Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Hamas Landslide Shakes Mideast

    Well, I must say that the Palestinian elections have generated an interesting situation.

    The Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, which has said it favors the destruction of Israel, won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections, securing 76 seats in the 132-member legislature, officials said Thursday.

    The preliminary results showed Fatah, which has held power since the creation of the Palestinian Authority, garnered only 43 seats, dramatically shifting the political landscape in the volatile region.

    […]

    President Bush — whose Middle East policy includes support for emerging democracies — said Thursday he would not deal with Hamas unless it renounced terrorism.

    “We don’t have a government yet, so you’re asking me to speculate on what the government will look like,” Bush told reporters during a White House news conference. “I have made it very clear, however, that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of its platform is a party with which we will not deal.”

    “I don’t see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform.”

    Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has already accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, Erakat said. The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority Cabinet also has resigned.

    Bush said, “we would hope [Abbas] would stay in office and work to move the process forward.” The president acknowledged that the election appeared to “open the eyes” of the Palestinian “old guard.”

    “Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo,” Bush said.

    “The people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find health care.”

    “It’s a wake-up call to the leadership,” Bush said, many of whom are holdovers from the days of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

    First, some media reactions.

    Ben Lynfield at The Scotsman looks at great length at the causes and ramifications.

    The Islamic militant group Hamas swept to victory over the long-dominant Fatah party yesterday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, a political earthquake that could bury any hope for peace talks with Israel soon.

    Official election results released yesterday evening gave Hamas a surprise victory in Wednesday’s parliamentary elections. Hamas, an organisation best known for its suicide bombings but which also runs social services, capitalised on widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo of economic, political and security instability to gain a stunning 76 seats out of the 132-member parliament. President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah movement, which has dominated Palestinian politics for the last 45 years, gained only 43 seats. The Islamic movements winning campaign slogan was “With one hand build, with the other resist”.

    Hamas leaders said they would like to see Fatah and smaller groupings join them in a broad coalition government, while stunned Fatah leaders weighed up their next steps.

    Mr Abbas, who was elected last year, does not have to resign, but has said he might do so if he is unable to pursue his plans for restarting Middle East peace talks. With the Hamas victory, Israel is even more likely than before to unilaterally pursue the drawing of its final borders, withdrawing from parts of the West Bank while annexing other sections. Perhaps Mr Abbas’s greatest failure, not entirely of his own making, and another key reason for Hamas’s victory, was that he was unable to deliver on his strategy of getting Israel back to the negotiating table.

    […]

    The victory of the fundamentalist Hamas in the Palestinian elections will have far-reaching consequences for the region, some totally unexpected.

    Two aspects, however, are already visible. The Hamas victory is, first and foremost, an indication of the total failure of the traditional Palestinian leadership to create a body politic. Palestine is not yet a state, but it is already a failed one.

    […]

    It is still an open question whether Hamas in government will become more pragmatic and less committed to terrorism; it certainly is a possibility, and one should not prejudge the outcome. But nor, on the other hand, is it clear that the existing organs of the PA – especially the security services at its disposal – will allow a peaceful transfer of power. Indeed, no such precedent exists: there has never been a peaceful transfer of power in any of the Arab League’s 22 member states.

    Greg Myre at the New York Times expects the results to drive greater Israeli unilateralism.

    The Hamas landslide in Palestinian elections has stunned Israelis, but it may also have brought them a rare moment of clarity: with peace talks off the table, Israel will most likely pursue unilateral actions, drawing its own borders and separating itself from the Palestinians.

    Ehud Olmert, the acting prime minister, made it clear after an emergency cabinet meeting that talks with Hamas, a Palestinian party sworn to Israel’s destruction, were out of the question, while experts said Israel was now freer to establish its future on its own.

    They said Israel — whose own elections in two months could be heavily influenced by the Palestinian results — was likely to focus on speeding up construction of the separation barrier, which runs along and through parts of the West Bank. After more than three years of building, it remains less than half finished, but Israeli officials say it has contributed enormously to the reduction of suicide bombings and other attacks. Palestinians, on the other hand, say the barrier takes land they want for a future state.

    […]

    Since on-and-off peace talks began more than a decade ago, Israelis have been deeply divided over what sorts of concessions to make, how much territory to keep and whether the talks would lead to an end to the decades-old conflict. On Thursday, it seemed there were few such doubts.

    From Israeli hawks who oppose concessions to doves who constantly pressed for renewed peace talks, Israelis said there could be no negotiations with Hamas.

    Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and now a parliamentary candidate for the left-leaning Labor Party, said the absence of a negotiating partner should not halt Israeli actions aimed at separating from the Palestinians.

    Israel, he said, should seek “to create a situation where Israel disengages from the Palestinians and preserves the character of Israel as a Jewish democracy.” Israel should continue, he said, “to move fast and independently to our goal.”

    Mr. Olmert hopes to become prime minister in elections on March 28 as head of the centrist Kadima Party started by Mr. Sharon.

    But Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, made clear that the Palestinian results offered an opportunity for his more hawkish message to be heard. He said the Hamas victory was a result of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and proved that no more withdrawals should occur.

    […]

    Hamas’s electoral triumph comes at a time when Israel is going through its own political upheavals, and the government is unlikely to make any major moves until after the Israeli election.

    […]

    The campaign may also mean that Mr. Olmert and his party will have to take a tougher tone to ensure that they are not outflanked on the security issue by Likud.

    The Telegraph’s Tim Butcher points out a possible path for future diplomatic discourse with the Palestinians in a piece headlined “Terrorists voted into power.”

    Hamas, the Islamic group behind suicide bombings against Israel, was swept to power yesterday in a stunning victory in the Palestinian general election.

    It vaulted from being a shadowy fringe movement advocating the destruction of Israel to a party of government, sending shock waves through the region and beyond.

    Western countries united to call on Hamas to change its charter after it achieved what amounted to a peaceful Islamic revolution through the ballot box. As Hamas has close links to Teheran, the victory extended considerably the influence of the Iranian Islamic republic across the Middle East.

    […]

    Tony Blair said that Britain recognised the Hamas victory. “But I think it is also important for Hamas to understand that there comes a point – and that point is now, after a strong showing – where they have to decide between a path of democracy or a path of violence.”

    While the European Union and America regard Hamas as terrorists, British diplomats represented the EU during talks with Hamas councillors who won local elections in the West Bank last year. Britain argued that it was possible to have links with Hamas about official municipal business as long as security and militancy were not discussed. A similar formula may be used by EU officials as they work out how to deal with a Hamas-run government.

    Second, a selection of reactions from my blogroll.

    Ed Morrisey at Captain’s Quarters takes a hardline approach to the results.

    Unless someone can show widespread voter fraud on behalf of Hamas, the Palestinians should be judged by the choices they have made this week. They have chosen war and the annihilation of Israel over the two-state solution favored publicly (if not fervently) by Fatah. Europe and the United States need to wake up from their delusional dreamland of a situation where both sides in this conflict want a peaceful conclusion and a world without hatred for their children and grandchildren. Clearly, the Palestinians want war, and they have made no secret of using their children and grandchildren as bomb fuses in order to perpetuate it.

    The first item on our list should be an absolute end to all aid to the Palestinian territories and government. The US should not subsidize Hamas, nor should it give money to a people whose only aim appears to be genocide. Second, the US should allow Israel to respond militarily to any and all provocations — no more pressure from Washington on Tel Aviv to moderate their responses to suicide bombings and missile attacks.

    Ace at Ace of Spades stands in agreement with the captain.

    The infantilization of the Palestinians, by which they are immunized by the world for the vicious, murderous decisions they as a people make, has got to end. This is a depressing moment, but a clarifying one. Let no one say again that the Palestinians “want peace” and would choose it if only they could get past their extremist and corrupt leadership. They chose war — as they have been choosing war for 30 years.

    However, PoliBlog‘s Dr. Steven Taylor warns against such reactions as oversimplifications.

    For one thing, it isn’t as if Fatah was utterly opposed to political violence, or that their members were all lily-white in terms of their innocence vis-à-vis terrorism. Remember: Fatah came out of the PLO, which was Hamas before Hamas was Hamas.

    I point this out to note that the notion that there was a stark choice for the Palestinian voters between a “peace” party and a “war” party is incorrect. For one thing, that was not, as best as I can tell, what the campaign was about. The key issues in this election were corruption and the fact that Fatah has had a difficult time delivering on basic governance in the PA.

    […]

    That the Hamas victory creates problems is undeniable. That I would have preferred Fatah to remain in control is certainly the case. However, I take some solace that Hamas comes to power through legitimate elections, not a military take-over and that they will have to govern. Governing has a way of changing organizations, especially when they are beholden to voters.

    Meanwhile, Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom looks at what he thinks the election results confirm about Palestinian society.

    And they clearly are not ready for democracy—which, as has been noted a million times—goes beyond the easy mechanical process of elections. “Palestine”—for all the recent (canny) good will shown it by Ariel Sharon’s Israeli government and the deference of the Bush administration—was not prepared for any such shift in ruling philosophy. They are a culture raised primarily on hate (via schools and TV) and a sense of deferred entitlement, all of which has been consistently reinforced by an international press hostile to Israel, and by a leftist academic ethos that for years has excused the barbarism, corruption, and obvious (and directed) scapegoating of the Jewish state under the guise that victim politics and the absense of whatever pet utopian theory of workable social and geopolitical organization they’ve in their minds knitted together from the various fraying strands of hardcore fundamentalist religion, soft marxism, grievance marketing, and a particularly pernicious brand of identity politics has yet to swaddle the region in a magic blanket of peace and rapprochement.

    And what do I think? I think the oncall pager should have left me alone this evening and allowed me a chance to throw together something meaningful.

    Beyond that, I think that the Palestinians have shunned blood and corruption for blood and … well … more recent blood, with possible corruption to follow. Please realize that a large impediment to any success in Fatah’s actually ruling over the Palestinians was Hamas. Now, after the election, Hamas is reaching out to Fatah in hopes of eliminating the same kind of hurdle that they themselves were.

    Hamas has long claimed that they were ready to lead the Palestinians politically, so it’s time to shut up and put up for the terrorists. Here’s hoping for a strong Israel and a little bit of spine from Europe. Hold on tight — we could be in for a bumpy ride.

  • Humor: Update the Military Enlistment Oath

    Okay, I’ve got next to nothing tonight, so it seems a perfect evening to remind myself that this is just a hobby and go watch another episode of Firefly, which Santa hooked me up with after I gushed over the movie Serenity.

    Still, I don’t want to leave y’all empty-handed, so here’s a suggestion to rewrite the American military enlistment oath by personalizing it for each branch (hat tip to Blackfive). I chuckled and hope you will too.

    Out.

  • Mexico Denies Soldiers Involved in Drug Standoff

    After a dangerous showdown at the West Texas border between the long arm of the local law and drug-lugging interlopers donning military uniforms, Mexico has issued the expected denials of involvement by actual soldiers.

    Mexican soldiers were not involved in a standoff with law enforcement officers from the United States on the Rio Grande near Sierra Blanca, Texas, on Monday, Mexican consul Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berumen said Tuesday.

    Berumen said Mexican military uniforms may have been used by drug smugglers to confuse “public opinion” and damage relations between the two countries.

    Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said his deputies along with officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety were on patrol at about 2 p.m. when they began chasing three vehicles they suspected were carrying illegal drugs.

    The officers chased the vehicles to the Rio Grande when they came across several men who appeared to be soldiers “in a Humvee with what appeared to the officers as being 50-caliber machine guns,” officials said.

    No shots were fired and no injuries were reported, but the lives of the law enforcement officers were threatened, officials said.

    Officers, who responded to the scene, said when they arrived at the border the men dressed in military uniforms drew their guns and pointed the automatic weapons toward them.

    Officials said one vehicle that was being chased was seized and that 1,400 pounds of marijuana was left behind by the driver, who fled across the river. Another vehicle made it back into Mexico. The third vehicle became stuck in the river and set ablaze by the men dressed as soldiers after people dressed in civilian clothing unloaded bundles of drugs from the vehicle.

    […]

    In November, the Hudspeth sheriff’s department reported a similar incident involving soldiers from Mexico. Whether the men on the Mexican side of the border were soldiers from the Mexican military remains in dispute.

    The Mexican border is an ongoing, make that growing, problem for the U.S., with pockets of lawlessness spreading while most American politicians continue to treat the matter as a political hot potato. See also the following:

    Please don’t think that my only concern about our southern border is crime, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. No, my major concern about the sieve that is our border is its possible exploitation by our radical Islamist enemies. I hope you haven’t forgotten this story, and have given thought to what may have already successfully penetrated into the U.S.

    The border must be secured, and it may very well mean a very visible presence of our own military.

  • Carnival of Liberty XXIX

    This week’s installment of the Life, Liberty, Property community’s Carnival of Liberty is up over at Combs Spouts Off. Go read another fine collection of posts from a libertarian slant.

  • Six Killed in Southwest Iran Bombings

    Today brings us another tale of civilians killed by bombings in Iraq Iran.

    Bombs killed six people and wounded more than 30 others Tuesday in Ahvaz, a southwestern city with a history of violence involving members of Iran’s Arab minority, Iranian state media reported.

    The bombs exploded outside a bank and a state environmental agency building in Ahvaz, the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a planned visit to Ahvaz Tuesday, citing a forecast calling for heavy rain, IRNA reported. The report did not say whether the blast had any bearing on the cancellation.

    Ahmadinejad and his entire Cabinet had been expected to meet in Ahvaz as part of a series of visits to provincial capitals to address key local issues.

    State TV said the bombs killed six people and wounded 34 others.

    It should be noted that this is not a new occurrence, though it is interesting that today’s bombings would certainly seem to be tied to Ahmadinejad’s scheduled visit.

    Ahvaz was also the scene of bombings in June and October that the government blamed on Iranian Arab extremists whom it claimed were trained abroad and maintained ties to foreign governments, including Britain.

    The October bombings killed six people and those in June killed at least eight. Britain has denied any connection to the Khuzestan unrest.

    Nezam Molla Hoveizeh, a Khuzestan lawmaker, said Tuesday that the bombers were “dissidents based outside our borders,” IRNA reported. Hoveizeh did not elaborate on the allegation.

    Official Iranian fingers were quickly pointed in the direction of the Brits.

    The explosions follow bitter exchanges between Tehran and London.

    In recent months, Iran has repeatedly accused Britain of provoking unrest in Khuzestan, which borders that part of Iraq where 8,500 British soldiers are based as part of the U.S.-led military coalition.

    At the same time, Britain has opposed Iran’s nuclear activities, supporting moves to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, and has accused Tehran of allowing Iraqi insurgents to receive explosives technology that has been used to attack British soldiers.

    Both countries have denied the claims and counterclaims.

    Frankly, I have no faith whatsoever in the Iranian denials, and I can only hope that, with the looming nuclear crisis, both Britain and the U.S. are hard at work fomenting unrest in Iran.

  • Iranian Nuke Crisis: the Dance Continues

    The song remains the same, though the tempo seems to be taking a slight uptick. It is difficult to tell whether Iran or its multitude of dance partners is leading this tripping of the light mushroomic.

    Iran threatens to ramp up nuclear program

    Iran will immediately retaliate if referred to the UN Security Council next week by forging ahead with developing a full-scale uranium enrichment program, Tehran’s senior envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.

    The comments by Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh reflected Iran’s unwillingness to bow to growing international pressure, especially in the West, to end all nuclear enrichment activities.

    Iran recently announced it was resuming limited nuclear enrichment. The process can be used to provide fuel for nuclear reactors or, if taken far enough, material for nuclear weapons.

    Step, and then the counter.

    Bush commits US to defence of Israel in face of Iran threat

    George Bush yesterday committed the US to the defence of Israel against threats from Iran, saying he would not allow the world to be “blackmailed” by an Iranian nuclear weapon.

    […]

    “I am deeply concerned about Iran, as should a lot of people be concerned about Iran. I am concerned when the country of Iran’s president announces his desire to see that Israel gets destroyed,” Mr Bush said, referring to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s threat to “wipe Israel off the map”.

    He added: “Israel’s our ally. We’re committed to the safety of Israel, and it’s a commitment we will keep.

    “Secondly, I’m concerned about a nontransparent society’s desire to develop a nuclear weapon. The world cannot be put in a position where we can be blackmailed by a nuclear weapon. I believe it is very important for the Iranian government to hear loud and clear from not only the United States, but also from other nations around the world.”

    Quite. Freakin’. Right.

    And the song continues. I can almost picture Dubya crooning to Iranian president/puppet/madman (pick your poison) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

    Strangers in the night exchanging veiled threats
    Wond’ring in the night
    What were the chances we’d be launching bombs
    Before the night was through.

    Something in your eyes burned so insanely,
    Something in the way you spoke so vainly (apocalyptic),
    Something in my heart,
    Told me I must stop you.

    Doobie doobie doo …

    [With mucho apologies to Frank. That, and the rhyme and rhythm suck]

  • Philippine Army Probes Troops Amid Coup Rumours

    There are whispers, allegations and denials of a possible coup among the Philippine military against troubled president and slimy invertebrate Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

    The Philippine military said on Monday it had begun an investigation to unmask soldiers who may be involved in a plot to unseat President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but senior commanders sought to play down the threat.

    The armed forces, undermined by corruption and lack of funds, have spawned at least a dozen coup attempts since dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted by a “people power” uprising in 1986.

    Arroyo, who survived the desertion of allies and an attempt by her political foes to impeach her last year over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, had put down a brief mutiny by 300 young officers in July 2003.

    “I think we can say there’s a threat,” General Generoso Senga, the armed forces chief, told a news conference, flanked by the commanders of the army, navy and air force.

    “There were indications of some intentions but these were different from their capabilities,” he added, dismissing the threats as “not serious enough”.

    Senga declined to elaborate on any specific plots the military had uncovered, appealing to politicians not to drag the troops into their power struggles.

    “We have a mission to do, secure our country and police against different armed and terrorist threats,” he said at the main military camp in Manila, admitting that they were distracted by the political crisis.

    Last Friday, Raul Gonzales, the justice secretary, said the government had learned of a plot by Arroyo’s opponents to seize power that day, the fifth anniversary of her rise to power after a “people power” uprising ousted predecessor Joseph Estrada.

    There may indeed be little or nothing to the current rumors. Still, unless there is a major change in the Philippine political landscape, one could reasonably think that a coup would be an eventuality, especially given the recent history of the nation and Arroyo’s troubled presidency.

    Should a successful coup occur, there is no way to predict the nature of the government that would emerge to fill the void. Nevertheless, I would not shed a tear at the departure of Arroyo. We are talking about a woman who politically survived a morass of corruption, in part because of a willingness to exile her own husband. More disgusting than the corruption, however, is Arroyo’s pathetic willingness to undermine our efforts in Iraq by paying terrorists $6 million and withdrawing Philippine troops from the Iraqi theater, all for the ransom of one truck driver.

    Corrupt and willing to finance and cower to terrorists — no, I won’t shed a tear when Arroyo is gone. Rather, that’ll be a fine day to burst forth in an enthusiastic, if awkward, Happy Dance.

  • Iran Turns up Heat in Nuclear War of Words

    Because the Iranian nuclear ambitions cannot be allowed to just simmer on the back burner for a day or two.

    Iran yesterday warned Israel it would be making a “fatal mistake” if it took military action against Tehran’s nuclear programme.

    The warning came as part of escalating verbal warfare between the two regional rivals, with Shaul Mofaz, Israel’s Iranian-born defence minister, saying Israel would not let Iran acquire nuclear capability.

    “We are giving priority at this stage to diplomatic action, but we cannot tolerate a nuclear option for Iran and we must prepare ourselves,” Mr Mofaz said.

    Iran’s Foreign Ministry yesterday branded Mr Mofaz’s comments “a form of psychological warfare”.

    A spokesman said: “Israel knows how much of a fatal mistake it would be [to attack Iran]. This is just a childish game by Israel.”.

    But speakers at a seminar in Israel yesterday voiced suggestions ranging from a show of military force to bombing Iran’s nuclear installations.

    “Only a show of force by the entire world, including the United States and, afterwards, Israel, will be effective in doing away with Iran’s acquiring nuclear capability,” said Yitzhak Ben-Rafael, an army reserves general who teaches at Tel Aviv University.

    Ephraim Sneh, an MP from the opposition Labour Party, said: “The state of Israel is on a collision course with the Iranian regime.”

    One could just as easily make the argument that it would almost assuredly be a fatal mistake for Israel if there were no action taken against Iran.

    The story also included this mildly interesting tidbit.

    Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Iraqi cleric, said yesterday that his Mahdi army would help to defend Iran if it were attacked by a foreign nation.

    “The Mahdi army is beyond the Iraqi army. It was established to defend Islam,” he said.

    This little two-bit thug has been allowed to be a repeated pain in the arse for far too long. There is humor to be found, however, in his delusions of grandeur about his little rabble.

  • U.S. Navy Seizes Pirate Ship Off Somalia

    It’s not just a job, it’s an anti-piracy adventure on the high seas.

    The U.S. Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, the Navy said Sunday. The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized Saturday by the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

    The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 87 kilometers (54 miles) off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said. U.S. sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms.

    The dhow’s crew and passengers were being questioned Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.

    Sailors aboard the dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate attacks on merchant ships.

    The Churchill is part of a multinational task force patrolling the western Indian Ocean and Horn of Africa region to thwart terrorist activity and other lawlessness during the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

    The Navy said it captured the dhow in response to a report from the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur on Friday that said pirates had fired on the MV Delta Ranger, a Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier that was passing some 320 kilometers (200 miles) off the central eastern coast of Somalia.

    UPDATE: Charlie Munn over at the Officers’ Club looks at this event, and piracy in general, through the lens of our war against radical Islamic terror.

  • 2006 Super Bowl Set

    Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks.

    Let two weeks of punditry and gambling begin.