August 31, 2005
“Private” Katrina Joins the Jihad **UPDATED**
Environmental fundamentalists and anti-American Leftists (groups which are not necessarily mutually exclusive) apparently aren’t the only ones trying to exploit the destruction caused by hurricane Katrina: Islamic extremists rejoiced in America’s misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
These Days of Tragedy
Katrina promises to be the most expensive natural disaster in American history, though maybe not the most lethal. Thousands may be dead, the number in Mississippi is at 100 right now, but could rise to double (even triple) that. Photos…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 30, 2005
Airfare Taxes for African Aid (or The Next Oil for Food)
France has decided to implement President Jacque Chirac’s long sought after African aid plan that will derive its funding from taxes on airfare: France’s government will start taking steps to introduce a levy on airline tickets from next year to…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Australia Wants to Prosecute Mugabe
Australia and New Zealand make a noble effort to bring attention to bonafide atrocities transpiring in the world: Australia and New Zealand are lobbying the United Nations Security Council to indict Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his government in the…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
Islamists Lose Ground in Pakistani Elections
This sounds like good news($): Local government elections in Pakistan have given President Pervez Musharraf a political lift as his supporters scored significant gains in two key border provinces long dominated by pro-Taliban Islamic fundamentalists. In voting to choose municipal…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Jackson & Sharpton
The sorry state of black political leadership in the United States was on full display over the last few days. Rev. Jackson Lends Support to Chavez : The Rev. Jesse Jackson offered support for President Hugo Chavez on Sunday, saying…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 26, 2005
Mixed European Economic News
On my first day of International Business Transactions yesterday, our professor reiterated to the class consumer spending/confidence is the key to any economic recovery. High consumer spending in the U.S. is what has driven the economy for the past 10…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
The ‘Fly-Paper’ Shenanigans
At the Belgravia Dispatch, Greg Djerejian discusses aspects of the the strategic value of Iraq to the War on Terror. Gregory argues that Iraq became important to fighting terrorism post hoc, in effect separating Iraq from the general campaign against…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 25, 2005
Must Read
Is Mexico Still a Nation, from the Christian Science Monitor Military Operations in the Horn of Africa, by Austin Bay ‘The Other Jihad,’ by Ralph Peters Good Morning, Vietnam, by Max Borders, Tech Central Station…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
The Southern Problem
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Clashes erupted between rival Shiite groups across the Shiite-dominated south Wednesday, threatening Iraq with yet another crisis at a time when politicians are struggling to end a constitutional stalemate with Sunni Arabs. The confrontation in at least…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 22, 2005
Chuck Hagel on Iraq
Time commitments resulting from the beginning of law school (and a transfer of schools) have prohibited commentary on Senator Chuck Hagel’s recent remarks about Iraq. Fortunately, Justin at Digital Dissent nicely described (more or less) my opinion on the Senator’s…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Bloody Weekend in Thailand
Thailand experienced a particularly bloody weekend as the Prime Minister visited the Southern provinces to help provide assurances to a population concerned with daily acts of Muslim-inspired violence: Two gunmen killed a former politician in Thailand’s volatile south on Sunday,…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Gas Attack on U.K. Parliament Averted
U.K. officials believe they have thwarted a gas attack on the U.K. Parliament by Al Qaeda: SCOTLAND YARD believes it has thwarted an Al-Qaeda gas attack aimed at ministers and MPs in parliament. The plot, hatched last year, is understood…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 19, 2005
European Firm Admits Paying Bribes to Saddam
A Danish Firm admits paying bribes to Hussein’s Iraq in order to secure a bid in the Oil for Food Program: A Danish maker of industrial pumps, Grundfos, on Friday admitted paying kickbacks to authorities in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq under…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (1)
Mexico = Kidnap Capital of World
Not sure how we missed this piece of news, but here it is: Mexico has overtaken Colombia and Brazil to become the world leader in reported kidnappings, a leading, private anti-crime group said Wednesday. Investigators across the country reported 194…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 17, 2005
Clinton Warned About Bin Laden Move to Afghanistan
The latest evidence in today’s New York Times of incompetence by the Clinton Administration vis-à-vis terrorism should not come as a surprise. Nor does it significantly alter the theory that it is extremely unlikely any commander in chief would have…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (3)
Paging Neocon Cabal
Over 100 bombs went off in Bangladesh, kill 2, injure 125. Must have something to do with Iraq, of course….
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Why I’m Buying a Honda…
With gas prices so high is there a single silver lining to the cloud hanging over my pocket book? Do we have to subsidize the OPEC bloc while simultaneously pouring money into Iraq and Afghanistan? Well, yes. Here’s why. DESPITE…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 16, 2005
Video: Church Desecration by Muslims in Kosovo
Click here to watch a disturbing video of a Muslim mob burning and desecrating a Church in Kosovo. Reports out of the region suggest this video is not an anomaly but a representation of a wider problem (possibly an official…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
The U.N.’s Nepotism Further Revealed
The investigation into the Oil for Food program is focusing on a new suspect, Kofi’s brother: THE official investigation into corruption in the £20 billion United Nations oil for food programme is now looking at the brother of Kofi Annan,…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Bird Flu Moves West
The Word Unheard wrote a piece a few weeks back about the spread of Bird Flu in China. Today, the EU Observer informs us that Bird Flu is quickly moving West through Russia and towards Europe: Bird flu has been…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Bush’s Fuel Efficiency Exemptions
The New York Times has an article today which indicates the Bush Administration will continue to allow recreational SUVs such as Hummers to remain exempt from fuel efficiency requirements under the premise of protecting the crumbling American auto industry. This…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 15, 2005
Belarus and Poland
Lech Walesa, the former leader of the Polish Solidarity movement which is credited with fatally weakening Communism in Eastern Europe, has publicly voiced his support for a political revolution in Belarus. Even 25 years after the founding of Solidarity, the…
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August 13, 2005
The Day After
Let’s conjecture for a moment. What happens the day after the Sunni insurgency is put down? Consider what we will have to do to accomplish that; US troops will stand up Iraq’s army from 3 battalions fully capable of action…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
State of Emergency Declared in New Mexico
Indications of late suggest that the most underreported issue in the United States, the problem of illegal immigration, will soon boil over to the point where even members of Congress hiding in Washington and MSM Reporters manufacturing stories in Crawford,…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 12, 2005
The Lost Art of Listening
Sometimes we are blessed by our enemies. They will tell us in meticulous detail exactly what they want and how they want to get there. We just have to listen. “You will find that the Jews were behind all the…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 11, 2005
IED Escalations
What do submarines, bombers, and nuclear weapons, snipers, suicide bombs, and IEDs all have in common? Each of these changed the level of warfare being played from conventional to unconventional, and each of these have dire consequences to civilians; these…
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August 10, 2005
Waiting For 3,000
The number 3,000 is symbolically important in the GWOT (or “Greater War on Terror”) as it represents the unofficial, rounded number of deaths wrought by the September 11th Terrorist Attacks. There are probably few people in the United States who…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
The Australian
The Australian has an interesting article on the War of Ideas. Kilcullen’s diagnosis is that two epic trends drive the new warfare, globalisation and US conventional military dominance. Globalisation has created blowback. Islamist terrorists, G8 protesters, environmentalists, narco-insurgents and others…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 09, 2005
Oil for Peace Update
The Volcker Commission investigating the corrupt Oil for Food Program confirmed the obvious yesterday, that two U.N. officials received bribes for their participation in the program. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Benan Sevan still denies the accusations, while the…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 08, 2005
Why Iraq Matters
Caesar was head of a Triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey the Great. Pompey held a governorship over the central provinces of Rome centered on Italy and Crassus held the East. Caesar held Gaul. Gaul was a formidable enemy of Rome,…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Must Read
Be sure to read… Iraq’s Compact With America: How we’ll beat the insurgency and create a functioning nation, Zalmay Khalilzad It’s Almost Treason, By George, Rod Liddle I still fight oppression, Nick Cohen The Right Time for An Islamic Reformation,…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 06, 2005
Sniper War
The movie Enemy At The Gates is based on a true story…awfully done, of course. It’s a Hollywood movie, after all. An even better historical fiction is War of the Rats. It is a fascinating read flush with tactics, techniques,…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
IEDs
In response to a reader, Jeremiah, over at Organic Warfare over my post here, “Securing Al Anbar”, I’ll clarify my previous assertion that the insurgency has peaked. Indeed I stand by the assertion, but to do so I must retract…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 05, 2005
US to Deny Visa to Iranian President Ahmedinejad
The Word Unheard is… The Financial Times is reporting that the Bush Administration is considering denying newly ‘elected’ Iranian president Mahmoud Amadinejad a visa to enter the US to address the UN. His visa application is expected to be filed…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Iraq Index
The Brookings Institute has put together an incredibly comprehensive report full of charts, graphs, and general statistics concerning a wide range of topics involving the situation in Iraq. There is too much important information to excerpt, so be sure to…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
China: Avian Flu, Ebola, or Bust?
Also, read the Word Unheard… Outbreak of Ebola in China? Major speculation alert, but SARS has led the precedent, and 800 million Chinese living in abject poverty could make fertile breeding ground for an epidemic that we might not see…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
Securing Al Anbar
Bill Roggio over at the Fourth Rail goes into details over what is an ongoing operation without name in Iraq, specifically in the Al Anbar province. He has attached a list of operations conducted in Iraq mostly within the past…
Posted by Brad on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (2)
August 03, 2005
ABC Banned From Russia
It is tempting to take pleasure at ABC News’ banning from Russia, but like many decisions, this one may produce undesirable side effects. Consider this: news organizations have a (long) track record of withholding important information about a country or…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (4)
August 02, 2005
Lenin to Return to Berlin?
Less than one month after the destruction of a monument to the more than 1,000 people who perished trying to escape East Germany, Left wing Senators in Berlin want to reassemble a monument to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin that destroyed…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
August 01, 2005
U.K. Double Standard
“All of us understand Israel’s need to protect itself – and it is fully entitled to do that – against the terrorism which affects it, within international law…But it is not entitled to go in for this kind of unlawful…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
European Quagmire Approaches the End
Sixty-five years after the defeat of Nazism and fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, tens of thousands of American soldiers still remain stationed in Europe, strategically positioned for enemies long since vanquished. So as has been widely…
Posted by Jeff on 2005 08: Read more… | Comments (0)
