Wednesday, August 03, 2005

What the...?


ENDGAMEThe book Endgame (subtitled, "The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror") contains some fascinating snippets, but none more intriguing than this:

...a group of countries, led by Israel and the U.S., had been working since 1981 on a mega-secret project to develop and deploy a weapon system that can neutralize nuclear weapons.

The highly advanced, space-deployable, BHB weapon system, code-named XXXBHB-BACAR-1318-I390MSCH, has extraordinary potential and is a key part of the West's deterrence strategy. For the past twenty-five years, the project and the scientists involved in it were kept in strict secrecy and their existence denied. The scientists rejected Nobel Physics prize and Nobel Peace prize nominations and have been repeatedly and deliberately the subject of intense military disinformation through the media in order to divert attention from their highly secretive work.

In 1981, when CIA director William J. Casey signed onto the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) - a missile defense shield against incoming nuclear warheads - he gave the green light for the technology's development for deterrence purposes and peaceful use only. Although we have only limited information, it appears that Iran's rapidly developing nuclear capabilities could be neutralized and rendered obsolete, as could the capabilities of other rogue countries...


From the authors' lips to God's ear.

Ultimatum: Cooperate or face the consequences

Congressional Election: GOP Wins - Barely


Picture credit: WikiPedia
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe Dems pulled out all the stops in Ohio and, once again, couldn't close the deal. The opportunity arrived because President Bush had appointed Republican Rob Portman as U.S. Trade Representative. Thus, a rare, off-year election yesterday pitted Jean Schmidt against Democratic contender Paul Hackett.

Photo
Paul Hackett (WikiPedia)

The Dems truly didn't play around this time. They had hoped to pull off a major upset by aligning every factor in their favor:

- Hackett is a former U.S. Marine (and trial lawyer), but claims opposition to the war
- Hackett featured... yes... President Bush in his ads
- Hackett looks like a male model
- Schmidt had been tied to the unpopular Governor, Bob Taft, who is enduring his own personal scandals at the moment
- Voter turnout would be light in an off-year race
- Hackett received enough campaign money to essentially match Schmidt ad-for-ad

The race reminds me of nothing less than a snippet of conversation from the television show Cheers:

"What'll you have Normie?"
"Well, I'm in a gambling mood Sammy. I'll take a glass of whatever comes out of that tap."
"Looks like beer, Norm."
"Call me Mister Lucky."


The citizens coming out of the tap will continue to vote Republican for the foreseeable future. That is, until the Democrats excise the cancerous MoveOn, Michael Moore, and Hollywood Left from the party. Not only does that Left Bank represent damaged goods, they don't even think we're at war.

Michael Moore speaks for the Democrats' Left Bank when he says, "There is no terrorist threat. There is no terrorist threat."

As does Juan Cole, who flatly states, "It is not a war."

I question either their judgment - or their loyalty. I can come to no other conclusion. The Left Bank is either intellectually bankrupt... or their patriotism lies with another land. In any case, they won't be winning many elections for the foreseeable future.

Space - the Final Frontier


Picture credit: http://www.segginger.net
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe invaluable James Taranto notes a "back to the future" moment:

From "The Trouble With Tribbles," a "Star Trek" episode that first aired Dec. 29, 1967:
Klingon: Of course I'd say that Captain Kirk deserves his ship. We like the Enterprise; we--we really do. That sagging, old rust bucket is designed like a garbage scow. Half the quadrant knows it. That's why they're learning to speak Klingonese.

Chekov: Mr. Scott!

Scotty: Laddie, don't ya think ya should--rephrase that?

Klingon: You're right. I should. I didn't mean to say that the Enterprise should be hauling garbage. I meant to say that it should be hauled away as garbage!


Steve Chapman in the Chicago Tribune, July 31, 2005:
The little-known secret of the shuttle is that it's an airborne moving van, whose main role is to haul parts, supplies and other cargo to the International Space Station. Among the tasks assigned to the astronauts on Discovery is picking up the space station's garbage. . . . Maybe NASA needs to scrap the shuttle.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

We're Slashing the Price of Strawmen at Crazy Joe's!


John Roberts (PBS)
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueIf you're looking for a patron saint of obstructionists, look no further than "Slow Joe" Biden. Gearing up for the Supreme Court nomination process, Biden is out to get as much face time as possible, no matter how embarrassing the venue or his remarks. In a speech yesterday, Biden discussed a government that would limit the number of children a family could have and might outlaw all stem-cell research. The implication, of course, is that these are directions in which John Roberts might guide the court.

And, no, I don't think he was drunk, though he was doing a passable imitation.

These strawmen simply represent the advance scouts of the Democratic offensive. Raise strawman after strawman and let the nominee waste time hurdling useless calumny.

Biden, of course, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. His goal is simple: to get as much camera time as possible during the confirmation process, thereby thwarting Hillary's 2008 advance publicity campaign.

And he obviously has no shame. In 2003, Biden supported Roberts' nomination to District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Does the word hypocrite come to mind?

Do me a favor and ook up plagiarism in the dictionary. You get... Joe Biden. No, I'm not kidding. Webster's Online Dictionary defines plagiarism using several famous examples including:

...Senator Joseph Biden was forced to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominations when it was revealed he had failed a course in law school due to plagiarism. It was also shown that he had plagiarised several campaign speeches, notably those of British Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Senator Robert F. Kennedy...


If Biden had an ounce of dignity, he'd have resigned his Senate seat then and returned in disgrace to his home state. Instead, he's hung around for a couple of decades, dispensing obstructionist rhetoric as a MassPort truck dumps road salt during a snow storm.

Consider the John Bolton nomination, the vote for which was hamstrung by a litany of document requests and procedural rigamarole led by Biden and Chris Dodd. What egregious crime had Bolton committed? Nothing so serious as Biden's admitted plagiarism, that much is certain:

No wild accusation was ever proved, other than that he sought the removal of two intelligence analysts for incompetence and insubordination. Notably, both the 9/11 Commission and Robb-Silberman Commission said policy makers have a responsibility to question and challenge intelligence analysts.


That's the extent of Bolton's crimes. He sought to have a couple of analysts removed, which at least two bipartisan commissions have characterized as a perfectly legitimate practice.

Once the issue of analysts had been resolved, Biden and friends resorted to shell game of procedural requests. Biden's money quote?

I would consider the failure to produce the requested documents in a timely manner a lack of cooperation.


It's another case of moving goalposts, one of the Democrats' favorite games. Obstructionism didn't work for Tom Daschle, he of the recent ex-communication. And it won't work for the next series of Democratic leaders either.

Just don't count on Biden coming to grips with that anytime soon. Fact is, there's no disputing Biden's nickname in the blogosphere. "Slow Joe" Biden is a name that will live in infamy, wherever and whenever obstructionism raises its ugly head. Fortunately, Biden and his vast intellect are no more likely to get the Democratic nod in '08 than is Jessica Simpson. Slow Joe just doesn't know it yet, which is pretty much par for the course.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Recruiting at Defcon


Picture credit: http://www.1000misspenthours.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe News.com security blog reports that the Department of Defense is hiring. In fact, the director of the DOD's Cybercrime Center has already attended eight Defcon conventions. His goal: hire 21 people for the Center:

The cybercrime center aids in the investigation of cybercrimes by training law enforcement agents, running a forensics lab and developing tools for investigations. Christy is looking for electrical and computer engineers and programmers, among other people. He might fight some of those people at Defcon, he said.


And they have a good sense of humor:

On Saturday Christy and representatives from other federal agencies hosted a "Meet the Fed" session at Defcon. They pulled an old prank. First, all attendees were asked to stand. Then everyone who had not hacked into any system illegitimately was asked to sit down. The Feds then pulled out cameras and started snapping pictures.


Hiring at Defcon is a great idea. By definition, the attendees are captivated by computer security. And that's exactly the sort of person every employer wants to hire: someone energized about their job and who looks forward to a new, complex and different challenge every day.

News.com security blog

Steyn: Wake up, Folks -- It's War!


Picture credit: http://www.c-spanarchives.org/
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe Genius (need I even say the name 'Mark Steyn'?) weighs in at the Spectator with an invocation not unlike that which sallied forth from this channel but a few days ago. To wit: it's a war, folks. The knuckleheads who fail to understand this simple, vetted concept are going to get a lot more innocent people killed.

...Madrid and London - along with other events such as the murder of Theo Van Gogh - are, in essence, the opening shots of a European civil war. You can laugh at that if you wish, but the Islamists’ most often-stated goal is not infidel withdrawal from Iraq but the re-establishment of a Muslim caliphate living under Sharia that extends to Europe; and there’s a lot to be said for taking these chaps at their word and then seeing whether their behaviour is consistent.

Furthermore, there’s a lot more of the world that lives under Sharia than there was, say, 30 years ago: Pakistan adopted it in 1977, Iran in 1979, Sudan in 1984.... Fifty years ago, Nigeria lived under English common law; now, half of it’s in the grip of Islamic law. So, as a political project, radical Islam has made some headway, and continues to do so almost every day of the week: since the beginning of the year, for example, some 10 per cent of southern Thailand’s Buddhist population have abandoned their homes - a far bigger disruption than the tsunami, yet all but unreported in the Western press.

And whatever one’s opinion of the various local conflicts around the world - Muslims vs Buddhists in Thailand, Muslims vs Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims vs Jews in the Holy Land, Muslims vs Russians in Chechnya, Muslims vs Christians in Africa - the fact is that the jihad has held out a long time against very tough enemies...


Mark Steyn: Wake up, folks - it’s war!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Philadelphia Inquirer: Franken Squashed Like a Bug


Picture credit: http://www.coloradopsycho.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueIt's tough to keep it all straight. Air America, embroiled in a scandal here, falling off the Arbitron ratings chart there... it all gets a bit confusing. The Philadelphia Inquirer -- no shill for red-staters -- weighs in with some key money lines:

Here [in Philadelphia, Air America] doesn't even register a pulse. The flagship show, hosted by author and former Saturday Night Live comic Al Franken, airs from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays on WHAT (1340 AM).

Both WHAT and the show have fallen off the charts, according to radio-rating service Arbitron, meaning there were too few listeners to measure during the second quarter of this year - the so-called spring book. Franken's show didn't start on the station until Aug. 30.

Franken named his show The O'Franken Factor to tweak his archrival, populist pundit Bill O'Reilly, whose TV show The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel outdraws all other talk shows on cable... Franken... [also] ...chose to go head-to-head with... Limbaugh in many markets. This, it turns out, was not such a good idea.

Limbaugh, still the giant among talkers, with 14.75 million listeners on 600 stations, has squashed Franken like a bug.

Franken's ratings have dropped 50 percent in Boston since spring 2004, and he is down 14 percent in New York, where his listeners now number fewer than 188,000...


Inquirer: Liberal Air America Radio stuck in cellar

Karl Rove, Diabolical Uberman


Picture credit: Washington College
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueEver wonder why the geniuses of the hard Left just don't get it? You know, the gravity of the war on terror. The magnitude and seriousness of the effort. And the borderline-treasonous, anti-American caterwauling of the MoveOn, Michael Moore, Hollywood left.

I have a theory. They've been distracted for lo these many months. They're too busy fuming, fulminating and hypothesizing about the diabolical Karl Rove, who defeats them at every turn. Consider the last few years of Rove coverage at the leading blog sites of the Left:

Karl Rove: CBS document forger
Karl Rove: The force behind Colorado re-districting
Karl Rove: Secret ally of the teamsters
Karl Rove: Sworn enemy of Paul Wellstone
Karl Rove: Vladimir Putin imitator
Karl Rove: Drop-out
Karl Rove: Democratic Tactician
Karl Rove: Anti-Christ
Karl Rove: Steel Tariff magnate.
Karl Rove: Dark Genius
Karl Rove: 2003 Planner: to take 55 seats in the Senate (whoops, I guess he did that)
Karl Rove: Economic policy wonk
Karl Rove: Class warfare expert
Karl Rove: Organizer of dirty-trick seminars
Karl Rove: The New Lee Atwater
Karl Rove: Howard Dean-supporter
Karl Rove: Enemy of the People
Karl Rove: Spouter of evil manure
Karl Rove: Party coordinator, use of 9/11 for political gain
Karl Rove: Political strategist for hire
Karl Rove: Saboteur
Karl Rove: George W. Bush Baby-sitter
Karl Rove: Donald Segretti-Protege
Karl Rove: Hypnotic Leader
Karl Rove: The New McCarthy
Karl Rove: Vetting John Roberts
Karl Rove: Fired by Bush in 1992 for leaking information to Robert Novak
Karl Rove: Finally, in his last throes!
Karl Rove: Coordinator of Depression-era Economics

Consider how deliciously maddening this must be to the Kosmonauts. Rove, a superior intellect, capable of thinking five or six moves ahead matched up against the combined brainpower of Biden, Kennedy, and Pelosi.

It's like the battle versus Coke and Pepsi. Only Rove is both Coke and Pepsi, while the hard Left is Fanta.

Perhaps one day they'll figure out the character of the real enemy. I just wouldn't count on it anytime soon.

Friday, July 29, 2005

All of the 7/21 London Bombers Arrested


Picture credit: Sky News
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThis is encouraging:

...Relatives are understood to have given vital information that helped to end Britain’s biggest manhunt without further loss of life...

...After days of raids and arrests across the capital and in Birmingham, the breakthrough for police came yesterday morning when officers are believed to have traced a telephone call to a hideout at Block K Dalgarno Gardens.

Terrified neighbours could clearly hear officers shouting for the occupants to strip to their underwear and surrender...


The day can't come soon enough when these maniacal murderers are behind bars or have simply been terminated. With extreme prejudice.

The Times: London bombs

The American Programmer: Dead or Alive?


Picture credit: Kids.Nasa.Gov
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueHas the American programmer met his demise? Not hardly, according to John Challenger:

The death of the U.S. programmer is a myth. Absolutely,'' says Challenger. ''Much of the programming that's done today is highly complex and requires an immense amount of discussion with a lot of people. They're part of a development team. They have to deal with operations to customize the programming. There's a lot of in-person, on-site understanding that would really get lost if the work was shipped out to someone who is anonymous overseas... There is so much demand for programming -- people who can take technology and adapt it to a situation.

Youssef M. Ibrahim: Man on Fire


Picture credit: http://www.metimes.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe Middle East Times' Youssef M. Ibrahim drops some science on the Jihadis:

...Do the cowardly jihadis who recruit suicide bombers really think that they will force the US Army and British troops out of Iraq by killing hundreds of innocent Iraqis? US troops now have bases and operate in Iraq but also from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.

The only accomplishment of jihadis is that now they have aroused the great "Western Tiger". There was a time when the United States and Europe welcomed Arab and Muslim immigrants, visitors and students, with open arms. London even allowed all dissidents escaping their countries to preach against those countries under the guise of political refugees.

Well, that is all over now. Time has become for the big Western vengeance.

Visas for Arab and Muslim young men will be impossible to get for the United States and Western Europe. Those working there will be expelled if they are illegal, and harassed even if their papers are in order.

Airlines will have to right to refuse boarding to passengers if their names even resemble names on a prohibited list on all flights heading to Europe and the United States...

I fear those naïve Muslims who think that they are beating the West have now achieved their worst crime of all. The West is now going to war against not only Muslims, but also, sadly, Islam as a religion...


Slather yourself in the lotion of wisdom and read the whole thing.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

War


Photo
An X-Ray view of one of the unexploded devices found in the trunk of the bomber's car shows that it was designed to inflict massive damage. (ABC News)

The accompanying photograph demonstrates the utter carnage that the London terrorists had hoped to inflict. Imagine nails ripping through the flesh of innocent commuters, tourists and their children, working men and women. Imagine the screams, the choking, sooty smoke, the blood and darkness. That's what the extremist nutjobs behind the attacks had intended.

The Left thinks that this is a simple exercise in law enforcement. And they couldn't possibly be more wrong. Here's a simple formula: if you have soldiers, dressed as civilians, launching mass-murder campaigns against non-military targets, then you are at war. And the Left refuses to even acknowledge our involvement in any war.

Because, after all, our recent military actions were based on a "lie" about "WMDs", to benefit "Halliburton" through a "war for oil" by a President who was "selected, not elected." At least, those are the sound-bites you'll get from the fever swamp of the Michael Moore Left. And they do a disservice to all Americans by minimizing the extent of the extremist threat.

Would Mohammad Atta, had he been able to acquire a 5-kiloton nuclear weapon, have detonated it in midtown Manhattan?

Fortunately, more Americans -- and not just members of the GOP and red-state residents -- recognize the uncomfortable answer to this question every day. And, in doing so, render the Democratic party less relevant on that same daily basis, each tick marking their inevitable collapse in a stunning reprise of the fall of the Whigs.

Oblige me if you will, for a moment, and flashback to a couple of years before 9/11:

TAMPA - The spiritual leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and a zealous cleric from Cleveland disagreed over whether they should call themselves terrorists...

"Terrorism and terrorism alone is the path to liberation," declared the cleric, Fawaz Damra, during a 1989 panel discussion moderated by Sami Al-Arian.


Maybe the Left can try to use a time-machine to tie statements like these to Iraq. Or Osama declaring war on the U.S. Or 9/11 itself. Or Sheik Abdul Rahman coming whisker-close to pulverizing the World Trade Center and killing thousands in 1993. Or Saddam Hussein's terrorist training camp at Salman Pak. Or the USS Cole. Or the Khobar Towers. Or countless other examples of extremist violence.

And while it won't make you feel better, the following story will reinforce my point. We are at war. On Tuesday, ABC reported that several Egyptians were arrested in New Jersey:

Five Egyptian men with maps of the New York City subway system and video of New York landmarks have been arrested...

FBI and law enforcement officials told ABC News the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills...


And here, courtesy Michelle Malkin, is a Battle Staff Directive from Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, issued a few days ago:

...On 14 Jul 05, three individuals were observed outside of the perimeter of Tinker AFB, OK. They were looking through binoculars, taking pictures and one appeared to be holding a large weapon at chest level. The weapon appeared to be aimed towards a low flying aircraft. The three individuals were described as being of Middle Eastern decent [sic] and left the area when approached. The weapon was later identified as a rocket launcher (MANPAD) and the low flying aircraft to be a B-1 Bomber. FBI in Oklahoma City and AFOSI determined the threat to be credible. Due to this and other recent incidents and security concerns surrounding Tinker AFB, OK, the potential for suspicious activity in the Tinker AFB (TAFB) Area of Responsibility (AOR) has increased...


The Democrats will continue to be consigned to irrelevance until they excise the cancerous Michael Moore and Hollywood Leftists. This whacked-out brigade of moonbats has soiled Democratic ranks with an anti-American ideology seldom seen in the last two centuries. And despite Hillary Clinton's posturing and Joe Biden's attempts to pull the "we're pro-military!" lever, no one trusts them to do the job. Because they don't even think we're at war.

If it were up to Teddy Kennedy, a Massachusetts State Trooper would be dispatched to the mountains of Pakistan to arrest Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice. And, as far as Teddy Jo Kopechne was concerned, the crimes of 9/11 would have been solved.

The Democratic party will continue to lose elections -- by scorching, humiliating margins -- until they excommunicate the moonbat wing, which is as incompatible with most Americans as Michael Jackson is to the Marin County daycare center.

Is Cyber-Terrorism a Threat?


Turnrow Magazine features an enlightening interview with security guru Bruce Schneier that touches on, among other things, the threat of terrorism.

Now, in general, Schneier is acknowledged as one of the brightest minds in the security business. From time to time, I might find areas where I might disagree with Schneier: Video cameras in public places, for instance (Rich Lowry also has an exceptional discussion of the merits of camera surveillance entitled, "Caught on Tape").

And, once in a while, Schneier will wander off course:

Most criminals are copycats... [however] al Qaeda has shown itself to be very inventive. They never do the same thing twice; they always think of something new.


Cases in point: the twin London train attacks of 7/7 and 7/21 are evidence of copycat crimes.

But overall, Schneier is consistently rational and well-spoken on the topics surrounding security. In this portion of the interview, he deals with the so-called cyber-terror threat.

CKG: Is it possible that al Qaeda and similar organizations can launch virtual attacks, presenting us with something of the equivalent of a cyber 9/11?

BS: Not for a long time. These attacks are very difficult to execute. The software systems controlling our nation's infrastructure are filled with vulnerabilities, but they're generally not the kinds of vulnerabilities that cause catastrophic disruptions. The systems are designed to limit the damage that occurs from errors and accidents. They have manual overrides. These systems have been proven to work; they've experienced disruptions caused by accident and natural disaster. We've been through blackouts, telephone switch failures, and disruptions of air traffic control computers. The results might be annoying, and engineers might spend days or weeks scrambling, but it doesn't spread terror; the effect on the general population has been minimal.

The worry is that a terrorist would cause a problem more serious than a natural disaster, but this kind of thing is surprisingly hard to do. Worms and viruses have caused all sorts of network disruptions, but it's happened by accident. In January 2003, the SQL Slammer worm disrupted 13,000 ATMs on the Bank of America's network. But before it happened, you couldn't have found a security expert who understood that those systems had that vulnerability. We simply don't understand the interactions well enough to predict which kinds of attacks can cause catastrophic results, and terrorist organizations don't have that sort of knowledge either-even if they try to hire experts.

The closest example we have of this kind of thing comes from Australia in 2000. Vitek Boden broke into the computer network of a sewage treatment plant along Australia's Sunshine Coast. Over the course of two months, he used insider knowledge to leak hundreds of thousands of gallons of putrid sludge into nearby rivers and parks. Among the results were black creek water, dead marine life, and a stench so unbearable that residents complained. This is the only known case of someone successfully hacking a digital control system with the intent of causing environmental harm...


Bathe yourself in the fount of wisdom and read the whole thing.

TurnRow: Bruce Schneier Interview

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Jane Fonda, the Bus Tour and the Terrorists


Picture credit: http://www.swapsale.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe insufferable Jane Fonda will embark on a vegetable-powered bus tour to protest the Iraq war. Not satisfied with one egregious, anti-military, and anti-American effort in her lifetime, she's decided to double up.

Pete DuPont, the former Governor of Delaware, writing in the Wall Street Journal, tells Jane what time it is:

Without the United States, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq would be terrorist-controlled nations...

...Like Old Europe, liberal America is bothered by principled international positions. "The Right Nation," by Adrian Wooldridge and John Micklethwait, points out that liberals were "nervous about moral absolutes, preferring to see the world in shades of grey. After Sept. 11, liberal academics looked for reasons to explain al Qaeda: Was it the product of racism? Of economic injustice? Of American policies in the Middle East?" In his presidential campaign Howard Dean, now national Democratic Party chairman, said our "pre-emptive war is wrong for America"; and liberal leader Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said that "the U.S. presence [in Iraq] is part of the problem, not part of the solution."


Like Neville Chamberlain and countless appeasers before him, Fonda and the rest of the surrender crew prefer to bury their heads in the sand and hope that signalling weakness will dissipate the threat of terrorism. One only needs to read the history books to predict, with certainty, that such a strategy is doomed to failure.

After all, we've tried it before, haven't we?

Imagine that Sheik Abdul Rahman, the spiritual leader of those convicted of blowing up the World Trade Center in 1993, declared war and the administration at the time couldn't be bothered doing anything about it - or even take the time to visit the site that almost turned into a tomb for thousands.

Imagine that war was declared by Osama Bin Laden in the nineties - and no one in the administration took it seriously.

Imagine the Cole, the Khobar Towers, the embassy attacks, Zarqawi at the Olympic Hospital under the protection of Uday Hussein, the Boeing 707 at Baghdad's Salman Pak used to train an unknown number of hijackers...

Imagine a deadly litany of failures on the part of an administration too busy -- reading the weather vane of public opinion polls and covering up various scandals -- to do anything about the rise of extremist terror.

Finally, imagine you are at work bright and early on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center on Tuesday, September 11th, 2001. About 9am, you hear a loud *whump*. And then the power goes out.

As you look at the picture of your wife and children sitting on your desk, smoke is rising in the sky, unfurling like giant black flags at your window.

This is the world in the hands of Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi and, yes, Jane Fonda. It is a world of politics, nuance and law-enforcement. And it is a world in which the Democrats, should they find themselves in power again, will get a lot more people killed.

Monday, July 25, 2005

The Plame Affair and Larry C. Johnson


Picture credit: http://www.salon.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe blogs on the left are wondering why no one seems to be covering Larry C. Johnson's testimony and Democratic radio address this weekend. Even the mainstream media seems to be ignoring the story. Bloomberg recaps:

A former CIA colleague of Valerie Plame and professed Republican gave the Democrats' weekly radio address, saying President George W. Bush broke his promise to fire whoever disclosed her identity as a covert agent. Larry C. Johnson, who described himself as a former Bush supporter, suggested that Bush put politics ahead of security when he ``flip-flopped'' on his pledge.


Is it just the fact that everyone has had their fill of the Plame affair? Is it the fact that Plame's role may have been disclosed by a journalist and not Karl Rove? Or is it just the fact that Johnson, who claims to have been a Republican in the past, has been on a veritable Bush-bashing world tour of late? And thereby compromised any claimed partisan neutrality?

Consider Johnson's recent activities. Hardly that of a neutral in the game of blue-state, red-state. And just who is Larry C. Johnson? Among other things, author of a New York Times article in July, 2001, which stated:

[Americans...] seem to believe that terrorism is the greatest threat to the United States and that it is becoming more widespread and lethal. They are likely to think that the United States is the most popular target of terrorists. And they almost certainly have the impression that extremist Islamic groups cause most terrorism...

--Larry C. Johnson, "The Declining Terrorist Threat," New York Times, July 10, 2001.


Hmmm. We're not exactly talking Kreskin here, are we?

According to the Center of Cooperative Research, Johnson was also quoted (courtesy of Al Jazeera, of course) as saying:

We've entered the world of George Orwell. I'm disgusted. The truth has to be told. We can't allow our leaders to use bogus information to justify war. [Sunday Herald, 6/8/03]


Yup. That sounds like the prototypical Bush-backer to me. And, confusingly, Johnson is also on record as seeming to approve of the war:

When you allow terrorists and their sponsors to go unchallenged, terrorists are able to mount an even deadlier threat to us. When you disrupt their bases, it affects their ability to carry out attacks... An attack on Iraq may not itself be a part of the war on terrorism, but it does affect American credibility. A successful campaign will cause other states to reassess the support they render to terrorism.


So... causing other states to reduce their support for terrorism... isn't part of the war on terror? Okay, I'm officially confused.

Here's a bit more of the Bush-backer:

With this White House, I see an outright pattern of bullying... We've seen it across different agencies, a pattern of going after anybody who's a critic. When people raise legitimate issues that may not be consistent with existing administration policy, those people are attacked and their character is impugned.


Yes, this appears to be the same Johnson who has appeared as an honored Outfoxed interviewee, courtesy of the geniuses at MoveOn.org and the Center for American Progress.

Photo
Wilson and Plame get a little more P.R. (Slate / MSN)

And, I suppose it goes without saying this is the same Johnson who paid a visit to the wildly unprofitable Air America network for an Al ("I Hate Bernie Goldberg!") Franken.

President Bush has stated -- in pretty stark terms -- that if anyone in the White House committed a crime they'll be dealt with accordingly. I think his track record speaks for itself: Rove would be no exception. In an administration that has been remarkably scandal-free, I think we can let the investigatory phase wind down and the chips fall where they may. If Rove committed a crime, he should be charged with a crime.

And I'm shocked, shocked that Johnson isn't nearly as outraged over Democratic Senators outing a nine- or ten-figure classified satellite program. But I guess that's not worthy of mention while Johnson and Valerie Plame get their various personal publicity campaigns geared up.

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Terrorists and collaborators


Picture credit: http://www.internationalriskcontrol.co.uk
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueThe war on terror continues unabated. The London train bombings. The car bomb attacks on Egyptian resorts. Hmmm. That reminds me: I wonder how the Left will try to link attacks on Egypt to the war in Iraq. Captain Ed ties the loose ends together, since the mainstream media seems unable to find voice for the historical facts:

...AQ operations point to a long-term strategy of isolating and crippling Middle East governments that (a) oppose radical Wahhabism and (b) operate in a secular manner that maintains ties to the West, especially Israel. That is the scope of the war Islamists have fought for twenty years under different banners -- Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and now al-Qaeda. They want to seize power by force, cast a Taliban-style tyranny over the entirety of Southwest Asia and North Africa (to start), and bring the infidel world to its knees through the control of petroleum.

Why, four years after 9/11, does the media and the Left still fail to grasp this? Could it be because acknowledging this fact requires a stark choice to either fight or surrender, and they would prefer to create a fantasy through sophistry to allow them to simply go AWOL instead?


Good question. The media has indeed been AWOL. As just one example, consider the following report from Haider, courtesy of Powerline, published a couple of days ago:

Tens of thousands of Iraqis stood silent for three minutes in over 130 Fahrenheit heat to commemorate victims of terror and in a sign of unified defiance of terrorism and I have not seen a single report on this. I waited all day Wednesday and all day today and nothing. The news reported the small anti America demonstration by Alsadar and some Baathists in April but some how missed the whole Iraqi nation standing still in defiance of terrorism...


So, to sum it up, the MSM/DNC didn't find an Arab statesman's proclamation -- that his country was honored to be in the front lines on the global war on terror -- to be newsworthy.

The terrorists know that Iraq is the crucible. It's a pity no one can seem to convince the mainstream media/Democratic party, which appear joined at the hip.

As I mentioned a few days ago, Jose Maria Aznar -- former Prime Minister of Spain -- knows the score. As does John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia.

...Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq?

And can I remind you that the 11th of September occured before the operation in Iraq?

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor? Are people by implication suggesting that we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio DeMillo was murdered in Iraq, a brave man, a distinguished international diplmat, immensely respected for his work in the United Nations, when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that DeMillo had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations adminsitrator in East Timor.

...I can only look at objective facts. And the objective facts are as I have cited. The objective fact is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq and indeed all the evidence as distinct from the suppositions suggest to me that this is about hatred of a way of life... and I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.


Augmenting an earlier litany of links, the Weekly Standard points out another stunning example of Iraq's connections to not only terrorism, but also to Al Qaeda itself. Pity you won't see this story in the mainstream media.

...John Lehman, a 9/11 commissioner... [noted], "There may well be -- and probably will be -- additional intelligence coming in from interrogations and from analysis of captured records and so forth which will fill out the intelligence picture. This is not phrased as -- nor meant to be -- the definitive word on Iraqi Intelligence activities."

There could hardly be a clearer case--of the ongoing revelations and the ongoing denial--than in the 13 points below, reproduced verbatim from a "Summary of Evidence" prepared by the U.S. government in November 2004. This unclassified document was released by the Pentagon in late March 2005. It details the case for designating an Iraqi member of al Qaeda, currently detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an "enemy combatant."

1. From 1987 to 1989, the detainee served as an infantryman in the Iraqi Army and received training on the mortar and rocket propelled grenades.
2. A Taliban recruiter in Baghdad convinced the detainee to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban in 1994.
3. The detainee admitted he was a member of the Taliban.
4. The detainee pledged allegiance to the supreme leader of the Taliban to help them take over all of Afghanistan.
5. The Taliban issued the detainee a Kalishnikov rifle in November 2000.
6. The detainee worked in a Taliban ammo and arms storage arsenal in Mazar-Es-Sharif organizing weapons and ammunition.
7. The detainee willingly associated with al Qaida members.
8. The detainee was a member of al Qaida.
9. An assistant to Usama Bin Ladin paid the detainee on three separate occasions between 1995 and 1997.
10. The detainee stayed at the al Farouq camp in Darwanta, Afghanistan, where he received 1,000 Rupees to continue his travels.
11. From 1997 to 1998, the detainee acted as a trusted agent for Usama Bin Ladin, executing three separate reconnaissance missions for the al Qaeda leader in Oman, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
12. In August 1998, the detainee traveled to Pakistan with a member of Iraqi Intelligence for the purpose of blowing up the Pakistan, United States and British embassies with chemical mortars.
13. Detainee was arrested by Pakistani authorities in Khudzar, Pakistan, in July 2002.

Interesting. What's more interesting: The alleged plot was to have taken place in August 1998, the same month that al Qaeda attacked two U.S. embassies in East Africa. And more interesting still: It was to have taken place in the same month that the Clinton administration publicly accused Iraq of supplying al Qaeda with chemical weapons expertise and material.

But none of this was interesting enough for any of the major television networks to cover it. Nor was it deemed sufficiently newsworthy to merit a mention in either the Washington Post or the New York Times.

We know from these IIS documents that beginning in 1992 the former Iraqi regime regarded bin Laden as an Iraqi Intelligence asset. We know from IIS documents that the former Iraqi regime provided safe haven and financial support to an Iraqi who has admitted to mixing the chemicals for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. We know from IIS documents that Saddam Hussein agreed to Osama bin Laden's request to broadcast anti-Saudi propaganda on Iraqi state-run television. We know from IIS documents that a "trusted confidante" of bin Laden stayed for more than two weeks at a posh Baghdad hotel as the guest of the Iraqi Intelligence Service...


But the MSM/DNC can't find time to add one and one together and get two.

But maybe the left is correct. Perhaps the act of submission, that is, simply ignoring repeated threats, murders, plots, and attacks -- most on innocent civilians -- for decades at a time, will help defeat terrorism. And maybe Michael Moore will star in the next SlimFast campaign.

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Bruce Schneier, the Tube, and Surveillance Cameras


I usually find myself nodding in agreement with Bruce Schneier's blog missives. But not in the case of surveillance cameras in public venues, which Schneier decries as "foolish":

I was going to write something about the foolishness of adding cameras to public spaces as a response to terrorism threats, but Scott Henson said it already:

Homeland Security Ubermeister Michael Chertoff just told NBC's Tim Russert on Meet the Press this morning that the United States should invest in "cameras and dogs" to protect subway, rail and bus transit systems from terrorist attacks. B.S.

Surveillance cameras didn't deter the terrorist attacks in London. They didn't stop the courthouse killing spree in Atlanta. But they're prone to abuse. And at the end of they day they don't reduce crime.


Fine. Let's imagine there were no surveillance cameras. Instead, city government posts a police officer on every street corner. Would there be complaints? If not, why would there be an issue about a video monitoring system? From a logical perspective, why would we not want to provide police officers with extended vision capabilities? After all, these are public venues we're talking about.

I'm certain that British authorities believe the surveillance system in the Tube is an invaluable asset. One commenter on Bruce's blog sums it up:

Cameras will provide some evidence of the crime and help the authorities back track to see if anyone helped them along the way. Perhaps a camera could capture a license plate number of a car that dropped off a suicide bomber. Perhaps that would lead to the arrest of other potential suicide bombers thus saving lives, perhaps your own. In this way, they do in fact prevent crime. Without them, more crimes are undeterred.


From a cost-benefit perspective, if a five million dollar camera system helps roll up one or more terror networks -- which are hell bent on the destruction of Western economies -- the expense will have been well worth it.

There are many facets to deterrence. And one aspect Bruce seems to have ignored is post facto   analysis. As the attacks in London demonstrate, surveillance systems in public areas can be plainly, starkly invaluable.

"Congratulations. You've got... a mess on your hands."


Picture credit: http://www.shopnbc.com
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueLast I heard, Donald Trump is no fan of George W. Bush. But on the topic of the financial shenanigans surrounding the UN's new building, Trump was in stellar form. Testifying before a Senate subcommittee on federal financial management, Trump claimed the UN renovation project would likely cost $3 billion - more than double the original estimate and quadruple the cost of a competently managed project.

Sounds like a dry subject, right? His testimony was one of the greatest examples of ad hoc oratory ever heard. Here are a couple of highlights, as the Donald pounds the UN's egregious management team flatter than a sheet of aluminum foil under Michael Moore's mattress:

...when I went to see Kofi Annan, I was actually quite excited. Because I thought that I could save this country, this world, everybody, including myself, a lot of money, just by sitting down and having a meeting. Unfortunately, as our great Senator to my right said, There was just no response. They didn't really care...

...I wrote letters, and you have copies of the letters... I was expecting a call the following day from... whether it's Kofi Annan or his people. At that time, it was a man named Conners... Mr. Conners didn't know the first thing about what he was doing. He didn't know whether or not the curtain wall was going to be new, old, and didn't even know what a curtain wall was. I said, "What are you going to be doing with the curtain wall?"

He said, "What is a curtain wall?" Now, he was in charge of the project. The curtain wall is the skin of the building.

I said, "Will it be new or old?"

He said, "I don't know."

I said, "Are you using New York Steam? Or are you using a new boiler system?"

He said, "I don't know what New York Steam is." It's a very common form of heating in the building. He had no clue... The one thing I found him very, very good at, is that he didn't want to lose control of this project. He was a man that absolutely wanted to keep control of the project, but he didn't have even the slightest inkling of what it was all about. Knew nothing about it. He then told me that he may move people out. He may not move people out. He didn't know. He thought he might. He wasn't sure. He had no... he just didn't know.

So, I went through a whole list of questions for him, and then I realized that the United Nations is in serious trouble, because the $1.5 billion that they were talking about, there was no way it was going to happen...

...In New York City, we have a lot of asbestos buildings. And there's a whole debate about asbestos. I mean, a lot of people could say that if the World Trade Center had asbestos, it wouldn't have burned down. It wouldn't have melted, okay? A lot of people think asbestos...a lot of people in my industry think asbestos is the greatest fire-proofing material ever made. And I can tell you that I've seen tests of asbestos, verus the new material that's being used, and it's not even a contest. It's like a heavyweight champion against a lightweight from high school...

...I would love to help [the UN]. I don't want any money. I want nothing. I've made a lot of money. I don't care. I want nothing. There are lots of different... you know, if somebody said, what would be your dream on this site, while my dream is a dream that won't happen, but it's a dream that I might tell you. It's a dream to take the United Nations, and the Senator over here is probably going to go crazy, move it to the World Trade Center as a brand new United Nations. Sell the United Nations site, which is one of the greatest sites in the world, for much more money than the whole thing would cost, and you end up building a free United Nations at the World Trade Center, where I don't think anybody's going to want to stay anyway. I think it's going to be a very, very hard rent up at the World Trade Center.

But let's assume that's not going to happen. Not a bad idea, though.

Unidentified voice: ...got no problem with that.

The Donald: Not too bad. He's got no problem, and most people don't have...

Unidentified voice: Put Kofi Annan on the top floor.


Savor the sweet nectar of wisdom and read the whole thing. As well as the Sun's coverage entitled, "Trump Tells Congress U.N. Should Abandon Turtle Bay."

Friday, July 22, 2005

Phishing and GeoTrust: Yeah, Right


Picture credit: http://www.colorado.edu
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueHere's yet another apparent "boil the ocean" approach that purports to solve the problem of phishing. According to News.com, GeoTrust plans to offer tools for "trusted search". Later this year, it will reportedly introduce tools that will help consumers detect fraudulent phishing storefronts.

As an aside, I've always wondered about the PR folks behind stories like this. Over the years, I never found a public relations person capable of getting stories like this into the press.

Consider the pitch: "sometime, later this year, but we can't say exactly when, we may come out with a technology similar to that of, say, Thawte Secure Site. Plus, it may require a download."

Damn. That's one heck of a PR person.

The first problem I have with this approach? It looks like it requires a download. I call that a "boil the ocean" tactic: everyone has to download the client to get the benefit. Sorry, that business model is -- to put it bluntly -- about as feasible as stuffing Michael Moore into a Mini Cooper. Unless you're Google, don't expect folks to install yet another piece of client software. And I won't even bring up the support issues... oops, I guess I just did.

Next, consider the opportunities for spoofed GeoTrust downloads. A bad guy could easily offer a free download on thousands of freeware/shareware download sites that purports to be GeoTrust or a like-named product. Instead, it's a malicious trojan that serves as a gateway into your PC for some crook in Al-Qaeda-stan.

The GeoTrust software will apparently display a "badge or mark" of some kind to designate a legitimate site. Should I mention the fact that this approach has been used for years (e.g., Thawte's Secure Site)? And it's vulnerable to visual spoofing similar to that used by classic phishers?

Finally, I believe this problem has to be solved either on the server side (I proposed an anti-fraud checklist for financial institutions a while back) or integrated directly into the browser. FireFox is an excellent candidate for providing a more sophisticated suite of anti-phishing technologies.

But these guys have really good P.R. people.

Later this year, the company plans to offer tools for "trusted search," CEO Neil Creighton said during a meeting at the AlwaysOn conference in Palo Alto. In a nutshell, this means that search results will feature a badge or mark to indicate whether a company has been properly identified and authenticated through GeoTrust's software.

The lack of a badge doesn't mean that a company is fraudulent, but consumers will at least know that businesses featuring the badge have been vouched for. In turn, Creighton theorized, authenticated companies may see higher click-through rates because of the visible authentication badge... A large broadband provider later this year is expected to include GeoTrust's software in its toolbar.


News.com: New search tools aim to identify phishers, fraudsters

Thursday, July 21, 2005

The London Attacks and an Oregon Ranch


Picture credit: Seattle Times
Excel web sharing - spreadsheet collaboration over the Internet made easy with BadBlueHaroon Rashid Aswat was arrested two days ago in a madrassa in Pakistan. He was armed with several firearms, an explosives belt, and was carrying around $30,000 in cash. Aside from that, he carried nothing suspicious on his person. He also held a British passport and was caught before an apparent attempt to escape into Afghanistan. One of the London train bombers -- Mohammad Sidique Khan -- placed a phone call to Aswat on the morning of the attack.

British al-Qaeda leader [Haroon Rashid Aswat was] linked to the London terrorist attacks [and] was being questioned by police in Pakistan last night after the discovery of mobile phone records detailing his calls with the suicide bombers...

...He spoke to the suicide team on his mobile phone a few hours before the four men blew themselves up and killed fifty-two other people. Intelligence sources told The Times that during his stay Aswat visited the home towns of all four bombers as well as selecting targets in London...

...Aswat is believed to have had a ten-year association with militant groups and met Osama bin Laden while attending an al-Qaeda training camp at Khalden in Afghanistan.


Whaa....? How can that be? Wasn't this all caused by the invasion of Iraq? What the...?

The Seattle Times outlines some interesting U.S. connections for Aswat. In 2000, he tried to establish a terrorist training camp. In Oregon.

A suspect in the London bombings lived in a Central Seattle mosque in early 2000 after he had scouted out a possible terrorist training camp in Bly, Ore... Aswat came to the Northwest in 1999 when James Ujaama, a former Seattle activist, tried to set up a jihad training camp in rural Oregon. Ujaama was based in London, where he had become a follower of radical cleric Abu Hamza, an al-Qaida supporter. Abu Hamza sent Aswat to the United States to check out Ujaama's plans, authorities said...

...During that time, Aswat... "met potential candidates for jihad training, they established security for the Bly property through the use of guard patrols and passwords, and they and others participated in firearms training and viewed a video recording on the subject of improvised poisons," according to an indictment of Ujaama...


Once again, this report cannot possibly be correct because all of these activities predate the invasion of Iraq. And, based upon what the Left tells us, all of the recent fuss was caused by the invasion.

You can either believe the Left or you can believe in fairy tales. I, for one, prefer Mother Goose stories. Immerse yourself in the spa of wisdom and read all of the articles:

Times Online: Top al-Qaeda Briton called Tube bombers before attack
Seattle Times: London bomb suspect lived at Seattle mosque
Michelle Malkin: The FBI and the Left