Cuba has ordered all state enterprises to adopt "extreme measures" to cut energy usage through the end of the year in hopes of avoiding the dreaded blackouts that plagued the country following the 1991 collapse of its then-top ally, the Soviet Union.It is more evidence that the command economy model does not work. Even oil rich Venezuela can't produce enough electricity and water. I should not that Brazil is also having blackout problems. It could be that places like Brazil and Venezuela just have not made the investment in inrastructure to provide adequate electricity.In documents seen by Reuters, government officials have been warned that the island is facing a "critical" energy shortage that requires the closing of non-essential factories and workshops and the shutting down of air conditioners and refrigerators not needed to preserve food and medicine.
Cuba has cut government spending and slashed imports after being hit hard by the global financial crisis and the cost of recovering from three hurricanes that struck last year.
"The energy situation we face is critical and if we do not adopt extreme measures we will have to revert to planned blackouts affecting the population," said a recently circulated message from the Council of Ministers.
...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Cuba expects energy shortage
Reuters:
Welcome home
I heard of a guy who got in trouble for saying that he would get married when he found a woman who was as happy to see him when he got home as his dog. This dog sure appears to be happy to see his soldier come home.
There are more welcome home videos here.
Walter Reed officials concerned that Hasan was psychotic
NPR:
It was a bad decision that cost lives.
The story goes on to explain several factors that led them to do nothing about his strange behavior. The last one had to do with his transfer to Fort Hood. One suspects they thought he would be someone else's problem soon so the deferred dealing with his behavior.Starting in the spring of 2008, key officials from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences held a series of meetings and conversations, in part about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others last week during a shooting spree at Fort Hood. One of the questions they pondered: Was Hasan psychotic?
"Put it this way," says one official familiar with the conversations that took place. "Everybody felt that if you were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, you would not want Nidal Hasan in your foxhole."
In documents reviewed by NPR and conversations with medical officials at Walter Reed and USUHS, new details have emerged regarding serious concerns that officials raised about Hasan during his time at both institutions.
Hasan spent six years as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed, beginning in 2003, and he had a fellowship at USUHS until shortly before he went to Fort Hood in the summer of 2009. A committee of officials from both places regularly meets once a month to discuss pressing topics surrounding the psychiatrists and other mental health professionals who train and work at the institutions.
NPR spoke with military psychiatrists and officials who worked closely with Hasan, as well as those who monitored the committee and/or student and faculty matters. None would allow their names to be used, because of the criminal investigation into the Fort Hood shootings.
When a group of key officials gathered in the spring of 2008 for their monthly meeting in a Bethesda, Md., office, one of the leading — and most perplexing — items on their agenda was: What should we do about Hasan?
Hasan had been a trouble spot on officials' radar since he started training at Walter Reed, six years earlier. Several officials confirm that supervisors had repeatedly given him poor evaluations and warned him that he was doing substandard work.
Both fellow students and faculty were deeply troubled by Hasan's behavior — which they variously called disconnected, aloof, paranoid, belligerent, and schizoid. The officials say he antagonized some students and faculty by espousing what they perceived to be extremist Islamic views. His supervisors at Walter Reed had even reprimanded him for telling at least one patient that "Islam can save your soul."
...
It was a bad decision that cost lives.
But, don't jump to any conclusions?--Part deux
Eric Allie catch the spirit of some of the media on the Fort Hood shooter story. click on the image for a full view.
Where is the anti Muslim backlash because of Fort Hood attack?
Vincent Carroll:
Most Americans have reacted as adults. But they are not going to be satisfied with something short of a full investigation and punishment for those responsible regardless of the religious affiliation.Nearly a week after the Fort Hood massacre, the anti- Muslim backlash that our leaders and some in the media feared remains a no-show.
No mobs of braying bigots marching on mosques; no calls for banning Muslims from the military; no anti-Muslim legislation being drafted in Congress or state capitals; no spate of attacks on Muslim students, shop owners, or neighborhoods.
What happened? What's holding the angry, red-blooded vigilantes in check?
Why, if this keeps up, we might have to conclude that the United States is a remarkably fair-minded society as opposed to the cauldron of seething prejudice that many enlightened persons apparently perceive.
...
Militry is not fragile
David Ignatius:
It is important to remember that now all of these troops have been at war for eight years. There is a constant flow of new recruits coming through the system who are now being led by some very experiences officers and NCOs.
In the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings, some commentaries have examined the damage to the U.S. Army from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A few have spoken about the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, as an extreme version of what can happen with an overstressed force.He is right. I read stories everyday about their actions and reactions to enemy efforts and they are doing a remarkable job. They are well trained and they react in a decisive way when attacked.This picture of a traumatized military is misleading. Certainly, the Army and the other services are stressed by the demands of combat. But what's striking to me this Veterans Day is how healthy the military is, given all the weight it has been carrying for the country these past eight years.
Facing a new and disorienting kind of warfare, the military has learned and adapted. Rather than complain about their problems, soldiers have figured out ways to solve them.
In truth, the U.S. military may be the most resilient part of American society right now. The soldiers are clearly in better shape than the political class that sent them to war and the economic leadership that has mismanaged the economy. (I'd give the same high marks to young civilians who are serving and sacrificing in hard places -- the Peace Corps and medical volunteers I've met abroad and the teachers in tough inner-city schools.)
Through all its difficulties, the military has kept its stride. That sense of balance comes partly from the fact that soldiers are anchored to the American bedrock. This includes the stereotypical small towns in the South and Midwest that have military service in their DNA. But it also counts plenty of hardworking, upwardly mobile Hispanic and African American families in urban America that produce some of the best soldiers I know.
I had the pleasure of living in the military family when I traveled for 2 1/2 weeks recently with U.S. Central Command. What I heard, listening into the military's unscripted conversations, were the wisecracks and dark humor of soldiers trying to make the best of a hard situation. But there was also the satisfaction of fighting these tough and sometimes thankless wars: The troops don't boast about it, but they are very proud of what they have managed to accomplish.
...
It is important to remember that now all of these troops have been at war for eight years. There is a constant flow of new recruits coming through the system who are now being led by some very experiences officers and NCOs.
Iran protests scholorship for Iranian murdered at protest
CNN:
Iran has complained to Britain's Oxford University over a scholarship program in memory of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose on-camera death during a protests earlier this year made her a global icon of Iranian opposition.Iran fears that the scholarship keep her name alive and remind people of the evil perpetrated by the Iranian regime of religious bigots. While some governments, like our own, want to avoid what happened, there are many of us who are not ready to recognize the Iranian regime as legitimate.In a letter to the head of the prestigious university's Queen's College, the Iranian embassy in London attacked the philosophy scholarship as "politically motivated," linking it to claims that Britain was behind violence in Iran.
Agha-Soltan was shot dead during a government crackdown on protests in the wake of June elections that opposition politicians said were rigged to give a landslide victory to hardline incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The 26-year-old's final moments were captured on amateur video and beamed worldwide via the Internet. Iran says it is investigating her death, but rejects opposition claims she was shot by Iranian security forces.
...
China's cyber snoops
Washington Post:
It is an important battle space where we need to do better both defensively and offensively. We need counter meanures that will burn the snoops. That would mean built in booby traps as well as means to strike on our own.One day in late summer 2008, FBI and Secret Service agents flew to Chicago to inform Barack Obama's campaign team that its computer system had been hacked. "You've got a problem. Somebody's trying to get inside your systems," an FBI agent told the team, according to a source familiar with the incident.
The McCain campaign was hit with a similar attack.
The trail in both cases led to computers in China, said several sources inside and outside government with knowledge of the incidents. In the McCain case, Chinese officials later approached staff members about information that had appeared only in restricted e-mails, according to a person close to the campaign.
American presidential campaigns are not the only targets. China is significantly boosting its capabilities in cyberspace as a way to gather intelligence and, in the event of war, hit the U.S. government in a weak spot, U.S. officials and experts say. Outgunned and outspent in terms of traditional military hardware, China apparently hopes that by concentrating on holes in the U.S. security architecture -- its communications and spy satellites and its vast computer networks -- it will collect intelligence that could help it counter the imbalance.
President Obama, who is scheduled to visit China next week, has vowed to improve ties with the Asian giant, especially its military. But according to current and former U.S. officials, China's aggressive hacking has sowed doubts about its intentions.
"This is the way they plan to thwart U.S. supremacy in any potential conflict we get into with them," said Robert K. Knake, a Council on Foreign Relations fellow. "They believe they can deter us through cyber warfare."
...
Best war movies?
CNN:
He does not mention my favorite war movie, Patton. There are several reasons why I liked the movie, but one of them is that Patton was much more important to the outcome of the war than Private Ryan was. He understood maneuver warfare and was able to get his troops to execute with great effect. While he was a man with flaws, he was always working to overcome them when the chips ere down.
Some reviewers have called "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg's World War II film about D-Day and the search for a soldier, one of the greatest war movies.He like the Band of Brothers series on HBO. I thought it was better than Saving Private Ryan. In fact I was not that impressed with Saving Private Ryan either.Military historian Antony Beevor begs to differ.
Not only is it not the greatest war movie, it's not even the best cinematic depiction of D-Day, says Beevor, author of the newly published "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy" (Viking).
He admires the famed Omaha Beach opening -- "Probably the most realistic battle sequence ever filmed," he said -- but described the rest of "Saving Private Ryan" as "ghastly."
"It's sort of a 'Dirty Dozen' cliche of the worst form," he said.
He has expanded on the criticism in a lecture. "Spielberg's basic story line had great potential. It shows the tension between patriotic and therefore collective loyalty, and the struggle of the individual for survival: those mutually contradictory pressures, which in many ways lie at the heart of war," Beevor observed in the talk.
If any filmmakers wish to take on D-Day again, Beevor's book provides enough material for a dozen screenplays. Making use of first-person accounts stored in the National Archives, as well as a wealth of other material, Beevor depicts in painstaking detail not only the D-Day landings by American, British, Canadian and Free French forces, but also the subsequent battle for the whole of Normandy that proved pivotal in defeating Nazi Germany.
Beevor says a director would do well to remember that the Allied effort to retake the continent extended well beyond that single day of June 6, 1944.
"D-Day, although an iconic moment, was not actually the end of it. Films like 'The Longest Day' and 'Saving Private Ryan' almost give the impression that D-Day was 'it' and then the next thing people know about was the liberation of Paris," he said. "But in fact it was the fighting in Normandy which was far worse. Casualties on D-Day were far lighter than expected -- [military leaders] had expected 10,000 dead and only 3,000 died.
"The real fighting and the real casualties," he added, "came in the Battle of Normandy."
...
He does not mention my favorite war movie, Patton. There are several reasons why I liked the movie, but one of them is that Patton was much more important to the outcome of the war than Private Ryan was. He understood maneuver warfare and was able to get his troops to execute with great effect. While he was a man with flaws, he was always working to overcome them when the chips ere down.
Defining terrorism narrowly
Washington Times Editorial:
Perhaps there is the vain hope on the part of the perps that mass murder for Allah attacks will change government policies, but they have usually had the opposite effect as the 9-11 attacks proved. About the only thing that seems to have changed is that some people in this country would like to deny what is actually happening.
The object of most mass murder for Allah attacks is to punish us for not having empathy for the attackers weird religious beliefs. This pattern fits whether in is done here or in a war zone. You can usually tell it is a mass murder for Allah attack when the perp should "Allah Akbar" before the attack. Sometimes they will attack without saying it but it is always pretty clear when a mass murder for Allah attack is done. The reality is that most of these attacks are done against Muslim non combatants in Iraq Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are also done against Israelis and Hindus in India.Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was declared "not a terrorist" before the facts were out - even before officials were sure whether the attacker was alive or dead. Failing to honestly name a terrorist attack despite the evidence is as destructive and dishonest as leaping to call an attack terrorism without the facts to support that.
Apparently, the claim was based largely on the fact that Maj. Hasan appears to have been a lone gunman. However, terrorism is defined not by the number of people involved, but by the motivations and intentions of the attacker. If reports about him are true, Maj. Hasan clearly was a terrorist.
...
Perhaps there is the vain hope on the part of the perps that mass murder for Allah attacks will change government policies, but they have usually had the opposite effect as the 9-11 attacks proved. About the only thing that seems to have changed is that some people in this country would like to deny what is actually happening.
The invalid assumptions of the globo warmers
George Will:
The cloud study that Will alludes to reminds me of Joni Mitchel's Both Sides Now.
...It is my experience that clouds lower the temperature when I am under them. In the summer they can lower the temperature in this part of Texas by about 20 degrees if they are thick enough to block the direct sunlight. In the summer they usually form up over the Gulf of Mexico at night and drift over the land during the day following the heat. Around four in the afternoon there is a 20 percent chance they will dump some rain somewhere. In the winter the clouds come from the cold fronts usually out of the northwest.There is much debate about the reasons for, and the importance of, the fact that global warming has not increased for that long (11 years). What we know is that computer models did not predict this. Which matters, a lot, because we are incessantly exhorted to wager trillions of dollars and diminished freedom on the proposition that computer models are correctly projecting catastrophic global warming. On Nov. 2, The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Ball reported some inconvenient data. Soon after the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—it shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Thinking Man's Thinking Man—reported that global warming is "unequivocal," there came evidence that the planet's temperature is beginning to cool. "That," Ball writes, "has led to one point of agreement: The models are imperfect."
Models are no better or worse than their assumptions, and Ball notes how dicey these assumptions can be: "The effects of clouds, for example, are unclear. Depending on their shape and altitude, clouds can either trap heat, warming the earth, or reflect it, cooling the planet." It gets worse: "The way that greenhouse gases affect cloud formation—and how clouds in turn affect temperature—remains a subject of debate. Different models treat these factors differently."
...
The cloud study that Will alludes to reminds me of Joni Mitchel's Both Sides Now.
Rows and flows of angel hair,
And ice cream castles in the air,
And feather canyons everywhere,
I've looked at clouds that way.But now they only block the Sun,
They rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done,
But clouds got in my way.I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds, at all....
Republicnas lead Democrats in generic poll
Gallop:
Republicans have moved ahead of Democrats by 48% to 44% among registered voters in the latest update on Gallup's generic congressional ballot for the 2010 House elections, after trailing by six points in July and two points last month.I think the Democrat health care scheme is probably one of the major factors in turning the independents against them. It is also tied to concerns about controlling spending and the increase in the deficit. It is a poll of registered voters instead of likely voters which means it probably understates the Republican advantage.
...
As was the case in last Tuesday's gubernatorial elections, independents are helping the Republicans' cause. In the latest poll, independent registered voters favor the Republican candidate by 52% to 30%. Both parties maintain similar loyalty from their bases, with 91% of Democratic registered voters preferring the Democratic candidate and 93% of Republican voters preferring the Republican.
Over the course of the year, independents' preference for the Republican candidate in their districts has grown, from a 1-point advantage in July to the current 22-point gap.
...
Wrong question about Muslims in the military
Washington Post:
What a strange question. In both Iran and Afghanistan Muslims enemy forces have no qualms whatsoever about killing other Muslims. They do it happily and in most cases aim their killing at non combatants in mass murder for Allah attacks. You would think that American Muslims would be glad to be apart of a force trying to stop this senseless killing even if they have to kill some Muslim murderers.U.S. Muslim service members say they stand out in both their worlds.
Among fellow troops, that can mean facing ethnic taunts, awkward questions about spiritual practices and a structure that is not set up to accommodate their worship. Among Muslims, the questions can be more profound: How can a Muslim participate in killing other Muslims in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan?
...
Health care arrogance
John Stossel:
No one knows how many eggs and slices of bacon are needed in NY City everyday, but the market figures it out by itself. A central planner would always get too many or too few, because they really have no idea how to choose what millions want every morning.
...The command economy is always behind the curve and it tends to make matters worse. Cuba is an example of how bad it is, yet those who want government health care think it is an example of how good it is. Imagine a country which rations toilet paper is seen as an example of how to do it right?It's a triumph of mindless wishful thinking over logic and experience.
The 1,990-page bill is breathtaking in its bone-headed audacity. The notion that a small group of politicians can know enough to design something so complex and so personal is astounding. That they were advised by "experts" means nothing since no one is expert enough to do that. There are too many tradeoffs faced by unique individuals with infinitely varying needs.
Government cannot do simple things efficiently. The bureaucrats struggle to count votes correctly. They give subsidized loans to "homeowners" who turn out to be 4-year-olds. Yet congressmen want government to manage our medicine and insurance.
Competition is a "discovery procedure," Nobel-prize-winning economist F. A. Hayek taught. Through the competitive market process, we producers and consumers constantly learn things that force us to adjust our behavior if we are to succeed. Central planners fail for two reasons:
First, knowledge about supply, demand, individual preferences and resource availability is scattered -- much of it never articulated -- throughout society. It is not concentrated in a database where a group of planners can access it.
Second, this "data" is dynamic: It changes without notice.
No matter how honorable the central planners' intentions, they will fail because they cannot know the needs and wishes of 300 million different people. And if they somehow did know their needs, they wouldn't know them tomorrow.
...
No one knows how many eggs and slices of bacon are needed in NY City everyday, but the market figures it out by itself. A central planner would always get too many or too few, because they really have no idea how to choose what millions want every morning.
Free to choose health are?
David Harsanyi:
The pro abortion representatives say they will vote against the final bill if the abortion restrictions are not removed. It is ironic that they may be our best hope of defeating this bill.If liberals are so disturbed by Congress' dictating whether abortion is a legitimate health care issue or not, it only makes sense that they should be equally troubled by government management of other health care decisions.
Undoubtedly, this is zealously naive thinking on my part. Reaching such a conclusion demands a modicum of consistency. And as we've seen, health care "reform" is an ideological crusade immune from logic.
Take the torrent of hypocrisy that spilled from the jilted pro-choice wing of the Democratic Party after a House amendment to the health care reform bill that would tighten a ban on federal funds for abortions passed by a vote of 240-194 -- a more substantial mandate against abortion funding, incidentally, than for health care reform.
...
I have no doubt that members of the progressive wing of Congress -- folks who generally support a single-payer plan that would eradicate choice and freedom in health care -- believe that government's failing to give you something is indistinguishable from government's taking something away from you.
Yet even though no one would be stripped of her right to have an abortion under this legislation, the vast majority of citizens would have to deal with a cluster of new mandates and more than 100 new government bureaucracies to enforce them.
Citizens would be ordered to buy insurance or face jail time. Americans would answer to a "commissioner of health choices" and pay extra taxes for having the gall to buy top-of-the-line insurance plans. They no longer would have the right to choose health savings accounts or high-deductible plans or, in most cases, flexible spending accounts.
...
Knock off the diversity BS
Ralph Peters reacts to the President's speech and the army's "tolerance" of Hasan.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Liberal judicial philosophy
From the Daily Mail:
He said the mean was not too tasty and had a lot of fat. Is that another excuse for leniency?
Russian cannibal who ate his mother given lighter sentence by judge who says 'he was starving, he needed to eat'
He said the mean was not too tasty and had a lot of fat. Is that another excuse for leniency?
Obama to ask for 4,000 more NATO troops in Afghanistan
Times:
Many Europeans have a lack of commitment to winning this war. Unfortunately, many of these socialist countries have squandered their wealth on social programs and health care spending. I hope the story is right about the US commitment.President Obama is to ask members of Nato to provide up to 4,000 more troops to help to break the deadlock in Afghanistan.
Mr Obama is poised to confirm a surge of more than 30,000 US combat troops, according to senior military sources. He will also urge the rest of Nato to provide thousands of soldiers to train new recruits to the Afghan National Army (ANA).
His appeal is set to be largely ignored, however. At present only two Nato members have offered more troops — Britain and Turkey — and no other country is expected to come up with any, according to alliance sources. Such a response would threaten the credibility of the alliance in Afghanistan and represent a considerable snub for Mr Obama, who was viewed as a welcome change after the administration of President Bush.
Nato military officials are to meet in Belgium on November 23 at a “force generation” conference in which each ally will be asked to contribute towards the expansion of the ANA, either by sending extra trainers or more money for the training programme.
Mr Obama is expected to confirm that the campaign in Afghanistan needs another 40,000 troops, meeting the request made by General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Kabul, more than ten weeks ago, but that a proportion of the 40,000 — up to ten per cent — should be for other Nato countries to provide.
Turkey is increasing its military presence from 720 soldiers to 1,488 having assumed responsibility for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul on November 1. Britain has offered 500 more troops but their deployment depends on other Nato countries making similar pledges.
...
Huge bomb making stash found in Afghanistan
CNN:
This is a great find that should make the Taliban IED efforts much more difficult.
The NY Times has more on the huge find.
Security forces in southern Afghanistan seized a huge stash of bomb-making material, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Tuesday.The logistics of gathering this material need to be investigated to find the supplier and those who are transporting it. In quantities of this size it will be hard to hide the source.Afghan National Police and ISAF forces found 500,000 lbs. of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and 5,000 components used in making roadside bombs during a raid Sunday in Kandahar.
Ammonium nitrate fertilizer-- illegal in Afghanistan -- is "a key ingredient of homemade explosives and used in the majority of main charges" for roadside bombs, or improvised explosive devices, ISAF said.
Forces discovered 1,000 100-lb. bags of fertilizer in a warehouse and detained 15 people. The patrol later found another 4,000 100-lb. bags of fertilizer nearby in a compound.
...
This is a great find that should make the Taliban IED efforts much more difficult.
The NY Times has more on the huge find.
A war for women's rights in Afghanistan
Washington Times:
If it takes women rights to shame liberals into supporting a war we must win, then I am all for it. Certainly some of the biggest beneficiaries of our liberation of Afghanistan have been women. They still suffer abuse, but it is not nearly as bad as it was when the Taliban were in charge. There is still a long way to go.
But, we went to war in Afghansitan because it was used as a sanctuary for Islamic religious bigots to engage in mass murder for Allah attacks against us.
There is more.As President Obama considers the way forward in Afghanistan, factions within his party are increasingly torn between their strong wish to bring U.S. troops home and their equally passionate desire to protect Afghans — particularly Afghan women — from a return of the dark rule of the Taliban.
Signs indicate that after a lengthy review process, the president is leaning toward sending more troops and is simply considering the exact number. But he has come under heavy pressure from his Democratic liberal base to pull back and even to shut down the U.S. military effort completely.
It is this disconnect — the relegation of women's rights to secondary status by the political constituency that is the standard-bearer for feminism — that alarms human rights advocates, said Karl Inderfurth, who was an assistant secretary of state for the region under President Clinton.
"If the darkness descends again on Afghanistan, meaning a Taliban takeover, that will mean that women will pay the greatest price. They will be returned to that almost subhuman species that they were under Taliban rule," Mr. Inderfurth said.
"They know that if the clock turns back again, they're going to pay the greatest price."
Ellie Smeal, executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said the future of Afghan women "has just dropped out of all public discourse."
"What happens with females over and over again is we're forgotten," she said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who has broken with the liberal anti-war movement to support a troop increase up from the 68,000 U.S. forces already in Afghanistan, said the fate of Afghan women must not be overlooked during Mr. Obama's review.
...
If it takes women rights to shame liberals into supporting a war we must win, then I am all for it. Certainly some of the biggest beneficiaries of our liberation of Afghanistan have been women. They still suffer abuse, but it is not nearly as bad as it was when the Taliban were in charge. There is still a long way to go.
But, we went to war in Afghansitan because it was used as a sanctuary for Islamic religious bigots to engage in mass murder for Allah attacks against us.
Denial of evil at Fort Hood
David Brooks:
What we had was people rushing forward with their projections of excuses for the inexcusable. It was not their finest hour.
...The rush to write a brief excusing the inexcusable I find less understandable than Brooks. There was just oo much evidence suggestinghe was acting on his religious bigotry and not out of angst from taking to troubled troops. He never expressed any concern about their feelings, it was always about him and his religion. In fact there is nothing on the public record of his showing any empathy for the troops he counseled, much less any sharing of their pain.When Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan did that in Fort Hood, Tex., last week, many Americans had an understandable and, in some ways, admirable reaction. They didn’t want the horror to become a pretext for anti-Muslim bigotry.
So immediately the coverage took on a certain cast. The possibility of Islamic extremism was immediately played down. This was an isolated personal breakdown, not an ideological assault, many people emphasized.
Major Hasan was portrayed as a disturbed individual who was under a lot of stress. We learned about pre-traumatic stress syndrome, and secondary stress disorder, which one gets from hearing about other people’s stress. We heard the theory (unlikely in retrospect) that Hasan was so traumatized by the thought of going into a combat zone that he decided to take a gun and create one of his own.
A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness.
There was a national rush to therapy. Hasan was a loner who had trouble finding a wife and socializing with his neighbors.
This response was understandable. It’s important to tamp down vengeful hatreds in moments of passion. But it was also patronizing. Public commentators assumed the air of kindergarten teachers who had to protect their children from thinking certain impermissible and intolerant thoughts. If public commentary wasn’t carefully policed, the assumption seemed to be, then the great mass of unwashed yahoos in Middle America would go off on a racist rampage.
Worse, it absolved Hasan — before the real evidence was in — of his responsibility. He didn’t have the choice to be lonely or unhappy. But he did have a choice over what story to build out of those circumstances. And evidence is now mounting to suggest he chose the extremist War on Islam narrative that so often leads to murderous results.
...
It denied, before the evidence was in, the possibility of evil. It sought to reduce a heinous act to social maladjustment. It wasn’t the reaction of a morally or politically serious nation.
What we had was people rushing forward with their projections of excuses for the inexcusable. It was not their finest hour.
Army in denial over Fort Hood shooter
Ralph Peters:
Peters hits a couple of good points. Affirmative action promotions for officers can be deadly not just in the case of a guy going wacko, but putting troops in danger when officers are chosen for reasons other than their competency.
The other point is the sense of denial about what Hasan did and the danger he was. Ignoring boxes of red flags about this guy because of diversity was a huge mistake that innocent troops Paid for.
...There is more.
... to call this an act of terrorism, the White House would need an autographed photo of Osama bin Laden helping Hasan buy weapons in downtown Killeen, Texas. Even that might not suffice.Islamist terrorists don't all have al Qaeda union cards in their wallets. Terrorism's increasingly the domain of entrepreneurs and independent contractors. Under Muslim jurisprudence, jihad's an individual responsibility. Hasan was a self-appointed jihadi.
Yet we're told he was just having a bad day.
Our politically correct Army plays along. Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey won't utter the word "terrorism." The Forces Command Public Affairs Office guidance for officers never mentions "Islam" or "terror," leaving you unsure whether there was a traffic accident down at Fort Hood, or maybe an outbreak of swine flu.
Meanwhile, the media try to turn Hasan into a victim. A sickening (and amateurish) Washington Post article portrayed him as a poor, impoverished minority living in a $320-a-month rathole apartment and driving a down-market car -- as if the squalor made him a terrorist.
Squalor he chose to live in, by the way: As a major drawing added professional pay for his medical credentials, plus his benefits, Hasan made a six-figure income. And he was single, without college loans or medical bills. Has anybody asked where the money went? I'll bet a chunk of it disappeared in cash donations to hard-core Islamist causes. Will a single journalist track the missing bucks?
...Sen. Joe Lieberman, one of the few lawmakers willing to whisper the word "terrorism," needs to call the officers who sat on Hasan's promotion board before the Senate, put them under oath, then ask if Hasan made major because of minority-quota requirements.
This corrupt (and now deadly) affirmative-action system does a severe disservice to the bulk of minority officers, who make the grade on quality and professionalism. It leaves other officers wondering if the new guy who just showed up in the unit is a "real" officer or an affirmative-action baby.
...
Peters hits a couple of good points. Affirmative action promotions for officers can be deadly not just in the case of a guy going wacko, but putting troops in danger when officers are chosen for reasons other than their competency.
The other point is the sense of denial about what Hasan did and the danger he was. Ignoring boxes of red flags about this guy because of diversity was a huge mistake that innocent troops Paid for.
Army ignored warning signs on Fort Hood shooter
Fox News:
When you add this information with the intercepts of his communications with an al Qaeda recruiter, it is clear that the Army did not just fail to connect the dots, it was willfully ignoring the dots because of political correctness.
There is more.The warning signs were all there: the justification of homicide bombings; the spewing of anti-American hatred; the efforts to reach Al Qaeda ...
But the U.S. military treated Major Nidal Malik Hasan with kid gloves, even after giving him a poor performance review. And though he was on the radar screen of at least one U.S. intelligence agency, no action was taken that might have prevented the Army psychiatrist from allegedly gunning down 13 people and wounding 29 others in the Fort Hood massacre last week.
"There were definitely clear indications that Hasan's loyalties were not with America," Lt. Col. Val Finnell, Hasan's classmate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., told FoxNews.com in an exclusive interview. He and Hasan were students in the school's public health master's degree program from 2007-2008.
"There were all sorts of ... comments made throughout the year that made me question his loyalty to the United States, but nothing was done," said Finnell, who recalled one class during which Hasan gave a presentation justifying homicide bombings.
"The issue here is that there's a political correctness climate in the military. They don't want to say anything because it would be considered questioning somebody's religious belief, or they're afraid of an equal opportunity lawsuit.
...
"He was a lightning rod. He made his views known and he was very vocal, he had extremely radical jihadist views," Finnell said. "When you're a military officer you take an oath to defend against all enemies foreign and domestic.
"They should've confronted him — our professors, officers — but they were too concerned about being politically correct."
Finnell said the warning signs were clear to many, not just classmates. Faculty members, including many high-ranking military officers, witnessed firsthand his anti-Americanism, he said.
Finnell recalled Hasan telling his classmates and professors, "I'm a Muslim first and I hold the Shariah, the Islamic Law, before the United States Constitution."
He recalled one time when his classmates were giving presentations in an environmental health class on topics like soil and water contamination and the effects of mold. When it was Hasan's turn, he said, he got up in front of the class and began to speak about his chosen topic, "Is the War on Terror a war on Islam?"
Finnell says he raised his hand. "I asked the professor, "What does this topic have to do with environmental health?"
"When he was challenged on his views, Hasan became visibly upset. He became sweaty, he was emotional."
But despite questioning from the other students, Finnell said, the professor allowed Hasan to continue. He said Hasan's anti-American vitriol continued for two years as he worked toward his degree in public health.
...
When you add this information with the intercepts of his communications with an al Qaeda recruiter, it is clear that the Army did not just fail to connect the dots, it was willfully ignoring the dots because of political correctness.
Hiding the additional cost of Dem health care
Washington Times:
The NY Times reports that even Democrats are concerned about the failure to contain cost of health care in the legislation. Of course, the best way to do that is with health saving accounts. Democrats reject health savings accounts because they do not feed their control freak mind set.
You could also call it Enron accounting. It is clear that this bill is going to cost far more than we can ever afford and provide poorer service for most people. People who have insurance will be paying more for less service and people on Medicare will be getting significantly less benefit.The official $1.1 trillion price tag for the House Democrats' health care bill excludes dozens of unfunded programs that could drive up costs when future congresses look to fund them.
Republicans said the health care bill includes two dozen programs whose funding is listed as "such sums as may be necessary." That amounts to legislative jargon, they said, for "We'll bill you later."
The list of projects ranges from the "No child left unimmunized against influenza" project to 10 programs in the Indian health care system. There are also programs to encourage people to go into nursing and to spur states to restrain medical-malpractice lawsuits.
The tactic is far from new and has been used for years by Republicans and Democrats alike. The health reform examples are just the latest of what has become known as "fuzzy math" - the sort of budgeting that has been drawing extra scrutiny as the economy sputters, federal spending balloons and deficits deepen.
...
The NY Times reports that even Democrats are concerned about the failure to contain cost of health care in the legislation. Of course, the best way to do that is with health saving accounts. Democrats reject health savings accounts because they do not feed their control freak mind set.
Recycled Russian bombs supplying US nuclear power
NY Times:
What’s powering your home appliances?This may be one of the most beneficial recycling programs ever. Face it, most effort to recycle everything else are at best break even and here is one that actually provides something useful. It also demnstrates that nuclear energy is one part of our energy solution. While the US is rich in resources for all types of energy, Democrats have been strangling most of the productive sectors of the business such as oil and gas and nuclear energy in their vain search for "magic" energy that does not produce CO2 or is not scary.For about 10 percent of electricity in the United States, it’s fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones.
“It’s a great, easy source” of fuel, said Marina V. Alekseyenkova, an analyst at Renaissance Bank and an expert in the Russian nuclear industry that has profited from the arrangement since the end of the cold war.
But if more diluted weapons-grade uranium isn’t secured soon, the pipeline could run dry, with ramifications for consumers, as well as some American utilities and their Russian suppliers.
Already nervous about a supply gap, utilities operating America’s 104 nuclear reactors are paying as much attention to President Obama’s efforts to conclude a new arms treaty as the Nobel Peace Prize committee did.
In the last two decades, nuclear disarmament has become an integral part of the electricity industry, little known to most Americans.
Salvaged bomb material now generates about 10 percent of electricity in the United States — by comparison, hydropower generates about 6 percent and solar, biomass, wind and geothermal together account for 3 percent.
...
Army ws told of Hasan communications with al Qaeda recruiter
Brian Ross has been doing some first class reporting on this Fort Hood shooter. He indicates that the intercepts were passed on to Army intelligence officials before Hasan was transferred to Fort Hood.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Hasan used several computers to contact enemy
Times:
...There are several leads to run down and I suspect that several more computers will be seized before the investigation is complete. Will the ACLU try to thwart the investigation on some terrorist rights angle? I would not be surprised.No sign of links to terror groups emerged from an initial inspection of Major Hasan’s computer at his flat in Killeen, Texas, according to officials, but experts have since uncovered multiple leads by combing through e-mails sent from several addresses and other computers. One of Major Hasan’s last telephone calls, made at 5am on Thursday, was to the boyfriend of a neighbour whose computer he is thought to have borrowed.
The FBI confirmed to The Times yesterday that it was assisting the army’s Criminal Investigation Command in investigations in Texas, Maryland and Virginia, where Major Hasan’s family once worshipped at the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Centre in Falls Church.
...
Brits uncovered lead on Zazi plan for NY terror op
Telegraph:
It is good to hear that we are intercepting enemy communications and in the Zazi case we actually prevented any plot from going forward. It is too bad we were not as diligent with the Hasan intercepts.The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email.
The force alerted the FBI, who launched an operation which led to airport shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi, 24, being charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The Afghan is alleged to have been part of a group who used stolen credit cards to buy components for bombs including nail varnish remover.
The chemicals bought were similar to those used to make the 2005 London Tube and bus explosives which killed 52 people.
Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet.
US authorities allegedly found bomb-making instructions on his laptop and his fingerprints on batteries and measuring scales they seized.
...
The alleged plot was unmasked after an email address that was being monitored as part of the abortive Operation Pathway was suddenly reactivated.
Operation Pathway was investigating an alleged UK terrorist cell but went awry after the then Met Police counter-terrorism head Bob Quick was pictured walking into Downing Street displaying top secret documents.
Eleven Pakistani suspects were arrested immediately after the gaffe but later released without charge.
However, security staff continued to monitor the email address which eventually yielded results.
...
Communication intercepts of shooter not followed up
Washington Post:
The FBI clearly made a mistake in dropping its inquiry and not following up with inquiries of his colleagues who could have provided more damaging allegations of conduct suggesting he was dangerous. It makes you wonder if there are others out there where there was no follow up.
The Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here last week was in e-mail contact earlier this year with a radical cleric in Yemen who has decried what he calls America's war against Islam, a federal law enforcement official said Monday.It does not sound like they are going to get any direct testimony from Hasan unless he chooses to ignore the advice of counsel. It could happen if the guy really wants to die and get his virgins.U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted between 10 and 20 e-mails from Maj. Nidal M. Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshipped, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said later Monday. Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, Hoekstra said, but he described the responses as "innocent."
The FBI dropped an inquiry into the matter after determining that the e-mails did not warrant further investigation, according to a law enforcement official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity.
"For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said in an interview.
The revelations came as Hoekstra and other congressional leaders complained about a lack of information from the intelligence community in the days since Thursday's shooting and raised questions about the adequacy of the surveillance of Hasan in the month's leading up to the massacre.
On Capitol Hill, multiple congressional investigations of the shootings are taking shape, with a Senate committee announcing the first public hearings on the matter. Federal authorities pressed ahead with a methodical review of Hasan's computer, which officials believe could unearth more communications between him and extremists in recent months.
...
John P. Galligan of Belton, Tex., said he was hired Monday as Hasan's civilian lawyer. Galligan, a retired Army colonel, said he announced his hiring "because I wanted it on notice that Major Hasan has a lawyer and no one should be having contact with him without counsel."
...
The FBI clearly made a mistake in dropping its inquiry and not following up with inquiries of his colleagues who could have provided more damaging allegations of conduct suggesting he was dangerous. It makes you wonder if there are others out there where there was no follow up.
Fort Hood shooter was being 'monitored' for al Qaeda ties
Telegraph:
The problem with the observation mode is that it was incomplete. If investigators had also talked with his colleagues and looked at his statements in a seminar, it would have given them a more complete picture of the danger he posed. Of Course the CIA cannot do that, but the FBI could have if they ahd been informed of his communications.Hasan, who was shot four times during his attack, has been informed by doctors that he killed 13 people and injured dozens more.
FBI agents and military investigators were last night waiting to interview him.
Intelligence officers are said to have known months ago about Hasan’s attempts to reach the terror network through the internet but decided to monitor him, hoping it would lead them to al-Qaeda operatives. It was thought Hasan might lead them to a “big fish” and there was no indication he was about to carry out an attack of his own, one source said.
...
It emerged on Monday that Hasan had been in contact with Awlak within the last year.
Communications, believed to be emails, were intercepted by US intelligence services. They were examined at the time but it was decided that they did not require following up.
The disclosure will open US authorities to criticism that they failed to recognise warning signs and fuel fears that Hasan was in contact with extremists abroad prior to the shootings.
In a posting on his website on Monday, headed “Nidal Hasan Did The Right Thing”, Awlak said Hasan had carried out a “heroic and virtuous” act and the only way a Muslim could justify serving in the US Army was to “follow in the footsteps of Nidal Hasan”.
He said: “Nidal Hasan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.”
The CIA will preserve intelligence files it holds relating to Hasan’s attempts to contact al-Qaeda. Hasan, an army psychiatrist, is known to have posted comments about suicide bombers on the internet six months ago that were noticed by US intelligence agencies. A computer he used in the weeks before the massacre is being examined.
...
Al Qaeda reduces size of training
AP says al Qaeda is struggling to deal with the Hellfire attacks and keep its training ops running.
Career decisions for Democrats on health care vote
Politico:
Edwards has always been a wily politician and he proved that again this time. This is the same guy who was ducking a confrontation with opponents of the health care bill during August. If he really opposed it, why was he afraid to hold a Town Hall meeting and meet witht he opponents until he was pushed on the issue?
Chet Edwards did his dance with the vote and ultimately voted against it in hopes of saving his seat in the Bryan-College Station area. Of course that does not negate his vote for Pelosi who putht his monstrosity together and gave him a pass when she had other votes to replace his. Those vulnerable Democrats who put their career on the line did so for Edwards too.Within minutes of Saturday’s historic House vote on health care reform, Republicans pronounced the political death of Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-Va.), pointing to the vulnerable freshman congressman’s vote in favor of the bill.
And in the aftermath of the politically charged vote, Perriello wasn’t the only Democratic congressman whose fortunes were being reassessed. The GOP, which voted nearly in lock step against the measure, began crowing about the demise of various other vulnerable members and seized on the moment as a milestone in the path back to a House majority.
Other than Perriello — who was the target of 12 consecutive postvote GOP e-mails accusing him of breaking his promises — a handful of members immediately stood out for casting especially tough votes.
Three of them are junior legislators from highly competitive Ohio districts: first-term Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy and Steve Driehaus, and Rep. Zack Space, a second-term Democrat from a district that backed GOP presidential candidate John McCain in 2008.
Kilroy, who is facing a 2010 rematch against the Republican she narrowly defeated by 2,300 votes last year, took to the House floor Saturday morning to declare her support for the bill.
“This is a moral issue,” Kilroy said, in a speech that noted her own trials with multiple sclerosis.
Driehaus, like Kilroy a freshman Democrat who is facing a rematch with his 2008 opponent, former GOP Rep. Steve Chabot, voted for the health care bill only after it was stripped of funding for abortion.
“This isn’t about politics,” Driehaus told POLITICO before stepping into the chamber to cast his vote. “It’s about doing what’s right for the American people. I haven’t thought a minute politically what this might mean. This is about doing the right thing.”
For Perriello, Kilroy, Driehaus and Space, the health care bill represented their second exceptionally tough vote this year — the other was on the cap-and-trade bill — meaning they’ve essentially doubled down on the ambitious national Democratic agenda.
New York Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, who was sworn into office earlier this week after winning a closely watched special election, may also find that he sinks or swims with the national party next year.
Winning narrowly in what was originally a three-way contest, Owens voted for Saturday’s bill after holding an ambiguous position regarding a public option. It didn’t take the National Republican Congressional Committee long to pounce, saying his vote “could be the quickest broken promise in the history of Congress.”
...
Edwards has always been a wily politician and he proved that again this time. This is the same guy who was ducking a confrontation with opponents of the health care bill during August. If he really opposed it, why was he afraid to hold a Town Hall meeting and meet witht he opponents until he was pushed on the issue?
Hasan gets ready for the virgins with strippers
Fox News:
If this guy were not a mass murderer, he would be considered a sad loser. Here is a man who could not find a woman pious enough to marry who goes to strip clubs. He appears to be a psychologist with a virgin-whore complex.The Army psychiatrist authorities say killed 13 people and wounded 29 others at the Fort Hood Army Base Thursday was a recent and frequent customer at a local strip club, employees of the club told FoxNews.com exclusively.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came into the Starz strip club not far from the base at least three times in the past month, the club's general manager, Matthew Jones, told FoxNews.com. Army investigators building their case against Hasan plan to interview Jones soon.
"The last time he was here, I remember checking his military ID at the door, and he paid his $15 cover and stayed for six or seven hours," Jones, 37, said.
Hasan's presence at the club paints a starkly different portrait of the alleged killer from that offered by his imam and family members, who have described him as a devout Muslim, and one who had difficulty finding a wife who would wear a head scarf and would pray five times a day.
Starz is a strip club located just down the road from the main gate entrance to the Fort Hood Base. It does not serve alcohol, but customers bring their own beer and liquor and buy ice buckets and mixers at the club.
Hasan sat at a table in the back corner of the club, to the left of the stage on which strippers dance around a pole, employees said.
Jennifer Jenner, who works at Starz using the stage name Paige, said Hasan bought a lap dance from her two nights in a row. She said he paid $50 for a dance lasting three songs in one of the club's private rooms on Oct. 29 and Oct. 30.
"I remembered his face because it was the first lap dance I [gave] to a customer while working here," she said. "When I saw his face [Friday] on TV, I jumped out of bed, I knew it was him."
...
Hasan tried to contact al Qaeda?
ABC News:
The Washington Post reports on Hasan and Awlaki which it spells Aulaqi. The NY Post adds its unique style to the reporting on the association. Both focus on the al Qaeda connections.
U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.Hey, but don't jump to any conclusions. Hassan sounds like someone who should be investigated for charges of treason as well as mass murder for Allah. Awlaki also sounds like someone who has given the authorities good reason to investigate his conduct.It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.
One senior lawmaker said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan's efforts.
CIA director Leon Panetta and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, have been asked by Congress "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, according to the lawmaker.
...
Investigators want to know if Hasan maintained contact with a radical mosque leader from Virginia, Anwar al Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen and runs a web site that promotes jihad around the world against the U.S.
In a blog posting early Monday titled "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing," Awlaki calls Hassan a "hero" and a "man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people."
...
The Washington Post reports on Hasan and Awlaki which it spells Aulaqi. The NY Post adds its unique style to the reporting on the association. Both focus on the al Qaeda connections.
Ida shuts down the Gulf rigs
Reuters:
U.S. oil companies were shutting production on Sunday as they evacuated workers from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Ida, which is forecast to roar across the offshore oil patch Monday before making landfall on Tuesday.Ida is a very late season hurricane that at this point is expected to make land fall between New Orleans and Pensacola. As of this post it appears to be hitting the Florida panhandle.BP Plc, (BP.L) one the Gulf's largest oil producers, said on Sunday some of its production was shut and nonessential workers were evacuated from Ida's forecast path. The company does not disclose amounts of shut production.
Marathon Oil Corp (MRO.N) had shut its Ewing Bank production platform after evacuating workers, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. The Ewing Bank platform can produce 11,700 barrels of oil and 10.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, which takes in an average of 1 million barrels of foreign crude from cargo ships daily, stopped offloading tankers shortly after noon CST Sunday (1800 GMT) due to deteriorating sea conditions, according to a spokeswoman.
Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC.N) said workers were being evacuated from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, but no oil production was shut in.
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) said it preparing for possible shutdowns ahead of heavy weather at offshore and onshore Gulf of Mexico locations including its Mobile Bay, Alabama, natural gas field.
Oil companies began lifting workers off of platforms in the eastern and central Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, said a helicopter company executive.
...
Commie creeping coups south of border
Mary Anastasia O'Grady:
They are just a few votes short of the super majority they need to take control. Based on this administration's stand with the bad guys in Honuras, it is unlikely that it will do anything to stop this illegal power grab in El Salvador. As a result the evils of socialism will force even more illegal immigrants to leave that country and head north.Fidel Castro learned a lot from Chilean President Salvador Allende's failed power grab in 1973. And he used the lessons of that bitter defeat to coach Venezuela's Hugo Chávez to dictatorship under the guise of democracy more than 25 years later.
Now Latin America's revolutionaries may be experiencing another setback and this time they can't claim that a military coup removed their would-be dictator. Instead, former Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was arrested by order of the Supreme Court and deposed by Congress. And despite enormous international pressure, the Honduran democracy has so far defended its rule of law.
Yet far from giving up, Castro protégés are already using what they learned in Tegucigalpa in El Salvador. Central America's most promising free-market democracy is now fighting for its life.
Allende got the boot from his military because he had been trampling the constitution. The Supreme Court, the Bar Association and the Medical Association all denounced his disregard for the rule of law. According to James R. Whelan, author of a history of Chile titled "Out of the Ashes," the lower house of its Congress passed a resolution on Aug. 22, 1973, that "said bluntly that it was the responsibility of the military . . . 'to put an immediate end' to lawlessness and 'channel government action along legal paths . . . .'" Less than a month later, the military complied.
The lesson from Chile for the hard left was that success depended on first getting control of the institutions with the power to check an aspiring tyrant. Now the leadership of El Salvador's FMLN party, composed of many former guerrillas, is attempting just that.
...
A couple years back Mr. Merino explained in a media interview the FMLN's political agenda this way: "It is to take power, to conquer the entire nation and, in that way, assure that the form of government does not change. Of course, not with bayonets or persecution. There are examples, like Venezuela, that is our model."
The institutions that stand in Mr. Merino's way are the congress, the Supreme Court and the electoral council. The party tried to wrest control of the high court's constitutional panel, in collaboration with Mr. Saca while he was still president. Luckily, the backroom deal was challenged and the rule of law prevailed.
...
Speculation about such political machinations increased last month when 12 Arena congressmen announced a break from their party. Calling themselves "independents," they proceeded to vote with the FMLN against an investigation Arena wanted into abuses of agricultural subsidies.
What prompted the defection? Mr. Cristiani told me that a high-ranking member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) has told him that at least one PDC congressman has been offered $700,000 to vote with the FMLN. Separately, the secretary general of the PDC, Rodolfo Parker, has publicly warned of multiple offers from a middleman of between $300,000 and $500,000.
...
Obama the AWOL Commander in Chief
Villainous Company:
I think most of the criticism is justified and the administration would be wise to look at what she has to say. Obama needs to start doing things to earn the respect of the military and it is going to take more than photo ops to do that.
There is much more. She is on a roll."What Vice President Cheney calls 'dithering,' President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public," said Gibbs. "I think we've all seen what happens when somebody doesn't take that responsibility seriously."Life is full of mysteries, but chief among them in this Marine wife's mind at the moment is, "Just how stupid does this White House think we are?" If the events of the past few months have shown us anything, it's that Barack Obama has little enthusiasm for - or interest in - one of the most important duties of an American President: his role as Commander in Chief of the nation's armed forces.
~White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
Like so many of his campaign promises, Barack Obama's commitment to the military has undergone constant revision since he took office in January....
...
There's an important point here: where was our Commander in Chief when his top commander in Afghanistan was being viciously attacked? Did he step in and defend his subordinate for doing the job he was ordered to do? Of course he didn't. Harry Truman was obviously no community organizer: the brouhaha over McChrystal ensured that the buck wouldn't stop in the Oval Office this time. The McChrystal leak was followed by the revelation that our stalwart Commander in Chief had only met with his top commander in Afghanistan once. Stung by the implication that his "war of necessity" was very much on the back burner, Obama scrambled to find a mere 20 minutes to spare as he idled on a runway in northern Europe. He spent more time than that conducting a beer summit.Now the Army's largest base has suffered a devastating attack by a deranged Islamist. And how does our Commander in Chief respond? He gives a "shout out" to Joe Medicine Crow, that noted Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
Tell me something: in a moment of national tragedy is it really too much to expect the President of the United States to forego the "shout outs"? Is it too much ask that he learn the difference between the Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor? What we require from our leaders at times like this is not much, really. No one expects them to actually care. What we want is precisely the kind of thing that comes so effortlessly to Barack Obama: honeyed words and a reassuring show of compassion from a man who thinks that quality is the most important attribute a Supreme Court judge can possess. A public acknowledgment that something grave has happened. But for some reason, asking the Commander in Chief of our armed forces to give even the appearance of empathy was a bridge too far.
Americans expect something more from their leaders in times of trouble. We expect grace. Empathy. Inspiration. A sense of solemn gravity that befits the nation's somber mood. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded killing 7 astronauts, Ronald Reagan postponed the State of the Union report to address and assuage the nation's shock and mourning.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, gave us shout outs.
As so many have noted, our Commander in Chief finally visited the wounded at Fort Hood the other day. Unfortunately, it wasn't this Commander in Chief:
Instead of comforting his troops, President Obama decided to spend the weekend at Camp David....Even if one were inclined to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt and assume that he had asked Former President Bush and Mrs. Bush to visit the wounded soldiers because the Bushes live in Texas, why would he ask this of his predecessor and not get on Air Force One overnight to get down there himself?
Why would he not go to be with those whom he is charged to send into battle and who were so horrifyingly betrayed by one of their own?
Because he doesn't give a rat's backside, that's why not.
I think most of the criticism is justified and the administration would be wise to look at what she has to say. Obama needs to start doing things to earn the respect of the military and it is going to take more than photo ops to do that.
AARP puts it personal interest ahead of its members
Boston Herald:
Why would the nation’s largest lobbying organization, sworn to protect the interests of senior citizens, watch silently as Congress plans to cut Medicare spending by $400 billion to pay for its health reform legislation? Could it be that the interests of seniors and AARP are not exactly aligned?AARP has sold out to the evils of liberalism and its members are the ones who will pay the price. I dropped my membership about 10 years ago and have never had reason to regret it. This action should cause others to question their association with the group.AARP takes in more than half of its $1.1 billion budget in royalty fees from health insurers and other vendors that market services with AARP’s name. “Medigap” plans make up the biggest share of this royalty revenue.
AARP has an interest in selling more Medigap plans, of course. But there’s a competitor on the block.
A growing number of seniors are enrolling in a new form of coverage - Medicare Advantage - where they don’t need Medigap.
These private plans compete by offering seniors lower premiums, better drug coverage, dental care and eyeglasses, and more comprehensive coverage for major medical expenses.
Congress’ health reform bills would cut spending for Medicare Advantage by at least $150 billion. President Barack Obama has singled out Medicare Advantage, saying it is a give-away to private companies. But virtually all of the extra money goes back to seniors in the form of better benefits.
...
Discredited left want go away
Melanie Phillips:
She outlines the cultural assault on western society by the left that has not stopped. You can see it in the failure of the schools which have been used as a vehicle for our self destruction by pushing moral relativism and moral decay. It is where the evils of liberalism find their way into our culture.
There is much more.Twenty years ago today, supporters of freedom and human rights cheered and wept for joy as the Berlin Wall was torn down by jubilant young Germans.
To so many, that heady day seemed to herald the emergence of a better world. The spectre of communism had finally been laid to rest. Liberty had triumphed over tyranny.
The end of the Cold War even led some to proclaim that this was 'the end of history' - which was to say that liberal democracy was now the dominant and unchallengeable force in the world.
However, the 9/11 attacks on America tragically proved this to be absurdly over-optimistic. The eruption of radical Islamism revealed that, while the West may have been rid of one enemy in the Soviet Union, another deadly foe had risen to take its place. So much is, sadly, all too evident.
But what is perhaps less obvious is that communism did not just vanish in a puff of historical smoke. The Soviet Union was defeated and fell apart, for sure. But the communist ideology that fuelled it did not so much disintegrate as reconstitute itself into another, even more deadly form as the active enemy of western freedom.
...
... as communism slowly crumbled, those on the far-Left who remained hostile towards western civilisation found another way to realise their goal of bringing it down.
This was what might be called 'cultural Marxism'. It was based on the understanding that what holds a society together are the pillars of its culture: the structures and institutions of education, family, law, media and religion. Transform the principles that these embody and you can thus destroy the society they have shaped.
...
She outlines the cultural assault on western society by the left that has not stopped. You can see it in the failure of the schools which have been used as a vehicle for our self destruction by pushing moral relativism and moral decay. It is where the evils of liberalism find their way into our culture.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Fort Hood shooter used FN Herstal 5.7-millimeter pistol
But, don't jump to any conclusions?
From the Telegraph:
You don't suppose this was based on his religious convictions do you?
Fort Hood gunman had told US military colleagues that infidels should have their throats cut
You don't suppose this was based on his religious convictions do you?
Obama's Fort Hood reaction screw up
Times:
I watched the statement and was surprised how awkward it was. At first I thought the media had been mislead about what to expect and by the time he got around to the subject he did not look very presidential. I suspect that scene is going to be replayed by his opponents.President Obama came in for growing criticism over the weekend for his “insensitive” handling of the bloody shoot-out in Fort Hood, Texas, where 13 people were killed by a Muslim officer in the US Army.
Mr Obama is not scheduled to arrive at America’s largest military base until tomorrow to attend a memorial service for victims of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who opened fire on a group of unarmed soldiers.
The President’s jarring absence from Fort Hood — in contrast to a low-key visit by the former president George Bush on Friday — is not the only element of his response to the tragedy that is bothering his critics, Democrats and Republicans alike.
In particular, much has been made of a transcript of the press conference where Mr Obama first gave his official response to the mass shooting. The President opened his remarks — he was attending a Tribal Nations Conference for America’s 564 federally recognised Native American tribes — with jocular “shout-outs” to various people in the audience. Only later did he turn his attention to the attack, saying: “I planned to make some broader remarks. But as some of you have heard, there has been a tragic shooting.”
“(Obama) did not appreciate the gravity of what he represents,” Brad Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to George Bush, told Fox News. “He should have begun his official remarks with the tragedy. The fact that he used colloquialisms like ‘shout out’ — and was so cavalier at the beginning — was a reflection of his inability to be presidential. He’s not comfortable enough in his role yet.”
Unusually, the liberal Boston Globe agreed. In an editorial at the weekend the newspaper said: “It takes more than scripted eloquence for Presidents to connect with fellow Americans. It requires a visceral ability to grasp the scope of tragedy, calculate its impact on the national psyche, and react swiftly. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood how much it hurt.”
...
Venezuela prepares for war with Colombia
Telegraph:
I think this is a cover for the increasing Venezuelan facilitation of the flow of drugs out of Colombia. Those drugs fuel the insurgency there and also line the pockets of those who help them get to distributions points. I suspect that Colombia has a better army over all, but Chavez has been buying a lot of armor which Colombia does not have in any strength.Mr Chavez said Venezuela could end up going to war with Colombia as tensions between them rise, and he warned that if a conflict broke out "it could extend throughout the whole continent".
"The best way to avoid war is preparing for it," Mr Chavez told military officers during his weekly television and radio program. Venezuela's socialist leader has also cited a recent deal between Bogota and Washington giving US troops greater access to military bases as a threat to regional stability.
There was no immediate reaction from either the Colombian or US government, but in the past they have denied intentions to start a war with Venezuela and said the base deal is needed to fight the war on drugs and insurgents in Colombia, which is a major cocaine producer struggling with a decades-old internal conflict.
Tensions along the Venezuela-Colombia border have been exacerbated in recent weeks by a series of shootings and slayings.
...
Jihadi denial syndrome
Melanie Phillips:
Look, I know there are a lot of fine people who adhere to this religion. but there are also those who kill their daughters are engage in mass murder for Allah. There just are not many Methodist or people from other faiths doing this nutty stuff. There is a sickness with in the ranks that is destroying respect for Islam much more than any cartoonist ever could. There is also a deep sense of denial about the sickness as can be seen in Pakistan where the mass murder attacks for Allah are blamed on the US or Israel.
After the 7/7 London transport bombings woke at least some people up to the phenomenon of British ‘sleeper’ Islamic terrorism – and, equally important, to the way this was continuing to be denied by the British establishment – the reaction across the pond was, to say the least, complacent. What on earth had happened to the British lion? Americans asked, scratching their heads in amazement at how a country which had once stood united in determination to fight the enemies of democracy on the beaches was now apparently indifferent to the spread of jihadi fanaticism and support for religiously inspired violence amongst its own citizens. Americans were particularly astounded that Islamists were even being recruited to serve in the British police and other parts of the establishment.Islam has become something of the pit bull of religions. You never quite know when one of its members is going to lose it and start attacking everyone around them. It happens much more rarely in the US but it is happening around the world, yet too many of us don't want to be seen as disapproving.The fact was, however, as I have written and said on a number of occasions, America was going in a similar direction, albeit more slowly and with a quite different demographic. While the vast majority of its Muslim citizens appeared to be people who really had come to the US to get a slice of the good life and had signed up to American values, there was a growing element amongst US Muslims which was becoming steadily radicalised. Worse still, the FBI and other counter-terrorism agencies had been influenced by their appeasement-minded British cousins in the security world peddling their wholly false analysis of Islamic terrorism as having nothing to do with religion, encouraging US officials similarly to downplay or passively allow the rise of US radicalisation. (See for example this story about the silence over a Hizb ut Tahrir conference in Chicago.)
Now we have seen the horrific outcome – the Fort Hood attack which left 13 people dead and dozens more injured by army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who reportedly screamed the jihadi battle cry ‘Allahu akhbar!’ before he opened fire. There can be no doubt whatever that this was a jihadi attack upon America, not least from the evidence that has now surfaced of Major Hasan’s attitudes for months before his rampage – evidence that the US authorities simply ignored. The Times reported:
Yet not only did the US authorities ignore these warning signs that its army psychiatrist was an Islamist fanatic – it has been revealed that he was even a member of the Homeland Security panel advising on the presidential transition -- but much of the media reaction to the atrocity on both sides of the Atlantic has demonstrated an astounding state of denial....His name appears above radical internet postings praising Islamic suicide bombers — something that the FBI was alerted to six months ago. He had frequent arguments with soldiers at Fort Hood because of his declarations that fellow Muslims ‘should stand up and fight against the aggressor’, and his vocal opposition to US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He even appeared to celebrate the shooting dead of a soldier at an army recruiting centre in Arkansas in June, carried out by a Muslim convert. He said at the time that Muslims should strap on suicide bombs and detonate them in Times Square.
These were the extraordinarily provocative statements and actions of the army psychiatrist Major Nidal Malik Hasan in the months before his deadly shootings at Fort Hood — a massacre that began with him shouting ‘God is Great’ in Arabic.
...
Look, I know there are a lot of fine people who adhere to this religion. but there are also those who kill their daughters are engage in mass murder for Allah. There just are not many Methodist or people from other faiths doing this nutty stuff. There is a sickness with in the ranks that is destroying respect for Islam much more than any cartoonist ever could. There is also a deep sense of denial about the sickness as can be seen in Pakistan where the mass murder attacks for Allah are blamed on the US or Israel.
Hasan's weirdness went unreproted for fear of being called a Islamaphobe
Scotsman:
FORT Hood killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan expressed political views that troubled his fellow soldiers, but may not have been reported for fear of them being accused of anti-Muslim feeling.Even one of his fellow Muslims said, "There is something wrong with you." Yet know one was willing to talk with his chain of command and it is probable that if they had, they would have been the ones under suspicion. Political correctness and diversity can do that to an organization like the Army.
...
But in the months leading up to shooting spree that also left 29 people wounded, Hasan raised eyebrows with comments that the war on terror was "a war on Islam" and wrestled with what to tell fellow Muslim solders who had their doubts about fighting in Islamic countries.
Hasan reportedly jumped on a desk and shouted "Allahu akbar!" – Arabic for "God is great!" – before Thursday's attack.
"The system is not doing what it's supposed to do," said Dr Val Finnell, who complained to administrators at a military university about what he considered Hasan's "anti-American" rants. "He at least should have been confronted about these beliefs, told to cease and desist, and to shape up or ship out."
Finnell studied with Hasan from 2007-8 in the master's programme in public health at the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, where Hasan persistently complained about perceived anti-Muslim sentiment in the military and injected his politics into courses where they had no place.
"In retrospect, I'm not surprised he did it," Finnell said of the shootings. "I had real questions about what his priorities were, what his beliefs were."
...
Eye witness to Fort Hood shooting
Doug Ross has the account. It is very gripping.
...You rarely get such detail in an eyewitness account. It is worth reading in full.
Until he started shooting in my direction and I realized I was unarmed. Then the female cop comes around the corner. He shoots her. (according to the news accounts she got a round into him. I believe it, I just didn't see it. he didn't go down.) She goes down. He starts reloading. He's fiddling with his mags. Weirdly he hasn't dropped the one that was in his weapon. He's holding the fresh one and the old one (you do that on the range when time is not of the essence but in combat you would just let the old mag go).
I see the male cop around the left corner of the building. (I'm about 15-20 meters from the shooter.) I yell at the cop, "He's reloading, he's reloading. Shoot him! Shoot him!) You have to understand, everything was quiet at this point. The cop appears to hear me and comes around the corner and shoots the shooter. He goes down. The cop kicks his weapon further away. I sprint up to the downed female cop. Another captain (I think he was with me behind the cars) comes up as well.
...
Running down a daughter for 'honor'
Leonard Pitts:
Will the rest of the media make excuses for this deviant too the way they are writing briefs for the Fort Hood shooter? Are would it be appropriate to suggest that Islam makes some people crazy?We don't know why Faleh Hassan Almaleki came to this country in the mid-1990s, and it's unlikely he'll be able to tell us anytime soon. He's in jail in Maricopa County, Ariz., at this writing, in lieu of a $5 million cash bond. It hardly seems far-fetched, however, to suppose he emigrated from his native Iraq for the same reason immigrants typically seek these shores: America promises opportunity and freedom.
But one wonders if he truly knew the meaning of the words.
Almaleki is the 48-year-old Glendale, Ariz., man who stands accused of using his Jeep Cherokee to run down his 20-year-old daughter, Noor, and another woman, Amal Edan Khalaf. Khalaf, said to be the mother of Noor's boyfriend, is expected to survive the Oct. 20 attack in the parking lot of a state government building. Noor was less fortunate. She died last Monday.
About her, we know only a few things: She had a page on Facebook and another on MySpace. She was interested in modeling. And at some point she either went to Iraq and got married -- or went there and rejected the suitor her family had arranged for her. Police are still trying to determine which of those stories, both in circulation, is true. Either way, she returned to the States, where she moved in with her boyfriend and his mother.
Something else we know: Almaleki felt his Facebook-using, husband-rejecting daughter had become too ``westernized.'' His son, Peter-Ali, told a local TV news station that tensions ran high between father and daughter. Noor, he said, went ``out of her way'' to disrespect their conservative Muslim father.
And where Almaleki comes from, it is standard practice that the daughter who disrespects or brings shame upon her family is subject to what they call an honor killing. Repeating for emphasis: Almaleki is alleged to have run down two defenseless women as a matter of honor....
...
Middle East peace not that important again
Elliot Abrams:
What is also clear is that the administration thought that the problem was that the Bush administration did not try to get peace in the region and that would facilitate the process. They are wrong on both counts. The Bush attempt was met by exploding Palestinians. The current process is met by passive aggressive behavior by the Palestinians and consternation by the Israelis.
Even Thomas Friedman in the NY Times seems resigned to there not being an agreement. It is a position I have espoused for years. The Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular are just not that interested in a deal and until they are, it is a waste of time and air miles.
This is more evidence that Obama is not a decider, but a dawdling ditherer.Can anything else possibly go wrong for the Obama administration's Middle East policy? In the past ten days, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has twice reversed herself publicly on her attitude toward the Israeli settlements. Palestinians have refused her direct request to rejoin peace talks with Israel, and Palestinian Authority president Abbas has said he will not run for reelection. U.S.-Israel relations are in a state of frozen mistrust. The New York Times and Washington Post, among others, are calling Obama's policy a complete failure--in news stories as well as editorials. The only thing missing is a plague of locusts.
The policy is indeed a complete failure. In ten months the administration has managed to offend and demoralize Israelis and Palestinians, lose the support of Arab governments, and reduce previously excellent relations with the government of Israel to levels unmatched since the James Baker days. Meanwhile, George Mitchell's trips to the region are increasingly reminiscent of the Colin Powell visits in 2002 and 2003--producing little but embarrassment. The Israeli "100 percent settlement freeze" and the Arab outreach to Israel, early goals of the Obama team, are now forgotten, as is an early resumption of serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
These disasters are mostly the product of an ignorant and belligerent attitude toward Israel and especially its prime minister. The ignorance was most evident in the administration's view that a total construction freeze could be imposed not only in every settlement but in Jerusalem itself. But the U.S. policy was worse: We demanded a freeze that would apply to construction by Jews, but not by Arabs; could any Israeli leader be expected to support such a position? One does not need to be a member of the Knesset to understand that such a freeze was impossible for Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition as it would have been for any Israeli prime minister--but apparently this fact was beyond the understanding of Mitchell, Rahm Emanuel, and all the other "experts" on the Obama team.
The belligerence toward Netanyahu has been evident all along, but is best shown by the refusal to tell Israel's prime minister whether or not the president will see him this coming week when Netanyahu (like the president) addresses the United Jewish Communities annual general assembly in Washington. The Israelis gave the White House weeks of notice that Netanyahu had agreed to speak, would be in town, and hoped to see Obama. The White House reaction has been to keep him twisting in the wind, with news stories several days before his arrival saying the president had not decided yet whether to see Netanyahu.
...
What is also clear is that the administration thought that the problem was that the Bush administration did not try to get peace in the region and that would facilitate the process. They are wrong on both counts. The Bush attempt was met by exploding Palestinians. The current process is met by passive aggressive behavior by the Palestinians and consternation by the Israelis.
Even Thomas Friedman in the NY Times seems resigned to there not being an agreement. It is a position I have espoused for years. The Arabs in general and the Palestinians in particular are just not that interested in a deal and until they are, it is a waste of time and air miles.
The created or saved scam
Joseph Lawler:
When Biden says the stimulus is working as advertised he is flatly contradicted by their own projections of where the unemployment numbers would be now with the passage of the stimulus. Even arguing it would be worse with out it is speculative.
This is just another element of the Democrat politics of fraud. They know it is a fraud too.It is hard to reconcile Friday’s dismal Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report with Vice President Joe Biden’s claim from the previous Friday that "the Recovery Act is operating as advertised." The BLS related the news that almost 200,000 more jobs were lost in the past month - the 14th consecutive month with losses in the hundreds of thousands - and that the unemployment rate now stands at 10.2 percent. Despite the barrage of terrible employment figures, don’t expect the administration to back off its bold claim that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is on pace to deliver its promised year-end 1 million jobs "created or saved."
The Obama Administration has demonstrated a knack for clever grammatical constructions, and "created or saved" might be the most artful. By using jobs saved and not just jobs created as the measuring stick, the administration is able to trumpet eye-catchingly large numbers - as attested by the Biden’s triumphal pronouncement that $160 billion of spending had already created or saved almost 650,000 jobs.
...
There's a problem, though: the "created or saved" numbers are meaningless. The administration purposefully devised the metric to be nebulous. Without a counterfactual, showing the trend of unemployment in the absence of the stimulus, it is impossible to know how many jobs the stimulus saved. That is why the administration can get away with claiming that it has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs even when employment is three million jobs below what the president's Council of Economic Advisers had predicted it would be without the stimulus, and the unemployment rate is higher than it has been since 1983.
The administration can elude blame by claiming that the recession turned out to be deeper than anticipated, and that conditions would have been even worse without the stimulus. Obama and company have have rigged the game: they could claim the stimulus is "operating as advertised" no matter what, even if employment actually dipped to 1 million total this year - after all, they could say that every last job would have vanished without their intervention.
In what must have been a moment of unusual candor, Jared Bernstein, Biden's chief economic adviser who is tasked with overseeing the stimulus's implementation, admitted to Time that "[y]ou can't answer these questions without a compared-to-what.... We can have good arguments about the baseline, but a critique that doesn't evoke the baseline is useless." The cat is out of the bag.
...
When Biden says the stimulus is working as advertised he is flatly contradicted by their own projections of where the unemployment numbers would be now with the passage of the stimulus. Even arguing it would be worse with out it is speculative.
In Helmand Afghans fear Marines will leave
LA Times:
I have seen "analysis" particularly in the Brit papers that suggest the war is not winnable. This story points the way in how to win. You need a high force to space ratio in order to stop enemy movement. Every war is winnable or losable. It is far easier to lose than to win. In fact losing is the easiest thing to do in a war. If you have the commitment to victory and have the resources and are willing to provide those resources intelligently you can win.
When 500 U.S. Marines descended on this Taliban stronghold overnight, Afghan civilians were immediately suspicious about the intentions of the heavily armed Americans.I fear that Obama will make the mistake of pulling the Marines out of the area. This is where they need to be and they need more troops to expand the area they control and deny to the Taliban. I think this is the way to win this war.
One question dominated all others: How long will the Americans stay? Five months later, there is still no clear answer.
"The No. 1 question the Marines get is: 'When are you going home?' " said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, an Iraq combat veteran and now the top Marine in Afghanistan. "They can't believe we're staying."
Three battalions landed 4,500 troops in Helmand province in the early hours of July 2, the largest airborne assault since Vietnam.
But the long-term U.S. commitment to Helmand is unclear, as President Obama and Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, continue to reevaluate U.S. strategy.
One issue is whether U.S. forces should be massed more closely to large population centers, including Kabul, the capital, which could mean depleting the forces in rural regions like Helmand.
In mid-June about 200 Marines arrived here to relieve a beleaguered British platoon. Days later, 500 more arrived in helicopters to establish a central base, called Geronimo, and then smaller ones, including Cherokee here in Nawa.
After 10 days of intense fighting, the Marines pushed Taliban fighters out of several small villages. The troops fanned out and announced to startled villagers that they had arrived to protect the population from the Taliban.
But a whisper campaign, which Marines blame on the Taliban, suggested that the Americans would leave as soon as President Hamid Karzai was reelected. The message was clear: Anyone who cooperates with the Americans is marked for death.
"They're very hesitant to trust us, and I don't blame them," said Capt. Frank "Gus" Biggio, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and Marine reservist who heads a civil-affairs team in Nawa. "For centuries, they've seen foreigners come and go, promises made and broken."
The 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment, which was assigned to protect Nawa, is set to return home to Camp Pendleton by Christmas. Advance elements of its replacement, the 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment from Hawaii, have already come to be introduced to the elders and be seen in marketplaces and other gathering spots. They will be on a seven-month deployment.
The Marines have held numerous meetings with village elders to convince them that they will protect the community until Afghan security forces are strong enough to take over. In return, the Marines asked for information on Taliban fighters' movements and methods, including roadside bombs.
Dusty, sunbaked Helmand is considered the insurgency's heartland. A person who is helpful and friendly with the U.S. one day may be helping the Taliban the next, Marines said.
...
After the Marines arrived, Taliban fighters fled a few miles away to a community called Marja. The Marines have made no secret that, together with the Afghan national army, they plan to rout the Taliban from Marja in a sweep akin to that of the November 2004 battle of Fallouja, Iraq.
Nicholson, the Marine commander, calls Marja a "cancer in Helmand" that he is eager to eliminate.
Throughout the province -- though not in Marja -- Marines patrol daily, in Humvees or on foot, sometimes accompanied by Afghan soldiers. Marine civil-affairs teams, along with the civilian agencies, are working to win the confidence of villagers with small projects that hire local people to clear roads, take care of schools and build bridges.
The Marines are putting up plywood buildings to replace the hastily erected tents that house their troops, communication gear and other things. McCollough hopes the effort will thwart the village chatter about the U.S. leaving soon.
"In Afghanistan, that's a permanent structure," McCollough said of the buildings.
...
I have seen "analysis" particularly in the Brit papers that suggest the war is not winnable. This story points the way in how to win. You need a high force to space ratio in order to stop enemy movement. Every war is winnable or losable. It is far easier to lose than to win. In fact losing is the easiest thing to do in a war. If you have the commitment to victory and have the resources and are willing to provide those resources intelligently you can win.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Nostalgia for Bush?
From the Sunday Telegraph:
Bloodless President Barack Obama makes Americans wistful for George W BushUs non Democrats think we know where Obama stands and we don't like it.
...
In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. "I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. "But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something."
...
Hasan spent $1,000 at Guns Galore before shootings
Sunday Times:
We are now getting some details in his weapons and his method of attack. Check out the posts below to get a fuller picture. Also click on the Fort Hood topic below for links to all stories about the attack. The evidence now suggest he had been planning the mass murder attack since at least July and possible longer.
There is much more.A MONTH after his arrival in Texas in July, Major Nidal Malik Hasan walked into Guns Galore, a weapons shop near the sprawling Fort Hood military base, and spent $1,000 on a high-powered, Belgian-made semi-automatic pistol that is said by its manufacturer to be “lightweight and easily concealable ... It will defeat the enemy in all close combat situations”.
It was an unusual purchase for an army psychiatrist who had never shown any interest in guns and who had spent almost all his military career learning how to deal with the consequences of gun violence at the US Army’s Walter Reed medical centre in Washington.
Army investigators now believe that Hasan’s 5.7-calibre FN Herstal tactical pistol was the only gun he fired in the horrific seven-minute rampage that killed 13 people and injured at least 30 others at the Fort Hood base last Thursday.
In army offices crowded with hundreds of soldiers, Hasan, a 39-year-old American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent, was somehow able to fire at least 100 times, pausing repeatedly to reload 20-round magazines, before he was shot by military police.
He was carrying another pistol, a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, but does not appear to have used it.
At one point, said Specialist Eliot Valdez, who witnessed the aftermath of the assault, Hasan was shooting the occupants of a crowded room like “fish in a barrel ... It was too easy, you can close your eyes and hit eight people”.
...
We are now getting some details in his weapons and his method of attack. Check out the posts below to get a fuller picture. Also click on the Fort Hood topic below for links to all stories about the attack. The evidence now suggest he had been planning the mass murder attack since at least July and possible longer.
Details of Fort Hood attack
Independent on Sunday:
It is unclear what happened to the second weapon. It would be very difficult to change magazines with weapons in both hands. The size of the magazines suggest he bought them to engage in his mass murder for Allah operation.Army investigators working to reconstruct in second-by-second detail the one-man rampage inside a soldier processing facility at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday, are asking how the assailant had time to fire at least 100 rounds from a single handgun. The incident left 13 dead and more than 30 wounded.
Some survivors of the carnage, made even more deadly by ricochet bullets bouncing from walls, furniture and floor tiling, have told investigators that the suspect, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist who faced imminent deployment to Afghanistan, was almost methodical in his slaughter. In some instances, he fired a second time at soldiers who were wounded but not yet dead.
Officials said Hasan bore two non-military handguns on entering the building. But after climbing first on to a desk and shouting "Allahu Akbar!", or "God is great!", he used only one, a Belgian semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine that holds 20 bullets. This implies that Hasan reloaded as many as five times before he was brought down by two civilian police officers.
...
Iran questioned about experiments with advanced nuclear warhead design
Guardian:
So what are the peaceful uses of this technology? That is a question that Iran will probably ignore and it continues to play the rest of the world for time to build their nuclear weapons.The UN's nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The sophisticated technology, once mastered, allows for the production of smaller and simpler warheads than older models. It reduces the diameter of a warhead and makes it easier to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
Documentation referring to experiments testing a two-point detonation design are part of the evidence of nuclear weaponisation gathered by the IAEA and presented to Iran for its response.
...
Fort Hood shooter attended mosque with 9-11 terrorist
Sunday Telegraph:
Right now I will put this down as an interesting coincidence that needs further investigation. Statements attributed to Hasan suggest he shared some of the terrorist weird religious beliefs.Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday's horrific shooting spree.
As investigators look at Hasan's motives and mindset, his attendance at the mosque could be an important piece of the jigsaw. Al-Awlaki moved to Dar al-Hijrah as imam in January, 2001, from the west coast, and three months later the September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California.
Hasan was praying at Dar al-Hijrah at about the same time, and the FBI will now want to investigate whether he met the two terrorists.
Charles Allen, a former under-secretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, has described al-Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen, as an "al-Qaeda supporter, and former spiritual leader to three of the September 11 hijackers... who targets US Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen".
...
Muslim group claims no report of harrassment
Fox News:
I suspect the family is just looking for excuses for some very embarrassing conduct by their relative.A Muslim veteran affairs organization says it has not received reports of harassment from Islamic soldiers, contrary to claims by a relative of the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base.
Abdul-Rashid Abdullah, deputy director of the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, told FoxNews.com that the nonprofit group has not received a single report recently of a U.S. soldier being harassed "simply because he was Muslim."
...
Oh really?
From a NY Times editorial on the killings at Fort Hood:
There have been many hints as to his motivation and most of them point toward his religion making him crazy. While this does not mean that Islam makes everyone crazy, it does seem to be a factor in all mass murder for Allah attack. That is something that ought to be examined and not ignored or wished away in the name of diversity.
...I think I can begin to imagine what Hasan's motivation was from his own words to his colleagues from shouts of "God is great" before he started shooting. I tend to discount the allegations of taunts and insults. A competent officer should be able to deal with such things.
Unverified reports, some from his family members, suggest that Major Hasan complained of harassment by fellow soldiers for being a Muslim, that he hoped to get out of a deployment to Afghanistan, that he sought a discharge from the Army and that he opposed the American military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were reports that some soldiers said they had heard him shout “God is Great” in Arabic before he started firing. But until investigations are complete, no one can begin to imagine what could possibly have motivated this latest appalling rampage.
...
There have been many hints as to his motivation and most of them point toward his religion making him crazy. While this does not mean that Islam makes everyone crazy, it does seem to be a factor in all mass murder for Allah attack. That is something that ought to be examined and not ignored or wished away in the name of diversity.
Marine Corps birthday message
The actual birthday is on November 10, but I thought you would like to see the Commandant's message. It is well done.
Iran balks at shipping uranium out of country
CNN:
A senior Iranian politician said Saturday the country would not ship low-enriched uranium out of the country, which is a major part of a pending nuclear deal between Iran and international powers, according to semiofficial state media.So much for "smart" diplomacy. I suspect that Russia will still not want to do anything to impose sanctions of Iran so nothing is likely to happen until the Israelis strike the nuke facilities.Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chief of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the proposed deal to send uranium out of the country is "called off," Iran's semiofficial news agency ISNA reported.
This issue is part of a deal being negotiated by a U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The draft agreement has been supported by the United States, France and Russia.
...
Deaths by diversity?
NY Times:
To use a crude analogy, not all pit bulls are killers, but it is sometimes hard to identify the ones who are. Until you know the difference, it is wise to be wary of those showing aggressive tendencies.
This is an awful strange reaction by Obama. He has been tone deaf ever since the word of this attack became news. It sounds like he wants to ignore the problem in the name of diversity. The better course is to acknowledge the problem and try to work with the military and the Muslim community to deal with those who have been made crazy by the religion.
President Obama, extending condolences to the community at Fort Hood, Texas, reminded Americans on Saturday that people of “every race, faith and station” serve in the military — an oblique attempt to prevent a backlash against Muslims in the wake of Thursday’s shootings by an Army psychiatrist.It just so happens that people of creeds other than Islam are less likely to go homicidal in mass murder for Allah attacks. I am not condemning all Muslims. In fact I think the numbers made crazy by this religion are probably less than one percent, but that one percent can be lethal and we and other Muslims need to do a better job of finding and identifying that one percent. That will not be done if we look at the problem the way Obama is suggesting in this address. That will only sweep the problem under the rug until the next sudden jihad .Many Muslims have been concerned that their community will somehow be blamed for the actions of the psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who prayed regularly at the Fort Hood mosque. Mr. Obama did not address that concern directly. But, speaking in his weekly address, he seemed to urge Americans not to dwell on the faith of the assailant, by reminding the nation of the broad diversity of those who serve.
“They are Americans of every race, faith, and station,” he said. “They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America . But what they share is a patriotism like no other. What they share is a commitment to country that has been tested and proved worthy. What they share is the same unflinching courage, unblinking compassion and uncommon camaraderie that the soldiers and civilians of Fort Hood showed America and showed the world.”
...
To use a crude analogy, not all pit bulls are killers, but it is sometimes hard to identify the ones who are. Until you know the difference, it is wise to be wary of those showing aggressive tendencies.
This is an awful strange reaction by Obama. He has been tone deaf ever since the word of this attack became news. It sounds like he wants to ignore the problem in the name of diversity. The better course is to acknowledge the problem and try to work with the military and the Muslim community to deal with those who have been made crazy by the religion.
The high cost of ignoring threats like Hasan
Paul Sperry:
It is interesting that at an airport, all threats are taken seriously whether they are meant as a joke or not. But when similar threats are revealed by people like Hasan little is done to deal with them and they are largely ignored. This is a flawed policy.Why did the US military ig nore the clear warning signs that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspected Ft. Hood shooter, had embraced radical Islam -- and thus become a danger to all around him?
It wasn't an oversight, it was policy -- one the Pentagon has been doubling down on ever since 9/11.
This summer, Hasan was overheard cheering the shooting death of a Little Rock Army recruiter by a Muslim. His patients complained about him proselytizing about Islam. He gave his nationality as "Palestinian" even though he was born in America. He apparently blogged about the glory of suicide bombings.
His superiors put up blinders to all these red flags because Hasan -- who wore traditional Islamic robe and kufi and prayed five times a day -- practiced the "religion of peace." And they're not supposed to make a connection between that religion and terrorism, even as they prosecute a war on Islamic terrorism.
The Pentagon has made well-publicized moves to show the military does not equate Islam with terror, and is making efforts to accommodate more Muslims in the military, whose ranks now exceed 15,000. It recently dedicated a new Muslim prayer center at Quantico, commissioned the first Muslim chaplain at the Air Force Academy and inaugurated the first Muslim prayer room at West Point.
Good and decent Muslims certainly serve admirably. But how does the military know which Muslims will put allegiance to country ahead of allegiance to Allah as interpreted by radical Islam? A conflict obviously exists for soldiers like Hasan -- and for Sgt. Hasan Akbar, the Muslim convert who in 2003 fragged commanding officers at a military camp outside Iraq, killing two and wounding 15 others.
...
Muslims in denial
Washington Post:
When terrorists last week blew up the Mina Bazaar, a market for women and children, they detonated a car bomb so powerful it left more than 100 people dead and 15 missing in a nightmarish scene of scattered limbs, charred corpses and victims trapped alive under mounds of debris.This is a sickness that needs to be addressed. At least most Muslims in the US are not denying the heinous acts of the Fort Hood shooter or his religion. The Muslims in Pakistan need to deal with those who have been made crazy by their religion. Doing something about the religious bigots in their midst could go along way toward bringing them and everyone else some peace.The bombing crossed a new line of callousness, uniting Peshawar in grief and fear and unleashing a tide of anger. But most of the outrage expressed by survivors, witnesses, religious leaders and other residents this week was not directed at Islamist extremist groups, whom the government has blamed for the attack, but at the countries many Pakistanis see as their true enemies: India, Israel and the United States.
In part, this reaction stems from a deep popular conviction that no Muslim could perpetrate such atrocities against other Muslims. The more egregious the attack, the stronger seems the tendency to deny a domestic cause and blame other, more remote culprits. Some religious and political groups are encouraging such responses, eager to whip up xenophobic sentiment for their own ends.
This week, the influential Jamaat-e-Islami religious party organized a "peace march" in central Peshawar from the Khyber Bazaar, where a car bomb killed more than 30 people Oct. 9, to the Mina Bazaar. The marchers held up banners and shouted slogans denouncing the CIA, the Pentagon, the security company formerly known as Blackwater, U.S. drone attacks and American aid. There was no mention of the Taliban or al-Qaeda.
"Muslims! Muslims! We are here to protest against those wrongdoers who work for India, Israel and the United States," a well-dressed, middle-aged rally organizer shouted through a bullhorn. "We protest against American interference and against our government, which is handing over Pakistan to the foreigners and the unbelievers."
...
Stunned Muslims
Washington Times:
What seems clear is that there is something about Islam that makes some of its followers homicidal. The members need to do a better job of noticing those traits and tell authorities about those who pose a danger to others and themselves.
But with his professional colleagues he often sounded like a radical extremest. Did he never express such sentiments to his Muslim brethren?Stunned Muslims were trying to understand Friday why a normally soft-spoken Army officer who served on his local mosque's charity committee allegedly fatally shot 13 people at the sprawling Fort Hood military base in Texas.
Officials at the copper-domed Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring — where Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist, attended daily evening and Friday noon services — said he was a quiet, devout man whom few of the 250 members knew.
"I cannot believe it was him," said Dr. Asif Qadri, a cardiologist who works at a medical clinic at the mosque. "He never expressed his views on politics or religion."
Pressed further by TV and radio crews that jostled for space in the mosque's community hall, he said Maj. Hasan helped administer the mosque's "zakat," or charity fund. But he was not a recluse, as the media were portraying him.
"He was very soft-spoken, gentle and helpful," Dr. Qadri said. "He didn't sound like a recluse. He was a very happy and pleasant person."
...
What seems clear is that there is something about Islam that makes some of its followers homicidal. The members need to do a better job of noticing those traits and tell authorities about those who pose a danger to others and themselves.
Munley used Beretta 9 mm to bring down Fort Hood killer
Houston Chronicle:
However complete her training or rounded her experience, Sgt. Kimberly Munley may be forgiven if she never expected a scene quite like the one Thursday, when she found herself in a courtyard facing an Army major apparently gone berserk and a body count that would keep rising unless she stopped him.One of the complaints some in the military have about the 9 mm Beretta is that it does not have the stopping power that is sometimes needed. That the shooter survived four rounds tells you why they are concerned. There can be no doubting Munley's courage and skill, though. I am glad she will get to see her husband.Two quick shots from her Beretta 9 mm — pop, pop — and now Munley had the attention of the gunman. She had missed. He was angry. Now his Belgian-made 5.7 mm pistol was pointed not at the already wounded soldier he was chasing, but at Munley, a civilian police officer hired to help keep order at the sprawling base.
He charged her, firing rapidly along the way. She returned fire and dropped to the ground to give herself more cover. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who in an inexplicable instant had turned from caregiver to accused mass murderer, was allegedly in the process of killing 13 people and wounding 38 more. He now had Munley in his sights.
Hasan “was interested in nothing else but trying to eliminate her as his threat,” said Chuck Medley, head of the Fort Hood police and fire departments, which are civilian operations contracted to the Army.
The two fired again, perhaps simultaneously, Medley said. Each was struck. The gunman took a bullet to the upper torso; Munley was hit in her legs and wrists. Both would survive and the carnage had ended.
“He went down,” Medley said. “She eliminated the threat. She did what she was trained to do.”
And the lives she saved?
“Countless,” he said.
Munley was one of two people who shot the gunman, officials said Friday. Little information was available about Senior Sgt. Mark Todd, who also engaged the gunman and shot at him.
Munley, a 5-foot-2 weapons expert, was still on the scene when paramedics rushed Hasan to the hospital, Medley said. He visited the 34-year-old police officer in her hospital room Friday afternoon and found her in high spirits. She had only one request for her boss: Bring her husband, Staff Sgt. Matthew Munley — a soldier who recently transferred to Fort Bragg, N.C. — to Fort Hood to see her. The Army agreed, small compensation for a big act.
...
Friday, November 06, 2009
Pakistan captures last major Taliban controlled town
Independent:
The main reason this operation has been more successful from previous ones is that they finally put an adequate force in the field to deal with the enemy. When you are fighting an insurgency you need to have enough troops to cut off the enemy's movement to contact and retreat.
It is a lesson I hope Obama learns.
Dawn reports that:Pakistani troops pushing deeper into South Waziristan yesterday razed the house of the militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, killed by a US drone strike this summer, as they assaulted the last of three Taliban strongholds.
Troops struck the village of Makeen, a major militant base and home town of the former Taliban leader. Officials said his house was destroyed in symbolic revenge for the hundreds of people killed by the Taliban. The soldiers are said to have met little resistance.
In the capital Islamabad, an army brigadier was leaving his home when gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded him, then sped away, the third such attack on senior army officers in two weeks. A soldier with the brigadier was also wounded; both were in civilian clothes. Hospital officials said the condition of both victims was stable. It is unknown whether the senior officer was involved in the South Waziristan operation.
The Pakistani authorities are keen to portray that operation, launched three weeks ago to target Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters, as one that is steadily gathering momentum and has the militants on the run. Earlier this week intelligence officials shared with journalists what they said was an intercepted speech by the Pakistani Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, who warned his fighters that they will go to hell if they flee the army offensive.
...
...A force that is fleeing without its weapons it one that is serious retreat. The Pakistan army has a real opportunity to gather intelligence about the Taliban that can leader to further gains against them. They are also in a position to weaken the Taliban logistic effort and deny them weapons.A security official told Dawn that the success achieved so far had brought troops closer to completion of the first phase of the operation.
He said the link-up of forces in Laddah and Makin would be followed by a major search and clearance operation.
He said a large part of Makin town had been cleared, adding that an important road and junctions of Makin-Laddah-Sararogha and Makin-Ghariom-Sararogha had been blocked.
He also said that fierce clashes had taken place and the Taliban were fleeing, leaving behind weapons and ammunition.
According to ISPR, 24 terrorists were killed and one was captured on Thursday and Friday.
Security forces are consolidating and strengthening their positions around Sararogha and the Shakai– Kaniguram axis around Laddah.
In Bangai Khel, Totai Langar Khel and Kot Langar Khel, large quantities of arms and ammunition were seized and a suspect taken into custody.
...
The main reason this operation has been more successful from previous ones is that they finally put an adequate force in the field to deal with the enemy. When you are fighting an insurgency you need to have enough troops to cut off the enemy's movement to contact and retreat.
It is a lesson I hope Obama learns.
Aggressive action by police woman stopped the killing at Fort Hood
Washington Post:
I wish her a speedy recovery and lots of awards.
The Houston Chronicle reports she had recently finished an advanced fire arms course at Texas A&M that teaches the kind of response she used.
Sgt. Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer on this Army post, was taking her vehicle to be serviced Thursday when the killing began.The NY Times describes her action:
...Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, shouted "Allahu Akhbar!" -- "God is great" in Arabic -- and emptied as many as six magazines during the rampage, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone and other Army officials.
Police officers began racing toward the scene. Among them was Munley, 34 years old and trained in tactics developed in the wake of the Columbine massacre. She arrived at 1:27 p.m., about four minutes after the first 911 call, as Hasan was fleeing the building, according to official accounts.
Munley rounded a corner and fired twice at Hasan. He fired back and charged at her, according to the accounts. Munley dropped to the ground in a protective position and continued firing.
At some point, Hasan began to fumble with his gun. "He's reloading," someone screamed, according to an officer on the scene.
In the exchange, Munley was struck in both thighs and one wrist. Hasan was shot four times, including at least once in the torso.
...
By some accounts, other police officers might also have fired at Hasan. Army officials, however, said credit for stopping the gunman belonged primarily to Munley, who remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition.
...
"She walked up and engaged him," Cone said. "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer."
...
...Munley is described by the UK Times as being a mother of one.
Sergeant Munley bolted from her car and shot at Major Hasan. He turned toward her and began to fire. She ran toward him, continuing to fire, and both she and the gunmen went down with several bullet wounds, Mr. Medley said.
...
...She was very brave and had the discipline to take effective action against a killer. I think she may want to get a pistol that shoots a heavier caliber bullet. Four hits should have taken him out.Those who treated the police officer said that her first request after being taken to hospital was to call her colleagues and friends to let them know she was OK — and to find out about casualty numbers.
Her stepmother, Wanda Barbour, said Ms Munley was an oustanding police officer. “She’s concerned about all the people who’ve lost their lives,” she said. “We’re just real proud of her and so grateful and thankful to the Lord that she’s going to be okay.”
General Cone said that Ms Munley’s actions demonstated that an aggressive response to a mass-shooting can save lives. “She walked up and engaged him,” he said.
I wish her a speedy recovery and lots of awards.
The Houston Chronicle reports she had recently finished an advanced fire arms course at Texas A&M that teaches the kind of response she used.
Terrorism at Fort Hood
Ralph Peters:
One of the problems with Islam right now is that it makes some people crazy. Not all. But some. When it does it is a problem for all of us, because these religious Islamic bigots have actually killed many more Muslims than those who are not. It is in all of our interest to stop the bigots.
It is striking how much fear there is of offending someone who has committed mass murder in the name of his religion. A mass murder for Allah attack should not be dismissed because of the fear of stirring up "Islamophobia." The better argument is that it was caused by Infidelophobia.On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting "Allahu Akbar!" committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.
What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Ft. Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of non-denominational shoplifting.
This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it’s an act of terror. Period.
When the terrorist posts anti-American hate-speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as "Palestinian" in a Muslim spouse-matching program, and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit — well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an "Islamist terrorist."
But the president won’t. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there’s no such thing as "Islamist terrorism" in ObamaWorld.
And the Army won’t. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America-haters is safer than calling terrorism "terrorism."
And the media won’t. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops — despite their crocodile tears.
...
One of the problems with Islam right now is that it makes some people crazy. Not all. But some. When it does it is a problem for all of us, because these religious Islamic bigots have actually killed many more Muslims than those who are not. It is in all of our interest to stop the bigots.
Hero at Fort Hood shooting
CBS:
The shooting rampage at Fort Hood that left 13 people dead and wounded 31 others could have been worse, if not for the actions of police officer Kimberly Munley, reports CBS News correspondent Don Teague.She is in the hospital recovering from her wounds. I think she saved a lot of lives and is deserving of recognition.
Munley, a civilian police officer employed by the Army, was the first responder credited with shooting Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a military psychiatrist who allegedly opened fire in an on-base medical center.
Munley was shot in the exchange of fire but not before shooting Hasan four times. She was in stable condition after undergoing surgery, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Cone.
Cone described Munley as "one of our most aggressive police officers," during an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show".
"As he walked out of the corner of the building, she came upon him," Cone said.
...
Motivations of mass murder for Allah
For those who may be confused about the motives of the shooter, this interview suggest some clarity. There have been other reports today that the shooter hollered "Allah Akbar" as he attacked.
Pelosi's unfunded mandate for state health care spending
Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry:
Congress is on the verge of enacting the largest unfunded mandate in American history. At a time when most states are struggling with rising unemployment, declining tax revenue and the worst national economic climate in 30 years, Congress is demonstrating that it is more out of touch than ever.One of the frustrating aspects of this "debate" is that Pelosi et.al. have no response to valid arguments so they just ignore them and keep on grinding toward disaster.The Democratic health "reform" bill in the Senate would require states to expand Medicaid to include all people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $29,327 for a family of four. House Democrats want to require expansion to 150 percent of the poverty level, or $33,075 for a family of four. Even Texas, which has a balanced budget and nearly $9 billion in its rainy-day fund, isn't prepared to absorb this type of blow.
Complaints from majorities of Republican and Democratic governors alike continue to fall on deaf ears. Congress seems intent on forcing a one-size-fits-all mandate on states, some of which actually have solutions to repair their health-care systems that Washington is preventing them from trying.
Texas, for example, has adopted approaches to controlling health-care costs while improving choice, advancing quality of care and expanding coverage. Consider the successful 2003 tort reform. Fewer frivolous lawsuits have attracted record numbers of doctors to the state as medical malpractice insurance premiums dropped by half. Christus Health, a large Catholic nonprofit system with a significant presence in Texas, spent about $100 million on liability defense payments in 2003. Last year, Christus spent $2.3 million on such payments. Much of that savings has gone into expanding health-care services in low-income neighborhoods.
You might think Washington would be curious about plans to provide more low-income Texans with insurance, reduce expensive emergency-room visits for basic care and make it easier to buy into employer-sponsored insurance. Unfortunately, Washington has failed for 18 months to give Texas permission to use Medicaid dollars for these policies.
...
Unemployment--Another grim milestone for Obama
NY Times:
The United States economy shed 190,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent in September, the Department of Labor said Friday in its monthly economic appraisal.I thought I would give this story a Bush era headline and edit out some of the excuses. This lagging indicator continues to expand.
...
The biggest losses came in the construction, manufacturing and retailing sectors. Health care companies added 29,000 jobs to their payrolls, and the number of temporary workers increased by 34,000 — a significant gain that could indicate employers are beginning to expand their businesses again.
...
GOP 'moderates' seeking Palin endorsement
Apparently it is in hopes of cutting off conservative challengers.
Texas breeder cult figure convicted
NY Times:
One of the leaders of a polygamist sect was convicted Thursday night of sexually assaulting an under-age girl whom the church elders had assigned to him as one of his nine wives.The defense challenges to the DNA evidence that he had fathered a child with an underage "wife" did not work with this jury. It would only work with a jury that was looking for an excuse to acquit and this guy did not rate that kind of empathy apparently. He still faces charges of bigamy. DNA may hold the key to breaking up the breeder cults.A jury of seven men and five women deliberated 2 hours and 20 minutes before returning a verdict of guilty in first trial of a dozen members of the Yearning for Zion Ranch just outside this rural hamlet in West Texas.
The defendant, Raymond M. Jessop, 38, seemed unperturbed as Judge Barbara Walthers of State District Court read the verdict. Mr. Jessop was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody by the Schleicher County sheriff. He smiled and nodded to several other men in his religious group who sat grave-faced as he was led away.
Mr. Jessop will be sentenced after a second hearing before the jury on Monday. He faces penalties ranging from 2 years’ probation to 20 years in prison.
...
Dems whistling past their grave yard
Kimberley Strassel:
Pelosi is racing to get votes out of these one termers before they disappear. Her belief in the power of bad legislation is remarkable. She may send Democrats into their own wilderness campaign for generations.
There is more.'We don't look at either of these gubernatorial races . . . as something that portends a lot for our legislative efforts," insisted White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday, as New Jersey and Virginia voters gave Democrats a thumping. Unfortunately for the White House, its opinion no longer counts.
On Jan. 20, Barack Obama began a race against time. The White House knew its liberal agenda would prove unpopular in many parts of the country represented by Democrats. So long as the president looked strong, those Blue Dogs and freshmen and swing-state senators would stick. Show them any sign of weakness, however, and rattled Dems would begin to care more about their own re-elections than they did their president.
Tuesday, the White House hit that tipping point.
To understand why, join some of those "nervous Democrats" who at this very moment are digging into, say, Virginia's returns. Last year, Dems captured three GOP House seats in the Old Dominion as the state voted for its first Democratic president since 1964. This week, those very same districts provided Democrats their first proof that the Obama agenda is a liability.
There's freshman Rep. Tom Perriello, who, buoyed by the big Obama turnout, won Virginia's fifth congressional district by a scant 727 votes. Today, Mr. Perriello's farming and manufacturing area sports the state's highest unemployment rate. The Democrat suffered a furious backlash over his vote for a cap-and-trade bill that will further crush local manufacturing and was then walloped at a series of health-care town halls.
Voters took their frustration to the polls on Tuesday. Republican Bob McDonnell, who campaigned for governor on jobs and against ObamaCare and climate legislation, took 61.4% of the district's vote. At the local level, Democrats challenged two incumbent GOP Virginia delegates; the Republicans each won by more than 30 points. The GOP last month succeeded in recruiting veteran state Sen. Robert Hurt, a district native, to challenge Mr. Perriello. He's already campaigning on jobs.
Or take Rep. Glenn Nye, who last year won Virginia's Hampton Roads district. Criticized as an outsider with few ties to the local military culture, Mr. Nye nonetheless benefited from Mr. Obama's fierce campaign for the district (which the president won with 50.5%). Yet residents are today anxious about the Democratic commitment to defense spending, and bitter about a Washington proposal to move the Navy's newest aircraft carrier from Virginia to Florida. Mr. Nye was wary enough to buck his party's leadership and vote against cap and trade, though he then got caught lauding the bill's passage.
Mr. McDonnell carried Mr. Nye's district by a 24-point margin. Locally, Republicans ousted two incumbent Democratic delegates. Mr. Nye already faces two GOP challengers—both veterans—who, combined, have $400,000 in the bank.
...
Pelosi is racing to get votes out of these one termers before they disappear. Her belief in the power of bad legislation is remarkable. She may send Democrats into their own wilderness campaign for generations.
Oh come on
From the Houston Chronicle:
I think the Chronicle is being disingenuously naive. While not all Muslims are made weird by their religion this guy clearly appears to have acted on his religious beliefs.
Then there is this headline in the Chronicle that is also nonsensical:
Cone on guys. You can do better than this.
Motive a mystery after Fort Hood rampage
I think the Chronicle is being disingenuously naive. While not all Muslims are made weird by their religion this guy clearly appears to have acted on his religious beliefs.
Then there is this headline in the Chronicle that is also nonsensical:
Since this guy was yet to make his first deployment it is absurd to suggest that his actions were caused by repeat deployments.Fort Hood tragedy: Repeat deployments take increasing toll
Cone on guys. You can do better than this.
Ambushing new police chief in Garcia, Mexico
Houston Chronicle:
This sounds like a sophisticated ambush operation where the show of force at the mayor's was a pretext to lure the new chief into a spot where he could be murdered. It will be interesting to see whether the arrest really solves the murder.
The Mexican criminal insurgency shows no signs of abating.
Retired Gen. Juan Esparza lasted just five days in his new job as police chief of a Monterrey suburb before he was gunned down along with four bodyguards by suspected gangsters.Monterrey was recently named on of the 10 least expensive places in the world, but corruption and murder certainly make it a place that few would want to visit.Esparza, 58, a four-decade army veteran who had served as security chief for several former Mexican presidents, was ambushed Wednesday night as he and his men rushed to aid the mayor of Garcia, a city about 130 miles south of the Rio Grande.
Mayor Jaime Rodriguez, who took office along with Esparza on Saturday, had called for help after 10 carloads of heavily armed men pulled up in front of his house about sunset, asked to speak with him, and told his security guards to pass along a death threat.
Esparza never made it. He and his aides, who included an active duty army lieutenant and a major, were attacked about 15 blocks from the mayor's home. The pickup truck in which they were riding was hit from all sides by several hundred bullets, authorities said.
Five police officers and five other suspects were arrested Thursday in the investigation.
The police chief fell dead in the street a few yards from the truck, his men inside its cab and cargo bed.
...
Monterrey was once considered a peaceful city where narcotics trafficking gangsters lived but seldom warred with one another or the government. But the city in recent years has become a primary battleground in President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on organized crime.
Several police chiefs and scores of lower level officers, many suspected of colluding with the criminals, have been assassinated or arrested. Gunmen belonging to the Zetas, assassins allied with the region's Gulf Cartel smuggling gang, have battled with soldiers and police in the streets.
“We have lost our quality of life in the state. We've never seen this level of violence,” said Enrique Alvarez, who heads a Monterrey citizens group focused on public safety issues. “Among the gravest problems is the infiltration of the police.”
Reflecting widespread distrust in the police, the governor ordered the detention of all 140 officers on Garcia's force for questioning about Esparza's killing.
Investigators were looking into why an alarm wasn't raised by the presence of a convoy of armed men travelling in the city or why state and federal help apparently wasn't summoned by local police, the governor said.
...
This sounds like a sophisticated ambush operation where the show of force at the mayor's was a pretext to lure the new chief into a spot where he could be murdered. It will be interesting to see whether the arrest really solves the murder.
The Mexican criminal insurgency shows no signs of abating.
Zelaya scuttles unity government deal in Honduras
NY Times:
Since the original removal was done legally and according to the Honduran Constitution, the references to the "de facto" government are misleading but typical of most media accounts.
...The story does not explain why Zelaya failed to submit a list of people for a unity government, but I suspect it was because he knew he did not have the votes in Congress to put him back in office. He probably chose this route to avoid the embarrassment of again being rejected by the Congress.The accord also set Thursday as a deadline to name a unity government that would oversee preparations for a presidential election scheduled for later this month.
But none of this has happened. Critics said the accord was difficult to enforce since its only source of pressure was an American threat not to recognize the planned election.
Mr. Zelaya said early on Friday that the accord failed after Mr. Micheletti, the de factor (sic) president, moved to form a new government without him, Reuters reported. Mr. Zelaya declined to name any members to the cabinet and Mr. Micheletti said he was going ahead without them. “We’ve completed the process of forming a unity government,” Mr. Micheletti said in a televised speech quoted by Reuters. “It represents a wide spectrum despite the fact that Mr. Zelaya did not send a list of representatives.”
Mr. Zelaya said through a spokesman that the pact was dead and blamed the de facto government for its failure, Reuters said. Mr. Zelaya seemed unlikely to be returned to office.
As part of the deal, both Mr. Zelaya and Mr. Micheletti had agreed to put the question of Mr. Zelaya’s return to a vote in the Honduran Congress. But the accord set no deadline, and congressional leaders have yet to decide on a date for a vote.
After threatening that it would not recognize the presidential election scheduled for Nov. 29 unless Mr. Micheletti signed on to the deal, the Obama administration hinted that it would accept the results even if the accord’s terms are not fully met.
...
Since the original removal was done legally and according to the Honduran Constitution, the references to the "de facto" government are misleading but typical of most media accounts.
Killer ticks in Afghanistan
Washington Times:
U.S. military officials sent a medical team to a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan this week to take blood samples from members of an Army unit after a soldier in the unit died from an Ebola-like virus.That sounds like an unusual disease to be found in Afghanistan, although I doubt the enemy is sophisticated enough to train ticks. The military has become very good at disease prevention which used to be a bigger cause of death than combat casualties in some wars.Dr. Jim Radike, an expert in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the Role 3 Trauma Hospital at Kandahar Air Field, told The Washington Times that Sgt. Robert David Gordon, 22, from River Falls, Ala., died Sept. 16 from what turned out to be Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever after he was bitten by a tick. The virus is transmitted by infected blood and can be carried by ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr. Radike, who is with the Navy, said the medical team "will be taking blood samples and the results may take several weeks to get back." He called it "a precautionary measure."
...
Afghan army expanion prospects suspect
NY Times:
...There are also character issues with some of those who have been trained. Anecdotal reports suggest that many cut and run when under attack. Some are Taliban infiltrators. Yet, some units have performed well. These are usually the elites who work closely with special forces troops. Solving the training problem will certainly be a high priority and will take more troops from the US.“The most significant challenge to rapidly expanding the Afghan National Security Forces is a lack of competent and professional leadership at all levels, and the inability to generate it rapidly,” concluded one of the reviews, a grim assessment forwarded to Washington in September from the American-led training headquarters.
Another September report, the Pentagon inspector general’s annual review of the training program, warned that any acceleration “will face major challenges. ”
A third assessment, a quarterly report sent to Congress last week, revealed that despite the formation of new army battalions, fewer of them were capable of operating independently. One reason may be that the Afghan Army’s jerry-built logistics system, a relic of the Soviet era and one of the training program’s orphans, has become a drag on the combat forces.
...Among other problems, one of the reports found, the United States military’s training headquarters simply does not have enough people to do all it is already being asked to do, a flaw that “has delayed and will continue to delay” building the Afghan forces and that unless corrected would only prolong the American presence in Afghanistan.
Construction is also falling behind, leaving recruits living in tents and making a boom in barracks-building problematic, since there are not yet enough qualified engineers. And attempts to draw Afghan businesses into the war effort have backfired. One local start-up company assigned to do basic weapons maintenance for the Afghan Army tried to use hammers and nails to hold grenade launchers together and ultimately had to be trained by an American contractor.
The Americans are sometimes stymied by delays in training that sprout unexpectedly from profound cultural differences. Costly delays in the building of barracks for new recruits, for example, are a result not just of scarce labor and materials, but also of time-consuming repairs of damage that occurs as soon as the troops move into their new quarters. Afghan soldiers reportedly ripped sinks from barrack walls and used them to wash their feet before praying, an important custom. They also built fires on barrack floors for heating and cooking, even in buildings with furnaces and kitchens, according to the reports.
...
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Accused Fort Hood killer not dead--yet
Houston Chronicle:
Fortunately, Texas does have a robust death penalty that would probably come into play in any trial of this guy if he survives his wounds. I suspect that his defense may be that his religion made him crazy.An Army major about to be deployed shot and killed 12 people and wounded 31 in a rampage at Fort Hood earlier today, officials said.
The soldier, identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army mental health professional, was wounded and taken to a nearby hospital. He is in custody.
Officials had said earlier that the gunman had been killed.
"His death is not imminent," said Lt. Gen. Bob Cone at Fort Hood said late this evening.
...
Democrats desperate to pass bad bills
IBD Editorial:
Despite the whipping they took in Tuesday's election, congressional Democrats are moving fast on cap-and-trade and health care. Are they politically tone-deaf, or is this some kind of desperate strategy?They already know that people don't want this legislation and do they think that passing it is going to make them want it? What passing the legislation will do is further energize the opposition where the passion is already running high. By pushing this stuff that people do not want they seem to have a legislative death wish.Our guess is that Democratic leaders, having gotten a very negative message from the off-year balloting, are moving as fast as they can to pass the main big-spending items on their unpopular agenda. If they don't act now, the know their radical agenda is dead.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats hustled the cap-and-trade bill out of committee without so much as a hello-and-howdy to the Republicans — knowing full well the GOPers would oppose it.
All this haste, even though global participants in the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks planned for December agree that any CO2-cutting deal is probably a year away.
Meanwhile, Democratic leaders in the House want a Saturday showdown for their $1.2 trillion health care takeover after trumpeting support from the AARP and American Medical Association.
As the publication The Hill noted, Democratic leaders are still scrambling to "placate party factions threatening to defeat the health care bill over hot-button issues such as spending, immigration and abortion." They need 218 votes in the House, and they don't seem to have them.
What's the big hurry for a bill that won't even go into effect until 2013? And why act with such haste to move the cap-and-trade bill out of committee? The only obvious answer is Democratic leaders are running scared. Yet there's an element of self-delusion to their strategy.
...
Obama dithering on Afghanistan hurting allied support of war
Telegraph:
...The longer this drags on the less excusable it becomes. Obama has not been able to articulate a reason for the delay that makes sense. His spokesmen have been incoherent on the question. What is becoming clear is that on matters of war he is an indecisive leader. That is not a good thing.One British source said that the absence of a clear strategy from the US, the largest troop contributor in Afghanistan, is hampering the British Government’s attempts to maintain public support for an increasingly unpopular conflict.
“The truth is that until we have some clarity from Obama, it’s going to be hard for us to explain to people what we’re doing there,” the source said.
...
“We need the Americans to have a clear message for Karzai about what he has to do, but that’s just not there at the moment,” said the British source.
The private frustrations of British ministers and commanders were echoed by General Lord Guthrie, a former Chief of the Defence Staff, who said the American deliberations had brought the Afghan mission to a pivotal moment.
“It’s a tipping point because of President Obama’s delayed decision on whether to send more troops,” Lord Guthrie said.
Speaking in Paris, Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, also suggested that the lack of leadership from Washington was hampering the Afghan mission.
“What is the goal? What is the road? And in the name of what?” Mr Kouchner was reported as saying. “Where are the Americans? It begins to be a problem.”
...
54% say Obama governing as a liberal
Gallop:
A majority of Americans now see President Barack Obama as governing from the left. Specifically, 54% say his policies as president have been mostly liberal while 34% call them mostly moderate. This contrasts with public expectations right after Obama's election a year ago, when as many expected him to be moderate as to be liberal.I think this explains in part the dissatisfaction with Democrats seen at the polls recently. It also suggest the limits of the politics of fraud where someone like Obama attempts to fudge his liberalism to get votes then governs from the left.
...
12 dead in Fort Hood shooting
Fox News:
The difference in the numbers from story and the headline is because the news cast appear to be more up to date at this point.
The wounded were taken to Scott and White Hospital in Killeen. This is an outstanding facility that receives patiots from around the state who need their specialists' treatment.
Ironically Killeen is the site of a massacre at aLuby's Cafeteria where 23 were killed in 1991.
The Houston Chronicle using a San Antonio Express-News says the shooter who is dead was Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan of Virginia. Fox News has also confirmed the name of the shooter. With that name it suggest he was a Muslim in origin at least. This could be an event that is called "sudden jihad" syndrome. We still do not have the names of the other two suspects.
The Killeen Daily Herald report is here.
I suspect personal weapons were used for the shooting. Unless these guys worked in the armory weapons are restricted on a base like this. Handguns were probably used in order to conceal them before they were brought to bear.A shooting rampage Thursday afternoon at the Army's Fort Hood in Texas killed 11 and wounded 31 before the gunman was killed and two suspects taken into custody.
All three of the people believed to have carried out the shooting were soldiers, Lt. General Bob Cone told reporters Thursday evening, though the motive remains unclear.
Cone said witnesses reported seeing more than one shooter, but that couldn't be confirmed. The primary shooter used two handguns, he said.
The shooting took place 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the post's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers undergo medical screening before being deployed or after returning from overseas.
"We have a terrible, tragic situation here," said Cone. "Soldiers, family members and the civilians that work here are absolutely devastated."
Cone said the injuries "vary significantly" among the victims wounded in the shooting. The victims include one civilian police officer.
...
The difference in the numbers from story and the headline is because the news cast appear to be more up to date at this point.
The wounded were taken to Scott and White Hospital in Killeen. This is an outstanding facility that receives patiots from around the state who need their specialists' treatment.
Ironically Killeen is the site of a massacre at aLuby's Cafeteria where 23 were killed in 1991.
The Houston Chronicle using a San Antonio Express-News says the shooter who is dead was Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan of Virginia. Fox News has also confirmed the name of the shooter. With that name it suggest he was a Muslim in origin at least. This could be an event that is called "sudden jihad" syndrome. We still do not have the names of the other two suspects.
The Killeen Daily Herald report is here.
Saudi kingdom strikes back at Yemen insurgents
BBC:
When you tie it with the shipment of weapons to Hezballah it looks like Iran is trying to prepare a very large battle space to deal with the attacks they see coming. It would also make clear that the government thinks the chances of a nuke deal are remote.
I do think the Saudis have adequate resources to deal with a diversion of this nature.
Update: The Arab News also suggest an Iranian link to the attacks on the border post.
The Houthis are a Shia sect who maybe receiving support from Iran. This should be interesting to watch. It is possible that Iran is attempting a diversion in case Israel attacks its nukes. The attacks on the Saudi border post makes no strategic sense otherwise.The Saudi air force has attacked rebels in northern Yemen following Wednesday's killing of a Saudi security officer in a border area, reports have said.
Saudi F-15 and Tornado jets targeted strongholds of the Houthi rebels on the Yemeni side of border, spokesmen for the group and Arab media said.
But officials in Sanaa denied there had been any attacks on Yemeni territory.
The attacks came after a Saudi officer was killed and 11 were wounded in a raid by the rebels on the Jizan region.
The Houthis said on Wednesday that they had taken "full control" of a mountainous section of the border region of Jabal al-Dukhan.
In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the group said Saudi warplanes and helicopters had dropped phosphorus bombs on its fighters in the areas of al-Malahaid, Jabal al-Mamdud, al-Husama and al-Mujdaa.
On Thursday, a rebel spokesman based in Europe, Yehya Badr al-Din al-Houthi, told the BBC Arabic service that the attacks had continued.
...
A Saudi government adviser said the air force had targeted rebels who had seized Saudi parts of Jabal al-Dukhan, which they said had now been recaptured by troops.
The official said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting.
"As of yesterday late afternoon, Saudi air strikes began on their positions in northern Yemen," the unnamed adviser told Reuters.
"There have been successive air strikes, very heavy bombardment of their positions, not just on the border, but on their main positions around Saada," he added.
...
The London-based Arabic newspaper Elaph meanwhile reported that Saudi ground forces were also moving towards the Yemeni border.
...
The Saudi government adviser said no decision had yet been taken to send troops across the border, but made it clear that Riyadh was no longer prepared to tolerate the Yemeni rebels, Reuters reported.
...
When you tie it with the shipment of weapons to Hezballah it looks like Iran is trying to prepare a very large battle space to deal with the attacks they see coming. It would also make clear that the government thinks the chances of a nuke deal are remote.
I do think the Saudis have adequate resources to deal with a diversion of this nature.
Update: The Arab News also suggest an Iranian link to the attacks on the border post.
Mind blowing sex
CNN:
I have heard people talk about mind blowing sex for a long time, but I had no idea it could trigger amnesia.
It was either mind-blowing or completely forgettable. Either way, Alice doesn't remember.There is much more.One August morning, Alice and her husband, Scott, had sex.
That's when things became confusing. Rather than appearing pleased, Alice, 59, seemed disoriented.
As they lay in bed, Scott (the couple asked that their last name not be used) flicked on the television, which was showing the Olympics. This perplexed Alice. "Is there an Olympics?" she asked. This was during the Michael Phelps mania, when the swimmer seemed to be everywhere.
"Are you sure there is an Olympics?" Alice asked again.
Scott recalled, "I saw that something was wrong, so I asked her, 'OK what day is it?' "
Alice appeared even more perplexed.
"Who's our president?" he quizzed.
"Bill Clinton," she answered. This was 2008.
Scott darted out of bed and called 911. The paramedics suspected a stroke and rushed the befuddled Alice to the emergency room.
For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.
Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory.
TGA usually occurs after the person engages in strenuous activity -- such as having sex, vigorously exercising, suddenly immersing into icy or hot water, straining to dig a stuck car or even bumping the head.
...
I have heard people talk about mind blowing sex for a long time, but I had no idea it could trigger amnesia.
Cruel and unusual punishment?
From CNN:
Maybe it is not all that unusual, but it is something he obviously did not want.
Court imposes lawyer on Karadzic
Maybe it is not all that unusual, but it is something he obviously did not want.
Voting against Democrats
Alex Castellanos:
I have been voting against Democrats for years and I am glad to see that others have adopted my position. Even though I was not fond of McCain, I was sure that Democrats would screw up and they have lived down to my expectations. It also helped that McDonnell had a positive agenda that addressed the concerns of voters.DID Republicans win so many of the elections on Tuesday because of their conservative base or because they went beyond it? The answer to both questions is yes.
In some places in 2009 it was enough to not be a Democrat, just as it was sufficient for Barack Obama to be an alternative to President George W. Bush in 2008. In Greensboro, N.C., an unknown 70-year-old conservative who has never held elective office beat the incumbent mayor, the first such defeat there since 1973. Message to Republicans: When only 20 percent of Americans self-identify as Republicans, it is not our brand voters are buying. It’s the other guy’s brand they are rejecting.
Republicans won, fundamentally, because President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Washington have rebranded themselves as the party of economic irresponsibility. In New Jersey, where the Republican, Chris Christie, won the governorship, 57 percent of voters said the economy and taxes were the top issues. In Virginia 60 percent said the same — and Bob McDonnell, the Republican governor-elect, won economic voters by 15 percentage points. As my friend James Carville might now say, “It’s the economy, again, stupid.”
...
Voter mood swings
Daniel Henninger:
...There is a message in those Tea Party events that Democrats have chosen to ignore or insult. They do so at their peril. Unfortunately, the GOP also ignored that message with their initial choice to run in NY-23. They also paid a price in this election.What was learned Tuesday is that the American voter is absolutely, totally, unremittingly disgusted with both political parties. More than anything, the American voter is desperate for political leadership.
That electorates in two politically significant states, led by the widening independent movement, could swing within one year from enthusiasm for electing Barack Obama to support for Virginia's OK Republican Bob McDonnell and New Jersey's lackluster Chris Christie is simply astonishing.
Add another American metaphor to the political landscape: the cattle stampede. Independent voters across the U.S. have become like the massive cattle herd John Wayne drove from Texas to Kansas in "Red River." These voters are spooked and on the run, a political stampede that veered left in November 2008 and now right a mere year later. They will keep running-crushing incumbents, candidates and political models of the left and right-through November 2010 and onto 2012 until they find a person or party capable of leadership appropriate to our unsettled times. And yes, Virginia, the possibility of a man on a white horse in 2012 is not out of the question.
Exit polls in New Jersey and Virginia said the economy was on voters' minds. Unemployment is near 10% and may stay there for a year. But it's deeper than that.
This isn't just another turn in the business cycle. On Sept. 15, 2008, the economic structure of the U.S. imploded. Lehman Brothers, a synonym for the American financial bedrock, filed for bankruptcy. On June 1, 2009, General Motors, once a synonym for American economic primacy, filed for bankruptcy and was effectively nationalized. In the nine months between these two iconic events, the American people were riveted to news of economic distress.
...
Unless leadership emerges equal to the new world voters see they have fallen into, volatility in America's election returns is going to be the norm for a long time.
Events continue to defy Iran's leaders
Amir Taheri:
...The religious bigots of Iran have lost control of their message and now fear the people. This is a revolution that refuses to die. It is one we should support and many of the people in the street were also asking Obama whose side he was on. I suspect that Obama will disappoint them.Weeks of "mass mobilization" failed to produce "the largest crowds in history."
The official news agency, IRNA, which habitually reports "the marches of the millions," had to lower its rhetoric to "tens of thousands." More, its reports indicated that, in most cases, the authorities had to press-gang schoolchildren into marching.
The largest rally, in front of the former US Embassy, attracted no more than 5,000 professional militants, eyewitnesses said.
And the opposition seized the chance to show its strength once again. The official media reported that "the enemies of the revolution" held rallies in more than 100 cites. In cities such as Ahvaz and Yazd, opposition marches pushed official processions to the sidelines.
That anti-Americanism is no longer in vogue (if it ever was) was further underlined by the fact that regime grandees stayed away from the anti-US marches.
In some cases, senior officials were advised not to appear -- for fear of facing hostile crowds. For the first time in 30 years, no major regime figure was there to address the rallies.
Khamenei and Ahmadinejad stayed in their bunkers -- dispatching Ghulam Haddad-Adel, a former speaker of Iran's ersatz parliament, to deliver the main address in front of the former embassy. Even then, he had to make a quick getaway when advised that an opposition crowd was approaching.
In some cases, the opposition's chants of "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to Russia!" were louder than the slogan "Death to America!" chanted by official demonstrators, often with little enthusiasm.
...
Left's strange view of the right
Jonah Goldberg:
...Actually for the last 30 years the Republicans and conservatives have been the party of ideas. Tax cuts were just one part of that. Bush's ideas for Social Security reform would have improved teh system and made it more viable in the coming years. The Demcorats were the reactionaries to that. They were the party resisting change. In fact there are many other examples of changes they resisted over the time period. Somehow we were able to argue with them without suggesting they were Stalin's minions.Frank Rich, gifted psephologist, finds the perfect parallel to the GOP's squabbles in Stalin's murderous purges.
“Though they constantly liken the president to various totalitarian dictators,” Rich writes, “it is they who are re-enacting Stalinism in full purge mode.” Stalin's “full purge mode” involved the systematized exile and slaughter of hundreds of thousands (not counting his genocide of millions). The GOP's purge has so far caused one very liberal Republican to halt her bid for Congress.
Let me offer a counter-theory, admittedly lacking in such color but making up for it with evidence and consideration of what conservatives actually believe.
After 15 or 20 years of steady moderation, many conservatives think it might be time to give their ideas a try.
Bush's “compassionate conservatism” was promoted as an alternative to traditional conservatism. Bush promised to be a “different kind of Republican,” and he kept that promise. He advocated government activism, and he put our money where his mouth was. He federalized education with No Child Left Behind — co-sponsored by Teddy Kennedy — and oversaw the biggest increase in education spending in history (58 percent faster than inflation), according to the Heritage Foundation, while doing next to nothing to advance the conservative idea known as school choice.
With the prescription drug benefit, he created the biggest new entitlement since the Great Society (Obama is poised to topple that record).
Oh, and Bush, not Obama, initiated the first bailouts and TARP.
Not all of these positions were wrong or indefensible. But the notion that Bush pursued conservative ideas with “dogmatic fixity” is dogmatic nonsense.
...
Failed doomsday predicitons
Live Science:
Curiously they left AlGore and the Church of Global Warming, that has just been given religious status in the UK. There are many remarkable similarities to the other failed predictions.With the upcoming disaster film "2012" and the current hype about Mayan calendars and doomsday predictions, it seems like a good time to put such notions in context.
Most prophets of doom come from a religious perspective, though the secular crowd has caused its share of scares as well. One thing the doomsday scenarios tend to share in common: They don't come to pass.
Here are 10 that didn't pan out, so far....
...
Democrats losing suburban voters, independents
Karl Rove:
Rove knows where the votes are. I think things will get worse for the Democrats if they pass the health care bill. The most passionate voters right now are the ones who oppose what the Democrats are trying to do. They will not forget it when they vote a year from now.
There is more.Tuesday's elections should put a scare into red state Democrats—and a few blue state ones, too.
Barack Obama was said to have redrawn the electoral map by winning Virginia last year with 53% of the vote. On Tuesday, Republican Bob McDonnell flipped the state back to the GOP, winning his election for governor with 59% of the vote. Mr. Obama carried New Jersey easily last year with 57% of the vote. This year, despite being outspent 3-to-1, Republican Chris Christie ousted Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine there by 49% to 45%. Mr. Obama carried Pennsylvania last year by 10 points. On Tuesday, Republican Judge Joan Orie Melvin was elected to the state's Supreme Court by 53% to 47%, leading a GOP sweep of six of seven statewide contests.
The trend here is that suburban and independent voters moved into the GOP column. The overall shift away from Democrats was 13 points in Virginia, 12 points in New Jersey, and eight points in Pennsylvania.
Even a five-point swing in 2010 could bring a tidal wave of change. Today, Democrats enjoy 60 votes in the Senate, Republicans a mere 40. Had there been a five-point swing away from Democrats last fall, the party would have started this year with 54 seats and the Republicans 46.
A five-point shift in 2006 would have left the GOP in control of the House. In 2008, a five-point shift would have produced a Democratic loss of six House seats rather than a gain of 21. It would also have put John McCain into the White House with 279 Electoral College votes to Mr. Obama's 259.
Looking ahead, the bad news for Democrats is that the legislation that helped lead to the collapse of support for their party on Tuesday could yet inflict more pain on those foolish enough to support it. The health-care bill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to vote on this week could sink an entire fleet of Democratic boats in 2010.
For starters, the bill is a lot more expensive than advertised. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) pegs its cost at $1.055 trillion over 10 years, not the $894 billion Mrs. Pelosi claims. Politico reports that "the legislation is projected to create deficits over the second five years" by front-loading revenue and benefit cuts and back-loading costs. The real cost, according to a Republican House Budget Committee report, could be $2.4 trillion for its first decade of operation.
...
Rove knows where the votes are. I think things will get worse for the Democrats if they pass the health care bill. The most passionate voters right now are the ones who oppose what the Democrats are trying to do. They will not forget it when they vote a year from now.
Strikers seem vulnerable in Afghanistan
Washington Times:
It was actually a pretty good weapon in Iraq's urban setting. It is much quieter than tanks so it could sneak up on the enemy easier. Its unique armor also was pretty good at deflecting RPGs which was a weapon of choice in Iraq.
I think air mobile units are more effective in Afghanistan. They also thwart the use of IEDs along the road. Adding choppers would probably gives us the best opportunity to find and destroy the enemy.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Paul Rabidou nervously rubbed the sweat from his palms onto his Army fatigues.Sara Carter of the Washington Times has much more on the Striker in Afghanistan.The tall, well-built 24-year-old from San Bernardino, Calif., had already survived two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on convoys in the past six weeks, including one on the same road he was getting ready to traverse again from Forward Operating Base Ramrod near Kandahar to a small outpost in the heart of Taliban territory.
Since they arrived at the outpost on Sept. 13, the Blackwatch unit - Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, with the 5th Stryker Brigade - had lost three soldiers and two civil affairs officers. IEDs had destroyed three of their four Stryker vehicles. Overall, 21 of 350 Strykers have been destroyed since the 5th Brigade deployed in southern Afghanistan in July; more than two dozen Americans have been killed and nearly 70 wounded.
Soldiers call the Strykers "Kevlar coffins," Sgt. Rabidou said.
"Lead vehicle always sucks," he said, as the convoy set off with a reporter and photographer from The Washington Times in the first Stryker. "It's usually the one to go first if there's a pressure plate bomb. Sure you don't want to get out now? It may be your last chance," he asked half-jokingly.
The eight-wheeled Stryker, introduced a decade ago as a faster, more mobile alternative to tanks and other tracked vehicles, has had a controversial history. In theory, the Stryker's speed and capacity -- it can carry 11 plus a crew of two -- makes up for its lighter armor. But critics say its vulnerability to IEDs make it unsuitable for duty in southern Afghanistan.
The Stryker is "essentially a paramilitary police vehicle," said retired Army Col. Doug Macgregor, a specialist on tank warfare. "It's designed to transfer American light infantry down a road," not to fight an elusive enemy in treacherous terrain.
Col. Macgregor said the U.S. Army would do better to follow the example of Canada, which has bought German Leopard II tanks for use by ground forces in Afghanistan.
"What you need in Afghanistan is tracked armor, off-the-road capability and a stable platform for large-caliber guns," he said.
...
It was actually a pretty good weapon in Iraq's urban setting. It is much quieter than tanks so it could sneak up on the enemy easier. Its unique armor also was pretty good at deflecting RPGs which was a weapon of choice in Iraq.
I think air mobile units are more effective in Afghanistan. They also thwart the use of IEDs along the road. Adding choppers would probably gives us the best opportunity to find and destroy the enemy.
Name that party--Bribery in Birmingham
NY Times:
And, would you believe that the people in Birmingham who got the money from J.P. Morgan were Democrats? Democrats have created an embedded culture of corruption in large cities across this country. While the ones in Birmingham may have been more creative, they were also spectacularly wrong and have put their city on the brink of bankruptcy.
J. P. Morgan Securities will forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in fees on derivatives contracts that it sold an Alabama county, under a settlement announced Wednesday that could offer hope to other governments staggering under similar deals.Actually the Municipal Securities Rule Making Board was set up to create a uniform standard for conduct in these types of transactions. They should start with an examination of those rules. I suspect they will find some areas that cover this kind of misconduct.The Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a lawsuit on Wednesday that J. P. Morgan had made unlawful payments to friends of Jefferson County’s commissioners in a scheme to win lucrative business from the county to sell bonds and trade in derivatives.
The lawsuit also named two former J. P. Morgan employees. One of those men has already served a short prison term for manipulating similar bond deals in Philadelphia.
To settle the lawsuit, J. P. Morgan will drop its claims for $647 million in termination fees it had been trying to make Jefferson County pay on the derivatives. The settlement also calls for J. P. Morgan to pay a $25 million penalty to the commission and $50 million to the county.
Over the last decade, thousands of governments around the country entered into deals linking bonds with derivatives, forming complex structures that were supposed to hold down borrowing costs. Many of the deals did not work out the way officials expected them to, partly because financial markets froze last fall and partly because interest rates moved sharply in unexpected directions.
But not every local government can count on relief just because a financial mistake was made. The Jefferson County case involved clear-cut bribes and a criminal conviction, and other governments may be hard pressed to persuade their bankers to change their financial contracts unless they can show laws were broken.
The S.E.C. says the definition of improper activity varies by state, and it is pressing for a uniform federal standard.
...
And, would you believe that the people in Birmingham who got the money from J.P. Morgan were Democrats? Democrats have created an embedded culture of corruption in large cities across this country. While the ones in Birmingham may have been more creative, they were also spectacularly wrong and have put their city on the brink of bankruptcy.
Will UN act on Iran's violation of cease fire?
AFP:
Syria is also complicit in the violations of the embargo.
Israel's capture of a weapons-laden ship allegedly sent from Iran and bound for Hezbollah will underscore its case against Tehran in the international community, observers said Thursday.The ship and its cargo should give the UN reason alone to sanction Iran for violations of UN resolutions. If it fails to act then Israel would have little reason to agree to future cease fire agreements sponsored by the UN."Officials in Jerusalem had not dared even to dream of better timing for the capture of the vessel carrying so much arms and ammunition bound for Hezbollah," an editorial in Israel's Maariv newspaper said.
"For all practical purposes... the capture of the ship was, for Israel, like a gift from heaven."
The Israeli navy on Wednesday seized a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of weapons, including rockets, grenades and ammunition, that it said was sent from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in violation of UN resolutions.
A UN Security Council resolution which brought an end to the devastating 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel demanded the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon and imposed a ban on all arms exports to them.
Iran and Hezbollah have both denied any link to the ship.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the arms seized were "further proof, if any is needed, that Iran is continuing to provide weapons to terrorist organisations that want to strike Israeli towns and villages and kill civilians."
"It is high time the international community put pressure on Iran to stop its criminal actions and back Israel when it defends itself," he added.
...
Syria is also complicit in the violations of the embargo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
