Target Centermass

October 13, 2004.

I miss you, Dad. More than I’ll ever let show in the real world.

I am glad that she had the opportunity to meet you.

Thank you for so very, very much.

There’s no great surprise here, as al Jazeera happily pimps for al Queda and its response to a key intelligence release by the U.S.

A purported al-Qaida web posting has charged the United States with fabricating a letter in which the group’s No 2 allegedly wrote to its leader in Iraq asking for money and laying out the group’s plans for the Middle East.

“We in al-Qaida declare that there is no truth to these claims, and they are baseless, except in the imagination of the politicians of the Black (White) House,” according to the statement on a web site known as a clearing house for al-Qaida material.

The statement was signed by Abu Maysara, who claims to be spokesman for al-Qaida in Iraq. It could not be authenticated.

“We call on Muslims not to pay attention to this cheap propaganda and to remember that the media will always be the infidels’ sole weapon until the end of the battle,” the statement said.

Further evidence of U.S. trickery is that Ayman al-Zawahiri always signs his letters to Abu al-Zarqawi with “Hugs and kisses.”

I put forth my brief analysis of the letter here, but I’d also like to point you towards the Indepundit‘s inciteful look at the revealing communique.

Kudos also to commenter SPC Richardson for pointing me to CentCom’s examination.

Radical elements of the Religion o’ Peace are at it again, and yet again Russia is facing the brunt.

Islamic militants staged coordinated attacks on police and government buildings in the southern Russian city of Nalchik today, as fresh violence spilled over from war-torn Chechnya to the broader North Caucasus region.

By early evening, 12 police, 12 civilians and more than 50 guerrillas had died in the day’s fighting, authorities said.

As night fell, militants were holding several people hostage in a Nalchik police station, Russian First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin told reporters. Three guerrillas were also barricaded in a souvenir shop, he said.

Chekalin estimated the number of militants involved in the attacks at a maximum of 100, but other officials said there could be up to 300 involved.

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin ordered the city of 235,000 be cordoned off to prevent militants from escaping overnight.

“The president gave an instruction that not one gunman should be allowed to leave the town, and those who are armed and putting up resistance must be wiped out,” Chekalin said after meeting Putin, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

I’ve asked before, but isn’t it about time that we acknowledge that Russia is facing that same expansionist Islamic threat that the U.S. and its allies are fighting elsewhere?

Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit is all over this story here and here.

Nice 4-1 victory to even the National League Championship Series with St. Louis at a game apiece. Now, back to Houston and what promises to be a rowdy crowd behind Roger Clemens in game three.

Update: link added to game recap.