Target Centermass

Month: November 2005

  • French Rioters Fire on Police, Wounding 10

    While I was away travelling, the Islamic riots in the Paris suburbs expanded to the city’s interior and other parts of the country. Now, it seems that expansion is giving way to escalation.

    In what has grown into a national crisis and continues to escalate, rioters in France fired on police officers during an 11th night of destruction, wounding 10 officers.

    About 200 youths were throwing stones and other projectiles at police in Grigny, south of Paris, on Sunday, police said.

    Some of the rioters then fired at officers with shotguns. Two of the 10 injured officers were seriously hurt.

    The incident came just hours after French President Jacques Chirac made his first public address since the riots began. He said restoring order was “an absolute priority” as the violence reached central Paris for the first time.

    “The law must have the last word,” Chirac said Sunday, pledging that security measures would be reinforced. Those sowing “violence or fear” will be “arrested, judged and punished.”

    Chirac made the statement after a security meeting of his top ministers. He has come under pressure by opposition politicians who accuse him of failing to intervene publicly.

    But police have already made hundreds of arrests, and rioters continue to ignore Chirac’s warnings as gangs of youths rampage the city.

    On Sunday some business owners called on Chirac to summon the military to stamp out the riots and calm the city, before arsonists begin to attack buildings as well.

    […]

    While the riots began in the suburbs outside Paris, Sunday was the first time the destruction reached into the heart of the city. Nationwide, police made 349 arrests.

    The violence was originally concentrated in neighbourhoods with large immigrant populations.

    However, the violence has spread out across the country to include Normandy in the west and southern cities on the Mediterranean such as Nice and Cannes.

    “All these hoodlums see others setting fires and say they can do it, too,” said national police spokesman Patrick Hamon.

    According to the article, an announcement of further security measures are expected in the next day or two from Chirac. True to his character to date, Chirac has been one for neither quick nor decisive reaction to the obvious expansionist Islamic problem. I guess points could be awarded for consistency.

    I’m not necessarily trying to be smug about the matter — the growing problem of radicalism in the pockets of Islamic populations in many European countries is no secret. For the future of the continent, someone has to put their foot down, and that foot is not Jacques.

    Meanwhile, just to plug a couple of members from my blogroll, I’ll be catching up on the weekend’s developments in France by perusing the coverage of the wonderfully, rationally hard-edged Ace of Spades and the link-heavy Gateway Pundit. I’d recommend y’all keep up with those two on a daily basis.

  • Quote of the Week, 6 NOV 05

    Vietnam was the first war ever fought without any censorship. Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.

    —General William Westmoreland

  • Aggie Football: In a Hole

    … and still digging.

    I’m just back from my weekend in Lubbock. Even more embarrassing than the Ags’ 56-17 loss to Texas Tech is the fact that I almost took solace that the Ags were able to hang with the Red Raiders for the first half, trailing 14-10 as the teams went to the break.

    My, how my beloved Aggies, a once powerful and proud program not many years ago, have truly fallen. After so much pre-season hope, the team now needs a major upset in one of its remaining games (at Oklahoma and home against rival Texas) to even achieve a winning season.

  • Project Valour-IT Drive Update

    Yeah, the inter-service rivalry is meant as a motivation. But c’mon, folks, we’re talking about getting voice-assisted laptops for wounded troopers who could use them to keep in touch with loved ones and hold onto their grasp of the world. Do you really need motivation to give?

    Well, if so, here’s a little bit of the reality faced by those whom you could help, courtesy the Gun Line (hat tip to the Gunn Nutt):

    Take a look at your hands… Go ahead, take a look…

    You can do some amazing things with this construct of four fingers and a thumb:

    You can:

    1. Pick your nose.
    2. Scratch an itch.
    3. Communicate (on L.A. highways it can be done with one digit.)
    4. Scritch the cat, dog, ferret, ect. behind the ears…
    5. Pat your loved one on the derriere.
    6. Caress your loved one’s… (well, you get the picture…)
    7. Shoot a pistol.
    8. Throw your kid a baseball (your accuracy varies…)
    9. Write a letter.

    Let’s write a letter, shall we?

    First you have to clear off a place at the dining room table or your desk. Then you have to figure out where the kids hid all of the pens. Then you have to find a sheet of paper that hasn’t been scribbled on. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair. Then you have to get up and find your address book. Then you have to kick the cat off of the chair (again.) Then you take pen in hand, shoo away the cat who has migrated from the floor to the tabletop and wants to help check your spelling.

    And then you can actually start writing.

    Takes – what?- about ten minutes…

    Now let’s write a letter after being hit with an IED…

    Go read the rest. And then give. Please. You can give at Blackfive, who is heading up the efforts of the Army branch.

    You can give here at Target Centermass, also supporting the Army branch:


    You can also visit a centralized listing of the blogs involved by branch, and the opportunity to see the latest donation totals and to give your share to any branch you wish. It may be a rivalry, but it’s all for the same team in the end.

    As of this writing, over $14,000 has been raised between the four branches in a little over a day. Hooah! But there’s still a ways to go — the drive will continue until Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11.

  • News Link Dump, 3 NOV 05

    Okay, I’m busy packing for a weekend journey to “scenic” Lubbock, Texas, to watch my Aggies square off on the gridiron against my fiancee’s Tech Red Raiders. I’m not expecting a good game, but it has become an annual trip for us, be it Lubbock or dear ol’ College Station.

    And now the news and views.

    The good news from Iraq is not fit to print

    No question: If you think that defeating Islamofascism, extending liberty, and transforming the Middle East are important, it’s safe to say you saw the ratification of the new constitution as the Iraqi news story of the week [emphasis in original].

    But that isn’t how the mainstream media saw it.

    Consider The Washington Post. On the morning after the results of the Iraqi referendum were announced, the Post’s front page was dominated by a photograph, stretched across four columns, of three daughters at the funeral of their father, Lieutenant Colonel Leon James II, who had died from injuries suffered during a Sept. 26 bombing in Baghdad. Two accompanying stories, both above the fold, were headlined ”Military Has Lost 2,000 in Iraq” and ”Bigger, Stronger, Homemade Bombs Now to Blame for Half of US Deaths.” A nearby graphic — ”The Toll” — divided the 2,000 deaths by type of military service — active duty, National Guard, and Reserves.

    I’ve said it before and, unfortunately, I’m quite certain I’ll have to say it again — our media’s handling of this war absolutely disgusts me. Oh, I’m not just talking about the Iraqi theater, though that has certainly been the lowlight of their performance, but also their coverage dating back to the opening of the Afghan campaign (a theater now seemingly all but forgotten in their eyes). I’ll again quote Power Line‘s Paul Mirengoff, who blogged the following:

    Have you ever read a history of war that focused almost entirely on casualty figures (with an occasional torture story and grieving parent thrown in), to the exclusion of any real discussion of tactics, operations, and actual battles? I haven’t. But that’s what our self-proclaimed “rough drafters” of history are serving up with respect to Iraq.

    It’s almost become a cliche, but I honestly feel we could not have successfully prosecuted World War II with today’s media.

    Chertoff says US wants to “gain control” of borders

    President George W. Bush’s domestic security chief vowed on Wednesday to “gain control” of U.S. borders, prompting ridicule from immigration control activists who have taken the matter into their own hands.

    Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration aims to improve ways to keep illegal migrants out and to deport those already in the United States.

    “Simply stated, our goal is to gain control of our borders,” Chertoff said in a speech organized by the Houston Forum, a nonprofit educational group.

    “I define control to mean that we will have an extremely high probability of detecting, responding to and interdicting illegal crossings of our borders.”

    I’ll wait until I actually see something of substance. Our borders have been far too freakin’ porous for far, far too long.

    Crisis as Paris burns for another night

    France’s government was under mounting pressure yesterday to regain control of the situation around Paris as youths opened fire on police and set 300 cars ablaze in overnight rioting in what is now a week of serious disorder.

    Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, held a series of crisis meetings yesterday amid increasing criticism of the government for its failure to control the escalating violence which began last Thursday in the northern suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois after two teenagers of North African origin were electrocuted in an electricity sub-station. The violence has since spread to at least 20 impoverished suburbs around the capital.

    I expect this matter to calm soon. That said, I don’t expect the actual problem to go away. This story is an excellent example of why: note the subdued description of the rioters and the troublesome neighborhoods. It isn’t until the 21st of 24 paragraphs until one can find the only mention of the religion involved. Of course, I’m talking about Islam.

    Al-Qaida Claims Downing of U.S. Helicopter

    Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Thursday it shot down a U.S. attack helicopter that crashed, killing two Marines, and a U.S. general said witnesses saw the aircraft take ground fire and break up in the air.

    The AH-1W Super Cobra crashed Wednesday near Ramadi during daylong fighting in the insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad. In addition to the two crewmen, an American lieutenant died when a bomb exploded as he was rushing to the crash site.

    Another U.S. soldier died Thursday in a roadside bombing northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

    My best wishes to the families of the troops involved.

    A nuclear surge to follow Iran’s diplomatic purge

    Iran announced yesterday that it was removing 40 ambassadors from their posts abroad and indicated a further hardening of the regime’s policies by preparing a new phase in its nuclear programme.

    A day after The Times revealed that senior envoys were being purged from Iran’s diplomatic service, Manoucher Mottaki, the Foreign Minister, told the parliament in Tehran that “the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire” by March 20. He described the drastic changes, affecting nearly half of Iran’s foreign posts, as normal and insisted that many envoys were close to retirement.

    His assurances failed to silence critics, both in Iran and abroad, who insisted that key envoys were being dismissed because they were moderates closely identified with the reformist policies of previous administrations.

    As Iran shifts back towards the hard line in its efforts to thrust itself into the leadership of the Islamic world, they run the risk of solidifying opposition other than the U.S. and Israel. After seeing trouble within their own borders and hearing the all-too-familiar threats, threats that ring out in an echo of the 1930s, some eyes in continental Europe seem to be opening to a growing danger.

    Assassination probe finds a trail of suspects

    It reads like a spy novel, laying out an elaborate web of phone calls, surveillance and even a fake assassin intended to throw investigators off the trail.

    The United Nations report on the Feb. 14 assassination of former Leba-nese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri details months of plotting by top Syrian and Lebanese security officials.

    The report, which was released Oct. 20, implicates about a dozen men who are now the focus of the U.N. investigation.

    In the coming weeks, the fate of these men could provoke a showdown between Syria and the international community. Armed with the chilling 54-page report, the United States, France and Britain lobbied for a U.N. resolution that threatened Syria with sanctions unless it cooperates fully with the U.N. probe.

    The resolution, which was unanimously approved by the Security Council on Monday, requires Syria to detain any Syrian official or civilian deemed by U.N. investigators as a suspect in Hariri’s killing.

    This story could be dangerous. Still, it could also be grab-the-popcorn entertaining as Syria finds itself suddenly struggling like a fish on a hook.

  • Riots Continue in France

    Here’s a special hat tip for blog quote of the day to John Little at Blogs of War , who scored the following little snark:

    Of course one can expect a few hiccups as France transitions to an Islamic state[.]

    Priceless, yet sadly too close to the truth. John carries on his coverage as the riots stretch into yet another night.

  • Lies, Lies, Lies, Yeah

    No, not alleged lies by the Bush administration, but a look at an actual liar — Joe Wilson, early hero of the anti-war movement and husband to allegedly outted spy Plame … Valerie Plame.

    Plamegate’s real liar

    Making the best of a weak hand, Democrats argued that the case was not about petty-ante perjury but, as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid put it, “about how the Bush White House manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to bolster its case for the war in Iraq and to discredit anyone who dared to challenge the president.” The problem here is that the one undisputed liar in this whole sordid affair doesn’t work for the administration. In his attempts to turn his wife into an antiwar martyr, Joseph C. Wilson IV has retailed more whoppers than Burger King.

    Okay, so Wilson is known to be a proven liar, obviously acting with motive. How is the media handling the story? Well, here’s a look at a typical example.

    Joe Wilson’s 60 Minutes

    There is, perhaps, no better illustration of how entrenched this misleading storyline has become than this past Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes. In a segment fronted by correspondent Ed Bradley, a host of Wilsonian memes were broadcast without even the slightest bit of skepticism.

    The segment began with a misleading question: “Would someone in the government go that far, leak her [Valerie Plame’s] name to the press, in retaliation for her husband’s public criticism of the war in Iraq?” But, Wilson was not merely “criticizing” the war in Iraq, a democratic right that should be protected, as this opening question implied. His “critique” was pure fantasy, a tale woven around his own classified trip to Africa.

    As has been shown countless times, no substantive part of Wilson’s story was true. A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Report made this clear in July 2004 (see, for example, here and here.) To hear 60 Minutes tell it, you would never even know that this report existed. The Senate Intelligence Report was not mentioned and Bradley did not ask Wilson a single question about his bogus charges. Instead, for the umpteenth time, Wilson was allowed an unchallenged opportunity to tell his version of events.

    By ignoring the numerous deficiencies in Wilson’s account, Bradley ignored one of the more salient questions in this story: Why was a CIA officer, Wilson’s wife, complicit in his lies? The Senate Intelligence Report makes it clear that Valerie Plame orchestrated Wilson’s trip to Africa and attended at least part of his CIA debriefing. She was, therefore, most certainly in a position to know that her husband’s accusations were false.

    Both are good reads, though they may leave one feeling quite disgusted. Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit has compiled a timeline of the controversy, chock full o’ supporting links: What CNN Won’t Tell You About the CIA Leak Case.

  • A Little Inter-service Rivalry

    For a very good cause.

    Army. Navy. Air Force. Marines. What a great place, it’s a great place to give.

    Blackfive has the story of a charity drive for Project Valour-IT, a very worth effort by the Soldiers’ Angels organization.

    Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the ‘Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse.

    Good enough cause, right? Well, just to add a little competition to the fundraising, this drive is being handled seperately by the different branches, with Blackfive leading the Army team. Check out the cause, then cruise over and help out, if not for the Army team then for any of the other branches. Blackfive has links to the others.

    I’m going to give. Will you?



  • “Over There” Loses the There

    And now it’s just over.

    Cable television’s FX channel has decided not to renew the critically praised Iraq war drama “Over There” for a second season due to weak ratings during the show’s initial 13-episode run, the network said on Tuesday.

    “Over There,” a first-of-its-kind contemporary war drama about U.S. troops in combat and their families back home, was co-created by Steven Bochco, the veteran TV producer behind such landmark cop shows as “Hill Street Blues” and “NYPD Blue.”

    While “Over There” garnered mostly favorable reviews, the gritty, albeit fictionalized, depiction of a real war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public ultimately proved a turnoff to TV viewers.

    Although the series contained references to real-life events that have stirred debate over the war, including the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, the producers sought to avoid overt political messages about the conflict.

    The show got off to a promising start on July 27 with 4.1 million viewers tuning in, a fairly healthy launch by cable TV standards, but the audience steadily declined from there.

    Through the 13th and final episode on October 26, the program averaged a meager 2.1 million viewers overall. Only 1.35 million watched the series finale.

    Good. Personally, I had not returned to the show since my generally disfavorable response to the premier episode.

  • Carnival of Liberty XVIII

    This week’s installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community’s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Fearless Philosophy For Free Minds. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.