Right Truth

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

Virtute et armis - By courage and by arms -- (Veteran’s Day 2009)

By R.J. Godlewski

November 11, 2009, All Rights Reserved

Author’s Note: This article is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas on 5 November 2009, the latest victims of runaway Islamic terrorism. My heart and my prayers go out to all and to those who have ever honorably worn the proud uniform of the United States Armed Forces.

    I had begun this particle article as something of a semi-autobiographical tribute to the Navy and a photomontage of my active service from boot camp on through separation of service. While I have included these photographs at the conclusion of this piece sans the descriptive commentaries from each shot, I’ve found that I simply cannot write about my service alone. In my eight years plus several months of service (four years active, the remainder in various elements of the Reserves), I cannot attest to anything of enough importance to toot my own horn as it were. In fact, I am quite embarrassed to speak of my two Honorable discharges for contrary to the advertisements running at the time on television; I viewed the U.S. Navy as simply a job and nothing more.   

    My association with the Navy began in the frigid cold of Great Lakes, Illinois during that infamous holiday season of 1981/1982 when the mercury dropped to minus-45° F. without the wind and eighty-five below with wind chill. During Christmas, recruits were granted parole for the day and allowed to leave the base with our families but the electricity was out in Waukegan and so my parents, grandmother, and youngest sister ate in the local Denny’s frozen to our seats (of what food there was without power to prepare it, I cannot remember).

    Graduation was not much better, and I stayed in Great Lakes to attend Basic Electricity and Electronics School (Modules 1-25) and Electrician’s Mate Class “A” School after the Navy, in its infinite wisdom, informed me that I would become an electrician and that I would like it or else. I didn’t; not really. I blew a test midway through “A” school and got bumped from the nuclear program.  Eventually, I did get orders to Pearl Harbor, which in itself thawed out my rump but I did not realize that my first command in the fleet, the U.S.S. Jason (AR-8), was once torpedoed by the Japanese during the Second World War. 

  It was only during our brief deployment to the Western Pacific in 1983 that I felt as if we were making a difference on the world stage. The Soviets had shot down Korean Air 007 when we were docked in Japan and the Jason repaired the ships that were out searching for wreckage. Other than that, I served mostly as a tourist as being in Japan for three straight months (in Yokosuka, then a brief spell in Sasebo after we returned from a month in Subic Bay, Philippines and a week in Pusan, Korea) provided us with an opportunity to peruse the oriental nation.

    After my tour with the Jason ended, I was assigned to the U.S.S. Worden (CG-18). I didn’t like it for I was used to a non-combat ship that with women aboard seemed a bit like a cruise ship than a veteran of battle. That and the fact that I had given up on drinking (heavily) during the weekends meant that my attitude needed adjustment. I also developed a reaction to something, probably just psychosomatic and sent on medical hold for a month while they analyzed me to see if my body was functioning properly. It was, but being away from my command for a month sent me on orders to the U.S.S. Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22). After only six weeks aboard the Worden, the next year aboard the Stoddert made me fall in love with the ship. It was, in my opinion, the best command in the fleet – the Benny Sweat, “Pineapple Fleet’s Finest!” as our command flag pronounced as we passed the Papa Hotel buoy inbound at thirty-four knots.

    Unfortunately, aboard the Stoddert, I had only a year left in the Navy and I knew that it wasn’t quite the military service that I had envisioned long before as I snuck into the adult section of the Detroit Public Library as a five-year-old to drool over photographs of B-52 bombers. The truth is, I wanted to become an Air Force pilot after college but could not afford tuition and with my eyes going bad, chose my other great love – the sea.

    My service was before push button anything and we used to stand twelve-hour switchboard watches aboard the Jason in 140 ° F. temperatures as the engine room was located directly above the fire room. Usually, we handled the heat by stripping down to our underwear until the skipper showed up for inspection or we were training one of the women.

    Then, my service ended with a whimper. Two years inactive Reserves and I received my first Honorable discharge. Six years later, during the lead up to Desert Storm, I wanted to return back into active duty but on the day that I was scheduled to take my physical, the Navy cancelled all rescores (transition into another rating). I knew that we steamship electricians were useless but the Navy correctly assumed that it would be cheaper to train someone from scratch than Navy veterans and so I entered the Reserves as Electrician’s Mate Three Class (eventually for all of seven years!) Godlewski and assigned to Mine Division 125 out of Charleston, SC. They were the harbor minesweepers and therefore considered a shore duty station, which I earned via normal sea-shore duty rotations.

   There were three things that I remember from the Reserves. 1.) Because the Southfield, Michigan Reserve center was small enough to be located on the Army site, my unit drilled in a church convent (yes, sailors sharing the halls with nuns and priests!), 2.) During my first and only active duty two-week period, the Soviets tried to overthrow Gorbachev and the military went on alert; and 3.) During my active duty for training period I lived in the Marine barracks, (God bless the Corps! – Great bunch of guys! ;o) ).

    Then they decommissioned my unit, I moved to East Lansing to attend Michigan State, and the Reserve center there wanted nothing to do with another electrician’s mate. Ergo, my last year in the military saw me living as if I was a civilian, though I had met Sara a few months before I received my second Honorable discharge.

    As I have said, my service in the Navy was pathetically boring. I actually feel embarrassed whenever someone thanks me for my service. Perhaps because of this, I have subsequently dedicated my life to doing whatever I could to help this great nation of ours. My efforts to combat terrorism arise from this need to contribute back to the country that I love deeply. I realize how insignificant my own service was because, among other things, many of my fellow classmates at American Military University are presently serving on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    I find it extremely difficult understanding how they could fight a brutal war and still find an opportunity to further their education. They should be teaching us! Myself, I am having difficulty just trying to convince my Muslim professor that Islamic terrorism is not America’s fault or that Israel is not the bane of the world. These people are out there in an honest to goodness shooting war!

    Then something dawned upon me. Here I am studying about terrorists blowing themselves up and taking as many of us along with them as they can. I am learning the intricate art of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), improvised nuclear devices (INDs), and can shoot and fieldstrip AK-47s and AR-15s amongst other weapons and, yet, I cannot relate to those currently protecting our lives. How much further removed, then, is the mind of the rest of America?

    Can we truly comprehend what these fine soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are going through? Can we, for the briefest of moments, imagine what their predecessors accomplished in battles too numerous to recall here? My generation simply did not pass the torch from our brethren in Vietnam to our friends who served gallantly from Desert Storm on through the present wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere throughout the world. We merely handed off a thimble of smoldering embers. They took our infinitesimal gift and restored it to the roaring fire of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

    As seemingly inadequate as my own naval service seems today, even more so appears my gratitude to these fine men and women who I shall always admire and appreciate. I have been a writer for three full decades – the same length of time that represents my personal crusade against Islamic radicalism – and yet I cannot find words adequate to show my appreciation to those who are currently serving or have served honorably within the greatest military force the world has ever seen. Towards this end, I shall abdicate and resort to cliché:

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND ALL WHO SERVE HER PROUDLY!

THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures below the fold:

A Small Nation

With everything going on here in the United States I have been remiss in my reporting on Israel, but not today.  Today Israel is very much on my mind.  Watching the memorial service for those brutally killed at Fort Hood by Maj.Nidal Malik Hasan, Islamic terrorist, the media seems obsessed with US President Barack Obama, rather than those that had their lives ripped from them.  " This is a defining moment for Obama", say the talking heads.  No, Obama has already defined himself.  But at least he did not make this memorial about himself, as he usually does.

He bowed down low to the Saudis.  He was worried Muslims might be offended.  He has made it clear that being Commander in Chief is the last of his priorities.  He deserted Israel, the US military in Afghanistan, the people of Georgia, and his far left base.  He never misses an opportunity to insult America.  He refused to attend the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but sent an overwhelming big screen video message, again making himself the center of attention.

I'm seeing polls that indicate US President Barack Obama is losing support from many of those who voted for him.  They are not seeing the change they voted for.  Many Jews who voted for him are having second thoughts.   President Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins, reports Sammy Benoit at the American Thinker.

The entire settlement issue was caused by the Obama administration's naïveté. What the President and his advisers perceived as a minor concession (a settlement freeze) was for Israel a grave sacrifice. This was a major error by the Obama administration. Their insistence on a freeze and their constant public berating of the Jewish State has turned the Israeli population against Obama, especially the Israeli left, whom Obama would look to for support.

His public blasting of Israel has weakened his support among American Jews, who initially bought into his promise that he was a friend of Israel. The news that Obama was breaking a Bush-era pledge to Israel regarding natural expansion in existing settlements only made things worse.  [snip]

If you are looking for the Obama Administration to demand some sort of move from the Palestinian side, don't hold your breath. The POTUS pressures not the Arabs, but only the Jewish State, even though Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas continues to order terrorist acts against Israel. And then there is that new ploy: Mahmoud Abbas, citing the deadlock, said he would not run for another term in the elections scheduled for January.

Please go to the American Thinker and read the rest of Sammy's article, and see the very long list of actions taken by Barack Obama that are anti-Israel. 

Israel is a tiny land with a huge heart.  I truly believe that America's future is tied to that of Israel.  I also believe that America has much to learn from Israel, especially as it pertains to terrorism.  Dr. Phyllis Chesler stated that America has just experience what Israel has gone through for years -- a lone terrorist, a suicide attacker, on our own soil, killing our innocent people.  I believe she is correct.  God willing this will be the last time we experience such horror. 

I also pray that our intelligence agencies have learned a hard lesson by allowing Maj. Hasan to go unchecked when all the red flags were there for them to see.  There is truly Blood on the Bureau and heads should roll.  Among many other red flags was Maj. Hasan telling his classmates and instructors,  "I'm a Muslim first and I hold the Shariah, the Islamic Law, before the United States Constitution." 

In spite of the facts, red flags, and Hasan screaming "alluah akbar" as he mowed down innocent Americans, our feckless leader Barack Obama refuses to mention Islam or Muslim and said Nidal Hasan may have “cracked” because of stress.

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a most noteworthy speech (included in it's entirety below), where he ended by saying:

“We are a small people but a great people; a people generous enough to pave a path toward a lasting peace; a people brave enough to thwart the dangers that confront us; and a people creative enough to once again help steer humanity towards a better future for all.”

The United States is a large people, a large nation, also generous, also brave, also creative -- but our leadership has diminished us in our ability to thwart the dangers that confront us and has also stifled our ability to steer humanity toward a better future.  Under the leadership of Barack Obama other nations can no longer depend on us to come to their defense.  Much of our military can no longer have pride in their Commander in Chief.

Israel is no longer sure she can depend on America to have her back.  It is a sad day in our history.  While the US has weak leadership, leadership that unquestionably sides with the Palestinians -- Israel seems to have strong leadership at a time when she needs it most.

Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech was sent to be by Ted Belman, Israpundit, with the following comment:

This is one of his best speeches. He keeps calling for “peace”. This is a brilliant strategy. Everybody wants peace. Thus he builds a consensus. Then comes Israel’s need for security. Who can argue about that. Let the politicians negotiate the details.

Meanwhile the Palestinians keep digging a hole from which they cannot extricate themselves. Obama, who’s he? Obama chose to support the weak horse and fell into the hole. Time for him to support the strong horse. Ted Belman

And now, the most excellent speech:

My dear friends, leaders of the Jewish communities of North America,

Blood on the Bureau: How J. Edgar’s Boys are distancing themselves from National Security.

Blood on the Bureau:

How J. Edgar’s Boys are distancing themselves from National Security.

By R.J. Godlewski

© November 10, 2009, All Rights Reserved

    As the world uncovers more details from the terroristic actions of Islamist apologist Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the underlying question that demands to be answered is how those charged with preventing such atrocities could have allowed a self-acknowledged “Soldier of Allah” to penetrate the honorable ranks of our esteemed U.S. Army. Sadly, there is only one culprit so egregious, so diabolical enough to permit such an outrage: political correctness. 

  In a world where a traitor by any other name is no longer a traitor, much of this infamy is shouldered by those who serve no other purpose than to make certain that such tragedies are never experienced by the American citizenry they are under oath to protect. Instead of stopping evil in its tracks, they are bound by a few to protect the excuses of the aggressor. Instead of making an example out of our enemies, they seek to uphold their virtues as models to follow. Instead of America First, it has become Americans Last as the innocent are vilified and the guilty condoned.

   Tomorrow, November 11th, Veteran’s Day, is a day in which the whole of America honors those who have proudly worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. We owe them every respect we have and even then, it would take a lifetime of admiration and courtesy to scratch the surface of our indebtedness. Sadly, however, many of the civilians in charge of these brave forces – some of whom have never even touched a uniform of the military – have long since abandoned patriotism in favor of sectarian political correctness.

    Major – and I use the term with much trepidation – Hasan murdered 13 brave soldiers and wounded dozens of others because, as a society, we have come to fear terms such as “rag head” more than treasure the actual lives of those dying to protect ours. As soon as Nidal Malik Hasan began uttering challenges to the government and people that he served – and who paid for his education and welfare – he should have been disciplined and removed from the military service. A simple resignation would have ended his torment over having to serve a military that was at war with his “own kind” since 1979. Instead of quitting, he continued to sap American taxpayers for every penny that his Islamist ass could procure.

   Soldiers are not governed by the U.S. Constitution; they are led by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ. Many an officer has been tarnished, even removed from service, for “behaviors unbecoming an officer”  that were more moderate than Hasan’s criticism of the military and government or even his fascination with blonds providing lap dances for the so-called “Soldier of Allah” who presumably was fabricating his own paradise of seventy-seven virgins.

    Although plenty of blame exists to spread around regarding the sickening Hasan affair, none deserves more chastisement than those walking the venerable halls of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is the principal agency within the United States charged with defending the country against thugs like Hasan and the vermin who support him. Instead of stopping the Fort Hood assassin when they had a chance, they looked the other way, preferring to excuse his unpatriotic behavior as some variant of free speech. Soldiers are not allowed to express themselves freely – not while they are under oath, under commission, and under war.

    So, the question begs to be asked, why did the FBI leave so many brave soldiers and civilians to be fed to the lion? There are two reasons, actually. First, the FBI is a law enforcement organization. This means that they are predicated upon concepts of post-event response. They arrive onto the scene only when a sufficient crime has been detected. When astronomer Cliff Stoll detected Soviet cyber agents infiltrating our nuclear research laboratories, the FBI refused to help until the damage could be proven to exceed $1 million dollars. When Canadian citizens of Middle Eastern descent were buying up prepaid cellular phones (very much a tool of the trade for terrorists planting IEDs) throughout the Midwestern United States for transport back into Canada – ostensibly an export violation – the FBI wafted on the seriousness of the matter.

    The second reason the FBI is so ineffective at stopping dedicated terrorists is that they prefer to concentrate on building “water tight” cases. Unfortunately, such complete investigations are usually terminated once justice is served and the Bureau retreats to concentrate on acquiring another concrete conviction. Ties to informants, for instance, are severed when no longer needed. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in comparison, will stroke the sensitivities of an agent for years, even decades, preferring to treat them as an invaluable member of a family than a one-time-use-only tool. The CIA will thus cull every tidbit of “color, symbolism, folklore, histrionics, and invective” to ensure that instinct remains a viable tool of the hunt.

   America, however, has thrown Pandora’s gates wide open to Islamic terrorism well before nineteen Arabs learned from us how to fly our friends and neighbors into our fellow citizens. Barriers to attack were destroyed when President Carter fired thousands of CIA officers in the months right before the Islamic infestation of Iran kidnapped our embassy staff for 444 days in 1979.  Despite persistent attacks against the American embassy in Beirut (1983), the Marine Barracks in Beirut (1983), the American Embassy Annex in Beirut (1985), Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988), the World Trade Center in New York (1993), the Khobar Towers in Dhahran (1996), the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (1998), and countless other attacks too numerous to repeat outside a thick volume, our political leadership in Washington has refused to acknowledge that Islam is at war with the United States regardless of whether we refuse to return the favor.

    When the CIA positioned itself to take down threats such as Osama Bin Laden (1993) and other radical extremists (1995), President Bill “I’ll lob cruise missiles from afar” Clinton turned the FBI loose on the Agency. What happened next was that a Bureau that distinguishes a few malcontents from the ummah that sires them hamstrung America’s covert warriors against the radical faith. J. Edgar Hoover’s boys no longer work for an investigative agency; they now work for the For Broader Islam branch of the U.S. Government.

   The Bureau no longer hires those who are prepared to travel to the ends of the earth to bring our adversaries to justice. They now seek to appease and to promote as any brief visit to their Website illustrates. When the pre-9/11 national census proved that America was overwhelmingly Caucasian and, arguably, Christian, the Bureau seeks to amend this “discrepancy” by apparently softening its focus on national security. The value of diversity is that we are not all supposed to look exactly alike, but to misuse this rule of God is to sacrifice our own little enclave to those who demand that everyone think and act alike.

   The massacre at Fort Hood rests squarely upon Nidal Hasan and there can be no more adequate justice than were he to be hung, drawn, and quartered in full view of the public. His actions were premeditated, religiously inspired, and treasonous beyond that of Benedict Arnold. That we – American taxpayers all – paid for his education, salary, and very likely his criminal defense, serves to show the true damage offered by political correctness.

    The blood of the innocents, however, spills onto the hands of everyone at the Bureau who sat idly while this traitor worked through our midst and it is a stain that simply cannot be washed away. Islam, being as much a political entity as a “religion”, is a threat to global democracy. Radical Islam is a threat to the Republic of the United States of America. Until we face this indisputable fact, there will be more Foot Hood massacres in the future and someone professing to Islam will perpetrate every single one. Do the math – if nothing else, FBI agents can calculate. It is time to return to good old-fashioned American gut instinct.

R.J. Godlewski is an independent counterterrorism consultant, the director of the private International Nuclear Emergency Response Team [INERT], and the author of several novels, commentaries, and professional articles. He is also the author and architect of the Independent Counterterrorist training program. His analytical specialties are Middle East terrorism and improvised explosive devices. He is a member of the National Military Intelligence Association, the Golden Key International Honour Society, and the National Rifle Association as well as a veteran of both the United States Navy and Navy Reserve.

Ground broken for Terrorist memorial mosque

Ground broken for Terrorist memorial mosque

By Error Theroy

The desecration has begun. A ground-breaking ceremony was held at the Shanksville crash site on Saturday. Bulldozers will start reshaping the land this week. Never mind that the only rule for the Flight 93 memorial's design competition was that the landscape had to be left as it was. In order to complete the full arc of the Crescent of Embrace (now called a broken circle, but still a giant Islamic-shaped crescent), an earthen causeway will have to be built across the wetlands that lie about 50 vertical feet below the crash site.

A contractor posted recently about his decision to turn down work on the memorial, despite economic hard times. Our friend Jeff just could not stomach the idea of helping to build a tribute to the enemy, a sentiment that is easy to understand and much appreciated. To anyone else who might find themselves in this situation, just be aware that there are other options. Someone is going to do the work, and if the pay is lucrative, it could be better for our cause to have that money go to someone who is on our side.

Blogburst author Alec Rawls has succeeded in driving driving quite a bit of Western Pennsylvania news coverage through the purchase of a half-dozen half-page full-color ads in the local Somerset paper. If anybody wants to fund another, Alec will gladly put the ad together. Call it anti-dhimmi jiu-jitsu. We can use the Park Service's own money against them.

If we don't succeed, then you have to live with knowing that you helped to build an abomination. There is no simple answer.

On the subject of worthy causes, long-time blogburst participant Curt at the excellent Flopping Aces blog is helping to orchestrate fundraising for Project Valour-IT, which helps provide voice-controlled computers and other technology to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries.

Soldiers Angels, which hosts Valour-IT, is also fundraising for the victims of the jihad attack on Fort Hood.

To join our blogbursts, just send your blog's url.

Tell me how contacting al-Qaeda is "academic research".

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan exchanged e-mails with 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist imam Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen in Yemen.  That sounds damning to me, but a terrorism expert cautioned that the exchanges may have been part of Hasan's academic research.  Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, thinks this information is significant.  So do I.  But according to Chris Matthews it's not a crime to contact al-Qaeda, is it???

"It obviously suggests that Dr. Hasan was reaching out either for personal or academic reasons, given the nature of his thesis and the work he was preparing to do as a researcher," added the expert, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation. (Washington Post)

Thesis?  What thesis?  The man is a doctor, a psychiatrist.  Just what academic research calls for one to contact a terror-related imam in Yemen?  None that I know.  If you know something about this, please let me know.

Earlier this year,  Adam Gadahn, who explicitly encouraged those with burning grievances against U.S. military actions in Iraq "to go on a shooting spree at the Marines' housing facilities at Camp Pendleton."  I suppose he is proud of Hasan's attack at Fort Hood.

Don't worry about Hasan, because he is awake and talking now and his family has hired an attorney who will surely tell him not to say a word.  From the Washington Post:

On Monday, Hasan's family hired retired Army Col. John P. Galligan, a former military judge at Fort Hood, to be Hasan's attorney. Galligan said he planned to speak with Hasan on Monday night at Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston.  [snip]

"Let's put it this way: They have not been told more than you or I have been getting by watching TV," Galligan said in an interview. He said he wanted it "on notice that Major Hasan has a lawyer and no one should be having contact with him without counsel."

Senior U.S. investigators said Monday night that Hasan will be charged in military court based on an agreement reached between the Justice Department and the Defense Department.

Several civilian lawyers who specialize in defending military clients said they think the Fort Hood shootings will be a capital case. "No-brainer, this one is it," said Guy Womack, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel.

If Hasan were charged in the Fort Hood case as the gunman, "the strongest defense would be for him to say he has suffered post-traumatic stress from getting ready to deploy and years of debriefing soldiers who have been there as part of his work and that he reacted violently due to that stimulus," Womack added. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder BY OSMOSIS???  Please!

It took British spies to identify Najibullah Zazi, who then notified the US intelligence agencies, which prevented an attack in New York City subways, which would have been the biggest attack on US soil since 9/11.  Maj. Hasan has now taken that position.

Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet.

The alleged plot was unmasked after an email address that was being monitored as part of the abortive Operation Pathway was suddenly reactivated.  (UK Telegraph)

The useful idiots are out as usual.  Senator Lindsey Graham, explains to us how the Fort Hood attack is certainly not about Islam, or the war.  (Islam in Action)

Now tell me, is academic research a legal defense for killing 13 innocent humans and injuring many more?  Somehow I don't think so.

Here the Fort Hood Investigation Request Letter to House Committee on Homeland Security from Vern Buchanan (Rep. Fl).

Female Muezzins and Mystery of the Managua Mosque

The Muslims in Bahrain are shocked, shocked I tell you, because three "females" are working in two mosques as as "muezzins" [person who calls for prayers].  Sheikh Jasim al-Saidi, who is a Salafi independent deputy in Parliament,  has asked the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs to dismiss the female muezzins working in the two mosques in question and has asked about a request for a full and detailed inventory of all the mosques, funeral sites, Husayniyat [Shiite mosques] and places of worship in Bahrain.  All three women belong to the Jafariyah [Twelvers; Shiite group], as does Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He stressed that a woman working as a muezzin is "a reprehensible innovation that no Muslim has ever dared introduce in the past." He pointed out that a woman working as muezzin is not permissible, "dangerous, and badly affects the reputation of Bahrainis in Islamic circles."   (Abu Dhabi, Asharq Al-Awsat- Bahrain)

The Wall Street Journal reports on a new mosque in Managua, Nicaragua -- With just 300 or so Muslims in all of Nicaragua, it became an instant mystery here when a big new mosque suddenly seemed to spring up recently in a residential neighborhood.  Like, who paid for it?  Was it Iran???

The geopolitical chatter surrounding the gold-domed mosque, which opened in September after more than a year of construction, continues. "Did Iran put up the money?  ...

Ismat Khatib, a native Nicaraguan lawyer and businessman who is of Palestinian descent ... 

who is treasurer of the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Association, which oversees the mosque, insists that the Iranian government contributed not a single córdoba ... (WSJ)

Who worships there?

"All the Taliban," declares William Martinez, a 24-year-old barber at Le Moustache, a hair salon across the street. Natalie Melendez, a clerk at the Veo Veo video-rental store on the corner, offers a different account. "There are two types of people who use the mosque," she says, matter-of-factly. "The Arabs and the Iranians."  [snip]

Fahmi M. Hassan, -- who says Nicaragua's Muslims mostly are transplanted Palestinians, Jordanians and Pakistanis -- scoffs at rumors that Iran paid for the mosque. [snip]  (WSJ)

So who did pay for the mosque?   Yusuf Amdani, chief executive of Grupo Karim's, a textile-and-construction company based in Honduras and Mexico, admits that he paid for the mosque, but ... he didn't pay for an adjoining annex that includes a school and an apartment for the imam, and suggested the Iranian government may have helped fund that.  Read it all.

It sounds very suspicious to me.

All this as Iran and CUBA continue to grow closer.

 

Bloodless Obama? Not so fast...

It is a real shame that Americans must turn to UK press for the truth: 

Bloodless President Barack Obama makes Americans wistful for George W Bush - Barack Obama's reaction to bad news is to play it so cool that Americans yearn for a bit more drama - and some even for his predecessor, writes Toby Harnden in Washington.(The Telegraph)

During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush.

A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or issue truly moves him.

He has spent more than two months considering a troop increase but do we know how he really feels about the Afghan war?

In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. "I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. "But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something."

BUT WAIT!!!

Obama has shown that he is passionate about health care, he is passionate about Muslims, he is passionate about hating Fox News, he is passionate about hating America, he is passionate about destroying anyone who does not agree with him -- completely destroying them.

From Nuke Gingrich and the Examiner: Obama calls tea partiers “extremists”.

… but warns against “jumping to conclusions” when an Islamic radical commits mass murder on a U.S. base.

Kevin Hall writes in the examiner

President Obama called the tea partiers “extremists” in front of Democrat House members. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon said the President asked them, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

Our President believes middle-aged, middle-class, Americans who exercise their First Amendment rights are “extremists”, but warns against “jumping to conclusions” when an Islamic radical commits mass murder on a U.S. base.

 

Yes America, it's TERRORISM!

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News. 

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.(ABC)

Fort Hood gunman Maj. Hasan told US military colleagues that infidels should have their throats cut,  "non-believers should be beheaded and have boiling oil poured down their throats". In his off duty time he spent hours at the local strip joint receiving lap dances from the blond girls.

Selena Coppa, an activist for Iraq Veterans Against the War, said: "This man was a psychiatrist and was working with other psychiatrists every day and they failed to notice how deeply disturbed someone right in their midst was."

One of Hasan's neighbours described how on the day of the massacre, about 9am, he gave her a Koran and told her: "I'm going to do good work for God" before leaving for the base.  (Islam in Action)

The media can't seem to decide whether his name is Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, or Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, I find it both ways in much of the media.  But by whatever name, he is a terrorist. Those who worked or took classes with Hasan complained about his "constant anti-American rants" and warned that he "was a "ticking time bomb" after he made a presentation defending Islamic suicide bombers".  One sent "a document sent to Pentagon officials that fear in the military of  being seen as politically incorrect prevented an "intellectually honest discussion of Islamic ideology" in the ranks."  (NYP) 

Hasan held his mother's funeral at and attended Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., where Nawaf al-Hazmi, one of the hijackers who crashed a jet into the Pentagon and another hijacker, Hani Hanjour, attended under the ultraradical  imam Anwar Aulaqi.  

In a blog posting early Monday titled "Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing," Awlaki calls Hassan a "hero" and a "man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people." [snip]

 A fellow Army doctor who studied with Hasan, Val Finell, told ABC News, "We would frequently say he was a Muslim first and an American second. And that came out in just about everything he did at the University.

Finell said he and other Army doctors complained to superiors about Hasan's statements.  (ABC)

Muslim first, American second.  That statement doesn't truly express what Army Doctor Val Finell meant.  Most of us would say that we are Christian first, or Jew, or whatever, before we are an American.  But we honor our American citizenship, we love our fellow Americans, we do not want them harmed.  Being Muslim first has an entirely different meaning.  

 But clearly, the massacre might have been an act of terrorism, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said yesterday.

"I want to say very quickly we don't know enough to say now, but there are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr. Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act," Lieberman told "Fox News." (NYP)

The nausea continues: 

The U.S. Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano says she is working to prevent a possible wave of anti-Muslim sentiment after the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas. 

General George Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said on Sunday that he was concerned that speculation about the religious beliefs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan could “cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”

“I’ve asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that,” General Casey said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It would be a shame — as great a tragedy as this was — it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well.”  (Islam in Action)

 

No General Casey, it's a shame that your PC diversity has actually led to the violent death of 13 people, the awful injuries of others, and trauma to the entire base.  Your diversity allowed this terror to happen.

Looks like Hasan completed his "good work for god."

Previous posts on Fort Hood and Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan:

In Memory Fort Hood Victims

Unbelieveable, Fort Hood, 9/11 Terror Connection.

Muslims in the Military.

Missed out on martyrdom, taken down by American woman.

Fort Hood Shooter Muslim - UPDATE: Media Malpractice, Hasan is still alive.

 Hasan's calling card, via Atlas Shrugs

Here is the card that major Muslim Nidal Hasan gave to the infidels along with a quran...

Could this lowlife jihadi be any more devout? He mosqued every day. Hated America, hated the troops, proselytized his co-workers, planned his jihad and completed his mission. His head was shaved. What else was shaved? If his body was shaved like his head, then the military guys and law enforcement know and have known that this was jihad, and they are scamming us now.

Now look at the card. Notice the SoA on the card? Soldiers of Allah. Followed by SWT, an abbreviation that usually follows the word Allah. (hat tip Robert)

When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.

Definition: When writing the name of God (Allah), Muslims often follow it with the abbreviation "SWT." These letters stand for the Arabic words "Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala," or "Glory to Him, the Exalted." Muslims use these or similar words to glorify God when mentioning His name.  (continue at Atlas Shrugs)

At War With Islam

At War With Islam

by Martel Sobieskey

(Posted here at the author's request)

Originally posted at Right Truth July 4, 2008

America is at war with the religion of Islam. The key word here is religion. We American’s have a “mental block” that causes us to deny that we are fighting a religion. Take an atomic bomb write the letters R-E-L-I-G-I-O-N on it and we, gullible Americans, will welcome it as a religion. This statement is not entirely an exaggeration. Freedom of religion has become America’s “Achilles heel” stabbed through with the sword of Islam. From where does this “suicidal” freedom of religion “mental block” originate? It comes from our “knee jerk” compulsion to blindly believe that all prophets are extreme pacifists like Jesus. This blindness plagues the highest levels of our leadership, intelligence and academic communities. It is a national security disaster making it nearly impossible to protect ourselves. The killers are shouting Allah Akbar worldwide and carrying the Koran, yet we Americans refuse to identify Islam as the enemy.

Let’s call it America’s “freedom of religion ostrich syndrome”. Our enemies “love it” because they can destroy us by hiding under the cover of a religion. They blow us up, vilify us, file lawsuits, teach anti-American Jihad in their mosques and schools, while we Americans assume the fetal position because it’s committed by a religion. Even the FBI has been promoting Islamic sensitivity training, this tells it all. Does not such servile behavior prove that we have lost the ideological war, mental war, psychological war, war of ideas, war of words, and the propaganda war? Please heed my prediction: Every time someone calls Islam the religion of Peace, America is one step closer to defeat and Islam one step closer to victory in this clash of religions.

Fellow Americans this is a clash of religions, and you must stop denying that we are fighting the religion of Islam. Basically the war is Islam versus all other religions worldwide as required by the Koran. Since there are 1 billion Muslims and 5.5 billion infidels, this war will be easy to win if we “get with it” and clearly identify the enemy and “shout it from the roof tops”. Why don’t Americans do so? The shameful disgrace is that Islamic oil money has silenced if not “bought” America over the past 30 years. Steven Emerson’s book, “Jihad Incorporated” shockingly reveals the extent of Jihadist infiltration into America. He states, “Open societies are inherently and necessarily at a disadvantage in providing a secure environment.” Likewise middle east expert Dr. Walid Phares of FDD (Foundation for Defense of Democracies) and author of “Future Jihad” states:

“I have seen firsthand how Jihadist ideologies have systematically penetrated the United States . . . This web of ideological penetration is the most dangerous long-term threat to U.S. national security . . . The reasoning is rational: Once you control the mind, the body will follow.”

I agree with both Steven Emerson and Dr. Phares. The Jihadists and traitors within are controlling the mind of America; there is no greater proof of this than our collective compulsion which forces us to call Islam the Religion of Peace which in turn prevents us from designating Islam as the enemy.

In a similar perspective, Dr. William Gawthrop, (former manager of the defense department’s Counter Intelligence Field Activity-CIFA), explains it is a taboo to mention that Islamic violence has anything to do with the religion of Islam. Specifically he states: “Officials must first overcome the political taboo of linking Islamic violence to the religion of Islam, its sacred scripture, and the personal example of its revered prophet.”

In other words, this taboo requires one and all to blindly proclaim that Islam is a religion of peace, which is equivalent to saying that Mohammed was an extreme pacifist, just like Jesus. What a crying shame that our leaders and experts have become so intellectually dishonest and weak minded. Today’s Muslims, like Muslims of all time, emulate Mohammed not Jesus.

The problem is MOHAMMED WAS NOT A PACIFIST. Mohammed was a military tyrant who fought “hands on” in several blood thirsty raids, and mercilessly killed nearly all those who disagreed with him. It is a concrete historical fact that over a 10 year period, called the Hijra (622-632), Mohammed conducted 84 murderous raids proving he is the exact opposite of a peaceful prophet. Author Dr. Gregory Davis in “The Religion of Peace?” provides excellent insight into Islamic aggression.

Despite obvious facts, we Americans respond pathetically and irrationally; like naïve children we think, “How can this be? Jesus is a prophet and he was never violent, and since Mohammed is also a prophet he likewise must never have been violent”. Wake up America, Mohammed and Jesus were polar opposites. Don’t take my word on it. Please read, the 800 page biography of Mohammed (Sirat Rasul Allah) written by Ibn Ishag and translated by A. Guillaumne, it incontrovertibly proves that Mohammed was a military tyrant bent upon bloodthirsty worldwide imperialistic Jihad.

To know and understand ones enemy and to clearly identify the enemy is the primary dictum of warfare. Our leaders and experts have failed in their duty to identify the enemy. They keep calling the enemy “terrorism”. Terrorism is not the enemy. The enemy is Islam. Islam uses terrorism (guerilla warfare) as a method (tactic) to attack us. The enemy is the “entity” implementing the method of terrorism. For example, if someone is throwing rotten eggs at you, it is not the “rotten eggs” but rather the “person” throwing them who is the enemy.

It is an outrage, that the majority of our leaders and experts think like overly genteel and sissified school boys who are too spineless if not politically cowardly (P.C.) to call anyone an enemy -- no matter how blatantly obvious it is. For example, take Dr. Angel Rabasa and his colleagues of the highly acclaimed Rand Corporation, he states: “In the Global War on Terrorism, the United States is confronting a very different type of enemy: shadowy non-state actors that are not subject to traditional means of deterrence. . . It is unclear what targets, if any, the United States could hold at risk to deter attack.”

Wrong! Once again, the enemy is not terrorism. Rabasa proves his ineptness by stating the “Global War on Terrorism” meaning he cannot distinguish between a rotten egg and the person who has thrown it.

By refusing to identify the enemy as Islam, Angel Rabasa and Rand Corporation, have thereby swallowed the bait of Islamic deception by promoting a strategy called, “Building Moderate Muslim Networks”. This means they have unwittingly become Jihadist propagandists promoting Islam’s primary method for defeating us which is: the infiltrations and deceptions utilized by moderate Muslims. Sure, moderate Muslims are not suicide bombers, but they have accomplished even greater damage by manipulating our overly liberal laws and naiveté. This is why it is so terribly wrong to call terrorism the enemy, because doing so completely ignores the damage being committed by Islam’s peaceful invaders the so called moderate Muslims.

I do not mean to pick on Rabasa alone. Permit me to give the following two criteria for determining an expert’s competence: First: Anyone who calls the enemy terrorism rather than the religion of Islam is incompetent and should be fired from his job. Second: Anyone who calls Islam a Religion of peace is incompetent or an outright enemy propagandist or badly informed regarding Islamic religious conditioning.

Why have our leaders and experts become so blind? They are afflicted with the Oslo Syndrome meaning they are pathologically unable to evaluate the crimes committed by Islam to the extent they are going to get us all killed. Dr. Kenneth Levin in his book the “The Oslo Syndrome” explains that those afflicted with the syndrome live in absolute denial of the blatant fraud and egregious dishonesty that Muslims employ by making counterfeit peace agreements. For many, such relentless mockery proves that diplomacy has failed long ago and war is the necessary solution. Everyone should read chapters 12 thru 16 of Dr. Levin’s book. The pervasively masochistic behavior documented within proves that our leaders and experts have been leading us into defeat. The Oslo syndrome has now morphed into the Annapolis syndrome. Here we go round and round again!

Truly, we need face the fact that moderate Muslims are more difficult to find than “a needle in the haystack”. We are at war and the brutal realties must not be soft peddled. Please consider the following distinction: The militant Muslim is the person cutting the head off the infidel while the moderate Muslim holds the victims feet. During 9/11 the trade towers were the “head” cut off by the militants, while the moderate Mosque community “held the victim’s feet”. Please reflect deeply on this analogy. History proves that both militant and moderate Muslims are invaders working as a team to conqueror America. This is clearly articulated by Abdullah-Al-Araby in his book “The Islamization of America.”

Please mark my words, calling Islam a religion of peace is patently dishonest and the worst ideological mistake in American history. It truly is our “Achilles heel” as before mention. No wonder Dr. Paul Williams states in his book “The Dunces of Doomsday”: “The Day after 9/11, President Bush promulgated the granddaddy of all whoppers by saying, “Islam is a religion of Peace.”

I have great respect for President Bush and support him wholeheartedly because he is the first President having the guts to fight the Islamists since President Thomas Jefferson sent our Navy to Tripoli in 1803. The problem is President Bush has invalidated his own war efforts by this ideological error, that is, his administration’s obsession for calling Islam a Religion of Peace. The truth must be told: Islam is a Religion of War and the evidence proving this fact is piled a mile high right up to 9/11. A website site sarcastically named The Religion of Peace ( www.thereligionofpeace.com ) lists the thousands of Islamic murders and atrocities committed worldwide.

In conclusion, permit me to make this prediction: The war cannot be won unless we clearly identify the enemy as Islam, and the American government makes a formal declaration of war against the Religion of Islam. That’s right; this will be a new thing for Americans who wrongly believe that all religions are benign!

In numerous places worldwide the murderers are shouting Allah Akbar and carrying the Koran, yet we Americans fool heartedly provide unrestricted freedom of religion to Islam - oblivious to the carnage. This oblivion was the root cause of 9/11 and has sent us spinning headlong toward a nuclear Islamic terrorist attack on American soil which the Islamo-fascists have been bragging about for nearly 10 years.

Martel Sobieskey has 35 years research experience in the field of religious conditioning and its relationship to warfare. He is greatly alarmed that American politicians, educators, journalists, intelligence analysts, security personnel and police have failed to comprehend the deeply entrenched Jihadist conditioning inherent in all of Islam, moderates included.

In Memory...Fort Hood Victims

Say a prayer for deceased and their families...

Fort Hood's Deceased

The fatal victims of the Ft. Hood shooting, as released by the Department of Defense on Saturday

• 1. Lt. Col. Juanita Warman, 55, Havre de Grace, MD
• 2. Maj. Libardo Caraveo, 52, Woodbridge, VA
• 3. Cpt. John P. Gaffaney, 54, San Diego, CA
• 4. Cpt. Russell Seager, 41, Racine, WI
• 5. Staff Sgt. Justin Decrow, 32, Plymouth, IN
• 6. Sgt. Amy Krueger, 29, Kiel, WI
• 7. Spc. Jason Hunt, 22, Tillman, OK
• 8. Spc. Frederick Greene, 29, Mountain City, TN
• 9. PFC Aaron Nemelka, 19, West Jordan, UT
• 10. PFC Michael Pearson, 22, Bolingbrook, IL
• 11. PFC Kham Xiong, 23, St. Paul, MN
• 12. Pvt. Francheska Velez, 21, Chicago, IL
• 13. Michael G. Cahill, Cameron, TX [civilian]

Associated Press list of victims. (WSJ)

More news on the Ford Hood shooting:

Concerning the link between Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan and the mosque of three 9/11 terrorists, as reported in the Telegraph,  Dr Phyllis Chesler says, and I agree: 

If such a connection exists — and one may not — the implications are very serious. Talk about “sleeper” cells? No, we have to talk about carefully, possibly highly placed individuals who have been programmed/guided/inspired to either blow themselves up or to shoot others down. One by one by one.

Various military officers have characterized Hasan as a “valuable asset,” perhaps too valuable to jettison even if he acted strangely and did not want to deploy. I wonder how many other such “valuable assets” the American military, private industry, and the various branches of the American government really have.

Don’t you wonder?

Obama can't be bothered with Islamic terror, by Ralph Peters (New York Post)

Imagine if, instead of Fort Hood, the massacre had gone down at a mosque in Detroit — carried out by a maddened Christian or Jew. Obama would’ve been aboard Air Force One before the pilots had time to file a flight plan and he would’ve been on site before the gun smoke cleared, hugging and boo-hooing and dispensing stirring rhetoric for the evening news.

But go out of his way to rally our butchered troops? Not a chance. It’s not like they’re real human beings with Ivy League degrees. When Obama got word of the attack, he didn’t even lose his fabled cool.

Dr. Phyllis Chesler on Obama warning Americans "not to jump to any conclusions" and to guard against a “backlash” against Muslims in the military and in the country:  

... But whether or not Major Hasan acted alone, had allies, was inspired by religious and political Islamism, was psychiatrically troubled — the fact remains that he committed an act of terrorism. He terrified other soldiers precisely where they were supposed to feel safe. So much of the truth is already so clear that it would be insane, insulting to the intelligence to deny or minimize it.[snip] 

I am a psychologist, a retired Professor of Psychology and a psycho-analytically oriented psychotherapist. But I have also been following current events, even studying them.  ...

... Hasan’s action was a planned execution. It was not the act of a man who suddenly “snapped.”  ...   this lone shooter was someone who was inspired by a radical Islamist ideology which views such murderous acts as religiously heroic, not as “psychiatrically deranged.”

In Gaza or on the West Bank, Major Hasan would be given a hero’s parade. Osama bin Laden’s followers will print posters and banners with his face.

Some may choose to view him as dysfunctional, psychiatrically challenged, socially inappropriate, isolated, inflexible, fanatical — but that does not justify or excuse his jihadic crime. Many religious fanatics are also “mentally ill.” It is the religious ideology that empowers criminal and, in Hasan’s case, treasonous activity. Hasan did not commit jihadic mass murder because he is “mentally ill,” but because he is a jihadist. [snip]

 Perhaps the very Palestinian Major Hasan also feared going to Iraq ...  according to the New York Times, Hasan’s brother, Anas, a lawyer, recently moved to Ramallah where the family has cousins. (Hizb ut Tahrir as well as other terrorist groups are active on the West Bank). [snip]

So: Major Hasan identifies with Palestine. He feels their pain. It speaks to him. He takes it on as his own. He blames America for it. He follows Islam in its most radical incarnation and justifies Islamist suicide terrorists. Indeed, this was one of his problems at the Walter Reed Hospital: He taught precisely this when he should have been teaching subjects like behavioral science or environmental health.

I suggest that America has just tasted the bitter pill that Israel has been forced to swallow daily for nearly a decade.

I further suggest that the American military must end it’s policy of political correctness and weed out those personnel who consistently mistranslate from the Arabic. In addition, social misfits who hold extremist views, especially and specifically Islamist views, should have no place in the American military.

We owe that much to those slaughtered at Ft Hood and on 9/11.

The Los Angeles Times has interviewed more of Hasan's professional and personal acquaintances, and the picture of his opposition to the United States is consistent.(A View From The Right)

BBC: Ft Hood mosque member defends shootings: "they were troops who were going to Afghanistan and Iraq to kill Muslims. I honestly have no pity for them."  (Jawa Report)

NY Post: Take a look at Ft Hood shooter's old mosque

Other News:

Obama is taking "off the record", behind closed doors, meetings with select reporters, Fox News need not apply.  (Sense of Events)

Republican Representative Ahn “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana voted with the Democrats on the health care bill that needed 218 votes and passed with 220.

A cloaking device?  Science gains ground on science fiction.

*****

Previous posts on Fort Hood and Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan:

Unbelieveable, Fort Hood, 9/11 Terror Connection.

Muslims in the Military.

Missed out on martyrdom, taken down by American woman.

Fort Hood Shooter Muslim - UPDATE: Media Malpractice, Hasan is still alive.

Unbelieveable, Fort Hood, 9/11 Terror Connection

"Muslims should not be in the military because Muslims should not kill Muslims."  That is what Maj. Malik Nadal Hassan told one of the members of his mosque and also a young man he was mentoring in Islam.  I wonder if he came to that conclusion after attending Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists?  I guess it's OK in Islam to shoot non-Muslims, according to Hasan's logic.  From American Power Blog: 

Nidal Malik Hasan, Fort Hood Shooter, Linked to September 11 Terrorists

I just finished an essay critical of President Obama's response to the Fort Hood attacks, "Obama Dishonors Commander-in-Chief Role." I feel even more strongly about this after clicking on the London's Telegraph's "Fort Hood Shooting: Texas Army Killer Linked to September 11 Terrorists" (via Memeorandum):

Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001.

Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.

The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.

Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday's horrific shooting spree.

As investigators look at Hasan's motives and mindset, his attendance at the mosque could be an important piece of the jigsaw. Al-Awlaki moved to Dar al-Hijrah as imam in January, 2001, from the west coast, and three months later the September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California.

Hasan was praying at Dar al-Hijrah at about the same time, and the FBI will now want to investigate whether he met the two terrorists.  (continue)

Donald Douglas at American Power Blog points out an article in the Washington Post:  Fort Hood Suspect Became More Devout After Mother's Death, Cousin Says" and in the New York Times this afternoon, "Obama Says Don’t 'Jump to Conclusions'."  No let's don't jump to any obvious conclusions or take the shooter at his word.

Hasan had his camouflage cargo pant pockets were full of magazines or clips for one gun called the "cop killer",  the FN Five-Seven, a semi-automatic pistol popular with SWAT teams, that can fire armour-piercing bullets.  I read that the magazines hold 20 or 30 rounds and that Hasan replaced the magazine at least once.  In fact, Fox News is reporting that he fired over 100 rounds.

At one point Hasan was shooting people who were already wounded and on the ground, apparently trying to make sure they were dead.

His handgun was pointed downward, he [Pvt. First Class Marquest Smith, who was first to treat both Munley and Hasan] said, as though he were methodically shooting the soldiers who had fallen or were crouching, seeking cover. [snip]

As she rounded a corner, she [Sgt. Kimberly Munley] saw Maj. Hasan chasing a wounded soldier through an open courtyard. He looked as though he was trying to "finish off" the wounded soldier, Mr. [Chuck Medley, director of emergency services on base] Medley said.

"He looked extremely focused," said Francisco De La Serna, a 23-year-old medic (WSJ)

Fox is reporting that Hasan was shooting people in the back as they were trying to run for cover.

In spite of all the blood, all the chaos, people were calm, quick to respond to those injured and in need.  They promptly provided whatever medical assistance they could to save lives, including Hasan.

And the spin continues ....

It remains unclear what role Maj. Hasan's religion played in Thursday's events.

Relatives say Hasan, a U.S.-born citizen of Palestinian descent, was a "calm" individual who had been taunted after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

...he felt harassed.

...he felt disrespected over his religion.

"There was racism towards him because he's a Muslim, because he's an Arab, because he prays," 

"They wouldn't treat him as if he is one of them.

'Yes, you are a major in the U.S. Army, but you are still an Arab, a Muslim, you have your own traditions and values and we have ours.' He was bothered by that a lot. He wasn't respected as he should have been."

The cousin added that he wanted to leave the Army, especially after getting deployment orders.  (CNN)

***Toing***.  He did not want to SERVE.

Dr. Val Finnell, a former medical school classmate of Hasan's, described him as "a very outspoken opponent of the war" in the classroom and in public settings.

"He equated the war against terror with a war against Islam," Finnell said.

Army officials have not indicated any evidence of Hasan being harassed among the ranks.  (CNN)

Muslims should not kill other Muslims -- but Hasan thought it was OK to go out and slaughter non-Muslims, but let's not jump to any conclusions...

From Islam In Action: 

NY Muslims: US Military Blood Will Spill in America!~Video

No surprise here, as the Muslims of NY based RevolutionMuslim.com, brag about the Islamic terrorist attack at Fort Hood. They do us one favor though, they explain how Islam justifies the Fort Hood attack. Islam is at war with us, it time that we wake up!

 

Via Email

Since Muhammad commanded and practiced, "kill the pagans wherever you find them . . . Fight against . . . the People of the Book [Jews and Christians] until they feel themselves subdued and pay the jizya [poll tax] . . . Paradise [belongs to] those who kill and are killed struggling in Allah's cause" (Qur'an 9), what is the difference between a "moderate" Muslim and a member of the "tiny minority of radical, extremist, Islamonazistic, fundamentalist, Islamofascistic, jihadist, Islamicistic perverters of the Great World Religion of Peace"?

 

And since Muhammad declared, "War is deceit," and commanded, "Take not friends from among the Jews and Christians except by way of precaution," how exactly can you know which Muslims are trustworthy and forever reject jihad against "disbelievers" and will defend equality of rights for all people regardless of religion and gender?

 

If a Muslim is aware of the numerous verses of blood in their Qur'an, ahadith, and sira -- but they do not admit and utterly reject and denounce that content -- what does that say about where their allegiance lies?

 

Amillennialist

 

By the way, those who admonish "Don't jump to conclusions," really mean, "Never draw the only rational conclusion based on obvious and undeniable facts.  Don't acknowledge the Emperor's lack of garments.  Don't glance at the mastodon in the room."

 

Bombing after bombing, beheading after beheading, butchery after butchery -- even when a massive crater glows where towers once stood -- they never state the obvious.

Other reading, from The Last Crusade:

280 Christians Killed by Muslims in California

FT. HOOD MASSACRE: NOTHING TO DO WITH ISLAM?

Muslims in the Military

Sgt. Kimberly Munley,  a 34-year-old former soldier who became a civilian cop on the Fort Hood base and mother of two girls, shot Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan four times before she collapsed from her own wounds.  In the recovery room after her surgery, "She opened her eyes and said, 'Did anybody die?'  Munley's partner, Sgt. Mark Todd, worked flawlessly with Munley to take Hasan down, secure his weapon after Hasan was on the ground, and then "started life-saving measures to keep him [Hasan] alive as well."    Compare Munley and Todd to Hasan, who used a gun called the "cop killer",  the FN Five-Seven, a semi-automatic pistol popular with SWAT teams, that can fire armour-piercing bullets.  Sgt. Todd said, "I could see into his eyes and he was calm."     

On the morning of the Fort Hood attack, Hasan was seen by his neighbor throwing away bags of shredded paper, which the FBI has taken into custody as evidence.  He apparently gave away all of his belongings. 

Another neighbor allowed Hasan to use his wireless internet.  The neighbor said "He  received two calls from Hasan early Thursday, one at 2:37 a.m. asking Bell to turn on the wireless service and again at 5 a.m. to say he was moving."  A. C. at Fore-Left says:

Keeping in mind that Hasan was a major in the Army--no chump change salary there--why was he living in a 350/month dump? And why would he want access to some maintenance guy's wireless domain? Well, those have easy speculative answers of course--one, he wanted extra money for something and two, he didn't want his internet tracks on his own dsl network, figuring he could surf unnoticed using the technologically clueless maintenance man's DSL domain. The internet capture might be quite interesting, should they ever reveal it.

"Allahu Akbar."

There were 3,409 Muslims in the active-duty military as of April 2008, according to Pentagon statistics.

Military personnel don't have to disclose their religions, and many officials believe the actual number of Muslim soldiers may be at least 10,000 higher than the Pentagon statistics. For instance, the military "Officer Record Brief" of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, said he had "no religious preference" and didn't identify him as a Muslim.

The Army recently established its first full unit of Muslim personnel recruited under the program, the 51st Translator Interpreter Company at California's Fort Irwin. The unit has more than 120 soldiers who are native speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Pashto and Dari.  (AINA)

But we wouldn't want to jump to any conclusions ...

I Am An American

Presenting a new patriotic song from Kenny Gamble and Patti LaBelle, entitled “I Am An American.”

Grammy-winning producer Kenny Gamble teamed up with Patti LaBelle and the Temple University Symphony Orchestra and Choirs to bring America its new ode to patriotism, “I Am An American.”  Full of huge orchestral crescendos, excerpts from important speeches in American history and original words, along with Ms. LaBelle’s powerful and soulful voice, “I Am An American” has all the makings of being one of the great patriotic tunes of our time.

A new CD/DVD package which includes new edits of the song and documentary “The Making Of An Anthem,” will be released on November 10, 2009, to coincide with Veterans Day. The well-being of veterans is a personal issue for Kenny Gamble, as his younger brother served in Vietnam.  It is because of this that a portion of proceeds will be donated to the VA to help raise money and awareness for the issue of homelessness among veterans.

“I Am An American” was featured at the Welcome America! Festival in Philadelphia, the 83^rd Rose Bowl Americafest in Los Angeles, and the grand opening of The Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta. This is in addition to helping ring in this year’s Veterans Day festivities at parades across the country including New York, San Diego and Detroit.

I'm every race, creed and color.

I'm every nationality.

I live in every city of every state, in every community.

And if you're proud to be an American, let the world know.

Come and sing along with me.

Visit the I Am An American website here.

You can view a brief video with clips of the song here:

http://music.aol.com/video-hub/artist/kenny-gamble/78651/latest

Looking for Weasle Watchers

Browsing the internet this evening, I am amazed at some of the weasels I find.  The first is the Feds who announced immediately after the Fort Hood shooting that they  'were not even considering terrorism'.  Shame on them.  Ask the families and friends of the dead and wounded if they feel terrorized or not, I'll bet I know the answer.   Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan waw indeed a Muslim terrorist.  Don't forget, the Fort Hood attack is the third instance this year in which American military personnel in the United States have been targeted by people reportedly opposed to U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Federal prosecutors in September charged two North Carolina men for allegedly conspiring to kill personnel at the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, seeking to attack U.S. forces at home if they could not overseas. In June, Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, an American Muslim convert, allegedly shot and killed one soldier and wounded another at a military recruiting center at Little Rock, Ark., in what he said was retaliation for U.S. counterterrorism policies worldwide.

Also this year, the last of five men was sentenced in April to 33 years in prison for planning to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., a plot inspired by foreign terrorist groups.

Overall, U.S. authorities have disclosed at least 10 domestic terrorist cases in the last year -- the most since 2001 -- in what analysts say is a disturbing spike that suggests the likelihood of incidents is growing.  (AINA)

The next weasels are the Muslims and Arabs around the world who praised Hasan.  From Atlas Shrugs:

China Confidential is reporting: Jerusalem Arabs Praise Fort Hood Shooter

China Confidential sources in East Jerusalem say many residents of the predominantly Arab section are expressing strong support for the Muslim U.S. Army major who mowed down his fellow soldiers at the huge Fort Hood, Texas base and processing center for troops bound for Afghanistan and Iraq.

The word on the so-called Arab street is that Major Nidal Malik Hasan should be admired because he stood up for fellow Muslims overseas, against U.S. "aggression," and that his anger, disappointment, and presumed sense of betrayal over U.S. President Barack Obama's failure to end the Afghan and Iraq conflicts is understandable, especially in light of Obama's own Muslim heritage.

In Hamas-ruled Gaza, sources say, the reaction is overwhelmingly in support of the shooter. He would clearly be given a hero's welcome there.

As a proud member of the Watcher of Weasels Council, I am always looking for new, interesting, well-written articles and blogs.  We pride ourselves in shining a light on the weasels around the world and promoting a variety of other sites.  Below you will find the winning articles for this week and the Watchers article "Taxing: Policy and Tedium as a Result of Left Wing Beliefs and Attitudes".

Speaking of Weasel Watching, we are looking for a few new council members to fill out some vacant spots. if you have a blog and believe your material is a good match for the council please check out or rules and submit your best posts or share this with someone you think worthy.  – The Watcher

Council Submissions

• First place with 1 2/3 points! – The Glittering Eye - What’s A Foreseeable Rate of Taxation?
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – Joshuapundit - Conservatives Win In NY 23
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – The Provocateur - Interview With Wade Rathke II
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – Bookworm Room - Do They Even Listen to Themselves?
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – Right Truth - Half of all U.S. children will be on food stamps according to study
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – The Razor - Laws Need Limits
• Second place with 1 point – (T*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - Once again, the Democrats back vote fraud
• Third place with 1/3 points – Mere Rhetoric - The Omri Ceren Show – 2pm PST – Barry Rubin On Lebanon’s Crisis And Ours

Non-Council Submissions

• First place with 2 1/3 points! – Black & Right - Comment of the Day
• Second place with 1 2/3 points – The Boston Globe - Islam’s Darwin problem
• Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – E. D. Kain–American Tory - Nothing’s ever certain except race and taxes
• Third place with 1 1/3 points – (T*) – Sense of Events - Is Obama a milleniarian without a plan? Does he even need one?
• Fourth place with 1 point – Michael J. Gaynor at Web Commentary - ACORN 8 Supporter Tries to Disparage Michelle Malkin and Anita MonCrief in Halloween Hit Piece
• Fifth place with 2/3 points – New Ledger - George Soros Assautl on the Free Market
• Sixth place with 1/3 points – Big Government - The Public Option Deception

Missed out on martyrdom, taken down by American woman

Meet civilian Texas police officer Sergeant Kimberly Munley, who managed to hit Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan four times but was herself hit by a bullet that passed through both her legs, according to witnesses.  (Times Online)  Sergeant Munley managed to take down Hasan before he could kill and injure even more innocents.  It must be an insult to Hasan and his religion knowing that he was cheated out of his martyrdom by a tiny American woman.

(Twitter)  Kimberly Munley at the Fort Hood 'Freedom Fest' with Dierks Bentley

The heroine seems like a true American.  

Her Twitter biography reads: "I live a good life ... a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully @ night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone's life."

Kimberly Munley made a difference in more than one life yesterday and God bless her for it.  Reports are that she will soon be released from the hospital.

There are many unanswered questions concerning the shooter Hasan.  First and most important, why was he not being investigated more seriously and why, if his superiors had questions about his abilities, was he still in line to be deployed to a war zone? 

Let me be clear, the one to blame here is Hasan himself.  I don't care if he was angry that he could not find a wife.  I don't care if he was ridiculed for his religion.  I don't care if he was doing poorly in his job.  I don't care that he suddenly felt too good to pay back his debt to the military and serve on the battlefield.  He chose to murder as many people as he could.

Today’s New York Times and Nation magazine online are on a cozy wavelength. Both present Major Hasan as a victim for whom we are meant to feel sympathy. Poor guy, being forced to deploy to a war with which he disagreed; poor guy, so religious he could not find a good-enough wife on American soil–one who would also pray five times a day and who would wear hijab; poor guy, he felt that he was being picked on because he was a Muslim, etc. (Apparently, Major Hasan had issues at work having to do with how he related to patients. Perhaps he is thin-skinned and resented any criticism, rejected all blame, decided that the criticism itself was “racist.”)

Reading the Times and the Nation their positions are clear: Let’s not blame the victim if the victim is Muslim. Never that. Let’s blame the dead and wounded victims: in this case, American soldiers on American soil, because they dared to fight back against Islamist Muslims with whom they–we–are at war.  (Dr. Phyllis Chesler)

Dave Gaubatz, the first U.S. civilian (1811) Federal Agent deployed to Iraq in 2003;  the owner of DG Counter-terrorism Publishing;   currently conducting a 50 State Counter-terrorism Research Tour (CTRT);  the co-author (with Paul Sperry) of the new book, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America;  interviewed at Front Page Magazine by Jamie Glazov, says:

... The murders by Malik Nadal Hasan at Ft. Hood, TX are not a ‘lone wolf incident’ as being described by most media organizations. Hasan had been taught the ideology that is being advocated by hundreds of Islamic scholars and Imams in the U.S. We as a country can continue to deny there are numerous Islamic leaders and their supporting organizations such as CAIR, ISNA, MSA, and MANA, to name a few, who advocate killing innocent men, women, and children whom they allege ‘oppress Islam.’

The question has been raised by many, should we have Muslims in the US military?  Banning Muslims from the military is as likely to happen as banning Christians or Jews, it won't happen.  However, in Hasan's situation, when you list your nationality as Palestinian, rather than American, somebody should take note.  Hasan's family is Jordanian/Palestinian.  Hasan was born in the US, but still considered himself Palestinian.  This is a troubling thing and I doubt this is the only Muslim who feels this way.

Dr. Paul Williams at The Last Crusade answers the other question, "Why was Hasan in the military?":   

RECRUITING TERRORISTS FOR THE U.S. MILITARY  [snip]

He despised Christians and Jews and the principles of American democracy.

Why was a radical jihadist serving in the U.S. Army?

Why was he granted rank and privilege until he drew his weapons and proceeded to mow down 43 soldiers, killing 12 and wounding 31, on a “secure” military post.

The answers to these questions come from the 14th Annual Arab International Festival, which was held in Dearborn, Michigan from June 19 to 21.

The event was sponsored not only by the Ford Motor Company (we thought they were bankrupt) and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce but also (get this) by the FBI, the CIA and various branches of the U.S. Armed Services, including the Army.

The 250,000 people who attended the event munched on rolled pita sandwiches, shawarma, tabouli, hummus and baklava. The men, in many cases, wore throbs and ghutras; the women were draped in black burqas, or western jeans, accented with veils.

The ribbon cutting, which got the festival underway, was conducted by State Senator Irma Clarke Coleman, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, and Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly.

Representatives from the all branches of the U.S. Military – – Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force Armed forces – – promised American citizenship to every Mid-Eastern immigrant willing to enlist – – as long as they were Muslims – – Christians and Jews were excluded from the offer. G.I. Issued uniforms were emblazoned with Arabic script in case prospective recruits could not understand terms such as “United States Army”.

The FBI, not to be undone, set up a booth to recruit Muslim agents, and the CIA conducted raffles in order to entice young Islamists to enter the cloistered world of U.S. Intelligence.

The few Christians, who dared to venture forth on Warren Street to attend the festive gathering, were prohibited by law from distributing religious tracts and materials.

The order, which prohibited religious freedom to the Christians, came from U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmonds.  (continue)

The questions mount, was Hasan kept in the military because he was a Muslim?  How many were recruited through the "get free citizenship"  plan?  How many more like him are out there?  Many questions, no answers.

One thins is for sure... There are many more fine Americans like Sergeant Kimberly Munley.  We can take comfort in that. 

Jonesing for Alex Jones: Drawing the line between Conservatives and Conspiracy Theorists

Jonesing for Alex Jones: Drawing the line between Conservatives and Conspiracy Theorists

By Paul A. Ibbetson

As conservatives and the Republican Party, the party most able to bring back the misplaced spirit of this country, fight to find both their bearings and their grit, they are also faced with the not so wanted task of culling out those that will inevitably hurt the movement. The sometimes bandied about notion that movements should take all comers to expand their ranks is fool hearty, at best, and probably the most often whispered advice from the enemy, at worst. For liberals and the Democrat Party, which have toiled over the last few decades to become one and the same, the painful truth is that America is a center-right nation. That’s right, conservatives have the actual physical numbers to win elections, pass meaningful laws, set their agenda, and even course correct the dire straits this country finds itself in today. So, if today’s liberal cannot numerically defeat mainstream America at the polls, who can? The painful truth is that the biggest culprit, the most accurate monkey wrench thrower attributing to conservative political defeats, has been, and will always be, the missteps of conservatives themselves as they attempt to retrieve what is rightfully theirs: victory.

There are a handful of political poisons that conservatives fall victim to swallowing that inevitably lead to “death” at the polls. I could talk about the lack of political fortitude (call it like it is), or even the inability, to articulate a clear and concise message to the people in a world where cryptic political double-speak is considered graceful, but for today, the focus is placed on the importance of who should be, and who should not be, allowed to walk under the banner of the Conservative Movement. Liberals always hate the analogy, “birds of a feather flock together,” because if you walk through their “coop” you will always find some very dirty birds. However, for liberals, the saying becomes so much more valid when the associations are linked to conservatives - and the “filthy flockers” that sneak in to snuggle under their banners.

The worst of these groups, when it comes to poisonous association residue, are the publicly identified “Conspiracy Theorists.”  Surely, you’ve heard of some of them, like the Loose-Changers, and the 9-11 Truthers, among others. These small but vocal gangs of self-pronounced sleuths eagerly hunt and report by way of covert cyber space chat rooms, and doomsday-style websites, the secret, evil, underhanded workings of the government, private businesses, the rich, the poor, foreign operators, hell, everybody. While these groups, like the farthest of the left liberals should be given their free speech chance to tell the world the benefits of tinfoil for blocking government created mind control radio waves, they are the rotten apple in the conservative barrel.

Here is why. The most obvious is the group association that those who wish to hurt a conservative movement can make at every turn. For example, when a handful of uninvited 9-11 Truthers show up at a TEA Party, the liberal media places the conspiracy nuts at the top of their reports and frames the entire event from that vantage point. Is that fair? Absolutely not, but it happens all too often. Conspiracy theorists, in effect, become the “low hanging fruit” when it comes to diminishing the credibility of Americans who wish to restore this country back to its original foundations. Think about it. For the liberal media - in the tank for Barack Obama, why should they spend their time cutting out footage of African Americans rejecting the current “hope and change” fallacy of the administration, or any of the other myriad of examples of the legitimacy of the TEA Party grassroots movements, when they can tape 5 minutes of conspiracy nuts explaining how former President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney set satchel charges in the World Trade Center. 

 Part of the expansion of the conspiracy theory industry has come from the “crazy for profit” vendors, such as Alex Jones. Jones, who has created the website infowars.com, which is part X-Files, part National Treasure, and part pure crapola, has found a way to turn a dollar - breeding anti-everything distrust. The dark side of the Ron Paul philosophy often finds a home among the clickables on Alex Jones’ website. What you will find when you cruise the Alex Jones website, as well as the other conspiracy sites that espouse the “everybody is out to get us” mentality, is anger, distrust, paranoia, and all the building blocks of self generated doom and gloom.

What you will not find is the conservative message of hope for the country or the positive idealism of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and that of the beloved Ronald Reagan. I believe these individuals would, as should conservatives today, shun the modern day conspiracy theorist with their repetitious unanswerable assembly line of secret plots and dirty deeds. It is naive to believe that the anger and distrust heaped by the conspiracy crowd on then, President George W. Bush, now placed upon Barack Obama, will not also run rampant upon the next president, even if he or she is the embodiment of the conservative ideal that the mainstream majority of America is naturally drawn too. If we are honest with one another, we already know that the modern conspiracy theorist, that is currently “jonesing for the Alex Jones” experience, will immediately see evil ‘men in black’ working within the shadows of a leader completely the opposite of Barack Obama. In short, conspiracy theorists will always be at odds with all echelons of power and authority by the nature of their existence, which is all the evidence they need that bad things are afoot.

It is because of the necessity for the country to find a President of a different ideology than Barack Obama that conservatives, and the Republican Party which most closely represents them, must cull out and toss the conspiracy theorists from their ranks - both publicly and privately. Conservatives must come to an understanding that, over time, this action will increase, not decrease, their political power. In simple terms, tossing a few rotten apples from the apple barrel is not only wise, but also saves cleaning up an inevitable big stinky mess down the road.

Paul A. Ibbetson is a former Chief of Police of Cherryvale, Kansas, and member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force. Paul received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Criminal Justice at Wichita State University, and is currently completing his PhD. in sociology at Kansas State University. Paul is the author of the books Living Under The Patriot Act: Educating A Society and Feeding Lions: Sharing The Conservative Philosophy In A Politically Hostile World. Paul is also the radio host of the Kansas Broadcasting Association’s 2008 and 2009 Entertainment Program of the Year, Conscience of Kansas airing on KSDB Manhattan 91.9 f.m. www.ibbetsonusa.com. For interviews or questions, please contact ibbetson91.9@gmail.com

Check out a new site The Wisdom Wall.

On the eve of the Berlin Air Lift Diamond Jubilee Reunion

On the eve of the Berlin Air Lift Diamond Jubilee Reunion

 

Universality of Remembrance: “An idea whose time has come. An idea that transcends the pliability of politics. But instead brings to light the consensus of remembrance on behalf of those who have given the last full measure of devotion.” (General Peter W. Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff Army)

 

By Jason Eugene Cain*

 
On 11 September 2009, the international community observed the eighth anniversary of the unprovoked terror attack on the United States. The universal observance of which underscored that 9/11 was not just an attack on the United States, but an attack on the international community that threatens peace and security at large. Demonstrated in the fact that, together, we remembered with reverence the nearly 3000 innocent lives lost, from over a hundred UN Member States, who were tied in a single garment of destiny, often on our minds, and always in our hearts. For a brief shining moment, the spirit of the universal transcending the national prerogative of remembrance.

 
Marking the occasion President Obama spoke at the Pentagon Memorial: “Let us renew our commitment to all those who serve in our defense ¾ our courageous men and women in uniform and their families and all those who protect us. And that on this first National Day of Service and Remembrance, we can summon once more that ordinary goodness of America ¾ to serve our communities, to strengthen our country, and to better our world.”

 
On 18 September 2009, answering the President’s call to action and adding an international dimension to his initiative, the International Consultative-Mechanism-on-Remembrance (ICMR) presented the ICMR Interim Report to the UN Military Staff Committee. The report is the culmination of ongoing broad-based consultations on the “Universality of Remembrance” that have taken place in advance of proposed Joint Observances in Commemoration of the Fallen and in Celebration of the Living. Universal Remembrance providing a venue from which to augment the President’s national clarion call, with an international call for coordinated action.

The remembrance of 9/11, and its continuing aftermath, transcends the national dimension of remembrance. Today, in Afghanistan coalition forces from 42 UN Member States battle a common enemy, share a common bond and are enjoined in a common destiny. 1,378 of our best, women and men in-arms, from countries the world over, have made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. They represent the grief of Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Our collective commitment to keep their memory alive compels us to take a broader perspective on Remembrance. As nations grieve, a community remembers, our community, the Global Community, that can come together in Universal Remembrance for the brave men and women, from all nations, that sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives in defense of country, and in furtherance of international security and peace.

As Americans, we rightly hold our military service members up to an esteem befitting the sacrifices they make for us. It was the Great General George Washington, who said, “The willingness, with which our young people serve in any war, no matter how justified, will be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” We were reminded of this axiom; never forget, during the Vietnam War when our society had failed to honor the sacrifice of our brave young men and women. Today, having learned the hard lesson, we support our troops with a fervor and fidelity unparalleled. Our men and women in uniform deserve the adoration of their nation. These are the bravest, proudest, and noblest sons and daughters that our grand society has to offer. They must be assured that their sacrifice on our behalf shall not be forgotten; the bond between us never broken.

But, in the age of coalition warfare, can this praise be reserved for the forces of America alone? Is the profession of the soldier not universally honorable and deserving of praise and, if so, does this pervasive feeling not transcend the national prerogative on remembrance? Is there not something about the esprit de corps of men and women at-arms that creates a unique bond between them? Can we, as Americans, extend our reverence to the patriots of the world who have Fallen in defense of their own nation? As General Peter W. Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff Army suggests, it may “be worth considering that the term ‘Patriot’ - as we look through the lens of the ‘Universality of Remembrance’ – be broadened to those beyond the role as soldier. There are patriots outside the ranks who have put their lives at risk for the good of their nation’s future.”

These are among the important questions ICMR is challenged to address. ICMR is an informal consultative mechanism of Uniformed Services of UN Member States, and civil society stakeholders, including troops, veterans, and military families. Tasked with exploring whether the concept of Universal Remembrance lends itself to the advancement of joint observances in commemoration of the Fallen, and in celebration of the Living.

Universal Remembrance is an evolving concept that has emanated from the spirit of national observances and memorials. ICMR is calling for this remembrance to be extended to the Fallen from all nations. General Chiarelli furthered: “The concept of the ‘universality of remembrance’ allows us as brothers in arms ¾ and as citizens of the world¾ an important opportunity to express the sacrifice of the patriots of all nations. As we remember our Fallen, in countries the world over, I hope I can give light to a common cause. That we choose to pursue an idea; an idea whose time has come; an idea that transcends the pliability of politics. But instead brings to light the consensus of remembrance on behalf of those who have given the last full measure.”

The ICMR Interim Report to the UN contains a first working definition of Universal Remembrance. This definition, erudite in its United Nations language, will continue to be refined as the dialogue and rhetoric continue.

Universal Remembrance is a concept, which expresses a communal obligation to the Fallen, further denoting the spirit of the indelible fellowship of humankind, and taking account of the bonding, based on commonality of shared sacrifice, of women and men at arms, regular and irregular, who, in following the military ethic, gave the last full measure of devotion, and which permits for joint observances, both sides of the battlefield’s divide, in Commemoration of the Fallen and in Celebration of the Living, in advance of post-conflict reconciliation, understanding and peace among peoples and Nations.

It is understood that, integral to the scope and mandate of Universal Remembrance, this definition must lay out the criteria for inclusion versus exclusion from joint remembrances.

The report summarizes the findings of the first ICMR consultative round. Members of the Military Staff Committee warmly received the report, holding that it provides for an important point of departure for the second and third consultative rounds taking place through 2010. The first ICMR consultative round delineated a coalescence of positions and views on the existence of Universal Remembrance. We, as citizens of the world, honor and mourn our fallen soldiers in the same ways and for the same reasons. This is especially true within the ranks. Those, who have served, have a bond and respect for each other that crosses the battlefield’s divide. Therefore we feel the Fallen from all nations should be remembered as members of a fraternity of humankind, who paid the last full measure of devotion in service to their country. This honor, this devotion, this Universal Remembrance, could have a lasting and profound effect on post-conflict reconciliation, understanding and peace among peoples and Nations.

ICMR takes inspirational direction from General Mustafa Kemal Atatuerk’s graciously reconciliatory 1934 remarks addressed to veterans of the Gallipoli campaign, on all sides of the battlefield’s divide,

“Heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us, where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

The Kabatepe Ari Burnu Beach Memorial at the southern edge of Ari Burnu Cemetery symbolizes the very spirit of Universal Remembrance and provides further directional guidance. The joint monument stands unique in the world for remembering the Fallen of all sides of the battlefield and therefore provides for a fitting location to convene the Second Universal Remembrance Convocation in fall of 2010. The international dimension of the living legacy of General Atatuerk is embodied in the spirit of Universal Remembrance and provides impetus for movement towards a new “Culture of Remembrance.” Where, together we stand; with our neighbors from Canada, our enemies turned allies from Germany, our patrons from the UK, our liberated partners in Iraq, and our former rivals from the Russian Federation, and remember the sacrifice that our young, brave, proud sons and daughters endured on our behalf.

The term “Universal Remembrance” was coined by Major General Tom Knutsen, the Royal Norwegian Defense Attache and Dean of the Defense Attaches Corps, during a Congressional reception marking the service to the Nation of the Honorable Viola Herms Drath, widow of the late Colonel Francis S. Drath, the Deputy Director of the United States Selective Service System under the legendary General Lewis B. “Ironside” Hershey. Mrs. Drath, whose grandson is a Second Lieutenant in the Third Infantry Division, readying himself for deployment to Afghanistan, served on the White House Commission on Remembrance and carried the torch by convening the ICMR. General Knutsen states: “We have, as military men, a lot in common. We share the same hardships when our countries send us out to do what militaries always have been doing: laying down our lives for the benefit of others; and we share the same professional camaraderie and bonding between men of arms that are universal and which transcend borders.”

Determined to further her work on Remembrance Mrs. Drath organized the First National Observance to mark Iraq Liberation Day. Inaugurated in 2008, in the spirit of Universal Remembrance, the event brought together U.S. and Iraqi Uniformed Services, enjoined by Members of the Defense Attaches Corps, veterans and military families. The spirit so movingly symbolized in the joint grave at Arlington National Cemetery of four American heroes and one Iraqi hero who, on Memorial Day 2005, gave their lives to Iraqi Freedom. Together they rest in Section 60, Arlington National Cemetery: Captain Derek Argell, USAF; Captain Jeremy Fresques, USAF; Major William Downs, USAF; Sergeant Casey Crate, USAF, and Captain Ali Abass al-Rubaie, Iraqi Air Force. Universal Remembrance is the spirit, which permits us, as citizens of the world, to express the sacrifice of these patriots, together.

Encouraged by a tremendous show of support, on 18 July 2009, Mrs. Drath convened an Evening Serenade and Buffet Dinner in honor of our Wounded Warriors. 20 American veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, received a “Letter of Appreciation” from the Minister of Defense of Iraq. A special “Letter of Appreciation” was presented to the American National Guardsman, which will go on display at National Guard Memorial Hall. Coordinated with Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Ft. Belvoir and Ft., Meade, and further coordinated with the White House, Department of Defense, Veterans Afairs, Army Headquarters, U.S. Central Command and the Defense Attaches Corps, along with troops, veterans and military families, including major veterans and families organizations, the evening convened in the spirit of “Universal Remembrance.” General Chiarelli’s inspiring words on Universal Remembrance helped set forth the evening’s spirit and Staff Brigadier General Ismael Alsodani, the Iraqi Defense Attache, delivered the keynote remarks which, invoking the legacy of General Atatuerk, went to the core of joint observances. Major Tony Thwaites, Australian Army, and the grandson of a Gallipoli veteran, lead the guests in the Universal Remembrance Ceremony, with General Atatuerk’s famous words providing the inspirational chapeau.

General Mark S. Bowman attended on behalf of General David H. Petraeus, Commander, USCENTCOM, and all guests were excited to learn that General Petraeus will be the keynote speaker for next year’s Third National Observance to mark Iraq Liberation Day, 9 April 2010, with the Adjutants General of the United States again serving as the Host Committee. The day promising to be another fine reunion for troops, veterans and military families, from the United States and Coalition countries. As the ICMR completes its consultative work program and becomes fully operational, these types of events will be established throughout the globe. ICMR envisions observances in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia that bring together countries and cultures that have been divided by war.

Throughout history, our human civilization has asked our best and brightest sons, and increasingly now our daughters, to sacrifice their lives in defense of their families, neighbors, and fellow soldiers. No matter what the impetus to war, side being fought for, or personal convictions of the individual, these patriots laid down their lives for something greater than themselves. It is the duty of the living, the survivors, those whom our heroes fell to protect, to honor them, ALL of them, and to ensure that their sacrifice was not made in vain. We owe it to their sons and daughters, their mothers and fathers, and our brothers and sisters in arms to establish this “Culture of Remembrance” whence we not forget, Never Forget, that our greatest glory lies not in victory on the battlefield, but in the inspired hearts of our young. As a soldier I must live with the fact that it is the children of both, the victor and the vanquished, the righteous and the malevolent, the Fallen and the Living, that will inherit the conflicts and open wounds we leave behind.

* Jason Eugene Cain, a decorated OIF and OEF veteran, serves as Executive Director of the Commission on Universal Remembrance and Coordinator of the International-Consultative-Mechanism-on-Remembrance, effective January 2010.

When the closest thing to sexual intercourse is peeing with a full bladder...

That's where the flaccid media is today folks, reporting facts that are not true, misleading readers, promising the truth when they deliver lies....  Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter is alive and well.  Hasan was a life-long Muslim and "On a form filled out by those seeking spouses through a program at the mosque, Hasan listed his birthplace as Arlington, Va., but his nationality as Palestinian, Khan said. "  Toing!  He did not list himself as an American, but Palestinian.  Helloooooooooo!!!!!

The media identified Hasan as  of Jordanian descent.... but  is a U.S. citizen whose parents are Palestinians from the West Bank, according to the Washington Post.  According to Atlas Shrugs:

Hasan was put on probation early in his postgraduate work at the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. He was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues, according to the source, who worked with him at the time. NPR 

Federal law enforcement officials say the suspected Fort Hood, Texas, shooter had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. (more here)

On his blog is a link to an article "Martyrdom in Islam vs Suicide Bombing"

He was happy about the Muslim solider who shot and killed a soldier and wounded another  at a  Little Rock kMilitary recruiting station. Hasan said Muslims should rise up against the aggressors. Maybe we should have more of these.....strapping bombs on and going into Times Square".

The officials had access to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's military record. They said he received a poor performance evaluation while at Walter Reed.

Authorities initially said they killed the major after he took part in a shooting rampage that left about a dozen colleagues dead at the Central Texas base. Tonight, inexplicably, they are saying that Hasan was wounded but survived. 

Watch Dog Blog has Hasan 's history.

Read my take here.

The shooter was initially reported to have been killed, but Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone told a late night news conference that the suspect was wounded and in custody. Cone would not say what Hasan's medical condition was, but said the suspect was not in danger of dying.

Hasan is not talking to authorities, said Cone. (ABC)

So where did the media get their information that Hasan was dead?????

Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone said the motive for the attack, which took place just after 1:30 p.m. CT, is unclear. While he said he could not rule out the incident as an act of terrorism evidence does not support that theory.  (ABC)

The truth is that Hasan was given a poor rating and evaluations:

While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.

At least six months ago, Hasan came to the attention of law enforcement officials because of Internet postings about suicide bombings and other threats, including posts that equated suicide bombers to soldiers who throw themselves on a grenade to save the lives of their comrades. They had not determined for certain whether Hasan is the author of the posting, and a formal investigation had not been opened before the shooting, said law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case.

One of the officials said late Thursday that federal search warrants were being drawn up to authorize the seizure of Hasan's computer. (WFAA)

He was seeking a spouse as a Palestinian!  Did you hear that????  don't listen to his cousin who says he was a good American, he saw himself as a Palestinian.

The media completely got screwed on this.

 ...poorly-spelled comment from a user named "NidalHasan" posted in May 2009 seemed to take issue with that analysis. "If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory," the comment said. "You can call them crazy i [sic] you want but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam."  (CBS)

I'm still waiting for the "he was such a good boy" quote from the family .......

Fort Hood Shooter Muslim - UPDATE: Media Malpractice, Hasan is still alive

At Fort Hood today, 12 people were killed and at least 31 wounded.  Two suspects have been taken into custody and one Major in the Army who was a Muslim convert has been shot dead IS STILL ALIVE AND IN STABLE CONDITION. (see update below)    He had repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the war in Iraq and the military.  He was set to be deployed to Iraq.  MSNBC reported at 4:30 p.m. that the shooter was identified as Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan, age 39, according to The Leaf Chronicles.  

Hasan was reportedly an Army mental health professional, a psychiatrist. " It was not known whether he was treating people at the base."   In fact he was working with soldiers.
  

Hasan allegedly opened fire and killed 11 people on the base before he was shot, bringing the total number of fatalities to 12.(ABC)

President Barack Hussein Obama called the shooting  "a horrific outburst of violence" .  

UPDATE: From Fox News, Col. Terry Lee (Ret) on the phone with Shep Smith.  Apparently Hasan was very upset with American troops being on Mulim soil and wanted the troops brought home.  He was upset with Obama for not pulling troops out of Iran and Afghanistan.  He referred to American troops as "invaders" on Muslim land.

Hasan also made statements that more Muslims should "strap on bombs" in the US...

Hasan made statements several times, got into arguments with associates, even a scuffle.  Col. Lee wonders why after those episodes he was transferred from Walter Reid to Fort Hood.  

According to Col. Lee Hasan was a loner.  Hasan is single and has no children, according to Fox.

"He said, precisely, that maybe the Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor."  Video via Breitbart, via Drudge:

..

UPDTE II:

Nader Hasan, cousin of the shooter, says he was "a good American".  The cousin says  Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan has always been a Muslim, and is not a Muslim convert.   Malik Nadal Hasan had been trying to get out of the military, even consulting an attorney.  He says the family is upset, they send their sympathies to the families.  They are all shocked that Malik Nadal Hasan could do such a terrible thing.

UPDATE III

The other two suspects have now been released.  It was never suspected that they did any shooting, that Malik Nadal Hasan was the lone shooter, but the other two were taken into custody and have now apparently been cleared.

UPDATE IV

A second shooting suspect has now been taken into custody.  It was first reported that two handguns were used by Hasan, but eye-witness reports said there was a second shooter and that rifles were used.  There had to be more than one shooter, because Hasan would have had to reload BOTH of his guns in order to shoot 43 people, 12 dead, 31 injured. 

*  UPDATE V

in what appears to be media malpractice, Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan was reported by all media as being "shot dead", when in fact he is alive and in stable condition.  While he is a Muslim and felt it wrong for America to be on Muslim soil, HE WAS ON MILITARY SCHOLARSHIPS THROUGH HIS ENTIRE EDUCATION and was required to pay back those scholarships with SERVICE. 

He had no problem taking the money for his education, but did not want to meet his obligation and SERVE his country and pay back his debt.

I consider this man a cheat, a liar, a traitor, a thief, and an all round sorry individual.  Too bad media reports were not correct and the he is still alive.  Now he will go through a long expensive trial, probably not get the death penalty (unfortunately) and possibly get some type of psychological diagnosis and be sent to a nut house.  More to come...

 

Saturday Shenanigans by Congress

The House Democrats in Washington are planning a Saturday vote on the latest monstrosity of a health care bill.  On Saturday.   Dave Ramsey reminded his readers that the politicians in Tennessee tried meeting behind closed doors on a Saturday to try and pass a State income tax.  Tennessee residents would have no part of those Saturday shenanigans and flocked to Nashville in droves, honking their horns, raising their fists in the air, shouting to the politicians that they did not want a State income tax.  The result is that most of those politicians no longer hold office, they were voted out, and we do not have a State income tax.

Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann and the Tea Party participants are in Washington already being seen and making their voices heard.  

Bachmann called the battle "the Super Bowl of Freedom," adding: "Nothing is more influential than an eyeball-to-eyeball meeting between a freedom-loving constituent and a member of Congress. Nothing scares a member of Congress more than freedom-loving Americans."

Heeding the call but unable to make the trip, some activists in Arkansas are planning to engage in what might be called a Fax Fight, besieging their elected officials via fax -- all at noon -- with demands to kill the healthcare bill. They are especially targeting Arkansas Democrat Mike Ross, one of the Blue Dog Democrats from swing districts where a vote for a healthcare bill with a public option could spell political trouble at home.

The Capitol phone system can probably handle the traffic. As for the political system, not so clear.

President Obama is planning to lobby members of Congress personally Friday, touting a bill that has defined his first year in office. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, planning a Saturday vote, is corralling the Blue Dog Democrats, many sobered by Tuesday's election results. (LA Times Blog)

The AARP and the American Medical Association have endorsed the bill but that is no surprise.  Neither the AARP or the AMA represent the majority of senior citizens or doctors, so I'm not concerned about them.

Word is that they do not have the votes yet to pass the bill.  They are concerned about upcoming elections in 2010 and 2012.   

Hit the phones, faxes, email, and let them know what you think.  If possible go see them in person.  Allowing this bill to be passed will be disaster for America's future.

Ford truck owners buy more trucks, government upset

I'm driving along in my 1998 Dodge Durango SUV with the big engine and 4 wheel drive, because that's what I need to get where I need to go and haul what I need to haul, when I hear on the radio that the government is upset with Ford pick-up owners who traded in their old trucks for new model trucks, rather than tin cans that get better gas mileage.  Oh the horror.  According to MSNBC, a subsidiary of the Obama administration,
"In scores of deals, the government reported spending a total of $562,500 in rebates for new cars and trucks that got worse or the same mileage as the trade-ins — in apparent violation of the program's requirements. The government said it is investigating those reports."

Does the government not get it that some people need trucks for their business, for their lifestyle, to get around where they live??? Do they not get that a tin can is not practical for everyone?  I guess not.

The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more guel efficient  cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage...

The single most common swap — which occurred more than 8,200 times — involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new ford F150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.

Owners of thousands more large old Chevrolet and Dodge pickups bought new Silverado and Ram trucks, also with only barely improved mileage in the middle teens, according to AP's analysis of sales of $15.2 billion worth of vehicles at nearly 19,000 car dealerships in every state. Those deals helped the Ford F150 and Chevy Silverado — along with Ford's Escape midsize SUV — climb into the Top 10 most-popular vehicles purchased with the government rebates. The most common truck-for-truck and truck-for-SUV deals totaled at least $911 million.  (MSNBC)

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

Related:

Al Gore could become world's first carbon billionaire - Al Gore, the former US vice president, could become the world's first carbon billionaire after investing heavily in green energy companies.  (He does not drive a tin can either)

Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How'

Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How'

By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton | November 4, 2009, StratFor

In the 11th edition of the online magazine Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle), which was released to jihadist Web sites last week, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wahayshi wrote an article that called for jihadists to conduct simple attacks against a variety of targets. The targets included "any tyrant, intelligence den, prince" or "minister" (referring to the governments in the Muslim world like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen), and "any crusaders whenever you find one of them, like at the airports of the crusader Western countries that participate in the wars against Islam, or their living compounds, trains etc.," (an obvious reference to the United States and Europe and Westerners living in Muslim countries).

Al-Wahayshi, an ethnic Yemeni who spent time in Afghanistan serving as a lieutenant under Osama bin Laden, noted these simple attacks could be conducted with readily available weapons such as knives, clubs or small improvised explosive devices (IEDs). According to al-Wahayshi, jihadists "don't need to conduct a big effort or spend a lot of money to manufacture 10 grams of explosive material" and that they should not "waste a long time finding the materials, because you can find all these in your mother's kitchen, or readily at hand or in any city you are in." Read more »

Why Doug Hoffman Lost

The polls seemed to indicate that Doug Hoffman had a good chance to win the NY 23 election yesterday, but he lost.  There seems to be much agreement that the reasons Hoffman lost are unions, SEIU, ACORN, and money.  From Human Events:

Democrat Bill Owens beat Hoffman by a margin of 48% to 46%, with the remaining 6% going to State Assemblywoman Scozzafava.

“We had the volunteers all right, but they had the money and the paid operatives,” a Hoffman campaigner who requested anonymity told me Tuesday night, as I could hear his candidate conceding defeat in the background.  “The unions -- the Service Employees [International Union] -- and ACORN, I’m pretty sure -- had their people all up here in force.  And it makes a difference when you have hired guns.”

There is strong circumstantial evidence that ACORN was involved with Owens’ campaign. 

Even with all the lies being spread by the Democrat-supporting media (DeDe was a moderate, Hoffman was a right-wing crazy, etc.) John Gizzi says,  "Forewarned is forearmed:  in losing Tuesday, Doug Hoffman energized a movement that will live and work and campaign in 2010, and beyond."

Ben Stein last night on Larry King Live said Conservative Doug Hoffman lost the New York 23 Congressional Race because the Republican candidate liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava "actively sabotaged" him, and was "shockingly disloyal" in endorsing the Democrat, Bill Owens.  See the video at Freedom's Lighthouse.

From The Daily Beast:   “Watch [Owens’ victory] be spun as a defeat for Sarah Palin and the hateful extreme right-wing of the Republican party,” National Review online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez  warned on the conservative magazine’s blog.   

Other reactions:

From View From The Right, something I did not know:

All is not lost, however. Let us remember what Stephen T. said earlier today: Hoffman is your standard, Cato-style conservative: against big taxes and spending, but in favor of unlimited Hispanic immigration and the legalization of illegal aliens.

MEDIAite:   

What does it mean? Well since Hoffman is the first national candidate to come out of the 9/12 Project/Tea Party movement, it’s not insignificant.  [snip]

As Michelle Malkin notes, Hoffman’s candidacy was just the beginning of this movement.

The Gay Patriot: 

Given the haphazard nature of Hoffman’s campaign, I doubted he had the chance to organize a good ground game, essential to victory in a special election. He may have the enthusiasm, but the unions had the organization.

From a comment at Ann Althouse, perhaps personal appearance may have had a part in how people voted:

On TV, Hoffman comes across as exceedingly weird, skinny and overeager with googly eyes, bright yellow teeth, and an odd, halting way of speaking. [snip]

Owens, by contrast, is big and rugged-looking. He's an Air Force veteran and he has that military solidity, calm and self-possession.

From BeliefNet:

[snip]  I'll give my view in a moment, but let me say that Jonathan Tobin makes a weird and unpersuasive point here:

The loss of this seat ought to cast a shadow on what was otherwise a big night for Republicans. But the villains here aren't the tea-party rabble-rousers who sunk Scozzafava, but a local and state Republican leadership that imposed an incompetent candidate on a Republican electorate eager for leaders who could offer an alternative to the Democrats, not someone who would be a halfhearted supporter of Obama's agenda. ... The lesson here is not the danger that the right poses to the future of the Republicans but rather that a party leadership that is insensible to the interests of its voters is doomed to defeat. Had the Republicans chosen a candidate who could have counted on the support of the party's base to start with, the seat could have been held despite the changing demographics in the district. It was Scozzafava's dismal campaign that lost the seat, not the fact that it was impossible to convince most Republicans that they had no reason to support her.

...  From where I sit, the most sensible lesson for Republicans to take out of yesterday's defeats is that economic anxiety and a related concern about competent governance are the issues that most determine voters' choices.

Personally I don't think Hoffman's loss has anything to do with the Tea Parties or Sarah Palin.  Had the Republican stayed in the race, perhaps Hoffman would have won.  There is no way to know what might have been, we only know what is.   Conservatives are not going to sit back and be run over by RINOs any more.

Hoffman did not have ACORN, SEIU, big money or a big machine behind him.  His opponent did.  End of story and a lesson for the Republicans.

Watching the Weasels:

Watcher of Weasels submissions for this week, some great articles:

Council Submissions

• Joshuapundit - Conservatives Win In NY 23
• The Provocateur - Interview With Wade Rathke II
• The Glittering Eye - What’s A Foreseeable Rate of Taxation?
• Bookworm Room - Do They Even Listen to Themselves?
• Right Truth - Half of all U.S. children will be on food stamps according to study
• The Razor - Laws Need Limits
• The Colossus of Rhodey - Once again, the Democrats back vote fraud
• Mere Rhetoric -Collective Nutroots Wisdom: Lieberman Blocking Public Option So Israel Can Attack Iran Or Something 

Non-Council Submissions

• Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Big Government - The Public Option Deception
• Submitted By: The Provocateur – New Ledger - George Soros Assautl on the Free Market
• Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – E. D. Kain–American Tory - Nothing’s ever certain except race and taxes
• Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Black & Right - Comment of the Day
• Submitted By: Right Truth – Sense of Events - Is Obama a milleniarian without a plan? Does he even need one?
• Submitted By: The Razor – Washington Examiner - [Print] [Email] Conservative revolt good news for Republicans
• Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – The Boston Globe - Islam’s Darwin problem
• Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – Solomonia - SDS Still Alive and Planning Disruptions…at Brandeis
• Submitted By: The Watcher – Michael J. Gaynor at Web Commentary - ACORN 8 Supporter Tries to Disparage Michelle Malkin and Anita MonCrief in Halloween Hit Piece

The whole world awaits the American decision

Afghanistan is the subject and the whole world awaits America's decision on how the war there will proceed.  Actually the world awaits Barack Obama's decision, which most likely will be the decision of the Left, the decision of the anti-war crowd.  More importantly the soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan await Obama's decision because they are the ones getting shot at and killed by improvised explosive devices.  From journalist Mina Al Oraibi, for Asharq Alawsat Newspaper, interview with Gen. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of NATO and the former prime minister of Denmark, Christian Science Monitor:

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen:  "Of course, the United States is the lead nation, the biggest contributor (of forces in Afghanistan) and therefore obviously the whole world awaits the American decision. It's more important to make the right decision than to hurry. So I recognize the need for thorough analysis in Washington. But, to my mind, there is no doubt about the way forward: It is to ensure a stronger Afghan ownership."  

Mina Al-Oraibi:    What are the main challenges that face the Arab world and NATO?

Anders Fogh Rasmussen:    The countries within the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative share our interests in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, because if Afghanistan is left behind, there is the risk of it [instability] spreading to the region, not to speak of the risk of destabilizing neighboring Pakistan, a nuclear power.  [snip]

All in all, the international community needs a reliable partner in Kabul. I think there is a need for a new compact, a new contract, between the international community and the new government in Afghanistan; a new contract in which we make it clear that it is a prerequisite for continued international commitment to Afghanistan that the Afghan government provides good governance in the broad sense of the word.  [snip]

I am happy to note that the NATO ministers of defense agreed recently with [top US commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley A.] McChrystal's counterinsurgency approach.

Yes, Afghanistan, India, Iran all are on the brink and Obama dithers while the world waits.

Morning Music

The following audio is the sweet Grouch singing all the parts, playing all the instruments... Click on the title below and enjoy "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"

Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye 1

Half of all U.S. children will be on food stamps according to study

Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.

The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. [snip]

The analysis is in line with other recent research suggesting that more than 40 percent of U.S. children will live in poverty or near-poverty by age 17; and that half will live at some point in a single-parent family. Also, other researchers have estimated that slightly more than half of adults will use food stamps at some point by age 65.  (AP via Breitbart)

The above pronouncement according to the analysis released yesterday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.  Food stamps are for low-income individuals and families -- for a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000.

As with most government programs, the Food Stamp program is full of waste and fraud.  You can apply online, have someone stand in for you at the face-to-face interview.  And like most studies there are always two ways to look at the results:

Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, says the study design and survey data are solid. But he says the findings are neither surprising nor troubling.

"That's effectively like saying that at some point in a 20-year period, a parent would be unemployed for a month or so," Rector says.

"There's no evidence that even consistent poverty in the U.S. produces a nutritional risk," he says, noting that rich and poor children tend to have about the same intake of protein, vitamins and minerals.  (USA Today)

I would like to share reader comments from the USA Today article, which may represent your thoughts as well:

1.  "...how many families really truly need the help? Cell phones, palm pilots, flat screens, video games, fancy cars, seem to be the first priority of the parents."

2.  "I find out that a large percentage of the people in this country consider taking government welfare some sort of birthright. What has changed in order for people to have changed from working class to welfare class?
20 million illegals and their anchor kids?
People born to unwed teen moms who were reared in welfare housing?
They certainly did not learn it from hard working parents."

3. "... report to the post office on fathers day. The government is yo baby's daddy."  

SNAP!  The UN Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition program, as of Oct. 1, 2008, federal Food Stamp Program is now: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

It's not just food stamps that people look to the government for, it's disability (extension of unemployment benefits by Congress -- for as long as 59 weeks), housing and mortgage assistance, government grants and loans, disaster assistance, medical coverage (TennCare, etc), welfare and on and on.

In December 18, 2008 - Number of Americans with a Disability Reaches 54.4 Million.

In September 2008 - 1.6 million Americans were on welfare.  That number continues to increase.

The federal government's fiscal stimulus includes $5 billion for states where more families receive welfare or spending increases on employment subsidies or short-term emergency assistance. That provision sparked concerns from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups that President Barack Obama was undoing the provisions of the 1996 law intended to encourage states to get people off welfare and onto payrolls.  [snip]

Despite the deep recession, a few big states still have declining welfare rolls.

In Michigan, for example, welfare caseloads were down 4.8% in April from a year ago even though the number of residents receiving food stamps was up 13% in March to more than 1.4 million people. Some advocacy groups for the poor complain that strict front-end requirements -- which force welfare recipients to look for work in a state with a 14% unemployment rate before even meeting with a caseworker -- deter many from seeking help.  (WSJ, June 22, 2009)

Are there people who really do need assistance now and then?  Yes, of course there are and we have a duty to help those less fortunate that we are.     But it appears to me that the number of people looking to the government (which has no money of it's own other than what it takes from the working citizens) has grown with the election of Barack Obama.  Many voted for him with the expectation that they would be taken care of, as a woman somewhere said  "I'm getting some Obama money.  We love him.  That's why we voted for him.  Obama.  Obama."  

There is no such thing as government money or Obama money -- there is only my money and your money.

My encounter with the RNC

Today I received one of those regular calls from the RNC.  The volunteer had her script down pat, went through her message from the RNC Chair, then proceeded to ask me to send them $350.00 today. 

My reply:   "No.  We are not supporting the RNC.  We are supporting individual candidates who are true Conservatives."

Silence..... silence..... silence...

Me:  "Hello, are you still there?"

Volunteer:  "Ummm..... Thank you for taking my call."

End of conversation.

German Chancellor to Address US Congress

German Chancellor to Address US Congress

Realite EU

On November 3, 2009, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak before the Senate and the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. Merkel’s address will focus on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall as well as the state of transatlantic relations. [1] Iran will be another focus as Western powers assess changes to the nuclear fuel deal that Iran has proposed. [2] Merkel is expected to also meet with US President Barack Obama during her trip. [3]

Merkel did in fact meet with Obama this morning.  The presser seemed a little uncomfortable for Merkel at times.  Merkel is the first German leader to address a joint session of the US Congress. 

Obama will also be meeting today with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and this afternoon Obama will participate in the U.S.-European Union Summit in the Cabinet Room -- participants include Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council High Representative Javier Solana.  Remember Obama had no time for the Dalai Lama.  

Merkel was reelected Germany’s Chancellor in September 2009. She will form a coalition with the Free Democrats Party (FDP), which will most likely designate Germany’s next Foreign Minister, replacing Frank-Walter Steinmeier. [4]
As part of the P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) Germany has been intensely involved in the international effort to thwart Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. In August 2009, Merkel threatened energy sanctions if Iran fails to cooperate with the international community on its nuclear weapons development program. “If there is no progress, we would have to react with further sanctions,” Merkel said. She added: “If Iran got atomic weapons, it would be a dangerous situation. That is why sanctions would be justified. […] What is clear is that Tehran […] must not get the atomic bomb.” [5]

On October 1, 2009, the P5+1 proposed that Iran ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia and subsequently to France before the end of the year 2009. Iran, however, told the IAEA that it would not send its stockpile of uranium out of the country. [6] “The clock is ticking,” said Volker Perthes, Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. By the “end of the year”, he said, it will have to be clear “whether or not we are in a serious negotiating process.” [7]

In October 2009, US troops boarded a German-owned freighter (Hansa India) and found eight containers full of ammunition, suitable for Kalashnikov rifles, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment was is violation of a UN weapons embargo. Investigators suspected that the arms were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian army or Hizballah. Following an intervention by the German government, the US allowed the ship to continue on to his destination in Malta, where the containers were secured. [8]

Germany is Iran’s largest trading partner and critics believe the pro-business Merkel’s main coalition partner, the FDP will favor commercial ties over the West’s security interests. [9]

Live a longer, healthier, happier life ...

Rush Limbaugh has long insisted that exercise does not help a person lose weight.  Tests now prove Rush is correct.  In a recent study the weight of patients did not change much after three months of jogging, cycling, and walking, but the other results were astounding.

In just three months it slashed the risk of an early death by 60 per cent, improved heart health and relieved stress. 

Exercise can offer the double benefit of reducing stress levels while also improving heart health.

People who work out have a lower risk of contracting long-term conditions such as cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders. It also slows death and disability rates.

Exercise acts by improving the health of hearts and arteries, strengthening bones and reducing inflammation. It also boosts the immune system and improves thinking, learning and memory.

This latest study by the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans and published in the American ­Journal of Medicine reveals in detail just how much these simple changes can boost lifespan.

The team followed 522 cardiac patients, including 53 who had high stress levels and 27 control patients who had high stress levels but who refused cardiac rehabilitation.

Patients were offered 12 weeks of exercise classes, where they did 10 minutes of warm-up, 30 to 40 ­minutes of aerobic exercise such as walking, rowing or jogging, and then a 10-minute stretch to wind down.

The classes were three times a week and patients were also asked to try to do a further one-to-three exercise sessions a week.

They were also given advice on how to improve diet and lifestyle, and their progress was followed for up to six years.  (Daily Express)

 

By simply walking on the treadmill three or four times a week, or doing some other form of exercise ... and limiting the amount of fat and sugar in your diet, eating fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, you can have a longer, healthier, happier life.  It sounds so simple. 

Not to put a damper in this study, but there is no way to figure in heredity.

A Squid's Story: My First Four Years in the United States Navy

Just in time for Christmas, the book  A Squid's Story:  My First Four Years in the United States Navy, by John Rudolph, blog here, purchase book here.

Paperback, 481 pages

Preview

$22.82

Ships in 3–5 business days

Join me on my first tour of duty in the Navy - what went on in Boot camp, the schools I attended, what life was really like on board an aircraft carrier that was better known for fires than anything else! Come with me on a haze gray and underway misadventure on a guided missile destroyer that had trouble shooting its own missiles (let alone torpedoes) and all of the unimaginable things that happened to me...the people I met and what I witnessed in between. Telling things as they happened, it's a hilarious, serious, yet very straightforward look at life in the U.S. Navy during the Cold War period (1980-1984). So set the sea and anchor detail, it's time to hit the high seas!