Remember the Cole!

Remember the Maine!

But do you remember the Cole?

Most of our readers probably do remember the USS Cole, which was badly damaged in a terrorist attack on Columbus Day of 2000, when the ship was refueling in Yemen during the prodromal stage of the current war. Seventeen sailors were killed in the explosion.

Yesterday the USS Cole set sail again for the Middle East for the first time since then, and every time the crewmembers gather for a meal, they remember their fallen predecessors:

Every day the sailors aboard the Cole walk across a reminder of the attack that made the destroyer the most famous ship in the U.S. Navy fleet.

The floor in the corridor leading to the dining area has 17 gold stars — one for each sailor killed when terrorists bombed the Cole as it was refueling in Yemen’s port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000.

None of the current crew was there on that fateful day, but they are well aware of what happened, and of the dangers facing their ship in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf:

Sailors in the current crew of 320 — including many who asked to be assigned to the Cole — say they’re unafraid to deploy to that region.

“You’re looking over your shoulder, maybe a little nervous pulling into ports and stuff like that,” Chief Robin Guy said Tuesday on the ship, docked at Norfolk Naval Station.

“But I think right now throughout the world we have to be like that on any of our ships,” said Guy, 35, of Virginia Beach. “That threat is there, whether you’re here or overseas.”

[…]

Former Cole crew member Master Chief Paul Abney, who lost friends when the guided missile destroyer was bombed, said it’s the right thing for the ship to return to the Middle East.

“It sends a message in and of itself that we can be hurt but not broken,” Abney, 49, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Abney said he considers himself blessed because he only suffered a black eye in the attack and inhaled smoke. He left the Cole in February 2001 and now is stationed at a command in Norfolk.

The dedication of the Cole’s current crew is impressive:

Command Master Chief Pat Reynolds, 44, of Lubbock, Texas, has been in the Navy for 25 years but has been aboard the Cole for only three weeks. He requested duty on the Cole in part because he was impressed with the crew’s ability to come together to save the ship.

“The ship is metal. It’s the living, breathing crew that makes it special,” he said, adding that he has no doubt every member of the current crew would perform as well if something should happen to the ship.

Reynolds said he can’t wait to deploy to protect U.S. interests and show “the world we’re professional and that we mean business.”

As the confrontation with Iran heats up, the Cole’s presence in the Middle East is likely to be more than symbolic. Best keep the ship and its crew in your prayers.

If you need help remembering, visit the Cole Memorial website.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
And while you’re remembering the Cole, it’s important to remember a few other things:

• The Clinton administration response to the Cole bombing was… essentially nothing. Send the FBI, collect some evidence, and pressure Yemen to co-operate.
  
• When the Iranian revolutionaries overran the American embassy in Tehran in 1979 and seized American citizens as hostages, the Carter administration response was… essentially nothing. Freeze Iranian assets. One botched rescue attempt. Twenty-seven years of unremitting bellicose behavior on the part of the mullahs.
  
• When Hezbollah blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 American servicemen, the Reagan administration response was… to withdraw the Marines from Lebanon.
  
• When U.S. Army Rangers were ambushed and eighteen were killed in Mogadishu in 1993, the Clinton administration response was… to withdraw from Somalia.
  
• When Islamic terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in 1993, killing six people, the Clinton administration response was… to treat it as a domestic law enforcement matter, initiating a protracted criminal proceeding and essentially ignoring the potential connections with Saddam Hussein’s intelligence services.
  
• When terrorists bombed the Khobar Towers complex in Saudi Arabia in 1996, killing nineteen U.S. Air Force personnel, the Clinton administration response was… to let the Saudis control the investigation and dispense justice, pleading with them to throw the FBI some crumbs of information.
  
• When the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by Al Qaeda in 1998, killing hundreds of people, the Clinton administration response was… to bomb an aspirin factory in Sudan and an empty terrorist camp in Afghanistan.

After 9-11 everything changed, right? We overthrew the Taliban, invaded Iraq, captured Saddam Hussein, and killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Yes, but…

• When the Palestinians elected members of Hamas — which is among the most vicious and ruthless terrorist groups in the world — the Bush administration response was… to give some more money to the Palestinians and beg them to play nice this time.
  
• When Islamists organized carefully staged riots and violence to protest the Danish Mohammed cartoons, the Bush administration response was… to say that the Danes were out of line when they published the cartoons.
  
• When the Iranians deliberately and publicly demonstrated their intention to obtain nuclear weapons, the Bush administration response was… to offer the Iranians nuclear technology, attempt to engage them in talks, and beg them to abide by previously-signed treaties.

You’d think we’d have learned by now, but apparently we haven’t.

Although we all wish it were otherwise, the fact remains that our displays of weakness — doing little or nothing in the face of terrorist atrocities, or withdrawing when attacked, or equivocating in the face of threats, or obsequiously offering inducements when threatened with violence — only generate more violence against us.

Until we reclaim our martial virtues, we can only expect more of the same. We would do well to emulate General William T. Sherman:

My aim, then, was to whip the [enemy], to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.

Remember the Cole!


Hat tip: Reader TJP.

Londonistan : Brainwashing The Children For Allah "The Merciful"

About 100 Muslims in east London have taken to the streets to protest the arrest of two Muslim men in anti-terror raids :

Great Moments In The History Of Pacifism

Gandhi Is A Sacred Cow -
We Must Butcher Him

In light of the endless handwringing by the Mainstream Media, and Nicholas Berg, over the targeted assassination of the murder Musab al-Zarqawi, I want to repost this old essay from CUANAS.

From CUANAS, circa August 2004:


If Europe would have taken Gandhi’s advice as below, we’d all be speaking German and be part of a perfect Aryan race. There would be no people living with disabilities or birth defects; the Roma (gypsies) would have disappeared into oblivion and there would be no homosexuality allowed. Communism and free speech would be considered crimes and there would have been no freedom of religion.

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions...

"If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman and child to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them."

"Hitler killed five million [sic] Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs."

Louis Fisher, Gandhi's biographer asked him: "You mean that the Jews should have committed collective suicide?"

Gandhi responded, "Yes, that would have been heroism."

It’s very lucky that Gandhi himself used passive resistance against the civilised British, because if he’d have used the same technique with the Nazis, there would be no people of Indian descent left in this world.

It's time for the world to grow up and realize that Gandhi was not a man of great vision. He was not an incarnation of God.

I would not even call him a man of peace.

The emotional devastation he was willing to lay on his wife gives the lie to his being a good man in private. For a person to deprive the one he supposedly loves of physical intimacy (and the emotional well-being that goes with it) because he believes he has some special relationship with the universe is an disgusting sin.

Gandhi was a snake oil salesman who won a P.R. battle against British imperialism. Thank God he did. He was the right schmuck at the right time. His people owe him thanks.

However, his legacy is a burden on the whole human race. Unfortunately many naiive, but well-placed, people believe we can take Gandhian "principles" and apply them to all of reality.

Gandhi's notion of applying his asinine philosophy to the fight against Hitler is not only laughable, it's arrogant to the point of megalomania. It shows he was willing to let the whole human race go down with the ship, because of his own belief in his special relationship with his stupid pantheistic universe.

And to sum it up, let me pose this question:

Gahndi says,"the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife." So, how exactly does his philosophy differ, in practice, from that of Hitler?

Lost The Plot

The following extract is from a New Statesman by Brendan O'Neill in which he criticizes "Londonistan", a recently released book by Melanie Phillips :

Poor Melanie Phillips. Her new book, Londonistan, which argues that the London attacks of 7 July 2005 were the culmination of a sinister Islamist conspiracy to infiltrate Britain and bring our civilisation to its knees, has hit the shelves just a few weeks after the government's report into the bombings revealed that, in fact, they were the work of four ordinary blokes with no clear links to al-Qaeda. What Phillips presents as the handiwork of "clerical fascism" looks increasingly like Britain's Columbine, a murderous stunt executed by four bored and overgrown adolescents who had nothing better to do.

So let's clear that up ;

1) These were four ordinary guys

2) No links to Al-Qaeda

3) They blew themselves up because they "had nothing better to do"

But why should we take Mr O'Neill's word for it? Let's hear what the ringleader of the attack and one of Al-Qaeda's top brass has to say on the July 7th terrorist attacks :

Mohammad Siddique Khan confesses to London attacks. States that Islamic Jihadism, fighting for the Ummah, achieving Shahada, Islamic conquest [fighting the Kufr/non-believers] were his beliefs and ideology for the attacks. In other words, fundamental Islam [click the picture to watch the video - this article contains more information on the video and it's release]

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri claims responsibility for the London attacks [click the picture to watch the video]

If you watch the videos you may notice that they carry the same logo. This is the logo of Al-Sahab, the Al-Qaeda video production company. In the original video of Khan's confession was a longer version of Zawahiri's claims.

So once again for Mr O'Neill.

1) The boys [ringleader at least] were driven by a violent and hostile ideology.

2) Al Qaeda claim responsibility, Khan's video will uses the Al-Qaeda production company logo and Khan's will was released in compilation form to Jihadist websites by the production company.

3) They carried out the attacks in the name of their beliefs, not because they "had nothing better to do".

In fact, I'm ashamed I even had to answer that last point and I'm repulsed that Mr O'Neill would suggest that this terror cell blew up three tube trains and one bus simply because they "had nothing better to do".

This is where I have to leave it for now, but if you read through the rest of O'Neill's article you'll see that it's one big whitewash for the Islamic terrorist ideologies, mindsets and activities that are blossoming right under our noses in the UK. The same ideologies that led directly to the July 7th attacks.[click here for the full article]

US Troops Conducted 40 More Counter-Terrorism Raids Last Night In Iraq

The hit on Zarqawi had the side effect of landing us an avalanche of fresh information on the whereabouts of other terrorists:


U.S. troops conducted nearly 40 raids Friday in Iraq, taking advantage of information gleaned from searches following Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death, a military spokesman said, revealing new information about the man believed to be poised to take the terror leader's place.

U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the military spokesman, also said that al-Zarqawi was alive when Iraqi police arrived at the strike scene and that U.S. forces also saw him alive.

"We did in fact see him alive. There was some kind of movement he had on the stretcher and he died immediately after," Caldwell said. "He mumbled something but it was indistinguishable and it was very short."

He also said U.S. troops conducted 39 raids across Iraq, including some directly related to the information they obtained from the strike against al-Zarqawi.

Those were in addition to 17 raids conducted after the terror leader was killed Wednesday evening.

In the second night of raids, Caldwell said 39 raids were carried out and that "clearly we picked up things like memory sticks, some hard drives" that would allow American forces to begin dismantling al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq. He said it was also helping them understand where the group's weapons and financing were coming from.

But Caldwell also told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he did not think the terrorist organization had been decapitated. "We have no question we dealt it a severe blow, but it can regenerate," he told the BBC. "There are still going to be some difficult times."

In announcing al-Zarqawi's death, Caldwell said the 17 raids had "produced a tremendous amount of information," which he described as a "treasure trove."

He also said they waited to kill al-Zarqawi before carrying out the other raids, in an apparent effort not to spook the Jordanian-born terrorist. "We had identified other targets that we obviously did not go after to allow us to focus on al-Zarqawi. Now that we got him, we will go after them," Caldwell said.

At least we know now what they really think!

Yes, you are reading that right. The logo on the left is from the website of Muslim Youth Helpline (MYH), the organisation, which will be sponsered by the event the logo announces. More about it can be found at Tariq "The glamorous face of radical Islam" Ramadan's website.

The fundraising panel discussion with the title "The Future of Europe in Islam - Exclamation Mark" took place on Wednesday in London.

(It) aims to explore the future of Europe in Islam. Islam is frequently cited as Europe’s fastest growing religion, and its followers have increasingly been in the spotlight. The rise of the far right across Europe together with a growing confident Muslim identity raises interesting questions about the role that Europe is playing in shaping the future of Islam and Muslims living in the west.

Tariq Ramadan is one of the speakers at that event. Yes, that is the man who notably stated in a Moroccan newspaper "The big deception is to let Europe believe that it is based on Judaeo-Christian tradition", the man who in 2004, during a television debate (100 Minutes pour convaincre) with then French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy refused to condemn the application of hudud laws, which include punishments such as amputations for theft, stoning for adulterery and the persecution of those with dissident views on Islam.

His goal is the Islamisation of the West, as described by the German scholar of Islamic studies of Lebanese descent, Ralph Ghadban, in his book "Tariq Ramadan und die Islamisierung Europas".

"Ramadan's goal is the Islamisation of the societies of the West. He approves of democracy because it gives him the freedom to act. He does, however, want to overcome the constitution, which is based on human rights."

In such a light, of course, we ought not to be amazed that integration is a non-issue at the above described panel discussion.

As an aside, Tariq Ramadan is introduced again as 'Professor'. Gudrun Eussner has collected a wealth of knowledge at her website (sadly in German only) about that specific sort of imposture: "Professor Tariq Ramadan?" and about Tariq Ramadan, maternal grandson of Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, generally. Tariq is a Swiss citizen because his father, Sa‘id Ramadan, also a leading Islamist, fled from Egypt in 1954 following increasing pressure on the Brotherhood. Sa‘id went to Geneva in 1958, where Tariq was born in 1962.

The question is not just how a radical Islamist like Ramadan could become quite that influential among the Western intelligentsia, the question is even more how he managed to sell himself as the moderate face of Islam and a bridge-builder.

---

Additional information:

Daniel Pipes:
Why Revoke Tariq Ramadan's U.S. Visa?

Fouad Ajami
Tariq Ramadan

Gudrun Eussner:
Dr. Tariq Ramadan in Kopenhagen
Dr. Tariq Ramadan wird nun allmählich böse!
Prof. Dr. Tariq Ramadan - 12 Jahre im Dienste des europäischen Islamismus

Hat tip: Politically Incorrect!

Muslims Protest Counter-Terrorism Raids In London

Instead of protesting against terrorism, they are protesting against the police, who are trying to protect the citizenry:


Hundreds of Muslim demonstrators are set to gather in east London to protest at being treated as "second-class citizens" following a controversial anti-terror raid.

One of Scotland Yard's most senior officers appealed for calm ahead of the protest outside Forest Gate police station.

Andy Hayman, the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, said it was not the time for conflict and anger and urged all communities to pull together.


No, with major Muslim organizations, it is always time for conflict and anger. Find me one major Muslim organization which opposes terrorism unreservedly.

The Iraqi And Jordanian Blogospheres On

The Death Of Zarqawi

By MG at IBC, Iraqi Blogger Central
June 09, 2006

Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi likely was born in Zarka, Jordan circa October 1966, and met his final resting place in Hibhib, Iraq on June 8 2006. Since he graced both nations with his malevolent presence, in this post, we look at the reaction of the Iraqi and Jordanian Bloggers to the death of infamous Zarqawi...

THE IRAQI BLOGOSPHERE

As you would expect, Sam from Hammorabi took the news of Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's earthly demise with good cheer and cast him and his fellow terrorist travellers on a journey through hell:

Zarqawi without doubts went into the bottom of the Hell with blood of many innocent children, women and men in his dirty hands...Zarqawi and his aides simply went to Hell and this is the worst fate for any one like them.

Sam even outlined the crimes committed by Zarqawi for us: Zarqawi who is Jordanian from Palestinian origin was responsible for thousands of crimes against the Iraqis and the MNF as well as against humanity. He appeared recently in a video challenging the American and Iraqi forces. He beheaded by his dirty hands many Iraqis and foreigners...

[...] I know that attacks will increase. I know more people are going to die. I know mistakes are going to be continued. I know everything will not be fixed soon like in the fairy tales. But I am happy that this man is killed. I believe his death is the real first step: the thousand-miles road starts with one step.[...] Baghdad Treasure The Thousand-Miles Road Starts with One Step

Read the rest of MG's post on the reactions in the Iraqi blogphere here.

Diane

Zarqawi: Terror Tool Of Tehran

From Michael Ledeen in National Review:


I first noticed (Zarqawi) some years ago, reading the German and Italian press. Several terrorist cells in those countries had been rounded up, and court documents showed that in both countries the network had been created from Tehran, by Zarqawi. Thus, years before we went into Iraq, Zarqawi was already a major player in international terrorism, and in recognition of his skills he was sent into Iraq as one of the organizers of the terror war against us and the Iraqi people.

Despite his intonations against the Shiites, and his manifest efforts to promote civil war in Iraq, Zarqawi was happy to work with the radical Shiite regime in Tehran, and they were happy to work with him.

Zarqawi played on a global scale. Reports from Canada recount contacts between the ‘home-grown’ terrorists arrested by the Mounties and Zarqawi himself (See the ‘Mississauga News,’ June 7: ‘The arrest of 17 suspects...is said to be the latest stage in dismantling a terrorist network that’s linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...’). Those arrests seem linked to those carried out in Atlanta, Georgia, by the FBI, and to other arrests in Sarajevo, England, and Denmark. It will be surprising if we don’t find Zarqawi’s claw prints in several of those venues, as the Canadians have said.

Remember, it was publicly announced a few months ago that Zarqawi was no longer the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, that henceforth the Iraqi Sunni ‘community’ would run the terror war there, and that Zarqawi would devote his efforts to the international jihad. It seems he did just that — and failed.

We have probably just lived through the greatest global counterterrorist operation in history. In Iraq alone, some 16 or 17 terror cells were attacked at the same time as Zarqawi was killed. And the wave of arrests — just yesterday the Swiss reported they had broken up a cell planning to attack an El Al passenger plane — is like nothing I have seen before, bespeaking an encouraging degree of international cooperation. It goes hand in hand with the devastating campaign in Iraq against the terrorist leadership. Zarqawi is just the latest to fall; most of his top associates had been eliminated over the course of the past several months.

Islamic Indoctrination Case Taken To Supreme Court

From WND:


A public-interest legal group is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing a California public school to engage in a three-week intensive course for 7th graders on how to "become Muslims."

A California federal trial court and the 9th Circuit, widely considered the nation's most liberal appeals court, determined the class did not violate the Constitution.

As WND reported, the lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center against the Byron Union School District and various school officials to stop the "Islam simulation" materials and methods used in the Excelsior School in Byron, Calif.

The 2001 course had students take Islamic names and wear identification tags that displayed their new Islamic name and the Muslim star and crescent moon. They also were handed materials that instructed them to "Remember Allah always so that you may prosper"; complete the Islamic five pillars of faith, including fasting; and memorize and recite the "Bismillah," or "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate," which students also wrote on banners hung on the classroom walls.

Students also played "jihad games" during the course, which was part of the school's world history and geography program.

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said the "case cries out double standard."

"The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is the same court that held our Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it contained the phrase 'under God,' and yet they allow a three-week intensive course on how to become Muslims, including class memorization of Islamic prayers and participation in Islamic religious rituals," Thompson said.

Edward L. White III, the Law Center's trial counsel handling the case, argued that although a public school may teach about religion, the school district "went far beyond an explanation of the historical or literary significance of Islam and placed these seventh graders into the position of becoming trainees in that religion."

"These young children were indoctrinated in Islam, which the Constitution forbids," White said.
The Supreme Court will decide within the next few months whether to review the case.

The Law Center argues the panel did not address the plaintiff's claims that their free exercise and parental rights had been violated.

White says parents were never told about the Islamic program and didn't know they had the option to remove their children from such an activity.

One of the parents found out by accident, looking through her son's schoolbag after the program had finished.

In December 2003, the San Francisco court determined the school district had not violated the Constitution.

In her 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton determined Excelsior was not indoctrinating students about Islam when it required them to adopt Muslim names and pray to Allah, but rather was just teaching them about the Muslim religion.

But White insists a line was crossed, placing the students in the "position of being trainees in Islam, which is impermissible in a public school."

When WorldNetDaily first reported the story in January 2002 – shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks committed by 19 Islamist terrorists – major controversy ensued nationwide.

The course was part of a curriculum taught to seventh-graders all over the state, included in the state's curriculum standards required by the state board of education. Although the standards outline what subjects should be taught and included in state assessment tests, they didn't mandate how they're to be taught.

At the end of the three-week course, Excelsior teacher Brooke Carlin presented a final test requiring students to critique Muslim culture.

The Islam simulations at Excelsior are outlined in the state-adopted textbook "Across the Centuries," published by Houghton Mifflin, which prompts students to imagine they are Islamic soldiers and Muslims on a Mecca pilgrimage.

The lawsuit also alleges students were encouraged to use such phrases in their speech as "Allahu Akbar," which is Arabic for "Allah is greatest," and were required to fast during lunch period to simulate fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Nevertheless, Judge Hamilton ruled the program was devoid of "any devotional or religious intent" and was, therefore, educational, not religious in nature.

IAF kills PLO member named Jamal Abu Samhadana

The successful slaying of Zarqawi by the USAF isn't the only air strike that's brought justice this week: even another terrorist, this one being the PLO's Jamal Abu Samhadana, was killed shortly ago by the Israeli Air Force:

The Israel Air Force struck a Gaza terrorist base late Thursday night, killing Jamal Abu Samhadana, a wanted terrorist newly appointed to head a new Hamas militia comprised of various terrorists.

The IAF craft attacked a training camp of the Salah al-Din Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), in the southern Gaza town of Rafiah, firing four missiles in the strike.

Abu Samhadana, founder and leader of the Fatah splinter group, the PRC, was the director-general of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (PA) Interior Ministry. He was appointed to the post a short time after his release from an Israeli prison.

Abu Samhadana had survived at least four previous assassination attempts. He has been on Israel’s most wanted terrorist list from the time of the first intifada and was suspected of having a key role in the bloody 2003 bombing of a U.S. convoy in Gaza.

The camp was located on the ruins of the former Jewish settlement Slav in the southern part of Gush Katif, which the government demolished last summer during the expulsion program. Terrorists were being trained there to launch a large scale attack on Israel, according to an IDF spokeswoman. At least three other terrorists were killed and ten wounded in the missile strike, she said.

Very good.

Death Be Not Proud

... your big win for the day is the piece of shit Zarqawi.

Congrats Mr. Reaper. Old Musab is quite a catch.

And, now he goes to meet his 72 Virgins. Here's a photo of the first few to show up at the Hellfire Orgy.

17 More Raids On Terrorist Safe-Houses Immediately After Zarqawi Killing

We also may have gotten Zarqawi and staffs computers:


It's reported that immediately after Zarqawi's house was bombed, Iraqi and American forces carried out 17 simultaneous raids on terrorists in the Baghdad area. Local commanders have said that our soldiers recovered a "treasure trove" of information from Zarqawi's house in documents and on computer hard drives.

17 more raids on top of Zarqawi's not-so-safe house, we no doubt did recover lots of actionable information. So the fallout will continue for weeks to come.


I heard the blogger Citizen Smash on the Hugh Hewitt Show today, and he was saying the reason we got all these guys immediately after the Zarqawi killing is because we had been tracking them for weeks without killing them in hopes they would lead us to Zarqawi.

They may have, although, I also hear people inside Al Qaeda may have had something to do with the American intel as well.

Is the whole House of Cards crumbling?

Reuters And The But Monkeys

As Laura Ingraham would say, at Reuters, the Flying But Monkeys are out in force:


Zarqawi Found, But Bin Laden Still Eludes US


Hee hee. I'll get you my pretty.

Some Democrats Call Zarqawi Killing A "Stunt"

Pete Stark (D - CA) is among the most American-loving of all politicians. It's clear:


Some Democrats, breaking ranks from their leadership, today said the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq was a stunt to divert attention from an unpopular and hopeless war.
"This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, said Zarqawi was a small part of "a growing anti-American insurgency" and that it's time to get out.

"We're there for all the wrong reasons," Mr. Kucinich said.


Uh, just in case anyone didn't realize it, my set up to this post contained just a touch of sarcasm.