Test Post

This is a test. It is only a test.

The Palin Factor

It is absolutely stunning how quickly Sarah Palin has altered the political landscape. What remains to be seen, however, is if this truly is a landmark change or simply exuberance at a new, unfamiliar face.

Iranian Outrages

Its hard to believe that -- 28 years later -- we are once again talking about an Iranian "Hostage Crisis".

I'm going to sum it up in just a few sentences: the Iranians are the ones who started this whole Islamic fanatic movement. They have been the ones who have done more to foment strife between the Islamic world and the West. They are responsible for most of the problems we have faced in post-Saddam Iraq. Now they are on the verge of attaining a nuclear weapon.

Read my lips: WE ..... NEED....A.....REGIME.... CHANGE....IN....TEHRAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, its time to get back to work.

I've largely dropped out of the blogging game over the past 2 years or so, mostly due to job and commute constraints. However, I think its time to get back in this, as world events seem to demand comment.

More posts to come!

The Greatest Diplomatic Retort in U.S. History

This has to be one of the greatest diplomatic retorts -- ever!!

The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Saturday imposing sanctions on North Korea's dangerous weapons and condemning Pyongyang's recent missile tests.

North Korea immediately 'totally rejected' the resolution. Its U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon said Pyongyang's missile development served 'to keep the balance of force and preserving peace and stability in Northeast Asia.'

In response, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told the council that Pak 'set a world record in rejecting it within 45 minutes after its adoption.'

He added: 'I could exercise the right of reply on behalf of the United States -- but on the other hand, why bother?'"

Link

Reuters Looks for the Silver Lining in Zarqawi's Death...

In typical fashion, Reuters is looking for its own "silver lining" relating to the death of Abu Mussab al Zarqawi.

"Arab and Western security analysts were agreed on Thursday that Zarqawi's death in a U.S. air raid would not end the insurgency, even if it represents a rare triumph in Iraq for the Bush administration.

'There will be people that will be mobilized to join the caravan of martyrs, to emulate his example and to honor him,' said Magnus Ranstorp, an al Qaeda expert at the Swedish National Defense College."

UPDATE:

More blathering from Reuters, again citing "experts" no one has ever heard of:

CAIRO (Reuters) - The death of Al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in
Iraq showed deep splits on Thursday between Arabs who see the Iraqi insurgency as resistance to occupation and those who say al Qaeda gives Arabs and Muslims a bad name.

But few ordinary Arabs or analysts expected that the killing of the Jordanian-born militant would have much effect in reducing the level of violence in Iraq.

Some Arab citizens hailed Zarqawi as a hero for his role in the insurgency but others welcomed his death as a form of justice for the civilians killed in bombings by his group, which calls itself al Qaeda in Iraq.

Another view was that the United States, anxious to find a scapegoat for its troubles in Iraq, deliberately demonized him and exaggerated his significance as a militant leader.

Zarqawi was killed on Wednesday night in a U.S. air raid in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

"He died for the sake of God. After giving so much and having such incredible courage, Abu Musab the lion left us after humiliating the Americans. Pray for his soul," Khaled al-Saleh wrote on the Web site Montada.

"Thank God this wayward infidel is dead," wrote a chatter identified as Azizi on another Web site. "All true believers have been relieved of his evil."

Abdullah, a 29-year-old Saudi secretary, put the third point of view: "I consider Zarqawi as nothing more than propaganda for the Americans. He's just a name, a rumor so that they have somebody to blame everything on."

Arab analysts were also skeptical about some of the high hopes expressed by western leaders including President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Bush said the killing of Zarqawi was a severe blow to al Qaeda and offered a chance for the Iraqi government to "turn the tide" in the struggle against the insurgency.

Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai said: "Maybe the bloodshed will decrease in Iraq now. But the problem is that whenever an extremist leader dies, he is replaced by a more radical leader. Zarqawi is a central figure but I believe that the organization will survive."

EXAGGERATION

"It will have some impact on the security situation but it won't be enough. Let's not exaggerate the impact," he added.

Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist groups at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said the United States had repeatedly exaggerated the probable effect of their occasional successes in Iraq and would do so again.

"Zarqawi in recent times did not represent an important element in violent operations on the ground in Iraq. Other groups which are not extreme, resistance groups not terrorist groups, have grown in strength," he told Reuters.

Several ordinary Arabs expressed strong hostility toward Zarqawi and welcomed his killing. But just as many others said he was a martyr who died fighting for the noble cause of ending the U.S. occupation of a leading Arab and Muslim country.

"We should have no regrets over the killing of a terrorist like him. He was mutilating the image of Islam. Hopefully bin Laden is next," said Lebanese Shi'ite student Sana Abdul-Nabi, referring to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Link

Al Qaeda suspect objects to Guantanamo treatment - Yahoo! News

Reuters reports on the sad case of an al-Qaeda terrorist who doesn't like his new housing arrangements at Gitmo.

"An al Qaeda suspect who earned top privileges for good behavior in the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, asked a military judge on Wednesday to overturn a camp rule that detainees who face trial be held in maximum security.

Sufyian Barhoumi, a 32-year-old Algerian charged with training two other al Qaeda militants to build remote detonators for car bombs, had been granted communal living, up to 14 hours a day outside his cell and family-style meals in an area reserved for detainees considered "highly compliant."

But weeks before his pretrial military tribunal hearing on Tuesday, Barhoumi was suddenly transferred without explanation to a maximum-security facility where prisoners spend 22 hours a day locked inside cement cells and have little contact with fellow detainees."

Aaawww, poor guy. How 'bout we place him and all of his friends in a building, say about 110 stories tall, then douse the floor, walls, ceiling, furniture, even them, with jet fuel, set it on fire and challenge them to find a way out? Anyone who can escape before their prison collapses can have their freedom!

Link

Judge: Moussaoui death penalty trial still on - Yahoo! News

This story is Exhibit A-1 as to why the criminal justice system is NOT the way to handle terrorism. Moussaoui should have been brought before a Military Tribunal, convicted of war crimes and executed.

Its that simple.

Link