U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison is a terrorist. Lt. Bob Kroll denies calling Ellison a terrorist or even mentioning him by name during a required police ethics class where his colleagues say the remarks were made. Chief Tim Dolan issued a public apology to Ellison, a Democrat from Minneapolis and the first Muslim elected to Congress. And in an e-mail to employees, he called Kroll's comments unacceptable.Chief Dolan's rebuke of Lt. Kroll is a disgusting abuse of Lt. Kroll's due process rights. Check out this paragraph:
"If these statements were made in the way they were relayed to me, I am disappointed and concerned," Dolan said in an e-mail to department employees obtained by The Associated Press. The e-mail didn't detail the alleged remarks.What Chief Dolan & Mayor Rybak didn't say is that Lt. Kroll denies making disparaging remarks about Ellison:
"I did not make any statement about Keith Ellison, never mentioned his name, never mentioned his position," Kroll said. Kroll also said he never said anything like what he was accused of saying. He said someone else in the class "drew their own conclusion with the Keith Ellison issue. I never mentioned him specifically at all."I've always said that a little paranoia goes a long ways. That's what seems to have happened here. I'd further suggest that Ellison's ties with 'terrorist-friendly' organizations like CAIR foster the notion that he's pro-terrorist. In fact, Ellison's accepting campaign contributions from Nihad Awad adds fuel to this fire.
He said someone did ask him whether he had called Ellison a terrorist, but that the instructor cut him off before he could respond, saying it wasn't the proper forum.
"I'm sure in the end I will be cleared of any wrongdoing," Kroll said.
At a 1994 meeting at Barry University, Nihad Awad stated succinctly, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement."CAIR's defense of terrorists is well-documented. Here's what Daniel Pipes said about CAIR's reaction to the closing of the Holy Land Foundation:
As luck would have it, just hours before the hearing, news services reported that former CAIR official Bassem K. Khafagi had pleaded guilty to charges of visa and bank fraud in federal court in Detroit. The charges were brought against Khafagi for his role with the Islamic Assembly of North America, a group that has advocated violence against the United States and is believed to have funneled money to organizations with terrorist connections. At the time of his arrest, Khafagi was Community Affairs director with CAIR.
When President Bush closed the Holy Land Foundation in December for collecting money he said was "used to support the Hamas terror organization," CAIR decried his action as "unjust" and "disturbing."Here's something else from Mr. Pipes' article that casts suspicion on CAIR:
In reality, CAIR is something quite different. For starters, it's on the wrong side in the war on terrorism. One indication came in October 1998, when the group demanded the removal of a Los Angeles billboard describing Osama bin Laden as "the sworn enemy," finding this depiction "offensive to Muslims."If you're wondering how this ties into Keith Ellison here's your answer:
The same year, CAIR denied bin Laden's responsibility for the twin East African embassy bombings. As Hooper saw it, those explosions resulted from some vague "misunderstandings of both sides." (A New York court, however, blamed bin Laden's side alone for the embassy blasts.)
We were also protesting Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Jim Davis for doing the same. Ellison had taken money from CAIR's National Executive Director Nihad Awad, CAIR's National Chairman Parvez Ahmed, and CAIR's Government Affairs Director Corey Saylor. Jim Davis had accepted money from CAIR-Florida's Communications Director Ahmed Bedier. Given CAIR's ties to the terrorist organization Hamas, given the fact that four CAIR representatives have previously been charged by the U.S. government with terrorist activity, and given the fact that CAIR is being sued for its role in the attacks on 9/11, we believed our case was strong.If the name Ahmed Bedier seems familiar to you but you can't quite remember why, it's because Bedier was Sami al-Arian's spokesman during al-Arian's legal wranglings. At least until al-Arian plead guilty "on one count of conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad." He also "agreed to be deported after his prison sentence."
In other words, Ellison's close contact with people who've defended terrorists isn't the way to maintain a clean public image. Finally, there's this statement:
Ellison said he was grateful to Rybak and Dolan for "setting the right tone."I was unaware of Ellison's embracing any police departments. Here's some quotes from an article that Katherine Kersten wrote for the Strib (No link available.):
"The alleged comments don't reflect the diversity of our city, or the war "The alleged comments don't reflect the Minneapolis Police Department, who I respect as well." m embracing attitudes of those who live in the Fifth District," he said.
But Ellison's call to the crowd was broader than a plea to aid Soliah. "We need to come together and free,all the Saras," he proclaimed. Like who? Like Assata Shakur, Ellison told his audience. Shakur is a former member of the Black Liberation Army, a "revolutionary activist organization," who killed a New Jersey state trooper "execution-style at point-blank range," according to the FBI's Wanted Fugitives website.Do those quotes sound like someone who's bonded with police officers? Forgive me if I'm not buying into Ellison's shtick.
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As a criminal defense attorney, Ellison told the crowd, he saw "startling similarities" between Soliah and the gang members he represents: Bloods, Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples. He portrayed gang members as misunderstood victims, ordinary folks whose parents "scrimp, save,maybe sell plates of BBQ chicken so Junior can get an attorney."
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2007 11:43 AM
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Wishful Thinking
After reading this article, I'd say that there's a wishful thinking epidemic happening. The good news is that it seems to have gotten quarantined within the Beltway. Here's what I'm referring to:
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have agreed to accept just public financing for the general election if they are the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2008.That's a nice bit of undeserved attention for Sen. McCain, whose fundraising has charitably been described as lackluster. The chances of a McCain-Obama matchup are nil because (a) McCain's chances are nil and (b) Obama's chances aren't that great, either. Here's another bit of delusional thinking:
Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, told Bloomberg.com: "This is now a real issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. "Every presidential candidate is going to have to deal with it."Somebody should tell Freddie that they already have dealt with it. People like Freddie don't get it that the vast majority of people don't have a problem with the candidates raising and spending large amounts of money. The notion that the McCain-Obama agreement raises the bar is utter nonsense. Outside of the Fred Wertheimers of the world, nobody noticed.
Posted Sunday, March 4, 2007 12:22 AM
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Coming Later Today
Check back to LFR later today because I'll have something explosive about CAIR's illegal activities posted.
Posted Sunday, March 4, 2007 7:38 AM
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Joe Kaufman vs. CAIR
It's safe to say that Joe Kaufman, the founder of Americans Against Hate, thinks that CAIR needs closer scrutiny. Yesterday, Joe delivered a speech that advocates the US government to close CAIR down. Here's the transcript of that speech:
Friends,The best thing that I can recommend to my readers is to bookmark this speech because it lays out in detail all the nasty things that CAIR has their fingers into. If you want to know what CAIR is really about, as opposed to what they claim, you need to read and re-read this speech. If you do that, you'll understand that CAIR isn't a moderate Muslim civil rights group. It's a terrorist-sympathizing group with a definite affection towards groups like Hamas, Islamic Association of Palestine and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
We gather here tonight to expose a fifth column that resides within America and, tonight, they are holding an event inside this convention center.
As has been told many times before, CAIR was created by a front for the terrorist organization Hamas, in 1994. That organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine or IAP, was the brainchild of none other than the number two leader in Hamas today, Mousa Abu Marzook. If it hasn't been made clear in the past, I want to make it clear today: If it were not for Mousa Abu Marzook, CAIR would not be in existence!
The IAP, CAIR's parent organization, was a Hamas propaganda center, as it published the Hamas charter in different languages, and it produced Hamas terrorist training videos. In 2005, the IAP was shut down, after it had been found liable for the murder of an American boy, David Boim, who lost his life during a Hamas operation in Israel. In fact, every U.S. organization that had ties to Mousa Abu Marzook no longer exists, all except CAIR.
CAIR is the only one that is still around, and we're here to say to the government of the United States that it's time to end this thorn in America's side and SHUT CAIR DOWN!
CAIR's National Executive Director, Nihad Awad, has publicly stated his support for Hamas, and CAIR-Florida's Communications Director, Ahmed Bedier, said that there was "nothing immoral" about associating with Palestinian Islamic Jihad before 1995. As well, Bedier hosted a radio show, where all three of his guests lauded Hezbollah, a group that is responsible for the murder of 241 American servicemen on October 23, 1983.
Recently, United States Senator Barbara Boxer rescinded an award she had given to a CAIR leader. As pointed out by Newsweek Magazine, last December, "Boxer was particularly concerned by claims that CAIR had refused to condemn Hamas and Hizbullah and recognize those groups as terrorist organizations." In fact, to prove the Senator right, in the course of just 13 days, four officials from CAIR refused to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups. They include CAIR's National Executive Director, Nihad Awad, CAIR's National Communications Director, Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR's National Legal Director, Arsalan Iftikhar, and CAIR-Sacramento's Executive Director, Basim Elkarra.
Four former representatives from CAIR have been charged with terrorist activity by the U.S. government, two were convicted and two were deported. One of those individuals is Randal Todd Ismail Royer. On September 24, 2001, as CAIR's Communications Specialist, Royer spoke at a press conference on what CAIR called an "anti-Muslim backlash." What's interesting is that, less than ten days prior to the press conference, Royer had been in contact with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Royer had been plotting with a group from the U.S. to help Lashkar-e-Taiba murder Americans and Indians overseas. And just two days prior to the CAIR press conference, Royer possessed in his automobile an AK-47-style rifle and 219 rounds of ammunition.
CAIR is the defendant in a 9/11 lawsuit, put forward by the family of the former chief of the FBI's counter-terrorism section, John P. O'Neill, who was killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center. CAIR is being sued for the murders of 3000 innocent Americans.
I remember when I was on a radio show debating CAIR-Florida's Executive Director, Altaf Ali. It was exactly one month after 9/11, October 11, 2001. I asked Mr. Ali if he believed those that died during the attacks were innocent. He would not answer the question. I asked again and again and again. He still refused to answer. It was then that I realized why CAIR was here in America. If I may borrow a quote from a former CAIR official, it was not to become equal in America but to become dominant, where the Quran replaces the Constitution as the highest authority.
Tonight, within this building behind us, the Broward County Convention Center, CAIR is holding its annual event. It is an important event for CAIR, as slated to speak is CAIR's National Chairman Parvez Ahmed, a man who calls America's only true friend in the Middle-East, Israel, "a liability in the war on terror."
Also speaking will be Sirah Wahhaj, a Brooklyn imam whose name is found on the U.S. Attorney's list of "unindicted co-conspirators" to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which left six Americans dead and so many others injured, of course, a pre-curser to what would happen eight years later, when our beloved Twin Towers would stand no more. Also found on that list are Osama bin Laden and his Mentor Abdullah Azzam.
Wahhaj, during the bombing trial, would serve as a defense witness for the spiritual leader of the '93 attack, the Blind Sheikh, Omar Abdel-Rahman. As stated by the Wall Street Journal, in an article written in October of 2003, Wahhaj testified that it had been an honor to host Abdel-Rahman at his mosque and described him as a "respected scholar." Imam Wahhaj, WHAT KIND OF RESPECTED SCHOLAR WOULD HELP IN THE MURDERS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE?
But after reading a quote from Wahhaj, we can understand how his name could appear on the U.S. Attorney's list, and we could understand how he could call a degenerate like Abdel-Rahman a "respected scholar." Wahhaj stated, "In time, this so-called democracy will crumble, and there will be nothing. And the only thing that will remain will be Islam."
Oh, by the way, Wahhaj was a former National Board Member of CAIR.
One more thing, and then I will conclude. Recently, CAIR and other organizations it affiliates with, called for Muslims to fast in solidarity with Sami Al-Arian, who has gone on a hunger strike. As well, CAIR has called for his release. Sami Al-Arian was a founder of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the group's North American leader. He was responsible, at least in part, for the murders of over 100 innocent people, including two Americans. We say this to the government: KEEP SAMI AL-ARIAN LOCKED UP FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. HE IS A THREAT TO OUR COUNTRY AND TO OUR DEMOCRATIC ALLIES OVERSEAS. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET THIS MAN GO.
My friends, CAIR and organizations like it, are not here to help build up America. They are here to tear it down. And we are here to tell our government not to let them. Bush Administration, Senate, House of Representatives, FBI, we plead with you, shut CAIR down now! Place CAIR alongside Hamas on the U.S. State Department list of terrorist organizations, and shut CAIR down now.
Thank you.
It's time that America woke up and took the threat that CAIR poses to America itself seriously.
Originally posted Sunday, March 4, 2007, revised 21-Nov 1:38 PM
Comment 1 by Steven Dunlop at 09-Mar-07 10:25 AM
I do not understand how our government allows these less than cockroaches (my apologies to actual cockroaches) to continue to conduct their Anti-American activities on our shores. It would be like having SS command centers in our major cities during WWII.
Send them back to their countries of origin or jail them - based on the threat to national security they actually pose!
Check This Out
If you haven't visited my friend Leo's post on Hillary courting the black vote, then you owe it to yourself to check it out. Just be prepared to laugh until it hurts.
Posted Sunday, March 4, 2007 9:48 PM
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