Dhimmi This!

Just Praying - My A@#!

    Second Above the fold Update:  While sitting in Reagan Washington Airport this week I had an idea of how to handle people like the praying Imams.  If you are in an airport and a group such as this decides that they are going to make a scene and start publicly praying I suggest that all  those of Christian  Faith  kneel together (preferably close to the prostrated praying Imams) and start reciting, in calm tones, the Our Father over and over until the praying Imams finish their prayers.  What's good for the goose should also be good for the gander and a point can be made in a very non-threatening passive way.  I would not, however, suggest requesting extra seat belt extenders, sitting in the incorrect seat, talking aloud about the great actions of UBL or other such terrorist.  If this bothers the Imams, I am sooooooooo sorry. Not!

   Above the Fold Update:  After writing the post below I had to take a short drive for business purposes.  The radio station, was playing Christmas tunes and the song "Let there be Peace on Earth" was on.  As I was listening to this the line "and let it begin with me" stuck in my mind.  I reflected upon the following statement that was in the Washington Times Story:

Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, called removing the imams an act of Islamophobia and compared it to racism against blacks.

"It's a shame that as an African-American and a Muslim I have the double whammy of having to worry about driving while black and flying while Muslim," Mr. Bray said.

    As I reflected upon this a plan came to mind.  I think that by sharing this plan I can "let peace begin with me".  The combination of the comparison of Islamaphobia with black racism and the protest of the Imams at the ticket counter reminded me of the Rosa Parks story and how Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the history of our nation by leading blacks in a peaceful boycott of the Montgomery bus system.

    I think that the Muslim world should take a play from this very successful playbook. I think that Muslims worldwide should join in protest against that treatment of these Imams by American airlines by refusing to utilize the services of these airlines.  I think that Muslims should stand as one and state that they will not work for, invest in, or fly with any airline that agrees with how these Imams were treated.  I think that Fatwa's should issue specifically naming the airlines which Muslims will have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with.  It should be a very specific Fatwa and should prohibit all Muslims from flying on any such  airline whether in the United States or flying from or into the United States.  Let these airlines feel the economic wrath of the Muslim  World by informing the rest of the world that they will not fly on these discriminatory airlines.

    There are nothing but upsides to this plan.  Either the refusal of the Muslim World to ride on airplanes in America will bring the airline industry to its knees and the airlines will know that they cannot afford to "mistreat" praying Imams or the American people can travel in accosted peace and no longer experience the fear of being blown out of the sky by Muslims aboard their airlines. 

    Granted this plan is a work in progress, but I am already starting to feel the peace.  I am just waiting for that Fatwa list so I know which airlines are being boycotted.

Original Post:

The Washington Times has an update on the Muslim Imams who were removed form US Airways Flight 300 last week.  The 6:30 p.m. flight was from Minneapolis to Phoenix.  Prior to take of the flight was delayed and several Muslim religious leaders were removed from the flight because of their erratic behavior.  As soon as they were removed from the flight they screamed racism and profiling (Aside: How profiling became such a dirty word I have no idea.  If anything it is a natural human instinct.  We profile everyone we meet and on average are pretty good at it.  The only downside I see to profiling is that it may allow a person who does not fit a profile to be overlooked).  The Imams claimed that they were merely exercising their freedom of religion and going about their business in their normal way. 

    The story by the Washington Times reviews the reports of interviews with airline employees and witnesses.  The conclusion is that the behavior of the Imams was normal - for terrorist. The suspicious behavior included several of the Imams praying rather loudly together in Muslim speak prior to the flight and invoking the name of Allah when the board order was issued, talking in Muslim speak and English about UBL and other terrorist identities, not sitting in their assigned seats once they boarded the airplane but instead choosing to separate by sitting in seats that covered all the exits in the airplane, and several of the Imams asked for seat belt extenders despite not being overweight and placed them on the floor. Just Praying- My Ass. 

    At best, this was a purposeful publicity ploy to push the boundaries of acceptable behavior to challenge and provoke the airlines to kick them off the flight. Anyone who cannot see through such tactics should remember the Muhammad Cartoons from Denmark. The Weekly Standard recently ran an update on the matter: 

   

Pretending to be on a mission to create understanding and dialogue, the imams set out from Denmark for the Middle East last December, where they spread false rumors of the Koran being burned on the streets of Copenhagen and otherwise did their best to incite violence against their host nation, resulting in attacks on embassies, trade boycotts, and flag burnings. They were later caught on hidden camera by a French documentary filmmaker, bragging about their exploits.

    I believe this is the same group of guys who showed a picture of what they claimed to be Muhammad depicted as a pig, but it was some guy at a pig festival who probably wouldn't know Muhammad from Xerxes.  If you remember, people died as a result of these BS protest. I am sure that Minneapolis Imams were disappointed in the lack of attention sympathy that they received, so they decided they needed to protest again. 

    But the imams who were escorted off the flight in handcuffs say they were merely praying before the 6:30 p.m. flight on Nov. 20, and yesterday led a protest by prayer with other religious leaders at the airline's ticket counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

    Questions - How did they get to Reagan Washington National Airport from Minneapolis.  Did they fly?  If so, did they act in the same "normal" manner on that flight?  What does Reagan Washington National Airport have to do with what the Minneapolis Airport Authorities did? Oh and by the way who are these guys? How did they earn or obtain the title Imam?  Were did they go to Imam school?  Are they American citizens?  If they were born Americans why are they running around speaking Muslim speak in the airport?   If they are naturalized citizens where did they come from?  If they are not Americans, why are they still here?

A spokeswoman for US Airways declined to discuss the incident. Aviation security officials said thousands of Muslims fly every day and conduct prayers in airports in a quiet and private manner without creating incidents.

    Talk like a terrorist, Look like a terrorist, Act like a terrorist - get treated like a terrorist.  I am no Sherlock Holmes, but I am sure that these Imams got exactly what they wanted.  However, I am not so sure that they have received all that they deserve?

         

A Different Christmas Poem

David M. at ThunderRun has posted a poem to help us remember the sacrifices made by our men and women in the military.  Being away from one's family and friends is no easy task, in and of itself, but to be away during the holidays is even harder.  The loss due to distance form home,  compounded by a stressful and difficult deployment, is mentally taxing.  There is a lot of talk lately that Americans are disconnected from this war.  Please, become connected, support our troops, especially during the holiday season.  It is as easy as signing up to be an Angel and adopt a soldier at Soldiers' Angels. It is guaranteed to be a most rewarding experience and will, in a small way, connect you to this war.

Here is the Poem, which has been copied directly from ThunderRun.

A Different Christmas Poem
Author Unknown

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas my Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it's my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

------
PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment;
OIC, Logistics Cell One;
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Enjoy this uniquely American Holiday - Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Russian Intrigue

I have not followed this story and just read it as I was waiting on hold during a phone call, however, I am going to see what else is out there.  The gist of it is that former Russian Spy, Alexander Litvinenko, has been hospitalized after being poisoned.  It is believed that the poison was a radioactive substance.  Fox News has a story, Italian Who Dined With Poisoned Ex-Spy Says Name On 'Hit List' which states that an Italian "defense consultant, Mario Scaramella, held a press conference to say that he had met with Litvinenko the day before he was hospitalized, but that he had nothing to do with his being poisoned.  In fact, Scaramella stated that he met with Litvinenko to warn him of a plot to kill him.  The report says that Scaramella was surrounded by four bodyguards during the press conference and that the meeting was arranged by text messages to the reporters. He stated that he had been provided a "hit list" - "The information was a list of people — it was a hit list and on that list was his name, my name and Paolo Guzzanti [head of the Italian commission investigating KGB activities in Italy].

UPDATE:  Toxicologist, John Henry, who is also treating Litvinenko, said he now thought the thallium might have been in a more deadly radioactive form or mixed with other chemicals. Russia denies any involvement. Litvinenko Poison Baffles Doctors.  A little background of Thallium at Wikpedia - for what it's worth.  A guess dioxin did not do the job on Victor Yushchenko so time to try some other concoction.

UPDATE II:  Fox News is reporting that Litvinenko has succumbed to the poison. The report states,

A highly radioactive material called Polonium 210 was found in the body of dead ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Sky News reported Friday, as London investigators searched for residual radioactive material in a variety of locations including Litvinenko's house.

 In a dying declaration Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his assassination. The statement read by family friend, Alex Goldfarb, stated "You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life."

    The Kremlin continues to deny any involvement in Litvinenko's death.  The former spy said he believed he had been poisoned on Nov. 1, while investigating the slaying of another Kremlin detractor — investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.Goldfarb also stated that he had seen the "hit list" that was disclosed by Scaramella. "What's in there confirms what Scaramella said. It lists several targets for assassination, among them are Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Scaramella, Berezovsky and others," he said. But he refused to say who compiled the document, saying that it could jeopardize the police investigation into the poisoning. It is also interesting that Litvinenko refused to implicate any of the people he met on the day he said he believed he was poisoned.

    The BBC website has a story that quotes Security analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey who opines that those responsible for Litvinenko's death are former KGB members who work with the Russian Mafia.

"My own belief, and this is speculation, is that it's not inconceivable that Anna Politkovskaya in her search for murderers within the Russian bank system discovered the contract killings were these former KGB people.

"She was killed and if Litvinenko indeed was privy to her investigations then it could well be that they will emerge as his killers."

    The Fox News story describes Litvinenko's past work for the KGB as:

Litvinenko worked both for the KGB and for a successor, the Federal Security Service. In 1998, he publicly accused his superiors of ordering him to kill Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky — now exiled in Britain — and a year later spent nine months in jail on charges of abuse of office, for which he was later acquitted, and which prompted his move to London.

    The BBC Story describes it as:

"We have to put this in a historical context," he said.

"Litvinenko's last job within the FSB was heading up the anti-corruption unit and he discovered a lot of corruption there and made a lot of enemies within the KGB."

When Yeltsin broke the KGB into different agencies such as the FSB and the SVR, the majority of its members stayed on but some went into the Duma and a third group went into legitimate business, he said.

But a "murky bunch" went into what was known as the Russian mafia.

    Other stories: Washington Post
                   Moscow Times
                   Rueters
                   AxisNews

UPDATE III: This story is still out there -  Britain Tracing Poison That Killed Spy; Eight Referred To Clinic; Eight tested over radiation alert
 

A Few Good Medals

GQ has an article by Kevin Conley, A Few Good Medals,America doesn’t celebrate its war heroes with the fanfare it once did — but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, in which he interviews four of America's War heroes.  Great stories - worth the read. The picture below is of First Lieutenant David Russel, with a happy to be alive smile, after actions for which he would later be awarded the Silver Star.

Some Days You're The Shark - Some Days You're The Shark's Food

They Have Names

They Have Names is a new website which has been established for the sole purpose of honoring the soldiers who have died during the war in Iraq and their families.  This is in a similar vein to the Someone You Should Know at BlackFive.  David M at The Thunder Run posts that the new website is the creation of CJ at A Soldier's Perspective.  The motivating reasons behind the website are explained by CJ:

To tell the individual stories of our Troops who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. We believe that Americans NEED to know about the lives of each and every fallen hero. Through this knowledge, they will cease to become mere numbers and start to become real people.

On May 29th, two journalists were killed and one severely injured by an IED in Iraq. Every media outlet in the country seemed to trip all over themselves trying to tell the American people about these "brave journalists". There were specials aired during prime time, full front page articles on almost every national newspaper and most local papers. And in every single article was this vague and nonspecific notation: "A U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator also died in the blast."

Who was this "U.S. soldier"? For days, he endured anonymity for his sacrifice while these journalists whom he'd given his life to protect were paraded throughout the media as martyrs. I made it my goal in life to find out who he was and tell his story. He was not just "a U.S. soldier" to me. He was a brother. He was father. He was a son. And he had a name.

They have names was created to in order to pay proper respects for our fallen heroes. All too often, these Troops are relegated to mere numbers by the press. Their stories are unknown. Their lives are unkown. And their names are unknown. Their sacrifice is impersonal and taken for granted. To many Americans, they are faceless figures. They are not enigmas - They Have Names.

At the time of this writing, over 3000 troops have been killed in Iraq alone. Each and every one of them has unique talents, hobbies, families, and histories. Each of them had a reason that led them to serve in one of our nation's armed forces. These people are not mere numbers - They Have Names.

This site is dedicated to the memory of CPT James "Alex" Funkhouser, who gave me the motivation to share the stories of our fallen heroes.

    I have only briefly browsed through the website, but I will certainly be visiting it again. I think that it is important that we, as a nation, understand why these men and woman were willing risk their lives to serve their country. Those in America who claim to make decisions concerning this war on the premise that they are doing so to protect our warriors,should at least understand the motivations of those they claim to protect. 

Unnecessary Use of Force - Asshat Gets Tased

    A UCLA student was Tased during an arrest at the library.  Evidently, the student was asked to leave the library because he did not have his Student ID. (Whether or not they profiled him because he was Middle Eastern - who cares?)  The point remains that when he refused, the Campus Police were called and asked him to leave.  He refused again and was arrested.  At some point during the arrest the officers used a Taser or Muscular Disruption Unit to subdue him.  The videos that I have seen do not show what occurred for the guy to be tased in the first place.  I am willing to assume that the officers acted correctly and that the forced used was proportional to the situation.  The video can be seen on YouTube.

    Now let me state that I nearly cried because I was laughing so hard when the officer popped him with the taser in the doorway. I am  emailing this out to the usual suspects on my email list to poke politically incorrect fun at the guy. He certainly screamed and jumped like a b#@ch. What kind of stubborn mule would not become compliant after that? Also, they must not have hit him with too much juice because the taser usually momentarily disables a person, and he was jumping around an awful lot.

    However, I do not think that the issue is whether the guy "deserved it". This is technically a blatant use of excessive force. The Taser or Muscular Disruption Unit (MDU) falls under the definition of Less than Lethal Force. This lands it near the top of the Force Wheel used by Police Departments across the country. While it is permissible to leap frog the tactics depending upon the situation, the officer is to use the least amount of force necessary. The MDU is rarely to be used on a handcuffed individual and is not to be used for coercion on a passively resistant prisoner. This guy is certainly guilty of being an Asshat, resisting arrest and possibly whatever the underlying charge may be. Whether the officer used more force than necessary does not change those facts.  The officers had plenty of options available to them and the use of the MDU probably should not have been one of them.  Rather than continuingly yelling at the guy to stand up, they simply could have called more officers and carried him out of the library.  Unless the guy was doing something that could not be seen on the film, then the use of the MDU was inappropriate.

    In such instances you have to start off with the premise that if you run or fight the police, you are, without question, subjecting yourself to the use of significant force against you. You may be right as rain, but you are still going to be sore the next morning - that's life, that's the way things work.  In my opinion, the lack of proper training (or at the very least professionalism - in using a poor choice of words in a tense situation)was evident in the end when the officer warned the complainer in the white t-shirt that he was going to get "tased".  While complainer guy was obnoxious and may have been interfering with the investigation, he was a long way away from needing to be tased. While it is funny to watch these guys get popped (trust me I never tire of it) - it is also evident that the officers need to go back to the classroom and learn when they should and should not use a MDU. 

    I do think that calls for any grand investigation in this instance are overblown.  This type of thing happens on a daily basis in any sizable Police Department.  Officers make bad decisions, it comes with the job.  This needs to be handled by the Campus Police Internal Affairs Department and if discipline is necessary it should be meted out through the department. At the worst, they should get a reprimand and more training. 

    If these officers had acted like this on a Martin Luther King Blvd. (a la Chris Rock) in any major city across the country they would have been lucky to get back to the station without a full blown riot.  Instead they were in the library of a College with a rather non-threatening crowd.  Do not get me wrong the fault still lies with the Asshat who would not leave the library, and getting roughed up or tased is a risk he took when he decided to disobey the  officer's request to leave.  If he were in the right, he should have left and then complained through the appropriate channels.  Challenging the officer's authority by disobeying a direct order is never a good idea.  If you are wrong you go to jail; if he is wrong you go to jail.  Either way you lose and you just may end up squealing like a B@#ch on YouTube.

Update:  Right Wing News has a Chris Rock video clip about what to do to not get your ass kicked by the police.  UCLA may want to start showing this as a freshmen orientation.

Lane Hudson: Hit on by Foley in 1995

    The StopSexPredators, Lane Hudson, who initially exposed the emails from the Louisiana Page has spoken to the media.  Sounds like he was out to get Foley and the Republicans in general.  He claims that Foley had hit on him when he was a White House Intern during the Clinton years. The Washington Blade article states,

Hudson said his first inkling of Foley’s penchant for young men came through personal experience. Hudson said he met Foley in 1995 at a Washington bar during the time Hudson worked as a student intern at the White House during the Clinton administration. According to Hudson, Foley chatted with him and a few other White House interns at the bar, which Hudson declined to name, and asked for Hudson’s e-mail address. Hudson gave it and Foley soon began an e-mail exchange with him.

“It was nothing explicit, nothing very salacious,” Hudson said of Foley’s e-mails to him.

“I was young and naïve. I didn’t connect the dots,” he said, adding that he never took steps to report Foley’s e-mails as being inappropriate.

    He states that all of a sudden in 2006 he became angry that no one was doing anything about it. 

    Sorry, but this reminds me of a joke.

    A doctor was examining an old farmer in the emergency room.  The old farmer had a broken leg and the doctor asked him how he did it.  The farmer said, "Well you see when I was a young ranch hand, the boss's daughter came into my bunk room one night and asked me if I needed anything.  I told her no.  She asked again if I needed anything at all. I again told her no that I was fine.  She asked one more time if there was anything at all that she could do for me and I said no."  The doctor said what does that have to do with your broken leg.  The farmer replied, "Well I was up on the roof of the barn and I suddenly realized what she meant. That's when I feel off the roof."

    So basically, somewhere in late summer of 2006 Lane Hudson finally decided that this was so very important that he had to get this information to the press.  Hudson's claim of just trying to do the right thing is insincere. He refused to disclose his source for the emails and he admitted that he was very partisan. His statements show signs of glee that it caused so much trouble for the Republicans.

    Quite frankly the reporting on this, so far, is soft. The Washington Blade states,

He points to press accounts indicating that other news organizations, including newspapers in Florida, knew of Foley’s e-mails to the Louisiana page and chose not to report them. He said he became convinced that GOP leaders in the House, who knew of Foley’s inappropriate overtures to pages several years ago, chose not to act because of political repercussions.

"I was mad about it,” he said. “It disappointed me hugely that the gilded halls of Congress, one of the longest, continuously operating governments in the world, allows stuff like this to happen.

“And I wanted to do something about it. Now, I’m also very active politically. And I understood that my actions have political implications. I didn’t know how much it would affect these elections but it’s now clear that it’s affected them quite a bit. And I’m OK with that because politics is a tough game and this could have gone very badly and it didn’t.”

    Hudson was obviously politically active and had sufficient contacts with Democrats in Congress to make sure that the Democratic Leadership was aware of what he described as "a predator in Congress who, over the course of his 12 years of service, was continuously seeking out pages with unethical, immoral and inappropriate intentions."  However, his only attempt to get the story out was to push the story to the LA Times. Get real, his story simply does not hold water.

    The United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct - House Page Programs Allegations is investigating who knew what and when. See here and here.  On October 6, 2006 the Committee issued a letter to all Congressmen , which stated in part

The purpose of this letter is to notify all Members that it is the expectation of the Investigative Subcommittee that any Members with information related to the matter under investigation will bring such information to the attention of the Investigative Subcommittee. Such information should include, but not be limited to, any information related in any way to communications or interactions between former Representative Mark Foley and any current or former participants in the House Page Program. In this regard, you should inquire of staff under your supervision as to relevant information in their possession.

In order to assist the Investigative Subcommittee with its inquiry, we also request that you contact current and former House Pages sponsored by your office for the purpose of learning whether any of those individuals had any inappropriate communications or interactions with former Representative Foley or any other Member of the House.

    Well maybe they should speak to Lane Hudson, he seems to know more about Mark Foley and his tryste with pages and, evidently, Democratic White house interns, than anyone. His story has more holes in it than Uday and Qusay Hussein. I sincerely doubt that he suddenly said "Shazzam! That's what Foley meant when he emailed me 11 years ago."  I suspect it had more to do with getting Mark Foley out of the closet and hurting the Republicans, than it did "falling off the barn roof."

The following links are a few of the interviews that he has done.

Gay blogger sought to protect pages

Lane Hudson Speaks Out On Foley

How S.C. native put Foley on hot seat

Doing What Is Necessary

    Ralph Peters of The New York Post has an article entitled "Arabian Nightmares".  The article discusses the recent kidnapping of 50 university students in broad daylight and addresses the solution to winning in Iraq and the GWOT (or Long War) in general.  Mr. Peters writes,

What really matters is what our forces are ordered - and permitted - to do. With political correctness permeating our government and even the upper echelons of the military, we never tried the one technique that has a solid track record of defeating insurgents if applied consistently: the rigorous imposition of public order.

That means killing the bad guys. Not winning their hearts and minds, placating them or bringing them into the government. Killing them.

If you're not willing to lay down a rule that any Iraqi or foreign terrorist masquerading as a security official or military member will be shot, you can't win. And that's just one example of the type of sternness this sort of fight requires.

With the situation in Iraq deteriorating daily, sending more troops would simply offer our enemies more targets - unless we decided to use our soldiers and Marines for the primary purpose for which they exist: To fight.

    I whole heartedly agree with Mr. Peters.  In a Post on August 18, 2006 I wrote,

The solution?  Assuming that the Western world wants to maintain its way of life and standards of living and absence an alternative to oil, one of two things has to occur for the Western World and the Muslim world to peacefully coexist.  First, the will of the Islamic Fascist to fight has to be destroyed.  This can only be done by brute force.  The Western world has to have the stomach to draw the battle lines and undertake offensive military campaigns similar to those used against Germany and Japan during World War II.  The enemies' ability and will to fight has to be utterly destroyed and the populace has to be so tired of dying and suffering that it capitulates to the Western world. The national policy has to be "You are either with us or against us."

    The second alternative is a Reformation of the Muslim world.  If the Muslim world actually has a silent majority that wants the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness then it will have to stand up and force an attitude of tolerance upon the Muslim religion.  This means true tolerance and an acceptance of equality even if the other person is of a different religion.  By the way, Dhimmitude is not tolerance - it is subjugation.

    Until there is an acceptance by the Muslim religion, whether due to acquiescence brought about by absolute defeat by force or by an internal reformation, that each person has a right to his own views and that the holding of such views does not disqualify the person from life, there will be no peaceful coexistence with the Western World. There may be eras of stalemates and nonaggression but there will be no peace.  If the Western World does not have the stomach for the first and the Muslim world does not have the desire for the second, we may have no choice but to button up our jackets, shut our doors, and let the future generations deal with an inevitable problem.

    I think that the problems we experienced with the results of the Korean and Vietnam wars were due to the fact that we were not committed to total war. Thus our perceived goal of an unconditional win was unattainable.  If the goal was complete capitulation of the enemy, then total war was the only answer.  Both Germany and Japan surrendered because they simply had no fight left in them.  The military age men left in those countries had been bombed and shot at so much that they realized the only option was surrender or annihilation.  The reality of these two options caused them to reevaluate the propaganda that they had been eagerly devouring and they chose to surrender. 

    George Bush was right when he said, "Either you're with us or you're against us."  I believe that such an attitude is the only way to win a total war. Like General Patton said, "Lead me, Follow me or get out of my way."  If the goal is complete capitulation of the enemy then the tactics have to match.  Absence a change in heart by the enemy or the enemies supporters and enablers then the only way to win is by all out war. 

    However, if the goal is to fight until a satisfactory accord can be reached then all out war may not be the answer.  In such instances the idea of what I think of as coercive military force may be the correct strategy.  That is flex your muscles and crack a few heads as a warning.  Make the enemy reevaluate whether his ideas are that important to him. Use the carrot and the stick approach. 

    In trying to rebuild Iraq we have flexed our muscles and have acted short of all out war.  Given our intention to rebuild a sovereign Iraq, full capitulation is not our goal. 

America: Wake the *^&@ Up!

    On October 29, 2006 - Eleven days before America voted in what the Democratic Party (Pelosi, Kerry, Murtha, Heid) is calling a mandate to get us out of the disasterous war in Iraq, four Christian School girls were walking to their Christian School in Indonesia's province of Central Sulawesi when they were attacked by nine men.  The men, all  Muslim, attacked the girls for the sole purpose of beheading them.  The sole reason that the girls were chosen was because they were Christian.  Three of the girls were killed with their headless bodies being thrown into a ditch.  Two of the girl's heads were dumped in the village streets with a note that stated, "Wanted: 100 more Christian heads, teenaged or adult, male or female; blood shall be answered with blood, soul with soul, head with head."  The head of the third girl was left in a plastic bag on the steps of a newly built Christian Church.

    The three girls beheaded were: Yusriani Sampoe, 15 years old; Theresia Morangke, aged 16; and Alvita Polio, 19.  The fourth girl, Noviana Malewa, 15, was slashed across the face with a machete  but managed to escape her attackers. 

    Hasanuddin, the ring leader of the group, hatched the plan after a visit to members of Philippines Islamist group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.  Hasanuddin explored ways to celebrate the end of Ramadan.  After meeting with a local Muslim Cleric he discarded the idea of bombs and he decided that beheading the Christian girls could qualify as an act of Muslim charity, a  Lebaran gift.

     Nursalem Malewa, the father of Noviana, believes that the girls were targeted for attack because they defied Idul Fitre, an important Muslim holiday signifying the end of Ramadan. "They must have offended the Muslim extremists because in this season of Ramadan, there should be no school, but the Christian school is open,” explained Nursalem.

    Noviana's mom, Nur, 46, blames the Muslim extremists for the attack on her daughter, "My daughter is fighting for her life because she is a Christian. This has nothing to do with local gangsters; it is about religion. But they won't be able to provoke us, we don't want another war. We want justice, not vengeance. We are suffering enough."

    One local Muslim, however, blamed the beheadings on the Christians. "We're not terrorists, but we have little respect for Christians. Indonesia should be an Islamic country without the impurities of Christianity or Hinduism. There are no churches here. The beheadings of these schoolgirls suits the Christians. Perhaps they did it to show Muslims as monsters." That's rational thinking for you.

    The father of one of the murdered girls, Markus Sambuwe, remarked," I am really angry, but the Holy Spirit touched my heart and changed me. I forgive them just as Jesus has forgiven my sins." 

God Bless him, because he is a better Christian than I.

Oh yeah, you Democratic Party leaders - "It's about Religion, Stupid!"

The following links have more on this story:

The Australian
Conservative Propaganda - Warning: this link has morgue photos of the young girls
That Fallen Angel
CBN.com