Rusted Sky

Now he won't shut up.

Second message from bin Laden - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com

CAIRO, Egypt - Osama bin Laden endorsed the new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq in an Internet posting Saturday, and he warned Shiites there against collaborating with the United States in its fight against Sunni insurgents.

In his fifth audio message this year and his second in two days, bin Laden also warned nations not to send troops to Somalia, where Islamic militants have taken control of the capital and much of the south.

Saturday’s message came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, started a regional tour seeking support from Sunni Arab countries for his national reconciliation plan that contains a conditional amnesty for insurgents excluding al-Qaida members.

Iraq was the closest that Osama had come to a Caliphate - though I'm thinking Saddam was being more expidient and pragmatic (in going for holier-than-thou status, what with his donating blood to write a copy of the Koran and all... tell you what, let's give him that chance again, a print run of a thousand, printed in his own blood, and if you'll just lay over here on the table and let us tap you for a couple of gallons...) in his support of Fundamentalist Islam than anything else. Let's face it - Iran's rapidly getting pretty squirrely, Somalia's not exactly going to turn into an Islamic Paradise anytime soon (and if it did, judging by what condition it's in now an Islamic Paradise is a pretty close approximation of a variety of Hells) and the more Fundamentalist Islamics blow up potential supporters, the less support they're going to see from the world community.

So come on, Osama - talk all you want. All you're doing is showing just what the sickness you're trying to spread is made of...

J.

Oh, it's been a good weekend...

Saturday we had a 'Games Night' - where a bunch of us get together and the women play games while the men talk (or watch cheesy movies - had a Cheesy Movie night once and the worst movie brought got a block of cheese) and Sue snuck a 50th birthday party into the mix. (I was pretty sure something was up when the ice makes mysteriously 'broke' right before the party and I had to go get a couple of bags at Quick Trip.

When I got back, the black balloons, inflatable walker and so on were ready. AAAGH! 5-0! NOOO!!!!

John & Betty B. gave me a contractor-grade, 750 watt halogen 'nightlight'. Thanks! It'll be useful, though not quite for the 'nightlight' function! Juanita passed a generic gift card (which has already been used at MicroCenter...) and James and Linda Y. gave me a Rocketmen game set. It was quite a party, with some pretty spectacular fireworks! (The brand of fireworks was TNT, by the way. Some samples of a competing brand, Phantom, were bought on Monday - review on those later.)

Sunday I boogied over to Frye's while the rest of the family went to see 'Hoot' (which I had no interest in) and thence to MicroCenter where I got some more hardware for Big Blue. (Two more WD 250 GB drives.) And then, while installing the things where the late, lamented Samsung drive was previously, I found a small wave-solder resistor. Looking around on the circuit board on the Samsung, there was a spot where something that size could have dropped off (leaving behind a cold solder joint) and I figured "What the hell?"

At Christmas, the little guy gave me one of those "ColdHeat" soldering irons - powered by a couple of AA batteries. It's basically worthless for any real soldering, but it turned out to be JUST the thing for this. I tacked it down, plugged it in... and it spun up and read like a champ. (So I take back some of the things I said about Samsung hard drives.) Needless to say, I copied the stuff off it ASAP. Noting vital, but I'm not going to entrust it with anything important. So now, I've got near onto a terabyte of storage.

Moday the little guy and I had breakfast at KrispyKreme, then got emissions checked (and wasn't THAT a thrill!) and got the tag renewed on my car. After that, we went over to Frye's again - which has some pretty interesting stuff in their housewares department. (Anyone want a microwave with a built-in toaster? For $25, I could get a combination toaster-oven/frying pan/coffee maker. Perfect for the small apartment, but unfortunately not available on-line...) It's quite intriguing to see the various things folks have come up with...

After Frye's, we stopped at a Phantom Fireworks stand and got some odd items - a climbing-panda set and a dozen small tanks that were supposed to roll and shoot sparks. The pandas spun but didn't climb, the tanks tended to flip over (if they moved at all) and sparked in a rather desultory fashion. We won't be buying any more fireworks with the Phantom label on them. Their web site is considerably better than their products. You might also want to check out TNT Fireworks - you DO get more bang for your buck from them.

There was a church nearby which was having a fireworks display - they did a VERY good job of it, but not so good a job of getting the traffic out of their parking lots afterward. Well, it was free - you can't complain much about that.

Then yesterday we watched the Shuttle Launch, and afterwards went over to James and Linda's for a 4th of July party and then we tried to find a good vantage point for fireworks watching. The top deck of one of the hospitals Sue works at turned out to be a pretty decent vantage poiint, and we got home about 11. I'd LOVE to see a shuttle launch in person, by the way - though it's getting pretty unlikely I'll ever see one, since there's not too many shots left in that system.

And today, it's back to work. Boo, hiss.

J.

But you might find it interesting.

Sodium Party

Personally, I'd be a bit uninclined to do this - but it's pretty cool to watch.

J.

And that looks to be just like what North Korea's doing. After yesterday's missile tests (now we know where Phantom Fireworks gets their stocks...) and all the attention THEY'RE getting, this little story comes as little to no surprise.

Korea - Strategy Page

July 5, 2006: While everyone's attention was focused on North Korean missiles, the real story is the North Korean economy. It continues to fall apart, and more North Koreans are unhappy about that. Worse yet, more North Koreans are finding out how badly they have been screwed by their leaders. Meanwhile, North Korean officials engage in even more bizarre behavior. For example, food and fuel supplies sent to North Korea have been halted, not to force North Korea to stop missile tests or participate in peace talks, but to return the Chinese trains the aid was carried in on. In the last few weeks, the North Koreans have just kept the trains, sending the Chinese crews back across the border. North Korea just ignores Chinese demands that the trains be returned, and insists that the trains are part of the aid program.

The Chinese have tried to talk the North Koreans out of these pointless fantasies, and for their trouble they have their trains stolen. How do you negotiate under these conditions? No one knows.

And it should. How long will China be willing to send trains one-way before they start asking (in the politest of terms, no doubt) for their property back?

J.

While the UN dithers. Here's a bit of info on the mess.

My Way News - China, Russia Resist North Korea Sanctions

I can actually understand why Russia and China are a bit... hesitant. Kim Jong-il doesn't exactly seem to be playing with a full deck, but in mitigation of his stance his daddy wasn't exactly a great role model and didn't do much of a job teaching junior how to actually run a country. When you don't start with a full deck it's hard to recover. And it looks like Kim Jong-il is trying to get respect the same way a kid on a playground would - by trying to bully others into giving him what he wants. As it is, if he didn't have nukes NK would be a third-world hellhole... (wait - it already is...) without a viable economy (wait - it already is...) and a kleptocratic government (wait, it's already got one) and pretty much no prospects.

And the people look to the south and see what they could have had if it weren't for Kim Jong-il and his insistence on Korean-flavored Communism and juche... I wonder how much longer they'll be forced to endure the insistence on guns over butter, especially considering that no country neighboring it even wants to invade? (Look at it from China and Russia's point of view. What the hell would they GAIN by taking over NK? A decaying infrastructure, a subjugated, malnourished and poorly educated people - no upside and plenty of down. Hell, an invasion would likely be the best thing that could happen to the majority of the people there - especially if the invaders brought food.)

Just goes to show - you get obsessed about playing with your Dong(s) and all sorts of bad things happem.

J.

VERY low and very fast.

YouTube - fly

South African A.F. recruitment video, I think.

Enjoy!

J.

THIS one will likely work.

My Way News

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan plans to test-fire a missile capable of hitting China, alarming the island's main ally, the United States, a cable news network said on Thursday.

The Hsiung Feng III, developed by Taiwan's Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, has a range of 600 km (360 miles) and is accurate to within half a meter, the online edition of cable news network ETTV (http://www.ettoday.com) said, quoting unnamed military sources.

China and Taiwan have been baring their fangs at each other for years now - sooner or later China's going to realize it will cost more to take Taiwan than they'll get from it, both in international prestige and the damge they'd have to accept (both on the mainland and in destroyed Taiwan infrastructure, and the casualties they'd take from a Taiwanese people who DO NOT want to live under Communist rule) - and I think they might already have realized that. Yes, they make noise about reunification to save face - but that reunification's not going to happen without force, and force would destroy what they want to gain.

J.

It sucks. But not in a bad way. And there are things that would suck significantly worse, and not in a good way. I've got my health, I've got all my limbs and all but 8 of my teeth, and fairly good vision. That's a start.

What I think is best, actually, is that along the way I've gained enough perspective to learn just how much I don't know. When you're 20, you know everything, you're sure of everything, and the world would be a GREAT place if folks would just LISTEN to you and implement your ideas.

When you're 30, if you're smart and have been watching how the world works, you start to realize that maybe you're not as smart as you thought you were.

When you're 40, and observant, you start to realize that a lot of the things you thought were great at 20 weren't so hot in retrospect.

And at 50, with perspective, you realize a lot of the things you took as gospel on how the world should work in your twenties and thirties would actually have been severely troublesome if implemented.

(Extreme case in point - all the folks who flirt with the nihilistic idea of taking apart the government and rebuilding it into some "People's Revolutionary Council". Look at France. They've tried it several times, to no great effect. And the liking I had at the time for Randian notions isn't all that much better, or my thinking that the UN could actually solve major world conflicts.)

With age comes wisdom? Perhaps - but it depends on what you'd call 'wisdom', I guess. At this point in my life I realize that it's pretty unlikely I'll ever do something really 'great' - (though Rodin and Picasso were certainly productive in their latter years, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright) - but there's a lot of small things I can do that'll make small impacts, and doing those will end up being whatever legacy I might leave to the world. Being a good husband, being a good father - they're what's important long-term. I'll not be remembered for anything by most of the world a fifty or a hundred years hence, but my son and his children should.

Along the way I've developed a twin sense of both gratitude and regret regarding family and friendship. Unfortunately, certain traumatic experiences I had in high school seem to have somewhat stunted my ability to form new friendships. (I look at Aaron and envy his ability to just connect with someone else his own age - five minutes and it's like they've been friends for life.) It takes time, and a lot of effort to bring myself to a point where I can open up to folks, and as poorly as I do it now I was a lot worse 20, 25 years back. (Many thanks to the folks of Myriad - who've let me open up at my own rate.)

As far as family goes... I'm so grateful to my lovely bride Sue, who sees good things in me that I have no ability to see in myself. (She often says I'm my own worst critic, without justifiable cause. And when she points out to me I'm being irrationally critical, I can then deflect or defuse it.) And many thanks to her wonderful family, who've shown me just how important family actually IS. (My own parents? And brother? Eh. We're getting along a lot better than we were, but nowhere near like Sue's.)

And then there's the little guy. The unconditional love of a child is an amazing, healing thing. I've made mistakes, I've been impatient, but he still loves me and at the end of the day he knows I love him with all my heart.

You know the old Beatles song, "All you need is love"? Well, you need a bit more than that, but without it you warp. But with time and love, you can get straightened out again.

What would I have done differently? Oh, there's a lot. The biggest problem I've had... is fear of various kinds. Hard to recognize, hard to deal with sometimes. Fear keeps you from doing a lot of things you'd like to do. Then there's the things I wanted to do but haven't (for whatever reason) such as learn to fly. But there's always something else that's had priority... And you can probably guess some of the other things from the above paragraphs. I'd also have started saving aggressively for retirement a lot earlier than I did.

But hey - your bad choices are always 20-20 in hindsight.

And if you haven't learned that by the time you hit 50, you're not trying.

J.

(Lord, I'm glad this isn't the 70's. Just think of the bad jokes and puns...) Anyway, you can tell a lot from a little bit of trajectory info (and a lot of ELINT data...) and apparently the US military had eyes and ears open on this launch...

N. Korea missile aimed at area off Hawaii - report

Looks like it's about 4500-5000 miles from NK to Hawaii. That's well within the range of a
Minuteman III missile. I think Jong's not just waving his Dong - if he can make and mate a nuclear warhead, I think the SOB would try it.

Of course, considering the failures so far I'd be worried if I were under the flight path of the missile. And I wonder how many of the scientists he had working on the project were found guilty of crimes against the state and executed today, because the missile launches failed?

Or did they actually fail? Did they learn enough to make sure the next ones won't? Or were they blown intentionally to put us at ease?

Guess we'll see. But aiming the missiles at open ocean is one thing - aiming them at Hawaii is something else again. Things could rapidly change from "Damn, what a clown" to "Damn - there goes Hawaii."

J.

Apparently it doesn't.

The RCP Blog - The Bush Boom - Larry Kudlow

The thought here is very simple: Low tax rates on capital benefit both businesses and consumers. In fact, a combination of record low taxes and record high profits is the key to understanding our current economic boom, which is the greatest story never told.

Just take a look at today's factory orders report for May. It shows that order backlogs are surging at a 13 percent rate. This is yet another indicator of the business boom.

Moreover, the ADP jobs report hints at a much stronger than expected jobs gain in Friday's report--368,000 new jobs in June, compared to street consensus of only 160,000. (This is the largest monthly increase in employment since the ADP index was created five years ago.)

Yet, the demand-siders continue their doom and gloom. They've predicted four or five growth pauses in the last three years, as the economy shrugged off their pessimism and roared ahead. They have been wrong over and over again. And all signs suggest they will continue to be wrong.

Funny - you'd think something like that would be noteworthy.

J.

... that during the initial run into Iraq there were a number of reports of many drums of 'insecticide' in various ammo dumps, and then the topic just kind of disappeared.

And then, 'no WMDs were found'.

Well, here's an odd idea to toss out for discussion - what if the military DID find WMD stockpiles - yet kept it as tight a secret as the Manhattan project, despite the criticism and shit-storming and posturing of politicians who used the supposed absence of WMDs to trash Bush?

DefenseLINK News: Munitions Found in Iraq Meet WMD Criteria, Official Says

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2006 – The 500 munitions discovered throughout Iraq since 2003 and discussed in a National Ground Intelligence Center report meet the criteria of weapons of mass destruction, the center's commander said here today.

"These are chemical weapons as defined under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and yes ... they do constitute weapons of mass destruction," Army Col. John Chu told the House Armed Services Committee.

First and foremost, it's been established that Saddam had numerous weapons caches hidden around the country for use by 'freedom fighters' to resist the 'infidel occupier'. I'm going to make a wild-assed assumption here, but would the common knowledge that there were stockpiles of sarin and mustard shells (or drums of the stuff) have helped or hindered the operations in Iraq? Figure that anything put in the news is going to get back to the folks we DON'T want to see get their hands on this stuff. Can you imagine a car bomb attack on a mosque, but instead of explosives they used mustard gas? THAT would have been a terror weapon indeed.

Top News Article | Reuters.com | US forces have found some old Iraqi WMD, says general

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military has found more Iraqi weapons in recent months, in addition to the 500 chemical munitions recently reported by the Pentagon, a top defense intelligence official said on Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, did not specify if the newly found weapons were also chemical munitions. But he said he expected more.

Document Details WMD Recovered In Iraq, Santorum Says -- 06/21/2006

(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) announced Wednesday the discovery of more than 500 munitions or weapons of mass destruction, specifically "sarin- and mustard-filled projectiles," in Iraq.

Reading from unclassified portions of a document developed by the U.S. intelligence community, Santorum said, "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."

A ten year old 155mm shell containing Sarin may not be 'safe' to fire out of a cannon, but it'd be useful in an urban IED situation.

BREITBART.COM - Hundreds of chemical weapons found in Iraq: US intelligence

US-led coalition forces in Iraq have found some 500 chemical weapons since the March 2003 invasion, Republican lawmakers said, citing an intelligence report.

"Since 2003, Coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent," said an overview of the report unveiled by Senator Rick Santorum and Peter Hoekstra, head of the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives.

"Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf war chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf war chemical munitions are assessed to still exist," it says.

The lawmakers cited the report as validation of the US rationale for the war, and stressed the ongoing danger they pose.

"This is an incredibly -- in my mind -- significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false," Santorum said.

Or, they'll just ignore them completely, or find experts who say these aren't the WMDs we were looking for. Apparently they're too old to count. (Never mind that Saddam didn't disclose them, in violation of numerous requirements.) That seems to be the MSM way any more. A lot of folks have a lot invested in not finding them. And 10-20 year old sarin is still deadly.

J.

More and more evidence appears showing that Saddam wasn't sitting back and being a good little dictator re WMDs. Or helping the Taliban, for that matter.

Captain's Quarters has a lot you might find interesting.

Spreading bioweapons

Russian Assistance (and I can understand why the delay on translating someting like this...)

Anthrax program personnel

WMD Research

Nuclear, Biological and Chemical staffing.

Al Quaeda Assistance

It's all one big jigsaw puzzle, and it's starting to come together faster and faster. You might have an idea of the shape of it, but getting everything together properly can be a pretty big chore. But it's pretty clear that the picutre isn't of a couple of cute kittens frolicking with butterflies, but of an open mouth of one of Geiger's Aliens, about to feed.

Captain's Quarters has lots'o'good stuff - including a discussion on those 'hydrogen-generating' trailers. Turns out they'd be singularly ill-suited to the task. Could there have been a cover up for some reason?

J.

Very detailed, and worth your time.

Gates of Vienna: Putting the Pieces Together

Before the jetliners made their fateful rendezvous with the World Trade Center, like most Americans I was relatively ignorant about Islam. I knew Muslims had a Book and considered themselves “children of Abraham”. I knew they prayed towards Mecca, and worshipped in mosques. I knew their Prophet was called Mohammed. I remembered that Malcolm X was a Muslim, and that the Crusades were initiated to liberate Jerusalem from Islam during the Middle Ages. I knew that Islamic fundamentalists had taken over the government of Afghanistan in the 1990s. But that was about it.

I’ve learned a lot about Islam since September 11th, 2001.

J.

And I'm... well, start with 'flabbergasted' and work on from there. Over at Captain's Quarters, it looks like UNMOVIC found proof pre-2003 that Saddam was starting up ricin extraction again.

Continuing my review of the many documents released from the DocEx files over the last two days, I found yet another interesting piece of information regarding Saddam Hussein's pursuit of WMD. In a summary of a larger document, the translators found that Iraq had restarted its processing of castor-bean extraction, from which ricin can be developed -- and that UNMOVIC discovered it in December 2002.

From CMPC-2003-003766-HT.pdf, with line breaks and emphases mine:

Ricin toxin is found in the bean of the castor plant. UNMOVIC inspections since December 2002 have verified that the bombed caster oil extraction plant at Fallujah III has been reconstructed on a larger scale.

So here we have confirmation that Iraq continued to work on WMD, and that the new UNMOVIC inspections verified that. We had previously heard from the mainstream media that UNMOVIC only found that the Iraqis still refused to cooperate fully with the inspections, but this puts a little different light on the situation as the UN found it as they debated how to deal with Iraq. Even with Saddam actively pursuing WMD, as it turns out, they refused to take any action except to propose extended inspections.

The documents are coming from the Foreign Military Studies Office, Joint Reserve Intelligence Center. With the following disclaimer.

FMSO DOC-EX

At the request of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office has created this portal to provide the general public with access to unclassified documents and media captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The US Government has made no determination regarding the authenticity of the documents, validity or factual accuracy of the information contained therein, or the quality of any translations, when available. The ODNI press release and public affairs contact information is available at http://www.odni.gov/

Damn. I'm ...

Disclaimer - I don't read Arabic. I can't translate this stuff. For all I know, the document in question could be a uniform inventory or a book report. I've GOT to take someone else's word on the contents. You can read it here, but it looks like hen scratches to me.

If this pans out - the UN credibility's going to be shattered. (At least as far as I'm concerned...)

J.

Not surprising, really - considering how the UN was ignoring stuff they found in Iraq. Now this guy was getting on the nerves of the Iranian nuke program folks - so he had to go.

A Daily Briefing on Iran: Atomic secrets: The man, who knew too much

You know, this REALLY doesn't do much for the UN's credibility.

(Not like they care, right? It makes you wonder what sort of under-the-table payments are going to the UN from Iran. We've already established that if you want a pass fromt he UN on damn near anything you've got to provide either sex or cash...)

J.

Building collapses in N.Y. City - U.S. Life - MSNBC.com

NEW YORK - A three-story building collapsed Monday in midtown Manhattan after an explosion and fire at the site, fire officials said.

Smoke rose high above the building, located on 62nd Street between Park and Madison avenues.

Fire crews were trying to douse the flames before entering the structure to search for victims.

My first thought is that someone was wiring up something (like to knock a hole in a tunnel) and didn't have the battery disconnected. But there's other things it COULD be.

(Update: Like a gas leak, apparently. Move along, nothing to see...)

J.

You might find this site interesting.

911Myths

I know there's a lot of garbage posted on the internet about 9/11 - but this pulls together and debunks a LOT of it.

The web is full of sites covering various conspiracy theories. Many seem well-researched, and appear to have plenty of detailed documentation to prove their claims. But are they really true?

We don’t know, but one good way to start is by checking a few claims for yourself. We tried that with a number of 9/11 sites, with surprising results. Many of the “facts” we read were distorted, or simply wrong. Quotes were routinely taken out of context. Relevant information was often ignored. And much of this could be discovered with a minimum of online research.

Whatever you believe about 9/11, the spreading of false claims helps no-one, and we’d like to play a small part in revealing some of them. We’re not about debunking entire conspiracies, then, but will use this site to zoom in on what we think are the more dubious stories, revealing the misquotes, the distortions, the inaccuracies that are so common online.

J.

KILL, DON'T CAPTURE By RALPH PETERS - New York Post Online Edition: Postopinion

July 10, 2006 -- THE British military defines experience as the ability to recognize a mistake the second time you make it. By that standard, we should be very experienced in dealing with captured terrorists, since we've made the same mistake again and again.

Violent Islamist extremists must be killed on the battlefield. Only in the rarest cases should they be taken prisoner. Few have serious intelligence value. And, once captured, there's no way to dispose of them.

Killing terrorists during a conflict isn't barbaric or immoral - or even illegal. We've imposed rules upon ourselves that have no historical or judicial precedent. We haven't been stymied by others, but by ourselves.

Also, honorable combatants aren't supposed to kill members of the opposing forces if taken prisoner.

The oft-cited, seldom-read Geneva and Hague Conventions define legal combatants as those who visibly identify themselves by wearing uniforms or distinguishing insignia (the latter provision covers honorable partisans - but no badges or armbands, no protection). Those who wear civilian clothes to ambush soldiers or collect intelligence are assassins and spies - beyond the pale of law.

Traditionally, those who masquerade as civilians in order to kill legal combatants have been executed promptly, without trial. Severity, not sloppy leftist pandering, kept warfare within some decent bounds at least part of the time. But we have reached a point at which the rules apply only to us, while our enemies are permitted unrestricted freedom.

The present situation encourages our enemies to behave wantonly, while crippling our attempts to deal with terror.

Consider today's norm: A terrorist in civilian clothes can explode an IED, killing and maiming American troops or innocent civilians, then demand humane treatment if captured - and the media will step in as his champion. A disguised insurgent can shoot his rockets, throw his grenades, empty his magazines, kill and wound our troops, then, out of ammo, raise his hands and demand three hots and a cot while he invents tales of abuse.

The solution is simple.

Take no prisoners.

No - it doesn't drag us down to their level. Their level would be around the 'Behead one of our soldiers, we round up 1000 Iraqi and kill them.' level. Or the "Implant an IED and blow one of our soldiers up, and we'll kill everyone in every building for 250 yards around" level.

We have been zealous in our efforts to NOT target civilians. To avoid at all costs accidental deaths. To behave honorably BY OUR STANDARDS when dealing with the Iraqi people. To the point where, after three+ years you've got a mere handful of incidents like Abu Grabass, and Haditha. Damn. Panties on the heads of our prisoners! Egads!

And each and every one of them is blown up to be MUCH worse than THIS. (Warning - not for the squeamish. Decapitation of American soldiers - yeah, the two that got taken by Michael Moore's 'Freedom Fighters'.)

So you know something? I'm not at all against summary execution at this point. We fight and behave by the rules and well beyond. Al Quaeda's taken advantage of that, while enjoying a peculiar freedom from the rules themselves. So - it's time to drop back and JUST abide by the rules.

To the letter - and not one bit more. Yeah, we'll abide by the Geneva protocols... but you probably won't like the result one damn bit.

Oddly enough - after reviewing the above I'm reminded of the initial bombing campaigns over Germany in WW2. Great care (at least for the time) was taken to avoid hitting civilians and to target industrial infrastructure only. But as the war went on, less and less care was taken and eventually civilian targets were considered fair game. After the Blitz, when Germany targeted London (which could by no stretch of the imagination be considered fair game under the Geneva protocols, being packed with civilians and all) then it was considered rather foolish to abide by rules that the other side had already discarded and after a while the prohibition against targeting civilians was set aside by Spaatz, with Doolittle objecting. The precedent's been established.

But I'm pretty sure we won't act on it.

J.

Who pointed me over to the Ray Robison blog, a VERY nice compendium of information and documents re Iraq and the WoT.

AJacksonian's blog - Dumb Looks Still Free is also very read-worthy. The man has a VERY high signal to noise ratio in his posts - much higher than mine, I think. As he put it in the comment that alerted me to this blog -

If you want the lowdown on translated documents Ray Robison is the one to see. The man is not only a retired Intel Analyst but was on some of the inspection teams that got thrown out by Saddam. Even though he could grind axes, he, instead, just wants to show that what he saw was really there as he told about it and *not* made up. And gives the world first-hand and top-notch Intel Analysis to boot... for free! He has done most of the cross-reading and coordinating on the Army of Translators, and continues to be the 'go-to' man for the Saddam document analyses.

Damn. Those are some HARDCORE folks.

Fire and Ice: An Air Force Colonel's View of Marines

Dear Dad, If I ever hear airmen griping and complaining, I jump into them pretty quickly, now. Most people over here have nothing to gripe about compared to Marines. Marines are different. They have a different outlook on life. One Marine Private was here for several days because he was a lower priority evacuation patient. He insisted on coming to attention and displaying proper military courtesy every morning when I came through on rounds. He was in a great deal of pain, and it was a stressful to watch him work his way off the bed and onto his crutches. I told him he was excused and did not have to come to attention while he was a patient,and he informed me that he was a good Marine and would address "Air Force Colonels standing on my feet, Sir." I had to turn away so he would not see the tear in my eye. He did not have "feet" because we amputated his right leg below the knee on the first night he came in.

I asked a Marine Lance Corporal if there was anything I could get him as I was making rounds one morning. He was an above the knee amputation after an IED blast, and he surprised me when he asked for a trigonometry book. "You enjoy math do you?" He replied, "Not particularly, Sir. I was never good at it, but I need to get good at it, now." "Are you planning on going back to school?" I asked. "No sir, I am planning on shooting artillery. I will slow an infantry platoon down with just one good leg, but I am going to get good at math and learn how to shoot artillery".

J.

Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex

Safe for work, unless you've got folks around you who detest it when you sit there snickering...

Assume a mating between Superman and a human woman designated LL for convenience.

Either Superman has gone completely schizo and believes himself to be Clark Kent; or he knows what he's doing, but no longer gives a damn. Thirty-one years is a long time. For Superman it has been even longer. He has X-ray vision; he knows just what he's missing. (*One should not think of Superman as a Peeping Tom. A biological ability must be used. As a child Superman may never have known that things had surfaces, until he learned to suppress his X-ray vision. If millions of people tend shamelessly to wear clothing with no lead in the weave, that is hardly Superman's fault.*)

J.

My heart just bleeds for her.

Political Affairs Magazine - Troops Home Fast: Day 6 - Cindy Sheehan

I find traveling out of the country very challenging being on a fast. When I was on a layover in Madrid on my way to Venice, Italy yesterday, the closest thing I could find to a smoothie to get a little protein was a coffee with vanilla ice cream in it. Traveling for 22 hours is very taxing under normal circumstances--but then again, when have we had normal circumstances since the 2000 and 2004 successful coup attempts that have brought BushCo into power?

I traveled from Venice to the frontier of Italy to the province of Udine which is right at the foot of the pre-Alps. I am here for a huge youth festival which includes many elements of social justice and peace work. It is beautiful and the air feels different from other places that I have travelled. It is strangely soft and gentle as is the natural light. However, there is not a Jamba Juice on every corner, so blended juice drinks with protein powder are impossible to find.

I have also received so many emails from worried, wonderful, and well-meaning friends and supporters in the US who are concerned about me and all of the others who are fasting. I don't like being on this fast, trust me,

To quote Inigo Montoya from "The Princess Bride": "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

J.

EA betting big on quirky Spore - Forbes.com - MSNBC.com

I might have to get a copy of that when it comes out...

J.

I've been pretty unimpressed by the whole Plame incident - it seemed to me there was a lot of screaming and shouting about pretty much nothing. And as far as who 'leaked the name'...

Defining "News" For the Mainstream Media - Wizbang

1. Novak inadvertently learned Wilson's wife sent him to Africa from a still unnamed source.

2. Novak learned Plame's name from Joe Wilson's own entry in Who's Who.

3. When Novak asked Rove, he obliquely confirmed Plame's identity.

4. Bill Harlow of the CIA also confirmed Plame's identity when asked.

5. We learned various bits and pieces about Novak's legal entanglements that don't add to the bigger story.

But it's kind of funny. Over on Metafilter, which has been EAGERLY following the Plame controversy, sure this would bring down Rove, Cheney and Bush, there's not going to be a Fitzmas - instead, it's sour grapes time.

(And I'm sure you know the fable that phrase comes from.)

I almost feel sorry for them.

J.

Not that I'd want one of these - but if you're a fan of the Godfather movies, it might have a certain appeal.

Horse head pillow

Wow.

J.

I'm bumping this to the top. New info in - check at the bottom.

The Corner on National Review Online

Castro Dead? [Jonah Goldberg]

Two e-friends working on Wall Street say rumors are running around that he's bought the big one. I find nothing on the wires.
Posted at 2:33 PM

Update: False alarm, darn it. He's still alive, and the people of Cuba are still screwed.

Update again: Over at The Jawa Report, apparently Fidel Castro is Rumored Dead....Again

And there's a bit more over at Elephants in Academia

Reports of Castro's death are so eagerly awaited that it takes little more than a bad telephone connection to start the rumor mill up and going. After all, people hear what they want to hear. But this particular round of collective wishful thinking feels a little funny to me because of the very silence from Havana. Usually there's lots of talk, then a stout denial. On this one there's nothing. So we shall see what we shall see. One thing's for certain: no matter what Castro's doctors say, it will happen one day.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the people of Cuba. May they be free of the damn bastard that's ridden on their backs and sucked their blood for almost 50 years.

J.

Well, there go the oil prices again.

Pajamas Media: Israel Army Enters Into Lebanon After Hezbollah Kidnaps Two Soldiers

Israel Army Enters Into Lebanon After Hezbollah Kidnaps Two Soldiers

(Yeah, like I think THAT will ever happen.)

Now Hezbollah is getting into the act. I think they're about to find out that this whole hostage thing's a pretty bad idea. Isreal seems to be thinking that it's time to really clean out a lot of the problems they've been dealing with for the last 50+ years, and I think they're right to do so.

I think when Israel returned the Gaza Strip, that was a test of sorts. When they elected Hamas into leadership, that was another. When they started firing rockets from Gaza into Israel, that was an indication that the goodwill they attempted to show by returning the Gaza Strip wasn't exactly reciprocated. Israel's bent over backwards trying to 'accomodate' the Palestinians - (who, you will notice, even EGYPT won't let onto their territory - we won't talk about how Saudi won't allow them in at all and how Jordan had to kick them out...) and all they get for it is trouble in large doses.

So it looks like Israel's had enough of pretending they can make nice with the Palestinians, no matter the provocation. About all I can say is - good on them, and good luck. Looks like it's time to kick ass and take names.

J.

Might be a little of both.

WP: Army to end exclusive Halliburton deal - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq.

And now they're going to try to find three. I wish them luck.

J.

Marine Corps News -> Marines thwart insurgents’ attempt to destroy new Iraqi school for girls

KARABILAH, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- Thanks to the work of Marines and Iraqi Security Forces, 800 elementary-aged girls will now have a school to attend this fall.

Marines from 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment unveiled a brand-new grade school in this city of about 30,000 on the Iraq-Syria border in western Al Anbar Province July 7.

About one week before its opening, insurgents planted an improvised explosive device inside the school which would have leveled a good portion of the building, destroying nearly three months of work by Marines and locals, said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph S. Mallicoat, team leader for the civil affairs team here.

“The bomb had the potential of taking down both wings of the building and the school would have been unable to open by September,” said Capt. Rick Bernier, commanding officer of C Company – the Marines responsible for providing security alongside Iraqis in this city.

The Marines discovered the bomb and immediately secured the building leaving Iraqi Security Forces to provide 24-hour security to prevent further attacks.

God. 'Freedom Fighters' who are targeting GIRLS. How pathetic.

J.

World leaders urge restraint after deadly Middle East flare-up - Yahoo! News

PARIS (AFP) - World powers have pleaded for restraint to stop the fiercest Israeli-Lebanese clashes in a decade slipping into all-out war.
ADVERTISEMENT

US President George W. Bush blamed "terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace", while fellow UN Security Council members Russia and France condemned Israel's "disproportionate" use of force.
"Hezbollah doesn't want there to be peace, the militant arm of Hamas doesn't want there to be peace, and those of us who do want peace will continue to work together to encourage peace," Bush said.

And this caught my eye:

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli jets bombed the Palestinian foreign ministry, wounding 10 children and increasing pressure on the Hamas government over another soldier abducted last month.

But leave it to Hamas to make sure the daycare center at a prime target is fully occupied.

Tell me again just WHY I should care about the Palestinians? Because right now, as you can see, the CARE meter's pegging to the left.

Comments closed due to spam

J.

Because there's a hell of a lot of serious stuff going on today...

Enjoy!

(This could be used as a metaphor for ME diplomacy, too..)

J.

WP: U.S. has limited options in Mideast - washingtonpost.com

NOW he should be unilateral.

Bush Must Act on Mideast - Newsweek Michael Hirsh - MSNBC.com

World reaction to Mideast crisis - MSNBC.com

Briefly - EU doesn't like it. US says Israel has right to defend itself. UN is sending a three-person team (that'll help...) while Germany's saying both sides aresomewhat at fault but the Palestinians have a lot more responsibility.

Too much fun...

J.

For late-breaking news on the war in the ME.

Pajamas Media: The Israel-Hezbollah War

17:32 PDT: Canadian PM Stephen Harper called Israel’s incursion into Lebanon and strikes on Gaza “measured self-defence”, according to Reuters.

17:00 PDT: Hezbollah, not Israel started the war, according to Australian Prime Minister John Howard according to the Herald Sun.

16:16 PDT: Reuters is reporting that “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a ‘fierce response’”.

16:15 PDT JerusalemOnline.com’s video wrap-up of today’s events in Israel in English. “A rocket struck her balcony where she was having breakfast.”

15:06 PDT: Ynet reports the Lebanese Army affirms “Hizbullah has a right to resist Israeli aggression”.

15:59 PDT “Saudi Arabia on Thursday blamed ‘elements’ inside Lebanon for the violence with Israel, in unusually frank language directed at guerrilla group Hizbollah and its Iranian backers.”

The UN had a security council meeting, where Qatar put forth a resolution condeming Israel. The US voted no on it, along with Britain, Denmark, Slovakia and... Peru? Hmm.

But I'm glad to see John Bolton vetoing the right things. (You might not think it's a good move, of course.)

As I posted to Jason down in Rusted Sky: "Freedom Fighters" set bomb in girl's school.

The old status quo throughout the ME was pretty fragile and wasn't supportable long-term, and realistically was heading toward a conflagration. I think this shakeup, as violent and worrisome as it is, and as bad as it's going to get, is the best chance to avoid all out nuclear war in that area.

I don't doubt for a moment that Amajackass would use an Iranian nuke if he had one ready. And reports are coming in that he's having the soldiers captured by Hezbollah transferred to Iran. If that isn't putting a "I'm responsible" sign up and drawing a big red bull's eye target on it I don't know what would qualify.

FWIW, I think this is going to buy us some time. Maybe ten, maybe twenty years, like a bunch of 5.9 magnitude earthquakes can release the stress that would otherwise pop off a 8.5 or 9.0 city-wrecker earthquake.

And maybe what we're going to see will be scary enough so the governments in that area get over the idea that promoting radical Islam and projecting all their internal troubles onto Israel is a good way to go.

J.

on the terrorism taking place in the ME, the complete breakdown of adherence to international law by many of the countries there, and how the apologizers for the actions of thereof have enabled the destruction that's going on...

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred: An SC&A Refresher Course On The Middle East, Part Two

We are still working on the premise that we in the west and the Israelis are somehow contributory to the problems of the Middle East. Well, here's a reality pill. If there were free and democratic governments in the region, the problems they face would have been long since overcome. The problems remain because those despots and tyrannical regimes want those problems to remain, to deflect attention away from their own evil.

We- and the Israelis- have allowed ourselves to be 'dumbed down,' in an attempt to negotiate a way out of an impossible situation.

Sooner or later, we're going to have to deal with reality and deal with the problem clearly and substantively-- and we're not going to be able to talk our way out it. Until the Arab community deals with the reality that we and the Israelis and our support for Israel are not their biggest problem they face, they cannot possibly contribute or achieve their own salvation and redemption.

With each passing day, the distance between the Arab world and universal laws of decency and behavior, grows greater.

Why are they mad at us? Because for decades they've been screwed by their governments. By petty tyrants and dictators who were more concerned with riding around in fancy cars and building dozens of palaces than addressing the problems of taking countries that were essentially technologically illiterate and socially barely one step above nomadic goat-herders and trying to raise them into the 20th century, and by erstwhile theologians who felt the 7th century was much less threatening to their religion and livelyhood. You DON'T change a good thing, when you're taking advantage of it.

And their governments and mullahs have fed off that anger and fanned it for years, teaching hatred of the West in their schools, knowing that we had a certain core element that would gladly deflect attention from the real causes of the problems in the ME in favor of self-flagellating theories about how the West was so evil and the poor Islamics were so noble and pure and beyond reproach that they have no choice but to do what they do - even if they did force women into burquas and practice FGM, and keep them in conditions that any Western Feminist would have screamed bloody hell about. In the world of PC multiculturalism, it was all good, and all excusable.

Since 9/11, we've been forced to take a long and hard look at what we've been excusing. And a lot of it's been pretty repellent and abhorrent. Sure, with the advent of the Internet and easy global communication there's growing internal pressures for governments in the ME to modernize, to liberalize their structures - but the pressures that change governments are not taken well by the mullahs who have the ultimate say. THEY do not want change, and they will gladly kill to keep it from occuring.

And sadly, there's still a lot of people who refuse to look at it objectively - still clinging to the idea that multi-culturalism was the only way the world can possibly work.

Well, that's a nice dream. Problem is, on 9/11 the alarm went off. And although a lot of folks keep hitting the snooze button, in the end it's only prolonging the agony.

A long time back I mentioned that what was happening was the battle between civilization and chaos. Between good and evil. Sure, it'd be nice to go 'Oh, there's no evil, just misunderstandings between cultures!' - but such a view is foolish. FGM is not a moral equivalent of ear piercing, nor is a mullah urging his flock to kill the unbeliever a moral equivalent of a Baptist preacher spouting fire and brimstone theology. (It is, however, pretty much the moral equivalent of the bastardized Christianty spouted by the adherents of the Aryan Nations and KKK, where it's perfectly justifiable to kill off anyone who isn't white.) There is evil - and though some might think it good (I'm pretty sure someone in the KKK doesn't think it's wrong) it is still evil.

And international law is supposed to be a framework (he said, stupidly idealistic and optimistic) to reduce evil, not protect it. However, it seems more like it's a club that is used to beat on the US, and never applied elsewhere.

In the ME, you see the perfect storm that happens when all the elements are brought together. We'll see what happens - but there's a lot the wind needs to scour clean over there.

J.

Don't know whether it's a feeling that's prevalent or not, but it's a small sign of hope and rationality.

To my Arab brothers: The War with Israel Is Over — and they won. Now let's finally move forward

With Israel entering its fourth week of an incursion into the same Gaza Strip it voluntarily evacuated a few months ago, a sense of reality among Arabs is spreading through commentary by Arab pundits, letters to the editor, and political talk shows on Arabic-language TV networks. The new views are stunning both in their maturity and in their realism. The best way I can think of to convey them is in the form of a letter to the Palestinian Arabs from their Arab friends:

Dear Palestinian Arab brethren:

The war with Israel is over.

You have lost. Surrender and negotiate to secure a future for your children.

We, your Arab brothers, may say until we are blue in the face that we stand by you, but the wise among you and most of us know that we are moving on, away from the tired old idea of the Palestinian Arab cause and the "eternal struggle" with Israel.

Dear friends, you and your leaders have wasted three generations trying to fight for Palestine, but the truth is the Palestine you could have had in 1948 is much bigger than the one you could have had in 1967, which in turn is much bigger than what you may have to settle for now or in another 10 years. Struggle means less land and more misery and utter loneliness.

At the moment, brothers, you would be lucky to secure a semblance of a state in that Gaza Strip into which you have all crowded, and a small part of the West Bank of the Jordan. It isn't going to get better. Time is running out even for this much land, so here are some facts, figures, and sound advice, friends.

You hold keys, which you drag out for television interviews, to houses that do not exist or are inhabited by Israelis who have no intention of leaving Jaffa, Haifa, Tel Aviv, or West Jerusalem. You shoot old guns at modern Israeli tanks and American-made fighter jets, doing virtually no harm to Israel while bringing the wrath of its mighty army down upon you. You fire ridiculously inept Kassam rockets that cause little destruction and delude yourselves into thinking this is a war of liberation. Your government, your social institutions, your schools, and your economy are all in ruins.

Your young people are growing up illiterate, ill, and bent on rites of death and suicide, while you, in effect, are living on the kindness of foreigners, including America and the United Nations. Every day your officials must beg for your daily bread, dependent on relief trucks that carry food and medicine into the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while your criminal Muslim fundamentalist Hamas government continues to fan the flames of a war it can neither fight nor hope to win.

In other words, brothers, you are down, out, and alone in a burnt-out landscape that is shrinking by the day.

What kind of struggle is this? Is it worth waging at all? More important, what kind of miserable future does it portend for your children, the fourth or fifth generation of the Arab world's have-nots?

We, your Arab brothers, have moved on.

Those of us who have oil money are busy accumulating wealth and building housing, luxury developments, state-of-the-art universities and schools, and new highways and byways. Those of us who share borders with Israel, such as Egypt and Jordan, have signed a peace treaty with it and are not going to war for you any time soon. Those of us who are far away, in places like North Africa and Iraq, frankly could not care less about what happens to you.

Only Syria continues to feed your fantasies that someday it will join you in liberating Palestine, even though a huge chunk of its territory, the entire Golan Heights, was taken by Israel in 1967 and annexed. The Syrians, my friends, will gladly fight down to the last Palestinian Arab.

Before you got stuck with this Hamas crowd, another cheating, conniving, leader of yours, Yasser Arafat, sold you a rotten bill of goods — more pain, greater corruption, and millions stolen by his relatives — while your children played in the sewers of Gaza.

The war is over. Why not let a new future begin?

I think the saddest part of it all is this... Your young people are growing up illiterate, ill, and bent on rites of death and suicide, while you, in effect, are living on the kindness of foreigners, including America and the United Nations.

They HAVE lost.

J.

Hezbollah pledges ‘open war’ - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

Hezbollah pledges ‘open war’ against Israel

Speaking in an audiotape aired on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television, Nasrallah addressed himself to Israelis, saying: "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."

"Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes," Nasrallah said. It was not clear whether he meant that the warship had been attacked. He also hinted of attacking Israel "beyond Haifa," a town about 30 miles south of Lebanon.

Hezbollah guerrillas hit an Israeli naval vessel off Beirut with two rockets on Friday, Lebanese security sources said. Israeli television reported that an Israeli naval ship off Lebanon's coast suffered slight damage, but that there were no casualties.

J.

Was watching a DVD of 'Andromeda', and the boot drive gave up right in the last five minutes. System rebooted, kept rebooting - then it couldn't find the OS.

I may have to swap it over to Linux. I want to keep it XP (and some of you may be wondering just why I'd want to do that - most of the business world runs on XP, and my apps run on XP, so I'm going to need to keep it XP.

But man, this is aggravating. My copy of XP pro was an upgrade from Win98, and I can't find my Win98 disk to start all over again. I may have to bite the bullet and buy a copy of XP home (Or XP Pro - cheapest I can find a full copy is $84 online.

Aaargh. Computers - they're making my hair turn grey.

Update: It wasn't the OS - though the things I did to try to remedy the situation thinking it WAS an OS problem likely didn't help matters one bit. Instead, it looks like a bad stick of memory. Passed the bios tests - but when put under load - 'click' and a reboot.

Very aggravating. Hardware's solid enough so that any more when something goes bust I automatically suspect Windows. I need to watch that.

So now I need to copy over an old drive onto my boot drive, and then start adding components again. Quite aggravating, but at least I don't have to buy a copy of XP yet.
J.

Note to self:

Periodic backups by putting a new main drive in and copying everything to it with the utility software provided with the new drive and then archiving safely the old drive works nicely. Doing so on an annual basis is a good idea. (And saved having to rebuild the system from scratch. Still had to reauthenticate WinXP with Microsoft - too many hardware changes and you have to call in to do it.)

And don't mistake a hardware problem (bad RAM) for an OS problem - even though WinXP's got it's own share of wierdnesses, hardware DOES go bad.

So it wasn't a total loss. Went to MicroCenter, got a 1GB stick of ram (And I am SO damn tired of their rebated prices - I have little to no luck with rebates from there) and the system's been running fine. (And there is a MASSIVE difference in processing speed between 256mb and 1 gb ram. WinXP REALLY likes having enough elbow room to work.) The rebate is claimable on-line (supposedly) through a company called OnRebate.com. I registered for it, and it offered me a 'quick rebate' for a $4.50 processing fee with the money going to my paypal account. Aargh. Just take the money off up-front, give it to Microcenter so they'll drop the price to begin with, and lets be done with this foolishness, okay? And I STILL have to send in the UPC and a copy of the receipt. Damn.

Well, enough on that. Things are back up and running.

J.

Day by Day nails it. Day by Day Cartoon by Chris Muir - Sunday, July 17

Yup, that pretty well sums up my opinion of the Murtha crowd at the present time. I don't have much sympathy for the appeasement crowd - throwing the occasional sacrifice to the crocodiles, and hoping they'll be eaten last...

J.

340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 new web addresses created by internet chiefs . . . so we won’t run out of space soon, then - World - Times Online

TO THE lay observer it seems like an infinite network of computers, servers and cables stretching around the globe.
But the worldwide web is filling up. So quickly, it turns out, that programmers have had to devise a new one.

Of the internet addresses available, more than three quarters are already in use, and the remainder are expected to be assigned by 2009. So, what will happen as more people in developing countries come online? The answer is IPv6, a new internet protocol that has more spaces than the old one: 340,282,366,920,938,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000 spaces, in fact.

Either that or the hot tech item is an automatic GPS enabled Mecca-pointer...

Oops. LG Canada beat me to it.

LG Canada :: PR Archives

Specially designed for Middle East customers by equipping it with compasses and direction-pointer program, the company's Mecca-pointer mobile phone (model: LG-G5300) was featured in the recent New York Times issue; thus reinforcing its position not only in the CDMA market but also in the GSM mobile phone market.

J.

Looks like he apparently played to the Fundi crowd.

So much for the theory that Al Q wouldn't have anything to do with him because he was 'secular'.

World Threats

Below is additional commentary from Ayad Rahim, translator of the Iraqi intelligence r