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03/18/2010

Blood on Obama’s hands

Filed under: Gaza, Terrorism, The One, United Nations — Tags: , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 12:00 pm

The Palestinians used last week’s hissy fit by the Obama administration to implement a “day of rage.” Hamas has allowed kassam rockets to start firing out of Gaza again. The first attack only terrified a little girl. The second one killed a foreign worker in Israel.

His blood is on Obama’s hands. The Obama administrations confrontation with Israel encouraged the Palestinians to think that they could strike without fear of world reaction. Of course, they’re right. Notice the condemnation issued by the EU’s representative currently trying to find starving Gazans for their “end the seige” propaganda campaign:

Thursday’s attack came on the same day as a visit to Gaza by Europe’s top diplomat, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who had just crossed into the territory when the rocket was fired.

“I condemn any kind of violence. We have got to find a peaceful solution to the issues and problems,” she said.

Wow. She condemns “any kind of violence.” So if I accidentally step on my cat’s tail, Ashton condemns that act of violence. Yeah, that’s a relevant statement. It’s not like she could, say, “We of the EU wholeheartedly condemn the death of this innocent farm worker at the hands of Palestinian terrorists launching rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas.” Because then she’d have to admit that it was a terrorist act, and there are no terrorists in “Palestine,” right?

Ban Ki-Moon had a better statement. Kudos to him.

The Secretary-General condemns today’s rocket attack from Gaza which killed a civilian in Israel. All such acts of terror and violence against civilians are totally unacceptable and contrary to international law.

By the way, since Obama told Fox News that he condemned the Palestinian riots “in the same way” that he condemned the announcement of 1600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, I searched the State Department website for an immediate condemnation of the two latest rocket attacks from Gaza. I found—nothing.

“Yesterday, when there were riots by the Palestinians against a synagogue that had been reopened we condemned them in the same way because what we need right now is both sides to recognize that it is in their interests to move this peace process forward,” Obama told Fox.

Really, the man lies every time he opens his mouth. There were no such condemnations. The best they had was this:

I would say that we also have some concerns today about the tensions regarding the rededication of a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. And we are urging all parties to act responsibly and do whatever is necessary to remain calm. We’re deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions that we see. And we call upon Palestinian officials to put an end to such incitement.

Not even the word “condemn.” Just “concerns.” Over riots. That were influenced by the Obama administration’s pounding of Israel last week.

Way to go, Smart Power.

03/12/2010

Friday briefs

Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, News Briefs, Terrorism — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

Hell hath frozen over: The EU released a statement demanding the immediate release of Gilad Shalit. No, really. Wait, there has to be a catch. Oh, here it is. They’re also calling on Israel to make “substantial release of Palestinian prisoners.” Phew, snowballs are still melting in hell.

Rockets in, missiles out: More kassams in Israel, so the IDF bombed a tunnel and a weapons lab. Watch for the screams from the Israel-haters. Oh, and the AP managed to put this in the last paragraph of its latest article about the 1600 new units in east Jerusalem:

In Gaza, ruled by the Islamic militants of Hamas, Israeli aircraft struck twice early Friday, retaliating for rocket fire into Israel on Thursday. No one was hurt in any of the incidents.

I will reiterate that the last graf of an article is the first to go when a newspaper needs the space.

A store opens in Israel, a protest opens in Europe: Filthy capitalists! Opening a store that was so much desired that Israelis nearly trampled two babies (!) to get in. Of course there will be protests throughout Europe and Canada. Listen to this brilliant protestor’s explanation:

“The Goldstone Report was published recently, and we think that one cannot open a store in Israel until it starts obeying international law.”

That’s what I like about Israel’s foes. They’re so smart, you have to wonder how they manage to dress themselves in the morning. Really, Israel-haters lead pretty pathetic lives. Imagine obsessing about something that really has nothing to do with living your life, to the point of gettting enraged by a store opening thousands of miles away in another country. Or a pro-Israel blog. To paraphrase, the vast majority of Israel haters have lives of pathetic desperation.

03/11/2010

When honoring terror is “conciliatory”

Filed under: AP Media Bias, Terrorism — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 1:30 pm

The AP has the most fascinating pro-Palestinian spin. The PA cancelled an anniversary ceremony that was supposed to honor a terrorist who helped her people murder 35 Israelis who were traveling on a coastal highway. Here’s the AP spin:

The Palestinian Authority has called off a ceremony honoring a woman involved in the deadly hijacking of an Israeli bus.

The Palestinians had planned on Thursday to name a square in the West Bank city of Ramallah after Dalal Mughrabi for her part in the 1978 hijacking on Israel’s coastal highway. Thirty-eight people were killed in the assault.

But they decided Wednesday to put it off. They offered no official explanation and it was not immediately clear if the ceremony would be rescheduled.

And here’s Ynet’s view:

On March 11, 1978, 11 Fatah terrorists infiltrated Israel’s coast using a rubber raft. They murdered photographer Gail Rubin and proceeded to hijack a bus while shooting at passing vehicles. They shot at the passengers and al-Mughrabi blew up the bus.

Altogether, 35 people were killed and 71 injured in the massacre, which to this day remains the deadliest terror attack in the State of Israel’s history.

Thirteen of the dead were children. I wonder why Joe Biden didn’t condemn the anniversary ceremony that was to take place today? He sure condemned Israel quickly for the crime of—building in east Jerusalem.

It is, as always, Israeli Double Standard Time. But not to worry: That only happens on days that end with a “y.”

03/01/2010

For all your terrorist news

Filed under: Bloggers, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 12:00 pm

Fred Pruitt’s Rantburg has been around for a long, long time. I’m on the daily newsletter list, and this is why:

Rantburg's daily newsletter

Besides the wealth of information, there are the comments. Fred’s aren’t the only funny ones. (But they are the funniest.) All this, and classic movie stars (mostly women, but he added Cary Grant when I requested it).

Israel’s Axis of Evil

Filed under: Iran, Syria, Terrorism, The One — Tags: , , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

The heads of Hamas and Hezbullah met in Damascus with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Bashar Assad to plot Israel’s destruction. How is the Obama administration handling the fact that Syria hosted the heads of two terrorist organizations and one terrorist-supporting state? Why, by keeping to its promise to re-appoint an ambassador to Syria, even though Obama’s policy on driving Syria and Iran apart was mocked by Assad and Mad Mahmoud.

During the summit, Mad Mahmoud called for a Middle East without Zionists (and let us not pretend that when he says Zionists, he doesn’t mean Jews).

In the meantime, Israelis are being mailed new gas masks in case the Axis chooses to use the chemical weapons they’ve been stockpiling. The IDF completed exercises for a two-front war (you may even count on three if the West Bank Palestinians jump in).

As for the rest of the world? Well, the UN General Assembly passed another resolution insisting that Israel respond to the Goldstone report with an “independent” investigation. Australia is so mad that forged passports were used in the Dubai hit that it deliberately didn’t vote against the resolution this time and warned that Israel’s ties with Australia are at risk. (It’s good to know that Australia has its priorities straight.) Spanish schoolteachers are indoctrinating their students with so much hatred for Israel that the Madrid embassy is receiving letters that say “How many Palestinian children have you murdered today?” And the EU released a letter condemning the Dubai hit without mentioning Israel by name, apparently after the heads of European intelligence got through to the political leadership that they are going to badly damage intelligence operations throughout the world if they don’t STFU about Dubai (can’t remember my source on this; link welcome if you read it, too).

Now we read that Hillary Clinton is telling Lebanon that there’s no way the U.S. could stop an Israeli strike on Lebanon if they continue to allow Hezbullah to arm itself. I do believe that the UN Security Council passed a binding resolution (1701) forbidding exactly that. Perhaps she might have mentioned that as the reason for Hezbullah to stop arming itself, instead of using the “I can’t control my crazy friend here” argument. But that would be asking for logic and fairness concerning Israel, which is utterly ridiculous.

Israel’s Axis of Evil continues its mission, unfettered by world opinion, and not impressed by the Obama administration. What could possibly go wrong?

02/27/2010

More on the Dubai hit

Filed under: Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time, Terrorism — Tags: , , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

The AP has a story that isn’t getting nearly as wide release as the stories about the Mossad being responsible for the Dubai hit, but it’s interesting for what countries are doing—and not doing—to find the killers.

A killer – or killers – may be on the loose in Europe after a Hamas operative was slain last month in Dubai. European nations, however, seem to be in no rush to find him, her or them. The spotlight is falling on those countries where police say the alleged assassins’ trails begin and end: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Authorities there have either declined to say whether they are investigating, or told The Associated Press they have no reason to hunt down the 26 suspects implicated in the Jan. 19 killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Perhaps this is why they’re not bothering to investigate:

France, meanwhile, has said it is only probing the alleged use of three French passports in the crime. Two suspects landed in Paris on Jan. 20. Their trail ends there.

But here is the money graf, the buried lede, the most important piece of information that the AP chose to put in the third-to-last paragraph:

Only Austria has gone further and investigated whether Austrian SIM cards were used. Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia declined to provide details about the findings except to say there are no indications that there was a “command center” in Austria, as Dubai police have claimed.

In other words, the Dubai police are lying, the Austrians (no friends to Israel and Jews) have effectively said this, and the AP buries this evidence in a little-read story on the Saturday news cycle.

I’m shocked, shocked, to discover that the AP buries this information.

02/25/2010

Terrorist used fake passport to get to Dubai, media will not care

Filed under: Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time, Terrorism — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 10:00 am

So, in all this uproar about Israel allegedly using fake passports to get Mossad agents into Dubai to kill a Hamas terrorist, the part of the story that will be utterly ignored is that the ex-terrorist was in Dubai on a fake Iraqi passport given to him by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas commander assassinated in Dubai, used the same tradecraft – fraudulent passports and disguises – as his killers during secret missions to procure arms for the group, a confidant said on Thursday.

And that wasn’t his only fake passport.

“He had many passports of different nationalities – all Arab,” he added. “Recently he underwent surgery to reshape his nose. It became narrower.”

And what does Dubai’s famous police inspector, who simply cannot stop insisting that he’s found more and more Mossad agents sneaking into his country, say about the possibility that the terrorist, too, was on a fake passport?

Dubai police have not commented officially on the passport Mahbouh used to enter the emirate. Mabhouh’s brother said the Hamas commander arrived in Dubai on a Palestinian passport that listed his family name as Hassan.

Uh-huh. And of that new list of suspects, two of them supposedly left Dubai on a ship headed for Iran. Because that would be such deep, safe cover for Mossad agents, who wouldn’t suspect them of being, say, Iranians? You simply have to love the AP spin on this fact (buried, of course, in the next-to-last paragraph):

Although Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has said he was nearly “100 per cent” certain that Mossad masterminded the killing, the new details added at least one incongruous wrinkle: Two of the suspects allegedly left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran, Israel’s archenemy, a seemingly unlikely move for alleged Israeli agents.

To recap: The Dubai police chief says he now has nearly 30 suspects. He has submitted nothing other than passports and photos. There is no evidence whatsoever linking these people to the killing. But now, we have a description that two of them fled to Iran for safety after the killing. Who flees to Iran for safety? Well, Iranian and Iranian-backed terrorists, just to name two groups. Either that, or Inspector al-Clouseau is simply pulling names out of his ass and accusing them of being Mossad agents. The only people arrested so far are Palestinians, including two members of Hamas. And yet, the world media is whipping the “Israel Done It” story, serving as judge and jury:

So far, no one in Israel or abroad has come forward to identify themselves as the people who appear in the photographs and to assert their innocence, further suggesting the people in the photographs were indeed connected to the killing.

Or maybe they’re not going to come forward because it would make them targets for terrorists, what with the Dubai police insisting that they’re part of the team that assassinated Mabhouh. Not that it matters. The spin is still anti-Israel on this one, even though a known terrorist and arms dealer is dead.

Funny, but outside the media, world opinion is measured in other ways. Sales of Mossad-themed t-shirts are up worldwide. I’ve noticed that many comments threads on these news stories have far more support of Israel and far less Israel-bashers than the average. So maybe, just maybe, the people brainwashed by the anti-Israel media are starting to get it.

And in a final bit of irony, this news story just came to my notice:

Shark-filled aquarium in Dubai mall springs leak

One shark down. Many, many to go.

02/21/2010

Checkpoint “misery” exaggerated by the AP

Filed under: AP Media Bias, Israel, Terrorism — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:41 am

This get-out-your-hankie story is the latest profile by the AP of the horrors the Palestinians have to go through—all, of course, caused by Israel. This one is an AP correspondent who spent a week (five days, actually) going through the Qalandia crossing into Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been the site of several terrorist attacks in recent years, and terror attack attempts are up sharply recently.

But here, I think, are the most relevant facts in the entire article. The reporter followed five different Palestinians on five different days. He starts with this woe-is-them description of how long the crossing takes:

Until a decade ago, his commute from his West Bank village 20 kilometers (12 miles) north would have taken less than hour. But after the Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000, border checkpoints started going up. The Qalandia crossing grew steadily more arduous, and now Abu Jalil has to get up at 4:30 a.m.

So his commute was less than an hour. The reporter doesn’t say how much less, but he does let us know how much time was added to the commute:

[...] It has taken him 22 minutes to get through.

In fact, here are the five summations of how long the crossing takes to get through for the five Palestinians the reporter traveled with:

(Sunday) It has taken him 22 minutes to get through.
(Monday) Today, his crossing takes the same as Abu Jalil’s – 22 minutes.
(Tuesday) Time crossing: 54 minutes.
(Wednesday) Time crossing: 33 minutes.
(Thursday) Time crossing: 25 minutes.

The evidence does not support the reporter’s contention that the checkpoints are daily humiliation and misery, taking hours and hours out of Palestinians’ lives while they wait to go through to Jerusalem.

The story includes slaps at soldiers for sleeping on the job (those are deserved), being rude to the Palestinians (oh, the horrors! They belched over the loudspeakers), being bored and unconcerned, and not saying anything to the Palestinians. Yeah, they really know how to humiliate people waiting in line. (Say, AP, how about an article about how our TSA workers daily humiliate Americans of every shape and size? There’d be material there for a whole series!)

The AP merely brushes past the real reason for the checkpoints. Witness:

“People forget that the crossing is there for a reason and not because Israel decided, ‘Let’s make Palestinians wait in line,’” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev says. He says the barrier and crossing were built after “a wave of very murderous suicide bombings that killed all too many innocent civilians.”

At the height of fighting in early 2002, suicide bombings were a near-daily occurrence in Israel, often in Jerusalem. There have been no bombings for two years, proving the crossings work, Regev says.

Here’s a list of those near-daily occurrences that killed hundreds and wounded thousands until the separation fence and Operation Defensive Shield. There were 242 deaths in 55 terror attacks in 2002. Publishing the numbers would legitimize the fence, though, so of course, the AP presents only one side of the story.

Last week we got a hagiography of a Hamas murderer. This week, we get a complaint about a device that was built to stop the machinations of people like the dead Hamas murderer. Don’t count on ever getting a story that follows up on the lives of Israelis affected by the suicide bombings. But you can pretty much count on the AP to whitewash the Palestinians and tar the Israelis.

Hey, at least they didn’t try to slip back in the phrase “traditionally Arab” in front of “east Jerusalem.”

02/18/2010

The all-Hamas hit snark news

Filed under: Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time, News Briefs, Terrorism — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

Hey, terrorists are human, too! Why is it that the AP insists on writing hagiographies for dead terrorists, yet usually utterly ignores the biographies of their victims? I’m surprised they even mentioned the names of the two Israeli soldiers he killed.

The world is outraged, outraged! Let’s see, Paris demands clarification, the U.K. expects full cooperation from Israel, the Dubai hit may damage U.K.-Israel ties. Okay, that last one—really? Seriously? Damage ties between the nation that refuses to cancel its law that allows its citizens to charge Israeli politicians with war crimes, that refuses to sell Israel spare parts for weapons systems it already sold, and that has one of the most vocal anti-Israel boycott movements in the world? Relations are going to get worse? Don’t make me laugh.

Outrage for thee, but not for me: So, where’s the outrage that Pakistan is likely torturing the al Qaeda leader we snagged a few days ago? Just to compare and contrast, the world is freaking out because the Israeli spy agency (probably) took out a Hamas terrorist. I’m not hearing any complaints about how the ISI is getting Mullah Baradar to talk.

Just in case you thought they were kidding: Love the headline of this article. “Miliband denies going soft on Israel over ‘Mossad’ killing.” So, what was that about damaging relations between the U.K. and Israel again?

02/05/2010

Snowpocalypse 2 news briefs

Filed under: Politics, Terrorism, The One — Tags: — Meryl Yourish @ 8:30 am

You mean military action really works? EU special forces (yes, I know, that does seem like a contradiction in terms, bear with me) recaptured a ship taken by Somali pirates and freed the crew, apparently with no deaths. The article says it was Danish special forces. Now, perhaps if they start hanging pirates from the yardarms again, that would stop the piracy. (What’s a yardarm? Is there such a thing as a yardleg?)

It’s now the “Great Recession”? That’s what the AP is calling it. And job losses are about to get worse. Huh. Go figure. I’m surprised, because Obama told me in the SOTU that two millions jobs were saved or created by his economic policies. Eight million jobs were lost, though, making me wonder if Scott Brown isn’t right when he says the stimulus didn’t create a single job. (Two great videos of his swearing-in and presser afterwards at the link.)

OHMIGOD! IT’S GONNA SNOW! Say, did you know there was a storm bearing down on us? (That’s the DC area, which is preparing for as much as two feet of snow.) I went to Kroger yesterday to stock up on the essentials (milk, produce, Tostitos). But not this one. And now I have to go to CVS to stock up on cold medicine. Bummer.

Anger management counselor is kinda an angry guy: This is just too perfect. An anger management counselor pulled a gun on two men he said were blocking his car. Awesome. I want that guy counseling me, boy. He’d probably give me tips to make the Snark Briefs even snarkier.

02/04/2010

Pre-Snowpocalypse 2 briefs

Filed under: AP Media Bias, Jew Cooties, Lebanon, Religion, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

Frozen peace: See what peace dividends bring to Egypt? The nation’s journalist’s union punished two editors for having contact with Israel. Ew, Jew cooties!

That famous Muslim tolerance for other religions: Egyptian Christians are protesting for the right to build churches as easily as Muslims build mosques. If you want to build a new church in Egypt, first you have to get the permit signed by the president. If you want to build a new mosque, you get a community permit. Tolerance! And the AP boilerplate is just awesome:

Ten percent of Egypt’s 80 million are Copts, who complain of being denied equal citizenship rights. Clashes do occasionally erupt.

Those “clashes”? Riots that torched Christian-owned shops, and murdered Christians. But hey, don’t let the truth get in the way of your whitewash, AP.

Juvenile scorn in the JPost: Tony Badran schools the “realists” at Foreign Affairs about Hizbullah. (Tony’s my hero.)

In the end, the IRA was cornered, unable to force a British withdrawal, and, worse, unable to even protect its community from Loyalist gangs. It was not the Brits but the IRA that initiated talks when its armed struggle had reached a stalemate.

This is hardly where Hizbullah sees itself today, either ideologically or operationally. Instead of finding itself cornered by its local rivals, Hizbullah has used its weapons to extract powerful political concessions, neutralize the unfavorable result of democratic elections and impose its priorities on its adversaries and the Lebanese government.

You tell ‘em, Tony.

02/03/2010

Sniefs

Filed under: Gaza, Hamas, Israeli Double Standard Time, News Briefs, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 8:30 am

The mouse that squeaked: Iran launched a research rocket into space that brings them up to the science of the 1960s. Woo-hoo! They’re number… um, let’s see. Russia, America, China, anyone else? And what’s on the rocket? A mouse, two turtles, and worms. Hoo-boy, they’re totally ahead of us now! Worms? No, not worms!

Operation Seashell Bomb ongoing: Another floating bomb landed on an Israeli beach. How long before one lands in Gaza and blows up the civilians who will doubtlessly think the tank on it is perfect for scrap metal sale? Counting down to the blame-Israel headlines….

Israeli Double Standard Time: Egyptians killed another Sudanese refugee trying to get into Israel. Of course, there is no outcry from the same people who shriek to high heaven every time Israel bombs a Gaza smuggling tunnel. Because a Jew didn’t kill the poor man. Money quote:

Police killed at least 19 migrants, mostly unarmed Africans seeking work or asylum in Israel, and injured at least 28 last year.

And yet, the UN is silent about this violation of Sudanese human rights. Why is that?

02/02/2010

Tuesday morning briefs

Filed under: Gaza, Hamas, Israel, News Briefs, Terrorism, palestinian politics — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:30 am

Who done it? Now Ha’aretz is saying that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh’s assassins were Arabs. Which is actually even better, because all we need is a little more of that Muslim brotherhood and Israel would be perfectly safe.

Message in a bombshell: Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are sending floating bombs to sea in the hopes of killing Israelis with them. Say, you know what’s wrong with that idea? That thing called “currents”? Well, just watch what happens when the first one explodes on a beach in Gaza. And watch them blame Israel for it.

Another day, another kassam: Another missile hit Israel. Another non-issue for the anti-Israel press. However, the AFP did manage to carry an article about the IDF shooting a Palestinian on the Gaza border. Because only Palestinians matter, apparently.

The lying liars of the Palestinian Authority: Funny, I thought stopping incitement was high up on the list of things the PA must do according to the Road Map. And Mahmoud Abbas tells us over and over again that the Palestinians are adhering to the Road Map. Except they’re not. PMW quotes this interview with Abbas:

“The road map made demands of all parties. We were required to stop terror attacks, recognize Israel and even stop incitement. So come and see what we did. Although the joint committee against incitement is no longer active, we did act and are acting against incitement. They said there is a problem with incitement in speeches in mosques during Friday prayers. Today there is no more incitement at any mosque,” he said.

Really?

“The loathsome occupation in Palestine – its land and its holy places – by these new Mongols and what they are perpetrating upon this holy, blessed and pure land – killing, assassination, destruction, confiscation, Judaization, harassment and splitting the homeland – are clear proof of [unintelligible word - Ed.] hostility, of incomparable racism, and of Nazism of the 20th century.

Liar. And of course, this will never find its way into the mainstream media. But that’s why you all read blogs.

02/01/2010

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh – the man of a thousand deaths

Filed under: Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Terrorism — SnoopyTheGoon @ 11:00 am

It is amazing how many roads led a single person to the 72 virgins. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas assassin made into a martyr by the management, is still cooling down to the temperature of his new environment, but the list of maladies that caused his demise is growing daily. Let me see:

  1. Multiple stubbing wounds – check
  2. Electrocution – check
  3. Poisoning – check
  4. Strangulation (one pillow, lightly used) – check
  5. Injected by a drug that caused heart failure – check

And mind you, I am not following the news on the subject all that closely. Well, at least the poor darling didn’t suffer from head cold on his way to the paradise…

But this one just takes the cake:

Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced the death of its co-founder in exile Mahmoud Al-Mabhuh, who died of terminal cancer in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.

Here is a snapshot of the page:


Notice the date of publication: January 21, 2010 – more than a week before the “news” about the martyr that was allegedly croaked by Mossad in an Abud Dabi hotel hit the air/TV/internets.

And we wanted to send a “Job well done” Hallmark card to Mossad… Now when any Hamas’ grunt shuffles off this mortal coil, Mossad will be credited, I guess. On the other hand, not such a bad idea. For Mossad, I mean. Some guys can claim expenses like there is no tomorrow. And the image…

Via Incognito from Michael Davison.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

01/31/2010

Sunday snowstorm briefs

Filed under: Hamas, Israel, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 9:30 am

Dude, where’s my bodyguards? The Hamasnik’s assassination is looking more and more awesome. Not only was the ex-terrorist (as in ex-parrot) one of the chief figures smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza, but the intel on this operation was absolutely stunning. Why was he alone, when he was usually surrounded by bodyguards? Because they couldn’t get tickets on the same flight, so his bodyguards went on without him. This was a huge win for Israel, and a huge loss for Iran. One for the good guys! (And yes, HRW whines about “extrajudicial killings.” Tough.)

The new GOP strategy: Blame Obama. Well, it makes sense. The Republican playbook will include making sure that Democratic incumbents take their full share of the blame for the current economic conditions by pointing out that, hey, they voted for Obama’s bills. Cap and trade? Dems. Obamacare? Dems. Nationalizing car companies? Dems. Own your issues, Dems! Because the Repubs are going to make you, anyway.

Humiliating checkpoints still catching Palestinian terrorists: That’s funny, I thought the Palestinians wanted peace, and the “humiliating” checkpoints were just there to, well, humiliate them. And yet, this guy was caught with six pipe bombs. Gee, let’s think. What would he be using pipe bombs for? Hm.

01/29/2010

Friday briefs

Filed under: Iran, Israel, Terrorism — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Awesome! The Mossad takes out a major Hamas murderer: Looks like the man who planned the kidnapping and murder of two IDF solders (among other murders) is now receiving his 72 raisins. His brother says he was electrocuted by someone holding an “appliance” to his head. Uh-huh. Must be one of those Zionist Death Rays we keep reading about. The AP reports that he was poisoned, electrocuted, and strangled with a pillow, not necessarily in that order. Regardless of the cause of death, a major terrorist is now pushing up daisies. And that’s a win. And oh yeah, Hamas is hot on the Mossad assassins’ trail. Try not to be too worried.

Profits trump politics: The Palestinians are upset with the French because two French companies are building the light rail system that runs from Jerusalem to outlying suburbs like Pisgat Ze’ev. They want the French government to pressure the companies to stop the rail line. Sure, because the French aren’t, say, trading with Iran or anything like that. Hey, good luck with that hissy fit, Palestinians. I’m sure it will all work out just swell.

We really, really really mean it this time! Following Obama’s toothless statement that Iran is increasingly isolated, Hillary Clinton stated even more forcefully that the U.S. is going to “apply greater pressure.” Wow. I can’t wait to see what happens after those two remarks! Iran must really be scared now!

01/27/2010

Extreme makeover – terrorist edition

Filed under: Terrorism — Tags: — Soccerdad @ 10:00 am

In the past I’ve noted that Washington Post correspondent, Edward Cody is good at conveying sympathy for terrorist devils. He’s at it again with Carlos the Jackal, imprisoned for life, looks in lawsuit to protect his image (via memeorandum)

But apparently determined to control his image even from his Paris prison cell, he has brought suit against a French production company shooting a documentary film on his life and legend, demanding a say on the final cut.

Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, the lawyer representing Ramírez, said that Ramírez is demanding that the Film in Stock production company hand over a master copy of the documentary as soon as it is finished and grant him three months to review the content and impose changes. Anything else, she said in an interview Monday, would violate his intellectual property rights to his name and “biographical image.”

Coutant-Peyre, who is Ramírez’s wife as well as his attorney, said the documentary, being shot for France’s Canal Plus television network, would likely be a propaganda film unless she and her husband were granted a right to oversee its accuracy. She charged that statements by the producers indicate they plan to portray Ramírez as the instigator of terrorist attacks for which he has not been convicted, violating his right to presumption of innocence.

Despite the headline Cody actually reports this straight, not romanticizing Carlos in any way.

If I remember the first Bourne novel, correctly, Ludlum had Carlos in an incestuous relationship with his sister. Presumably that’s worse than being accused of terrorist activities that he was never convicted of. I wonder why that didn’t bother him. Is it because he wasn’t yet married to his lawyer?

Fausta wonders if this will have any implications for terrorists being held in America.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

01/25/2010

Monday morning snarks

Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Politics, Terrorism, The One — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 8:30 am

It’s the Chicago Way: Obama’s now trying to bribe the middle class. Hell, it worked to get him 60 votes for the Obamacare crap sandwich, why wouldn’t he think it will work on us? (P.S. to Obama: Who’s going to pay for all these tax breaks to the middle class? Oh, yeah—the middle class!).

No coup for you: A Belgian minister was refused entry to Gaza. Deputy FM Danny Ayalon is refusing to allow Hamas any propaganda coups. The Belgian minister is, of course, upset. Talk to the hand, Charles.

Would you buy a used camel from this man? Osama bin Laden says the Christmas bomber was his guy. Um, well, first, we kinda knew he was from al Qaeda after he, like, told us he was from al Qaeda. Secondly, dude, shouldn’t you be claiming successful attacks? Because this just makes you look pathetic. And last, well, we kinda think you’re lying, because last year you tried to claim the Fourth of July fireworks across America until you found out that nobody gets blown up in them.

The real far right: Okay, I may not like Rahm Emanuel so much anymore, but these guys are over the top. They’re calling him a Hellenist? Because, hello, we’re still fighting the Greeks or something? Back away slowly if any of these people approach you. They’re a little scary. (Frankly, I don’t think Rahm is whispering anti-Israel nothings into Obama’s ear. I think Obama was anti-Israel before he met Rahm.)

01/22/2010

Friday briefs

Filed under: AP Media Bias, Israel, News Briefs, Terrorism, The One — Tags: , — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

I’m not even going to bother pointing out the anti-Israel spin. Really. The whole article blames the failure of the peace process entirely on Israel. It’s not worth parsing.

Compare and contrast, Obama version: Let’s take a look at why Obama thinks the peace process is failing, and who is to blame. Although he did admit that he set the bar far too high. Gee. Wonder if it might have had something to do with the Cairo speech, which enabled the current Palestinian intransigence?

… from Abbas’ perspective, he’s got Hamas looking over his shoulder and, I think, an environment generally within the Arab world that feels impatient with any process. … although the Israelis, I think, after a lot of time showed a willingness to make some modifications in their policies, they still found it very hard to move with any bold gestures.

As has been said: From the Arabs, words. From the Jews, deeds. That’s what’s wrong with this process.

The Obama administration backs off Israel, blames Bush: Hillary Clinton followed up the statement above by pointing out that peace is, ultimately, in the hands of the Palestinians and Israelis. And may we congratulate the Obama administration for its (belated) keen grasp of the obvious. However, if America and the EU exerted pressure on the Arabs for a change—well, no. I’m sorry. What was I thinking? Geez. I think I just had a senior moment in public.

The other Islamic terrorist attack on U.S. soil in 2009: The man who murdered a soldier outside a recruiting station in Little Rock last year says he’s a member of Al Qaeda. Of course the AP downplays it and pulls the “lone nutjob” excuse. But how many soldiers have to die in jihadi attacks on American soil before we realize we have a problem?

01/21/2010

Briefly

Filed under: Israel Derangement Syndrome, Jew Cooties, News Briefs, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 11:00 am

Ew, Jew Cooties, Part 2: Toldja so. The Iranian is denying touching an Israeli. It’s just a Zionist lie, you see. He never shook hands with a filthy Jew Zionist.Hey, it’s more than just his job at stake. In Mad Mahmoud’s Iran, his life is at stake.

No, not the burekas! The IDF is cutting out the calories, and the soldiers are losing what makes life worth living: Rugulach and burekas. How is this tragedy not front-page news around the world?

But I thought the Palestinians want peace with Israel: The IDF arrested another nine terrorists, complete with explosive device, in the West Bank yesterday. But hey, they really, really, really want peace with Israel. The bomb was for, uh, wait—give me a minute—I’ll think of a peaceful purpose for a bomb… Nah. I’m empty.

Scottie the Hottie, also a friend to Israel: Here he is, lighting a Chabad menorah. There’s also his position paper on Israel, which is awesome. I liked him even before I knew this. Now I wish he was single.

01/18/2010

Extremist in Egypt, teacher in London, what else are you, Reza Pankhurst?

Filed under: Politics, Religion, Terrorism — SnoopyTheGoon @ 8:00 am

The name of Reza Pankhurst reached the headlines in 2002, when he and his friends were arrested by Egyptian police.

Dr Waheed said businessman Mr Pankhurst, student Mr Nawaz and Mr Nisbett, an English convert to Islam who was studying at the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, were all members of the Islamic Liberation Party, also known as Hizb ut-Tahrir.

More headlines followed in due time:

Three Britons accused of promoting a banned Islamic group have been jailed for five years each in Egypt. Ian Nisbet and Reza Pankhurst, from London, and Maajid Nawaz, from Essex, were accused of trying to revive Hizb al-Tahrir (Islamic Liberation Party).

Of course, what Egypt needed more than anything else at the time was another extremist organization in the already boiling cauldron. In 2006 Mr Pankhurst was released from Egyptian jail:

Reza Pankhurst, greets his wife in 2006 after four years in an Egyptian jail for promoting the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement

The four years spent in jail didn’t do anything to Mr Pankhurst resolve, apparently, since his name continues to appear in headlines:

Senior member of extreme Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir teaches at LSE

A senior figure in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a hardline Islamist group that the Government keeps “under continuous review” and the Conservatives want to ban, is teaching and preaching at a top university. The Times has learnt that Reza Pankhurst, who was imprisoned in Egypt for membership of the group, is a teacher at the London School of Economics and regularly preaches to students at Friday prayers.

A quick reminder about the nature of HuT (from their site):

Exclusive to the Muslim world, our political aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic Caliphate as an independent state – having an elected and accountable ruler, an independent judiciary, political parties, the rule of law and equal rights for minority groups.

People familiar with the (quite public) goals of HuT in, for instance, Britain, don’t pay much attention to the “Exclusive to the Muslim world” – HuT calls for establishment of Caliphate everywhere, including Britain. And “the rule of law” means rule of Sharia, make no mistakes. It is not for nothing that Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in multiple countries. Not in UK, though. And maybe having HuT folks speaking about their ways and means openly is the best policy, I wouldn’t be the judge.

But back to our main subject – Reza Pankhurst and HuT.

The group is supposedly barred from organising and speaking on campuses under the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist or fascist views. The presence of one of its prominent members as a university teacher raises new concerns about Islamist radicalisation on campus.

Be interesting to know what exactly our hero preaches to his students. I hope it will come to light, since some people apparently became worried:

A new review of campus extremism began last month after it was discovered that the alleged Detroit airline bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.

But our hero is not stupid, and has an answer to those who question his activities:

Only last week he was talking about the Detroit bomber and saying the guy was not radicalised in London and it was all to do with foreign policy.

Not, to be sure, an original answer, many an extremist used this excuse. But it works, at least for the “mea culpa” inclined part of the British public.

The next headline from the same source, The Times, is even more alarming:

LSE’s Hizb ut-Tahrir teacher Reza Pankhurst and the secretive ‘Brothers’ Circle’

An Islamist radical whose teaching role at a leading university was exposed yesterday by The Times led a secretive “Brothers’ Circle” at which he espoused his hardline views. Reza Pankhurst, a senior figure in the hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir, gathered a group of male members of the London School of Economics (LSE) Islamic Society for private talks.

Mr Pankhurst, whose party advocates the creation of an Islamic state governed by Sharia, is a research student employed as a teacher in the LSE’s government department. He is due to teach undergraduate classes this term in three topics covering nationalism and revolution in the Arab world.

Some teacher… But the sinister dotted lines extend further, and there is an Israeli angle too:

LSE’s Islamist teacher ‘groomed suicide bomber for Tel Aviv attack’

A Radical Islamist who allegedly mentored a British suicide bomber is teaching and preaching to students at a top London university. Reza Pankhurst, a senior member of the hardline Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, is a postgraduate at the London School of Economics and regular preacher at the Friday prayer services at the university.

He was alleged to have played a key role in radicalising Omar Sharif, the British suicide bomber who died after an attempted attack in Tel Aviv in 2003. It is claimed that Sharif met Mr Pankhurst at Hizb meetings when he was a student at King’s College London in the Nineties.

According to Sharif’s former university friend, Zaheer Khan, Mr Pankhurst acted as Sharif’s mentor and had “a big hand to play” organising the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir on campus.

If you need a reminder about the murderous fanatics:

A university student from London was named today as the man who blew himself up in the suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv, which left three people dead and 55 injured.Asif Mohammed Hanif, 21, from Hounslow, west London, was last night named as the fanatic who strapped explosives to his body and set them off outside a crowded bar on Tel Aviv’s beachfront.

Another Briton, named as Omar Khan Sharif, 27, from Derby, was with Asif at the time of the attack and was also padded with explosives, but they failed to detonate and he ran off.

Young, restless, and surely gets around, our Mr Pankhurst, but let’s not forget, “it was all to do with foreign policy”, after all.

I guess you can connect the dots fairly easy now. Tell me who your teacher is…

Cross-posted on SimplyJews

01/15/2010

There’s a kind of snark all over the world

Filed under: Terrorism, The One, World — Meryl Yourish @ 9:30 am

Because Haiti doesn’t have enough disasters already: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the exiled former president(for life) of Haiti, says he can’t wait to get back to Haiti and rebuild the country. Sure. Because he did such a great job while he was president. I’m on the “France should step up and give Haiti back the money it stole from them in the 19th century” side. I knew French colonialism was appalling, but not that France made the victorious former slaves pay a ransom to France to end the worldwide economic boycott that was strangling them. And they blame Israel for the plight of the Palestinians today? Hypocrisy, thy name is France.

Scott Brown up by 15? Holy crap. Pajamas Media commissioned a poll, and it’s not looking good for Martha Coakley in “the Kennedy seat.” You know, our Founders have to be rolling in their graves at the idea of inherited senate seats (are you listening, Joe Biden?). Byron York says the Dems are expecting her to lose. Think about that: Massachusetts is going to vote for a Republican candidate for Senate. Best line I’ve seen so far regarding the Coakley attack machine: “Hey, did you know that Scott Brown actually owns a time-share? Bastard.” (Allahpundit, of course.)

Oh, this won’t affect the daily operations of our capital at all: The Obama administration is thinking of trying al Qaeda terrorists in Washington. Because that’s just what DC traffic needs, more streets shut down. And gee, we can sure afford a few hundred million more in security costs, because it’s not like we have a trillion-dollar deficit or anything like that. Say it with me, folks: Morons.

They couldn’t use the telephone? A source is telling Ynet that the attack on the Israeli embassy convoy was a message to Jordan. You know, like a horse head in their bed. Who was the message from? Hamas, Hezbollah, al Qaeda… so many terrorists to choose. Exit comment: Something about this AP description amuses me: “The explosion ripped through the right side of a curvy road cutting through hilly villages.” Probably the fact that I think it’s a pretty juvenile description.

01/14/2010

Nighttime briefs

Filed under: Holocaust, Israel, Lebanon, Politics, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 7:22 pm

Interpreting the Times, so you don’t have to. Shorter Gail Collins: If only ten percent get to dictated American policy, then by Gaia, it had better be the ten percent that the elites (David Brooks’ “educated class“) are in!

Smells like Hezbollah to me: An Israeli embassy convoy was bombed today, and only sheer luck kept anyone from being killed. My money’s on Hezbollah. Although, according to Ahmadinejad, we can’t rule out the Mossad, because this bombing was in “Zionist style” as well.

What’s the opposite of Holocaust denial? This is huge. The Catholic priest who has been investigating mass graves throughout Europe says that he has found the undocumented mass graves of another 1.5 million Jews in eastern Europe. And hey, he’s got no dog in this fight, so the deniers are going to have a really hard time with this.

01/09/2010

Briefly

Filed under: Gaza, Hamas, Lebanon, Pop Culture, Television, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 10:24 am

He’s Gumby, dammit! Art Clokey, creator of Gumby and Davey and Goliath, died yesterday. I know that Davey and Goliath is Christian proselytizing, but it’s one of the shows from my childhood and I watched it every Saturday morning. Even as a kid, I used to laugh at or ignore the lectures. Far more interesting was imitating Goliath when he said “Davey… I wouldn’t do that, Davey.” (My brother’s name is Dave, so of course, we had to bust his chops.) Saturday morning TV included Gumby and Pokey, of course. And a whole lot more.

20 more Captain Underpants bombers: Well, this is just ducky. There are twenty more Muslim men who will be wearing bomb-laden underpants and trying to get past airport security. I’m betting that there are not twenty more fathers who will be turning in their sons—and we missed the one who did have a father who tried to stop him.

George Galloway, go home! Apparently, Galloway was not just declared persona non grata by the Egyptians. He was tossed out of Egypt and told never to come back. We will not soon get tired of discussing this. The Viva Palestina whackjobs are all out of the country now. And since Israel won’t let these goons come to Gaza by ship, this effectively ends the Galloway channel of money to Hamas. Thank you, Galloway, for being such an ass that Egypt shut you down, too!

The hummus war: Victory, Israel. Israeli cooks doubled the size of the Guinness record hummus that the Lebanese cooked up earlier this year, and so, the hummus wars continue. You know, if this were the sum total of the war between Israel and Lebanon, I’d be happy to let Lebanon win it. Too bad there’s that little Hezbollah issue in the “Really important wars” list of things in the middle east.

01/08/2010

Briefly

Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Israel Derangement Syndrome, Terrorism, United Nations — Meryl Yourish @ 9:00 am

It isn’t raining rain, you know: Israel had a successful test of Iron Dome recently (even the AP has noticed it), and is set to begin deploying the anti-missile batteries in Sderot this summer. Considering the renewed rain of rockets from Gaza, it couldn’t happen soon enough. But the best part of it? The terrorists claiming that this won’t stop them from threatening Israel with kassams. Yeah, it will. If it works as advertised, it’s a game-changer. And I will put my money on the ingenuity of Israel’s Jews over the ability of Arabs to create longer-range “home-made” rockets. It won’t be perfect, but it should eliminate quite a lot of the Hamas/Hezbollah threat. And they know it. Oh, wait. No, these are the same people who believed the radio broadcasts out of Egypt that Israel’s demise was imminent. They won’t know it until their rockets stop landing in Israeli towns.

Egyptians decide that Galloway is a creep; what took them so long? This is so, so special I can barely stand it. Egypt has declared that George Galloway is persona non grata and will never be allowed into Egypt again. Awesome. The “Viva Palestina” convoy is just comedy gold every time. It looks like Georgie boy won’t be able to go to Gaza and deliver on his Cash For Terrorists program ever again, because you can be damned sure that Israel won’t let him in.

The famous Muslim religious tolerance strikes again: Four Malaysian churches were firebombed. Why? Because Malaysian Christians are now legally able to use the word “Allah.” You go, Muslims! Show the world how tolerant a religion Islam really is.

How about charging the UN for their support of terrorists? Unbelievable. Israel is going to compensate the UN for bombing UN schools in Gaza last year. And yet, UNRWA, which pays terrorist salaries all over Gaza, is not going to compensate Israel for the damages its hires cause. Hell, the UN owes Israel for over sixty years of sponsoring Palestinian terrorism.

01/04/2010

Go, go, go; no, no, no

Filed under: Saudi Arabia, Terrorism — Tags: — Soccerdad @ 10:30 am

A while back the New York Times reported on Saudi efforts to “rehab” jihadis.

Jilani frowned slightly and wrote Ali’s answer up on the white board behind him. He read it out to the class before turning back to Ali. “All right, Ali,” the sheik said. “Why do we answer calls for jihad? Is it because all Muslim leaders want to make God’s word highest? Do we kill if these leaders tell us to kill?”

Ali looked confused, but whispered, “Yes.”

“No — wrong!” Jilani cried as Ali blushed. “Of course we want to make God’s word highest, but not every Muslim leader has this as his goal. There are right jihads and wrong jihads, and we must examine the situation for ourselves. For example, if a person wants to go to hajj now, is it right?”

The class chuckled obligingly at Jilani’s little joke. The month for performing hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca that observant Muslims hope to complete at least once in their lives, had ended five weeks earlier, and the suggestion was as preposterous as throwing a Fourth of July barbecue in November.

“Well, just as there is a proper time for hajj, there is also a proper time for jihad,” Jilani explained.

Jilani’s students, who range in age from 18 to 36, are part of a generation brought up on heroic tales of Saudi fighters who left home to fight alongside the mujahedeen in Afghanistan during the 1980s and who helped to force the Soviets to withdraw from the country. The Saudi state was essentially built on the concept of jihad, which King Abdul Aziz al-Saud used to knit disparate tribal groups into a single nation. The word means “struggle” and in Islamic law usually refers to armed conflict with non-Muslims in defense of the global Islamic community. Saudi schools teach a version of world history that emphasizes repeated battles between Muslims and nonbelieving enemies. Whether to Afghanistan in the 1980s or present-day Iraq, Saudi Arabia has exported more jihadist volunteers than any other country; 15 of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudis.

The article mostly reports on the current programs and what leads young men to become jihadis, but adds this cautionary note towards the end.

The government maintains that no graduates of the Munasaha program have returned to violence. But the program is still relatively new, and there are unanswered questions. Is the government dealing with captured militants while really failing to address the root causes of extremism? Will released extremists, now counted as successes, eventually return to jihad?

This report (.pdf) suggests that the Saudi efforts may indeed pay off.

The Saudi program has not yet proven its long-term success. Nevertheless, it represents a creative way of countering terrorist ideological support. It is unlikely to have a significant impact on dedicated, experienced terrorists, and should find its greatest success among younger terrorists and loosely affiliated wannabes. In many ways, this may in fact be more important in reducing the next generation of militants. If combined with other efforts to reduce sympathies for militants and jihadists, modifications of the Saudi counseling system could prove to be a useful tool.

(via The Lede)

However the revelation that a couple of rehab “graduates” were involved in the planning of the recent terror attack has led some to quesiton the effectiveness of the programs. (via memeorandum)

A cushy Saudi Arabian “rehab” center where terrorists are encouraged to express themselves through crayon drawings, water sports and video games is under scrutiny after one of its graduates re-emerged as a leader in the al Qaeda branch claiming responsibility for trying to blow up an airliner on Christmas.

Said Ali al Shihri — a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who now heads the terror group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula — obviously didn’t get to the bottom of his America-hating issues while undergoing the controversial rehab for jihadists.

Inmates like Shihri are supposed to while away the days playing ping-pong, PlayStation and soccer in hopes that the peaceful environment will help them cope with their jihadist rages.

More specifcally:

“The Saudis talk about a success rate of 80 to 90 percent, but when you look at what those numbers mean in reality, it all falls down. There is no criteria for evaluation,” John Horgan, a Department of Homeland Security consultant, told the New York Post.

In 2009, Horgan visited several of the Saudi terrorism rehab centers to report on the programs for Homeland Security.

“These guys are not being de-radicalized. They are being encouraged to disassociate from terrorism, but that doesn’t mean their fundamental views changed,” said Horgan, director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Penn State.

(Horgan was interviewed in the first article cited here and he seemed less skeptical then.)

Jammie Wearing Fool thinks that a new activity should be added to the art therapy.

Wonderful. Why don’t we just give them Play-Doh and they can pretend it’s plastic explosives?

UPDATE: If the failure of the Saudi rehab program as evidenced by the attempt on flight 253 is causing a rethinking of its effectiveness, the failure of releasing Guantanamo inmates to Yemen hasn’t led the administration to rethink that strategy. (h/t Instapundit)

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Brennan explained that, “Of the recent batch that we sent back, about six, many of them are in custody within the Yemeni system right now.” He did not elaborate on the meaning of “many.” “We will decide and determine when, when we should send additional people back,” Brennan continued. “But we’re going to do it in the right way, because Guantanamo should be closed. It was used as a propaganda tool by al-Qaeda, and the president is still committed to it.” The message was clear: Guantanamo inmates are going back to Yemen.

On the bipartisan opposition to transfers to Yemen, Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman said on ABC today that “One thing we better learn from [the Detroit terrorism incident] is it would be irresponsible to take any of the Yemeni detainees in Guantanamo and send them back to Yemen.” Also on ABC, Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, chairman of the intelligence subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee, said, “I think it is a bad time to send the 90 or so Yemenis back to Yemen.”

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

01/03/2010

Sunday snarks

Filed under: Gaza, Israel, Media Bias, Terrorism, The One — Tags: , , — Meryl Yourish @ 7:00 am

I know you are, but what am I? A spoiled rich Saudi prince calls Israel a spoiled child. Really. Irony is apparently not a part of the Arab world.

Priceless: Number of non-Israeli newspapers carrying Israel’s strike on Gaza tunnels: 182. Number of non-Israeli newspapers that carried the grad rocket firing from Gaza yesterday: Zero. Number of non-Israeli newspaper reports reporting three days in a row of mortar and rocket attacks: Zero.

Oh, he’s not an “isolated extremist” after all: Barack Obama acknowledged the obvious and mentions that the Christmas Day underwear bomber is connected to al Qaeda. Way to go, Professor Smartypants. I’m so glad we have, like, the smartest president ever in charge.

The religion of pieces: The Taliban in Pakistan murdered 95 men, women, and children at—a volleyball game. I guess all that talk a few weeks ago about not attacking civilians was just talk. I can’t really wrap my brain around this. They put a truck loaded with explosives in the middle of a crowd watching a volleyball game. When are the Pakistanis going to get that these terrorists don’t give a damn about them, and start ending their support for them?

12/28/2009

Obamaspeak in Bizarro World

Filed under: Juvenile Scorn, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 7:00 am

On what planet did this system work other than Bizarro World, the DC Comics-Superman world where everything is the reverse of what it’s supposed to be:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday that the thwarting of the attempt to blow up an Amsterdam-Detroit airline flight Christmas Day demonstrated that “the system worked.”

Let’s review: The terrorist was on a terrorism watch list. His own father warned the U.S. embassy in Nigeria that his son was a terror risk. He was flying under his own name, and he was still not, say, pulled from the flight.

The terrorists managed to get the ingredients of a bomb on an airplane. He managed to get the detonator on the airplane. He managed to put them all together and set them off. The only thing that stopped that plane from blowing up were the quick reactions of the passengers and crew, and a failed detonator—and not in that order.

So I repeat: On what planet did the system the Bush administration put in place eight years ago work? And seriously, is anyone out there stupid enough to buy this bullshit? What is Janet Napolitano doing in that position if she thinks that the system worked in any way, shape or form? And why the silence from Obama? When is he going to make some kind of statement? How about “Janet Napolitano has resigned to spend more time with her family”?

And no, we’re not going to make bets on whether or not he blames the Bush administration for this one. Of course he will. He inherited 9/11 from the previous administration.

Oh, by the way—you know that narrative that keeps on insisting that people resort to terrorism because they are poor and powerless and have nowhere else to go? Yeah, this guy’s from one of the richest families in Africa. It isn’t poverty that turns people into fanatics who join terrorist groups and try to murder people. It’s the radicalization in the mosques and coffeehouses. Wait for the news out of Britain that Abdulmutallab regularly attended the radical mosques of London while in school there.

12/27/2009

Things you won’t see in the AP coverage

Filed under: Israel, Media Bias, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 12:00 pm

Regarding the terror attack last week that killed an Israeli father of seven, and the IDF raids that killed three terrorists suspected of carrying out the attack, well, it’s official: One of the dead terrorists owned the rifle that killed Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai.

The police forensics lab determined that one of the rifles seized from the Palestinian terrorists who were killed in Nablus Saturday was used in last week’s murder of Jewish settler Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai in the West Bank.

The M-16 rifle, which belonged to Tanzim member Anan Sabah, was found to be compatible with the bullet shells found at the scene of Hai’s murder. Sabah had been released from an Israeli prison as part of the amnesty deal with the Palestinian Authority in 2007, in which Israel agreed not to hunt down Palestinian gunmen who agreed to lay down their arms.

Five bucks says the AP doesn’t update its news on this subject with this information. No, ten bucks. I’m feeling lucky.

Sunday snarks

Filed under: Gaza, Israel Derangement Syndrome, News Briefs, Terrorism — Meryl Yourish @ 11:08 am

Shorter Soccer Dad: NYTimes says: “Tough Military Stance Stirs Little Debate in Israel.” Meryl says: It works. Duh!

Al Qaeda’s nefarious plan succeeded: You know, it’s becoming apparent to me that al Qaeda’s real plan is to make flying the most uncomfortable means of travel possible. Forget blowing us out of the sky. They want us to stop flying altogether. Someone check to see if someone shorted Delta big-time last week.

Please, please, please make me relevant again: Really, Tzipi Livni should listen to her advisers, because nobody in Israel is listening to her. Tzipi who?

Galloway to Egypt: I want what I want when I want it! Egypt is making Georgie go the long way into Gaza, and he’s pitching a fit. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the Egyptian border guards will treat George Galloway the way they treat Sudanese refugees trying to get to Israel. Shoot him in the back or front, I don’t care. Rid us of this troublesome Jew-hater. (Of course, they won’t. He’s gold for the anti-Israel side.)

Hamas anniversary celebrations held in phone booth: Apparently, Gazans voted with their feet today on the anniversary of the Gaza war. Hamas couldn’t even fill the square they were holding the “victory” celebrations in. You would think that would give the world a clue as to how unpopular Hamas rule is in Gaza. But of course, that won’t stop gorge-rising Galloway from making his way to Gaz and giving Hamas more money and ass-kissing. Favorite part of the article: Hamas tried to co-opt the Israeli Memorial Day siren. Gazans kept on driving.

Three bombs, two dead Hamasniks in Lebanon: What is up with that? Someone is killing the terrorists while they’re on holiday with other terrorists? Hmmmm. If that was Mossad, well, good work, guys!

Just a thought before I go: How is it that the second terrorist attack on American soil in less than two months has gone completely unremarked by the president? It’s all well and good that he’s letting the media know that he’s being “updated” by all the agencies involved, but not even a quick statement from his Christmas hideaway in Hawaii? And they still talk about George W. Bush and “My Pet Goat.” Uh-huh. Effing hypocrites.

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