Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • World Leaders React to Four More Years

    Under the headline “Europe Allies Extend Olive Branch to Bush,” the AP has put forth a piece addressing the reactions of several international leaders. The responses seemed to range from “Crap! I guess we have to find a way to deal with you” to “We’re already dealing with you, but try to find a way to deal with the crap from these other countries.”

    French President Jacques Chirac:

    “We will be unable to find satisfying responses to the numerous challenges that confront us today without a close trans-Atlantic partnership,” wrote Chirac. He addressed the letter to “Dear George.”

    Shut up and get back to us when you show a greater willingness to address the radical Islamist movement outside your borders. And when you show a greater desire to have your decisions driven by anything other than setting France up as an alternative to U.S. leadership. Oh yeah, how about you try paying attention to which pieces of crap you deal your weaponry?

    German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder:

    “The world stands before great challenges at the beginning of your second term: international terrorism, the danger of weapons of mass destruction, regional crises — but also poverty, climate change and epidemics threaten our security and stability,” Schroeder wrote. “These challenges can only be mastered together.”

    Shut up and let us know when you remove your lips from Chirac’s ass. It’s unseemly. Just break up with him and conquer Paris already; this time we might just let you. Oh, and wave goodbye to our bases.

    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero:

    [His] government wants “a relationship of efficient, constructive cooperation with the U.S. government and with President Bush, respecting the ideas of each side.”

    Zapatero, who angered Washington by withdrawing Spanish troops from Iraq, stayed up most of the night to watch as Republican red crept across the U.S. electoral map.

    How about an “efficient, constructive” shut up, you yellow-bellied, short-sighted socialist piece of crap? Is that good for you?

    Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer:

    “We’ve had a very good relationship with them for the last four years and I’m sure we’ll be able to keep building on that over the next four.”

    Much love to the Aussies.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin:

    “I would feel happy that the American people have not allowed themselves to be scared and made the decision they considered reasonable,” Putin said at a Kremlin news conference

    We absolutely have to realize, as a nation and very damn soon, that the Russians are facing the same enemy of Islamist bastards that we face.

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair:

    “A world that is fractured, divided and uncertain must be brought together to fight this global terrorism in all its forms and to recognize that it will not be defeated by military might alone but also by demonstrating the strength of our common values, by bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq as we have done to Afghanistan, by pursuing with the same energy peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine,” Blair said.

    Much love to Blair and the courage and fidelity of the Brits. He has been a stalwart ally since 9/11, and his people should rank him, in time, with the likes of Winston Churchill.

    Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka:

    “It is not natural to have — maybe not a cold war — but, in any case, a chilling of relations along theses lines …. I hope that European leaders and President Bush will show initiative in this area.”

    Poland needs to be rewarded for their valor and friendship. We earned it with Ronald Reagan; we need to repay it under Dubya.

    Terrorist Yassir Arafat:

    An ailing Yasser Arafat congratulated Bush and expressed hope that a second term would help give a new spark to the Middle East peace process, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.

    Arafat’s death may well be the spark needed for peace in the Middle East. That, or it could be the fuse that sets off the powderkeg he played a huge role in concocting. Either way, Bush cannot trust a living Arafat in any peace process.

  • Zarqawi Aide Killed During U.S. Air Strike

    Scratch one more Islamist bastard.

    Coalition forces launched precision strikes on a safe house in Fallujah early this morning, killing an associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s terrorist organization, military officials in Baghdad reported today.

    Multiple sources confirmed that a “known associate” of the Zarqawi network was present at the time of the strike.

    The strike, which happened at around 3 a.m. in the northwest section of the city, is one of a string of recent strikes and raids targeting the Zarqawi organization that have severely degraded the terrorist leader’s ability to conduct attacks and have effectively reduced his influence.

    Like I said, al-Zarqawi’s noose keeps getting tighter.

  • France Accepts Iraqi Conference Rules

    I posted last month on France’s requirements for their participation in an international conference on Iraq. I openly ridiculed their demands for inclusion of representatives of the terrorists at the table and a placement of U.S. withdrawal on the conference agenda. Well, now it seems the French have caved on one of their firm stances.

    In a quiet retreat, France on Monday eased off its call to include Iraqi groups that renounce violence in an international conference next month on ways to pacify their war-ravaged country.

    Foreign Minister Michel Barnier acknowledged that the governments-only meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik from Nov. 22-23 would not be open to other factions outside Iraq’s interim leadership.

    “It’s an intergovernmental conference. I’m willing to recognize that only governments will participate,” Barnier told reporters after an informal meeting with European and North African counterparts.

    There is no mention in the article of France’s other demand for discussion of an American withdrawal. To their credit, France’s “quiet retreat” is an improvement over their seeming tendency to run away screaming. Maybe there’s a shred of hope for them yet.

  • Iraqis Protest Over Hostage

    The terrorists in Iraq, with the kidnapping and released videos of a key humanitarian aid worker, may be on the verge of overplaying their hand with the citizens of Baghdad.

    Hundreds of disabled Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad yesterday to demand the release of Margaret Hassan, calling her abductors “neanderthals” and insisting that their collapsed health system needs the British aid worker, kidnapped by insurgents last week.

    Mrs Hassan, 59, the Iraq director for the charity Care International, was last seen on a hostage video on Friday, tearfully relaying her kidnappers’ demands that Britain did not deploy troops close to Baghdad. Her plight has moved many Iraqis to anger, unlike the abductions of Western contractors and foreign lorry drivers before her.

    “We love her. She built us a hospital,” said Ahmed Jabir, a wheelchair-bound boy at the protest rally near Care’s Baghdad offices. “If it wasn’t for her, we would probably have died.”

    ….

    Mrs Hassan’s Iraqi husband, Tahsin Ali Hassan, attended the rally. Pointing at the crowd of patients, he said: “This says it all.”

    Never mistake my condemnations of the Islamist bastards we are fighting for a blanket statement on Islam or the Iraqi people in general. Much of the muslim world is at a crossroads — to careen wildly towards a loss of any vestige of a humane society or to pull back from the edge and again become a truly civilized people. This protest shows which direction at least some (and I’d wager most) in Iraq want to go. The terrorist “neanderthals” have much to lose with the Iraqi populace in the case of Mrs. Hassan.

  • Reports Conflict on Arafat’s Health

    Fox News is reporting that there are growing questions about the current state of the health of Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian Authority’s president and the PLO’s Godfather-of-Terrorism.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has allowed Tunisian doctors to enter Yasser Arafat’s compound in the West Bank to treat him for the flu, officials there told FOX News.

    Three Tunisian doctors were headed to Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters, where the 75-year-old Palestinian leader has been confined since after the second intifada began four years ago.

    “The president is in good health. He is suffering from a cold,” a Tunisian representative was quoted as saying in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “There is nothing to worry about.”

    But sources told FOX News the Palestinian Liberation Organization leader’s condition has seriously deteriorated since Friday, when Israeli TV first reported he had the flu. Palestinian sources said that if the doctors determine Arafat needs surgery he will be flown to an overseas hospital.

    However, Sharon has long stated that should Arafat ever leave the West Bank compound, he will not be allowed to return. The PLO has placed part of the blame for its leader’s deteriorating health on his confinement by the Israelis.

    ….

    Arafat was treated by a team of Jordanian and Egyptian doctors earlier this month for complaints including fever, severe diarrhea and vomiting, the Jerusalam Post reported. He had been ill for some time, and aides were said to be worried about his condition.

    The flu, if that is indeed the case here, is not a laughing matter for a 75-year-old. Arafat has earned a slow, painful death without glory; perhaps this is it. Odds are against it this time, but sooner or later the greatest hindrance to peace for Israel has to drift off and take the dirt nap.

    One notable downside of turning a career as a reknowned terrorist into an internationally-acclaimed despot is that the whole world gets to know when you have severe diarrhea. Ah, the glamorous life in Ramallah.

  • Terrorist Associate Seized in Iraq

    The noose is slowly tightening around the neck of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as the U.S. keeps up the pressure around Fallujah and nabs an al-Zarqawi associate.

    A newly promoted associate of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was arrested in Iraq on Saturday, the U.S. military reported, while elsewhere, two suicide car bombings and a drive-by shooting killed at least 14 people in separate incidents.

    The al-Zarqawi associate was seized early Saturday along with five other terrorists in southern Falluja, the insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, the military said.

    Their identities were not disclosed.

    Initially, the al-Zarqawi associate was thought to be a minor member of the terrorist’s circle, however “due to a surge in the number of al-Zarqawi associates who have been captured or killed by [multinational forces] strikes and other operations, the member had moved up to take a critical position as an al-Zarqawi senior leader,” the U.S. military said.

    Falluja has been the site of intensified U.S. attacks in recent weeks, with American forces stepping up their efforts against al-Zarqawi and his Unification and Jihad group, which has staged attacks against U.S. forces, Iraqi police and civilians.

    The U.S. State Department is offering $25 million for the capture or death of al-Zarqawi, blamed for the recent series of beheadings and who last week swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

    In another development, al-Zarqawi’s followers have dispersed to Falluja’s outlying areas, where they are attempting to hide among the civilian population, according to a U.S. military news release.

    I’m wagering that al-Zarqawi ain’t sleeping too well at nights. His only hope may be a group of Sunni clerics who are threatening a boycott of the January elections if the coalition attacks Fallujah. It is my opinion that the pacification of Fallujah and the nullification of the terrorist al-Zarqawi is more pressing for the success of the elections than the threat of a partial Sunni boycott. After all, the Sunni clerics run the risk of taking a hit on their own credibility if their boycott is not a major impairment to Iraqi voting.

  • The Elections that MAY Decide the Election

    Can Afghanistan pull off an election? Will the appeasement win in Australia?

    This will be an interesting weekend. Dems will be spinning for Kerry; the worst of Afghanistan will get more play over the historical enormity of the moment; a Howard affirmation in Australia will be relatively quiet while a slight upset will be portrayed as a brutal rejection of Bush.

    Let’s sit back and watch. And hope. I honestly believe much of our civilization hangs in the balance. I have faith in the Aussies, though; for some reason, there’s always seemed a sort of kinship between Texans and Australians.

  • Is Fallujah Next?

    After the combined Iraqi-American pressure on al-Sadr’s criminals in Najaf, after the American and Iraqi success in Samarra, after the apparently-effective strikes on Sadr City and Fallujah, the question has been raised: is Fallujah next for the ground onslaught?

    Well, not if Fallujah has a say.

    Iraqi insurgents from Fallujah are in intense negotiations with the country’s interim government to hand over control of the city to Iraqi troops, according to representatives of both sides, in hopes of averting a bloody military battle for the city of 300,000 that has become a haven for foreign guerrillas and a symbol of the limits of Baghdad’s authority.

    “We have met representatives from Fallujah,” the interim deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, said Wednesday. “We have had detailed discussion with these representatives, and we have agreed on a road map or a framework to facilitate the resolution of this conflict in Fallujah.”

    The talks apparently gained momentum Wednesday after the mujaheddin shura — or council of holy warriors — that now governs Fallujah voted overwhelmingly to accept the broad terms demanded by Iraq’s government. By a vote of 10 to 2, the council agreed to eject foreign fighters, turn over all heavy weapons, dismantle checkpoints and allow the Iraqi National Guard to enter the city.

    In return, the city would not face the kind of U.S.-led military offensive that reclaimed the central Iraqi city of Samarra from insurgents last week, a prospect that one senior Iraqi official said clearly grabbed the attention of the Fallujah delegation.

    U.S. troops would remain outside the city and end the airstrikes that have shaken residential neighborhoods on an almost daily basis in recent weeks, according to one account of the terms now on the table.

    Meanwhile, Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Allawi continues a tough-love outreach to Sadr City.

    Iraq’s interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, told reporters Wednesday that a committee was being formed to hash out the final terms of a deal to dismantle the Mahdi Army, Sadr’s militia. Allawi’s government, which authorized a U.S. offensive against Sadr’s militia in the southern city of Najaf in August, has been trying to persuade Sadr to join the political process.

    “No cease-fire,” Allawi cautioned. “We responded positively to the request of the people of Sadr City. They will surrender their weapons to the authorities. They will dismantle any armed presence in the city. They will respect and abide by the rule of law in the city. They will welcome the police to go back, patrol the streets of the city.”

    Peace through strength, in a microcosm.

    The international Islamist terrorists should quickly realize that they need something other than status quo Iraqi incidents before Nov. 2 or they are in great danger of losing any homefield advantage. Probably something spectacular. Otherwise, any local support in Iraq is soon going to give way to their closest enemy, the people of Iraq.

  • Kerry Says Franco-German Troops Unlikely

    John Kerry has finally admitted what should’ve already been known — despite all of his global support, diplomatic skills and internationalistic stances, he simply would not be able to get French and German boots dusty in Iraq.

    Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry conceded yesterday that he probably will not be able to convince France and Germany to contribute troops to Iraq if he is elected president.

    The Massachusetts senator has made broadening the coalition trying to stabilize Iraq a centerpiece of his campaign, but at a town hall meeting yesterday, he said he knows other countries won’t trade their soldiers’ lives for those of U.S. troops.

    “Does that mean allies are going to trade their young for our young in body bags? I know they are not. I know that,” he said.

    Asked about that statement later, Mr. Kerry said, “When I was referring to that, I was really talking about Germany and France and some of the countries that had been most restrained.”

    “Other countries are obviously more willing to accept responsibilities,” he added, as he took questions from reporters in a school yard in Tipton, Iowa.

    Let’s briefly review. The Kerry campaign insults the sacrifices of the friendly Iraqi troops and police by not counting their losses with those of the coalition. Kerry cannot deliver the in-country aid of our French and German “allies.” Kerry personally has insulted our current allies, calling them the coerced and the bribed.

    Given this track record, how would Kerry get more allies? His plan apparently is to actually coerce and bribe them. Here, from the opening Bush-Kerry debate, is what he said should have been done:

    If the president had shown the patience to go through another round of resolution, to sit down with those leaders, say, “What do you need, what do you need now, how much more will it take to get you to join us?” we’d be in a stronger place today.

    There you have it, Kerry’s diplomatic magic — do what he has accused Bush of doing. And it ain’t going to be good enouch for Germany or France.

  • Hostage ‘Sold to Less Brutal Gang’

    The hopes for a safe return for Ken Bigley, the British hostage held by terrorists in Iraq, were bouyed by today’s news.

    Hopes for Ken Bigley’s freedom rose yesterday after it was claimed he had been ‘sold’ to a less brutal gang of kidnappers.

    The Iraq hostage’s brother believes he is now being held by the same group who released two Italian women aid workers last week.

    And Paul Bigley says Ken could also come home alive – if a ransom is paid.

    Paul said that if Ken had been moved, ‘it can only be a positive thing’. He added: ‘I would much rather deal with people talking money than people holding a government to ransom.

    ‘It makes the whole scenario a little easier. Funds can always be found, somehow.’

    Yeah, okay, hopes rose.

    For the life of one guy.

    Sure, I understand the desire of the family to have their loved one back safe. What I do not understand is how people do not realize the number of lives they are willing to barter away with their willingness to finance future terrorism.

    How tragic the state of the world that people find hope when a man is “‘sold’ to a less brutal gang of kidnappers.” How disgusting it is to see the inability of some to recognize the vicious barbarity of the Islamist danger.

    Historically, apparently it’s a good thing the Nazis turned to aerial bombing before kidnapping. But wait, those were other days, days when an obvious enemy was recognized by most and not downplayed by many for short-term political gain.

    Despite this story and the adversity caused by Bigley’s peril, I still have faith in the Brits to do what’s right in the long term. I just worry they may stretch out that long term.