Showing posts with label War. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War. Show all posts

Thursday, July 07, 2011

LulzSec doc drop: Arizona Officials Say Hezbollah Operating in Mexico

A document drop by LulzSec has revealed an ominous bulletin from police officials in Tucson, Arizona. In short, law enforcement is advised to be on the lookout for Hezbollah terrorists operating in the traditional smuggling corridors on our (wide-open) southern border with Mexico.

Presence in the Tri-Border Region

Made up of Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Foz do Iguazu, Brazil; and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, the area in South America known as the Tri-Border area (TBA), has long been considered a safe haven for organized crime and Islamic terrorist networks, including Hezbollah. As of 2002, the population of the TBA reached 630,000 of which approximately 25,000 were Arab or of Arab descent. Illegal activity in the region includes counterfeiting, money laundering, and the easy acquisition of false documents. The recent arrest of Moussa Ali Hamdan [arrested in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, for conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah] confirms Hezbollah’s continued presence in the region.

Presence in Mexico

Based on a study done by Georgetown University, the number of immigrants from Lebanon and Syria living in Mexico exceeds 200,000. Along with Iran, Syria is one of Hezbollah’s strongest financial and political supporters, and Lebanon is its country of origin.

In July of this year, Mexican authorities arrested Jameel Nasr in Tijuana, Baja California. Nasr was alleged to be tasked with establishing the Hezbollah network in Mexico and throughout South America.

In April of last year, the arrest of Jamal Yousef – in New York City - exposed a weapons cache of 100 M-16 assault rifles, 100 AR-15 rifles, 2,500 hand grenades, C4 explosives and antitank munitions. According to Yousef, the weapons, which were being stored in Mexico, had been stolen from Iraq with the help of his cousin who was a member of Hezbollah.

With the arrest of Jameel Nasr and Jamal Yousef, obvious concerns have arisen concerning Hezbollah’s presence in Mexico and possible ties to Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s) operating along the U.S. – Mexico border. The potential partnership bares alarming implications due to Hezbollah’s long established capabilities, specifically their expertise in the making of vehicle borne improvised explosive devises (VBIED’s).

Recent incidents involving the use of VBIED’s in Mexico mark a significant change in tactics employed by DTO’s and conjures images expected to be seen in the Middle East. While no connection has been made, Hezbollah’s extensive use of VBIED’s raises strong suspicion concerning a possible relation to Mexico’s DTO’s.


Wonderful.

But, by all means, Democrats: let's not build a secure border fence on our southern border.

Because what could possibly go wrong with Hezbollah terrorists, who are assisting Mexican drug cartels, which have been armed and equipped by Eric Holder's Department of Justice?


Related:
25 Apr 2011: Officials now finding IEDs on bridges in 'safe as it's ever been' border area
27 Aug 2010: Car Bombs -- With Texas License Plates
17 Jul 2010: Hezbollah-style Car Bomb Kills Four Near Texas Border

Linked by: The Tatler, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, JihadWatch and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Worst-Designed Armored Vehicle of All-Time

Spotted at EnglishRussia, the award-winning, worst armored vehicle of all-time.

"390 gun armoured cars BA-6 were made in the period from 1935 to 1938. The fuel bank with capacity of 108 kg of petrol, is located in the upper part of the cabin. It means that the burning petrol was spilt over into the heads of the crew."

The BA-6 is sort of the Obamacare of military vehicles, the inevitable result of Soviet-style, central planning in some far-off capitol. In other words, fail de epic.


Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rubes [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

If you still get your news from the trained seals of the left-leaning lamestream media then you’re to be excused if you haven’t heard about the first "World Without Terrorism Conference" in – wait for it – Tehran over the weekend.

Curiouser still is the guest list, which included a number of prominent “US allies” who have been mega beneficiaries of American blood and treasure. As MEMRI reports, “the conferees included Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif 'Ali Zardari, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.” Andrew McCarthy also has details and commentary at National Review Online.

I guess this “conference” wasn’t a big story because it creates a nasty case of dissonance in the pea-size brains of our newsmen. When everyone’s ox is gored it’s hard to find the liberal slant. First and foremost, the event highlights the utter failure of Obama’s “engagement” policy, and what a pitiful sucker the President has willfully chosen to be at America’s expense. It also turns the spotlight on the ungrateful Muslim basterds and the neocons who love them. To think, our very own spawn are betraying us even before the last American has died on their behalf. Then there are the rosy cheeks and white shoes that make up our corps of sophisticated diplomats and spooks. Portraying them as nothing more than bewildered tourists on a tour of the Kasbah is hard when your job is protecting the White House.


Hat tips: Ruthfully Yours. Original image (pre-GINC): Xinhuanet.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Destroyers, Stealth Fighters, Aircraft Carriers and Drones: China's Military Buildup is Anything But Benign

China is unquestionably behind the U.S. when it comes to defense technology, but there is little doubt it is ratcheting up dramatically.

...Some time ago it was revealed that in its rush to "catch up" with western military technology, China has now developed an aircraft carrier and a stealth fighter (reverse engineering efficiency notwithstanding)...

Now, it appears that China has developed its first ever unmanned drone...

...Wired has the latest: "It was another big reveal in a long history of them...

...Six months after the Chinese air force let the first photos of its new stealth fighter leak online, Beijing’s military has "accidentally" showed off another secretive weapon system: a small drone, apparently used to scout ahead of China’s fast-growing fleet of warships...

...Details of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle — gleaned entirely from a snapshot (PDF) taken by a Japanese navy patrol plane last week — are sketchy, at best. But the new UAV certainly represents a step forward in China’s development of American-style spy drones." Of course, the "leak" is anything but, and is merely another attempt to demonstrate its ongoing scramble to keep up with the US across all verticals.

And with Democrat politicians willing to sell America's technologies for campaign donations (Bill Clinton's Loral debacle being the most infamous and treasonous case), odds are the PRC will catch up far sooner than anyone anticipates.

Which makes Ron Paul's insane anti-military alliance with the hard left all the more egregious. America must be strong, period. And anyone who says otherwise is either ill-informed or a kook.


Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sharia Today: Dearborn, Washington DC and CAIR

Each day we seem to read a few more reminders that Islam in the U.S. is a political system wrapped in the protective coating of a religion. Unfortunately, said political system is utterly and completely at odds with the Constitution and America's founding document, the Declaration of Independence.

Today's Exhibit A: "Peaceful Muslims threw rocks, bottles at Dearborn Arab fest."

Although 10 arrests were made in connection with various anti-Islamic protests during last weekend’s Arab International Festival, the Dearborn City Council commended Police Chief Ronald Haddad Monday night...

...Several more arrests occurred within the Arab International Festival on both Friday and Sunday, as several anti-Muslim Christian groups vocally attacked Islam in and around the free speech zone guarded by Dearborn police and Wayne County sheriffs. The demonstrations drew the ire of hundreds–if not thousands–of festivalgoers, some of whom threw rocks, bottles and insults at the evangelist groups.

Despite the sometimes violent responses–a Sunday scuffle led to the arrest of one of the self-proclaimed “Bible Believers," as well as the man who attacked him–Dearborn officials were generally pleased with the weekend...

The violence occurred because last year's event was attended by a handful of Christians who tried to hand out proselytizing material. The conclusions?

• Dearborn Muslims and Arabs are so volatile and prone to violence that even the bizarre “free speech zones” have to be protected by police
• Some Muslims and Arabs threw rocks, bottles, and insults at those in the police-protection required free speech zones
• Despite police presence, Muslims and Arabs (and leftist tools) still responded violently with multiple arrests for physically attacking non-Muslims
• Dearborn officials were pleased with the Muslim – Arab response to free speech

Today's Exhibit B: a "Shariah Law Neighborhood [Will be] Established Six Blocks From the White House".

An investment arm of oil-rich Qatar is putting up the equity needed to fund the massive [$700 million] CityCenterDC project, officials said moments before breaking ground Monday at the site of the old downtown convention center six blocks from the White House...

...Even before the Qatari investors became involved, [developers] Hines and Archstone determined that leasing to banks would not help them... [But] their hesitancy on bank branches meshed with the policies of their financial partners, who adhere to the restrictions of Shariah, or Islamic law, including the ban on collecting interest. Restaurants will be able to serve liquor, but retailers whose primary business involves selling alcohol will not be allowed, Mr. Alsup said.

...So, no bars or banks for the biggest downtown construction project in recent memory! As Bill Alsup alluded to, banks aren’t all that great for a city streetscape, and it’s admirable that they planned to forego such a dependable and high-rent-paying tenant. It’s less advantageous, though, to not have business devoted primarily to selling alcohol. CityCenterDC is unlikely to be plagued by liquor stores, but it could definitely use a few places to be out at night drinking without getting a full dinner. Could Qatari money turn CityCenterDC into more of a black hole than the last piece of the puzzle in a living downtown?

And in related good news, the "Hamas-Tied CAIR [Has] Release[d] Its First Annual Hit List.

[CAIR's] report lists the "worst" Islamophobes and the "best" of those pushing back against growing anti-Muslim sentiment in American society and presents an initial set of recommendations for Muslims and Americans of other faiths to challenge Islamophobia.

Those commended for pushing back against Islamophobia include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, among others.

Those listed as actively promoting Islamophobia included Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, co-founders of the anti-Muslim hate group Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA); Act! for America leader Brigitte Gabriel; and GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich...

Recommendations in this first annual report are directed toward American Muslims and their institutions. The report states: "This is a reflection of our belief that American Muslims must take the lead in pushing back against Islamophobia. ... In a future report, we will offer recommendations to the public and private sectors."

At some point, the vast reservoir of goodwill possessed by the American people towards people of all cultures, colors and faiths will run dry.

And it will have been exhausted by countless exhibitions of intolerance and violence, exhibited on a daily basis around the world.


Update: "Dearborn Police Bar Christian Group from Public Street Near Mosque"

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Slow-blogging the President's Afghanistan speech: We will not relent in the war on Al Qaeda, at least not until right before the election

Gee, I'd question the timing but, then again, everyone is. In short, the President's speech last night was a masterpiece of cynicism, duplicity, ego and pandering.


Point: ...we have put al Qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done...

Counterpoint: ...starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer...


Point: In the days that followed [9/11] ... we struck at al Qaeda and routed the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then, our focus shifted. A second war was launched in Iraq, and we spent enormous blood and treasure to support a new government there...

Counterpoint: When innocents are being slaughtered and global security endangered, we don’t have to choose between standing idly by or acting on our own. Instead, we must rally international action, which we’re doing in Libya... protecting the Libyan people and giving them the chance to determine their own destiny.


Point: ...Over the last decade, we have spent a trillion dollars on war, at a time of rising debt and hard economic times...

Counterpoint: ...Now, we must invest in America’s greatest resource –- our people. We must unleash innovation that creates new jobs and industries, while living within our means. We must rebuild our infrastructure and find new and clean sources of energy...


In effect, after spending trillions in borrowed money in just a couple of years -- which was supposed to rebuild infrastructure and create "clean sources of energy" -- the President is lobbying for still more borrowing to prop up his public sector union supporters.

The good news is there is no money and no one other than Ben Bernanke's printing presses will buy our debt at the current interest rates.

Worse still, America's top military commander has branded Obama's drawdown plans as hasty and creating "more risk" than necessary.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, used prepared testimony before the House Armed Services Committee to reveal a significant breach between Mr Obama and the senior officers he charged with defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The remarks came as General David Petraeus, Nato commander in Afghanistan, was preparing to testify before a Senate committee after it was confirmed that he opposed Mr Obama's plan, which drew heavily on advice from Joe Biden, the vice president.

"The president's decisions are more aggressive and incur more risk than I was originally prepared to accept," Adml Mullen told a House of Representatives committee hearing... Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said: "Petraeus loses, Biden wins."

In fact, "Obama rejected the advice of his generals in choosing a quicker path to winding down the war in Afghanistan."

What would you expect? After all, Obama needs to regain the support of his hard left base just before the 2012 elections. Military strategy and protecting our troops have nothing at all to do with this president's plans.


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

'Bye Bye Mosque' videogame could lead to jail time for Austrian politician

Blogmocracy relays word that a videogame designed in Europe may send a politician to lockup for two years.

Styrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) chief Gerhard Kurzmann will be in court later this year for putting "Moschee ba ba" (Bye, bye mosque) online ahead of last year’s provincial election... Prosecutors in Graz accuse the councillor of agitation against ethnic and religious minorities by backing the internet shooter game.

Players have to click on mosques and praying muezzins to make them disappear in the game which was taken offline after the Greens informed the police and state prosecutors. The FPÖ was initially tight-lipped over whether it produced "Moschee ba ba" before it emerged that a Swiss political strategist created the game for the right-wing party. The FPÖ argued muezzins were not shot in the game. The party said it intended to start a debate over a growing ‘Islamisation’ of Austria.

The FPÖ campaigned against more mosques featuring minarets in the Styrian ballot and other votes in the past years. The party said Austrians struggling in the credit crunch must come first. It called for a stop of immigration and a law which ensures no more mosques will be erected in Austria. There are hundreds of mosques, houses of prayers and Islamic community centres in Austria but just three mosques which have minarets. None of those three are situated in Styria. Muslims in the province have no plans to build any new mosques in the region in the foreseeable future. The debate about the issue and the disputed shooter game helped the FPÖ to bag 10.7 per cent of votes, up from 4.6 per cent in 2005.

...It is not the first time that the Styrian department of the right-wing party makes headlines with anti-Islamic actions. Susanne Winter had to step down as head of the FPÖ’s branch in the provincial capital Graz in 2008 after claiming that prophet Mohammed would be considered as a child molester nowadays. She also said that he wrote the Koran "during epileptic fits." Winter was given a three-month suspended jail term.

What's next?

Banning books that some segment of the population could find offensive?

This is the inevitable result of 'thought-crime' legislation, which is why our First Amendment is so precious.


Obama's Coalition of The Unwilling [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

In the beginning, Obama used the Left’s flimsy Right to Protect (R2P) doctrine as his justification for making war on Libya, and then quickly outsourced the military mission to NATO to avoid Congressional oversight, branding it “leading from behind.” Now, a counterfeit policy meant to protect civilians under attack is creating genuine casualties among the civilians it's meant to protect. According to Obama’s game plan that wasn’t supposed to happen, and members of his timorous NATO team are calling for an immediate timeout.

###

Italy breaks ranks over NATO's Libya mission


ROME (AFP) — Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power.

"We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a parliamentary committee meeting.

###

Italy, Arab League Head Call for End of Hostilities in Libya


(VOA News) - Italy's foreign minister and the outgoing head of the Arab League have each called for a halt to hostilities in Libya.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told Italian lawmakers Wednesday the suspension of military operations in Libya is "essential" for immediate humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Arab League head Amr Moussa as calling for a cease-fire and saying now is the time to reach a political solution to the crisis. The newspaper said Moussa also expressed reservations about his support for the NATO bombing campaign after seeing civilian casualties.

I wonder how the President will justify his violations of the War Powers Act when NATO itself pulls out?


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Operation Gunrunner explodes into legacy media: ATF agents rip gun sting effort on Mexico border

I'll make a prediction here and now: Eric Holder will not survive this.

...U.S. firearms agents told lawmakers on Wednesday they were instructed to only watch as hundreds of guns were bought, illegally resold and sent to Mexico where drug-related violence has raged for years ... they were told not to arrest the so-called straw buyers and instead see where the guns went.

Republicans and Democrats on the panel expressed outrage about the ATF program -- "Operation Fast and Furious" -- and demanded answers from the Obama administration about why arrests were secondary to tracking the firearms.

"We monitored as they purchased handguns, AK-47 variants and .50 caliber rifles, almost daily at times," John Dodson, an ATF special agent in Phoenix, told the committee... An ATF supervisor in Phoenix, Peter Forcelli, said some tried to raise concerns with supervisors but were rebuffed...

...Republicans and Democrats expressed outrage at the ATF program, particularly about two weapons being found at the scene where a U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry, was killed in a shootout with illegal immigrants... Republicans on the panel have demanded documents and information about the program from the Justice Department, which includes the ATF, but the Obama administration has resisted...

The most partisan Attorney General since John Mitchell appears to be unlawfully stonewalling Congress.

We, the American people, demand to know what Eric Holder knew and when he knew it.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Mexico: 70 percent of arms came from ATF's Project Gunrunner

Of course, I'm reading between the lines.

For those unfamiliar with it, Project Gunrunner was an abortive ATF operation designed to secretly funnel weapons to Mexican drug gangs. The administration's hope was -- presumably -- to blame said gun smuggling on lax gun laws in the U.S. This would, of course, strengthen the Democrats' hand in further restricting Americans' Second Amendment freedoms.

Before the dust settled on yesterday’s opening hearing on the controversial Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious scandal now plaguing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Democrats were already busy with their defense strategy, which once again demonizes American gun owners and their constitutional rights...

...Democrat Senators Dianne Feinstein, Sheldon Whitehouse and Charles Schumer – the latter whose one-time protégé Anthony Weiner has been making so much news lately on a different subject – issued a report that essentially accuses U.S. gun manufacturers and dealers of arming Mexican drug cartels...

...[the] report is an outside attempt to deflect public attention away from anticipated Gunrunner revelations, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) demonstrated during yesterday’s hearing that he will run interference for the ATF... Tomorrow, it may be difficult for Cummings to try smokescreen tactics on Grassley, Dodson and the family of slain Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, whose name Cummings could not get right at least twice during yesterday’s hearing.

Using "Stimulus" funding, Attorney General Eric Holder -- almost certainly with the assent of President Obama -- orchestrated the sale of weapons to Mexican drug gangs that resulted in the deaths of American law enforcement officials.

Congressional investigators claim U.S. officials allowed American gun stores to sell weapons in bulk to Mexican buyers in order to track the shipments and identify the ringleaders, known as "Operation Fast and Furious" under "Project Gunrunner."

Weapons from those sales were found at the scene of two separate attacks on U.S. agents, and Congress wants to know if they were used specifically in the deaths of Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent Jaime Zapata or Customs and Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, claims the Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting a cover-up in its refusal to hand over documents and witnesses to congressional investigators.

Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will block President Barack Obama's nominees from confirmation until he gets the documents he needs for his panel's investigation... The efforts by Grassley and Issa have won bipartisan support from Texas lawmakers frustrated with the lack of information about the death of Zapata coming from the administration.

...Zapata, a Brownsville native, was working in Laredo as an ICE agent before he was transferred to Mexico to serve as a U.S. government consultant to the Mexican military's battle against the cartels... He was killed Feb. 15, and agent Victor Avila was wounded, when Los Zetas cartel members shot the agents in their SUV during an attempted car jacking along the highway between Mexico City and San Luis Potosi... The Zapata family wants more information about the death of their son.

Consider this DNC press release only the most recent attempt to absolve the Obama administration from the deaths associated with Gunrunner.

News flash for the drones: it won't work.


Sunday, June 12, 2011

Great news from the border: cartels kidnapping bus passengers for gladiatorlike fights to the death

As Mexico descends into all all-out civil war between drug cartels, the level of barbarism almost defies belief.

The elderly are killed. Young women are raped. And able-bodied men are given hammers, machetes and sticks and forced to fight to the death.

In one of the most chilling revelations yet about the violence in Mexico, a drug cartel-connected trafficker claims fellow gangsters have kidnapped highway bus passengers and forced them into gladiatorlike fights to groom fresh assassins.

...If what he says is true, gangsters who make commonplace beheadings, hangings and quartering bodies have managed an even crueler twist to their barbarity... Members of the Zetas cartel, he says, have pushed passengers into an ancient Rome-like blood sport with a modern Mexico twist that they call, "Who is going to be the next hit man?"

"They cut guys to pieces," he said... The victims are likely among the hundreds of people found in mass graves in recent months, he said... In the vicinity of the Mexican city of San Fernando, nearly 200 bodies were unearthed from pits, and authorities said most appeared to have died of blunt force head trauma.

Many are believed to have been dragged off buses traveling through Mexico, but little has been said about the circumstances of their deaths... The trafficker said those who survive are taken captive and eventually given suicide missions, such as riding into a town controlled by rivals and shooting up the place.

40,000 people have died in Mexico's ongoing civil war over the past several years.

Just Thursday, authorities in Mexico said they arrested members of the Zetas and seized 201 automatic weapons, 600 camouflage uniforms and 30,000 rounds of ammunition... With the recent killing of the ICE agent and perhaps other attacks, the Zetas also are breaking the golden rule for Mexican traffickers: Don't kill Americans, he said. It brings too much heat.

...the [drug] checkpoints Mexican officials operate along the highways between Central Mexico and the border do not pose much of a problem, Juan said... The trick, he confided, is to send someone in advance to bribe a commander so a drug load won't be bothered.

These incidents, of course, highlight the egregious failure of the federal government to secure the border.

The Tucson Citizen reports that many Arizonans believe illegal aliens are to blame for the massive wildfires now engulfing the state.

The two largest wildfires burning in Southern Arizona originated in rugged, mountainous corridors frequently used by cross-border people and drug smugglers... And the U.S. Forest Service has determined that both fires were human-caused.

So even though the investigations remain open, speculation is ablaze that illegal immigrants or smugglers are responsible for the Horseshoe 2 Fire northeast of Douglas and the Murphy Complex Fire northwest of Nogales.

“It’s definitely not caused by somebody on a picnic whose wiener overcooked,” resident Brad Titcomb said about the Murphy Fire, which came within a mile of his house in the Aliso Springs neighborhood west of Tubac. “This is illegal traffic one way or another.”

Which makes the failure of the Obama administration to secure the border all the more outrageous.


Hat tips: TrendingRight.com and Borderland Beat.

Narcissistic rage, envy and revenge at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Narcissistic rage and envy: The narcissistic individual ... is prone to intense anger, an irrational rage, which may take the form of acute explosions or be chronic and vengeful. This narcissistic rage is provoked by the slightest—real or imagined—narcissistic insult, such as not being seen, understood, or appreciated, in the way one feels he deserves. Narcissistic envy may arise; one hates anyone who has (or seems to have) ... external acclaim and feels pain about not having what the other has. (The Point of Existence)


On May 20th of this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "publicly lectured" Barack Obama over the president's call for the tiny Jewish state to return to its pre-1967 borders. Netanyahu called the borders "indefensible" and flatly rejected the president's demands. Observers in legacy media were "stunned" that anyone had dared stand up to the president:

ABC's Christiane Amanpour declared she was "stunned" by his "public lecture" of the President and NBC's Andrea Mitchell hissed, "it was really rude," and charged he treated Obama "like a school boy."

Mitchell didn't reserve her criticism to Netanyahu as she even went after Republicans who dared to take his side, accusing them of "piling on the President."

During Netanyahu's statement, Obama's body language was imperious and withdrawn. According to an unverified report, once Netanyahu had departed, Obama flew into a rage over the perceived insult:

Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that saw President Obama openly chastised by the Prime Minister for Obama’s earlier public comments regarding wanting to see Israel return to its 1967 borders, the president verbally “went off” on Richard Daley in the private study area that adjoins the Oval Office. President Obama’s verbal attack was clearly heard by numerous staff up and down the West Wing hallways.

The essence of the president’s rage and embarrassment can best be summed up with him yelling out very loudly, “What the f*** was that!?” That phrase was apparently repeated a number of times in the span of about five minutes, a time period in which Obama’s voice became “louder and louder” and culminating in Obama exclaiming, “Never again! Do you understand me? Never again!” Any response by Bill Daley back to the president, if given, was not overheard.

In today's Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin ("Obama bullies Israel; so much for promises at AIPAC") describes how the president may be exacting his revenge for Netanyahu's perceived rebuke.

Since the president’s Arab Spring speech, friends of Israel have been nervous about at least two issues: the promise Israel would not have to sit down with those who seek its destruction and the negotiations based on the “1967 borders with land swaps.” This weekend it became apparent that there is much to worry about and that the Obama administration has been playing a game usually practiced by the Palestinians, namely telling its domestic audience one thing and the negotiating parties something different...

The White House is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly adopt President Obama’s view that Israel’s pre-1967 border should be the basis for future peace talks [stating it] was part of an effort to head off Palestinian plans to declare an independent state at the United Nations in September.

Is the U.S. president pressuring Israel to adopt a position that is not its own and diminishes its bargaining position? And what happened to the statements in President Obama’s speech to AIPAC that Israel could not be expected to sit down with those who want to destroy it? After all Hamas has not yet agreed to the Quartet principles (recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and abide by past agreements), nor has Mahmoud Abbas separated himself from the unity government.

...Is the administration now asking Israel to sit down with Abbas absent a commitment by Hamas or a break-up of the unity government? By gosh, that should be an easy answer (“No!”) , yet the administration won’t say.

...This is a very, very big deal. Former deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams explained to me Friday evening: “I hope news reports of what the Obama White House is privately demanding of Israel are wrong. If the reports are right, the U.S. is now abandoning the Quartet Principles — and asking Israel to negotiate with a Palestinian side that includes Hamas without Hamas taking one single step away from terror.

...[And] what about the 1967 borders? Democratic defenders of the president have insisted that “1967 borders with land swaps” is nothing new. But it appears it certainly is. As the insider noted, “Yes, they are pressing for ’67 with swaps, not exactly ’67. But that’s not really the point — they’ve already adopted what was a Palestinian ‘goal’ as U.S. policy."

...And it is actually worse than that... Israel is being pressured to give up prior understandings that the Western Wall and the Jerusalem suburbs, for example, would never be part of a Palestinian state.

Rubin also spoke with Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), "who plainly was angry over the continued effort to bully Israel ... 'President Obama never learns. His real instinct is to weaken Israel. You don’t treat an ally this way.' He said he has never seen this sort of behavior from any U.S. president [and] the current posture is 'shameful.'"

Shameful. Unprecedented. Destructive.

Just like the President's domestic policies.

I urge you to file this report under "Remember in 2012".


Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Flopping Aces. Thanks!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Good News: China's Military Showing Off Drones That Target U.S. Aircraft Carriers in Demonstration Videos

Attention, Democrats and Ron Paul kooks: consider this reason #4,305 not to slash defense spending.

...Western defense officials and experts were surprised to see more than 25 different Chinese models of the unmanned aircraft, known as UAVs, on display at this week's Zhuhai air show in this southern Chinese city. It was a record number for a country that unveiled its first concept UAVs at the same air show only four years ago, and put a handful on display at the last one in 2008.

The apparent progress in UAVs is a stark sign of China's ambition to upgrade its massive military as its global political and economic clout grows.

...The U.S. and Israel are currently the world leaders in developing such pilotless drones, which have played a major role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and which analysts say could one day replace the fighter jet.

This year's models in Zhuhai included several designed to fire missiles, and one powered by a jet engine, meaning it could—in theory—fly faster than the propeller-powered Predator and Reaper drones that the U.S. has used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

...U.S. anxiety about China's UAVs were highlighted in a report released Wednesday by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was formed by Congress in 2000 to assess the national security implications of trade and economic relations with China.

...The Chinese drone of greatest potential concern to the U.S. is the one with several missiles and a jet engine—called the WJ600—which was displayed by China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp., or Casic, one of China's top weapons makers.

Casic officials declined to comment, but a video and a two-dimensional display by the company showed Chinese forces using the WJ600 to help attack what appeared to be a U.S. aircraft carrier steaming toward an island off China's coast that many visitors assumed to be Taiwan...

And all this time I thought the most important Constitutional duty of the federal government was to protect America and its borders.

Apparently, based upon the actions of President Obama and Democrats in Congress, I was mistaken.


Hat tip: @AdamSBaldwin.

Friday, June 10, 2011

The national debt: 1797-2010

The Wall Street Journal offers a unique, graphical perspective on the national debt since 1797.

Save World War II -- an existential, global struggle against Nazism and Military Shintoism -- no federal bureaucracy has run up the national debt like the 111th Congress and President Obama.

Of course, he's done so for an equally important cause: promoting a counter-revolution to America's founding. Of that, there can be no doubt.


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Pass the Popcorn, Nahanni: Democrat Lawmaker Accuses President Obama of Favoring Hamas Terrorists Over Israel's Freedom Fighters

Well, this ought to help Democrat party unity.

House lawmakers from both parties are siding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over President Obama in their differing approaches to the Israel-Palestine border dispute... Obama last week called for Israel's 1967 borders to mark the "foundation" for renewing stalled peace talks between the two sides – a concession to Palestine that Netanyahu has bluntly rejected [as indefensible]...

...Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said Tuesday that Obama is "tilting toward Hamas" – a reference to the Palestinian group the United States and Israel consider a terrorist organization. He emphasized that Congress would never base its approach to Israeli aid on such a position.

"A majority of the Congress disagrees with him,” Andrews said of Obama.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), for one, said the president "absolutely … made a mistake" with his 1967-borders proposal, and suggested it would harm — rather than bolster — the chances of renewed peace talks.

"With all of the political turmoil and unrest in the Middle East, I don’t understand why the president injected himself into that issue right now," he said.

Uhm, because he marinated in the race hatred of Jeremiah Wright's church for two decades? Because he associated with known PLO figures and Hamas sympathizers? Because his political career was launched in the home of two domestic terrorists?

Nah, couldn't be any of those things.


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Obama's "Outreach" to Islam Finally Taking Hold

Dan from New York:

The President and First Lady are in Britain on a goodwill tour. Pictured here are a few of the locals who were on hand to give BHO a proper British greeting.

The Bin Laden backlash: Angry Muslims demonstrate outside Downing Street as Obama visits Britain (UK’s Daily Mail)


Hat tip: Ruthfully Yours





Good to see Obama’s Muslim charm offensive has won over so many converts to our side. Of course, those pictured here are on the radical fringe. Most Britain’s “moderate” Muslims keep to themselves and avoid being photographed.

I say we give these tolerant souls a state!

As an aside, anyone willing to bet me $100 that we'll never see these photos in The New York Times?


Highlights of Netanyahu's Address to Congress With Special Non-Appearance by Rand Paul and Prayers for a Balkanized Jerusalem by Joe Biden

England's far left wing rag The Guardian observes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could probably win the GOP nomination in 2012 and it's probably not far off.

Despite an extremely troubling boycott by Senator Rand Paul and Joe Biden's pointed approval of a divided Jerusalem, Netanyahu came off like gang-busters with a single speech more memorable than all of Barack Obama's put together.

...you don't need to do nation- building in Israel. We're already built. (Laughter, applause.) You don't need to export democracy to Israel. We've already got it. (Applause.) And you don't need to send American troops to Israel. We defend ourselves... You've been very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own ... I know economic times are tough. I deeply appreciate this...

...The brief democratic spring in Tehran was cut short by a ferocious and unforgiving tyranny. And it's this same tyranny that smothered Lebanon's democratic Cedar Revolution and inflicted on that long- suffering country the medieval rule of Hezbollah... So today the Middle East stands at a fateful crossroads. And like all of you, I pray that the peoples of the region choose the path less traveled, the path of liberty. (Applause.) ...

Israel has always embraced this path in a Middle East that has long rejected it. In a region where women are stoned, gays are hanged, Christians are persecuted, Israel stands out. It is different...

... Of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, only Israel's Arab citizens enjoy real democratic rights. (Applause.) Now, I want you to stop for a second and think about that. Of those 300 million Arabs, less than one-half of 1 percent are truly free, and they're all citizens of Israel. (Applause.) ... This startling fact reveals a basic truth: Israel is not what is wrong about the Middle East; Israel is what's right about the Middle East. (Applause.) ...

...When I last stood here, I spoke of the consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons. Now time is running out. The hinge of history may soon turn, for the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us: a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons...

...Now, I have no doubt -- I'm absolutely convinced -- that it will ultimately be defeated. I believe it will eventually succumb to the forces of freedom and progress. It depends on cloistering young minds for a given amount of years, and the process of opening up information will ultimately defeat this movement. But like other fanatacisms that were doomed to fail, militant Islam could exact an horrific price from all of us before its eventual demise... A nuclear-armed Iran would ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It would give terrorists a nuclear umbrella. It would make the nightmare of nuclear terrorism a clear and present danger throughout the world.

...the threat to my country cannot be overstated. Those who dismiss it are sticking their heads on the stand. Less than seven decades after 6 million Jews were murdered, Iran's leaders deny the Holocaust of the Jewish people while calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every respectable forum on the planet. (Applause.)

...But there's something that makes the outrage even greater. Do you know what that is? It's the lack of outrage, because in much of the international community, the call(s) for our destruction are met with utter silence. It's even worse because there are many who rush to condemn Israel for defending itself against Iran's terror proxies...

...why has peace not been achieved? Because so far, the Palestinians have been unwilling to accept a Palestinian state if it meant accepting a Jewish state alongside it. You see, our conflict has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state; it's always been about the existence of the Jewish state...

... Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967. (Cheers, applause.) ...the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel... (Applause.) You know, everybody knows this. It's time to say it. It's important.

...And as for Jerusalem, only a democratic Israel has protected the freedom of worship for all faiths in the city. (Applause.) Throughout the millennial history of the Jewish capital, the only time that Jews, Christians and Moslems could worship freely, could have unfettered access to their holy sites has been during Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem... Jerusalem must never again be divided. (Applause.) Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel. (Applause.)

...peace can only be negotiated with partners committed to peace, and Hamas is not a partner for peace. (Applause.) Hamas -- Hamas remains committed to Israel's destruction and to terrorism. They have a charter. That charter not only calls for the obliteration of Israel, it says: Kill the Jews everywhere you find them...

The Prime Minister's address spoke of freedom, secular tolerance and peace. As opposed to teaching hatred from birth, honoring suicide bombers, and worshiping death.

Hey, but let's give 'em a state!


Related: "When we say never again, we mean never again."

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Hamas to President Obama: Bugger Off

Dan from New York:

Hamas: Obama speech will not force us to recognize Israel


JPost.com, 05/22/2011

Group spokesman slams US president's speech to AIPAC, says Obama's comments show Washington will "support the occupation at the expense of the freedom of the Palestinian people."

###

As our parents used to say about lost causes in the old days, "What’s the use talking?"

Which makes the latest, carefully-edited agitprop from Soros Matters especially humorous.

Especially for those who know what really happened in the Middle East.


Obama doubles down: Israel needs to adopt 1967 borders, split itself into two pieces and accept a contiguous Palestinian state #aipac

Speaking at AIPAC this morning, President Barack Obama reiterated his call for a "sovereign, contiguous Palestinian state" using "1967 borders with mutually-agreed upon swaps".

He also claimed his comments on Thursday were "misrepresented."

[My controversial remarks] discussed a border that is different than one negotiated on June 4, 1967. That is what "mutually agreed-upon swaps" means.

...The ultimate goal is two states for two peoples... Each state enjoying mutual recognition, self-determination and peace.

If there is a controversy then, it's not based in substance ... I said publicly what has long-been discussed privately.

Forget the '67 borders for a moment. Consider the implications of a "contiguous Palestinian state".

This current map illustrates the idiocy of such a plan. To join Gaza with the West Bank would require splitting Israel into two pieces.

That ain't gonna happen.

So President Obama just doubled-down on an absolutely nonsensical proposal.

Israel tried this before: it gave Gaza to the Palestinian people. And it quickly became an armed camp, a launchpad for non-stop terror attacks.

Any hope for peace with these barbaric throwbacks is delusional. There can't be peace with those who want you dead.


Related: What Really Happened

Linked by: Gateway Pundit, Protein Wisdom, iOwnTheWorld, and Soros Matters. Thanks!