Wednesday, July 30, 2008

BrookesNews 30th July 2008


BrookesNews Update
Obama and his fellow Democrats adopt Hoovernomics
The Democrats are now promoting Hoovernomics presented by the economicallyilliterate Obama as the only way to create growth.. The brilliant Obama andhis fellow imbeciles in Congress have declared that increased governmentspending and a massive tax rise is just what America needs
Will the Reserve's monetary policy sink the Australian economy
While our economic pundits concern themselves with so-called inflationarytrends we find that the Reserve has put monetary growth into reverse. Themoney supply is now shrinking. This is called deflation. And a deflationarypolicy always results in recession
The humble light bulb: a victim of political stupidity and green zealotry
Irrespective of what smart-aleck journalists and Malcolm Turnbull think JoePublic is being perfectly rational in choosing the incandescent bulb overthe new wonder light. What's more, he might not like mercury-laden lamps
Obama's tax plans will be "lethal" to the economy
Columbia University economist Robert Mundell warned Americans that Obama'sproposed massive tax hike could send the US economy spinning into a deep recession
Democrats v. Arctic abundance
America is sitting on over 1,000 billion barrels of oil. Americans who feelsqueezed by higher oil prices should know they have a stark choice: More oiland lower prices, or less oil and higher prices. And they should also knowwho's to blame for this energy mess: the Democrat-led Congress
Obama and the media: In election coverage, 'sizzle' outweighs fairness
The spectacle of the New York Times rejecting McCain's op-ed on the utterlystupid grounds that it does not 'mirror' Obama's vies on Iraq did afantastic job of getting it across to the public that the media aredominated by politically bigoted leftwing liars
Oil production: Earth to Nancy Pelosi
How does one deal with Nancy Pelosi's idiocy and economic illiteracy? Thisis the same woman who says increasing domestic oil production will have noeffect on prices. She also says that Bush should act on oil prices byreleasing the country's oil reserve of 700 million barrels. It is not Bushwho embarrasses the US but idiotic Dems like Pelosi
Obama as a false prophet
It is Obama' clarity of vision that makes him so attractive to hissupporters. But it is also the source of the greatest danger to hispolicies. What happens if Obama says, 'Yes we can' and reality says, 'No youcan't'? What happens if the hedgehog meets the Black Swan?

Nice

Cockpit Video of F/A-18C Hornet ECDT over USN CVN-73

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Death Race & Halo Trailers


click to enlarge
Jason Statham's "Death Race" Trailer NEW 2008!
Halo-Movie Trailer (2008)

Cool Posters


Monday, July 28, 2008

UK Today

Can Britain survive? Video features Lionheart

h/t

http://english-rose-uk.blogspot.com/

JW/DW Digest 26th, 27th July 2008

"Stabbing" the Beachhead
Soldiers of the 24th Transportation Battalion practice 'stabbing' the beachhead with the initial piece of the Army's Trident Pier July 18 on Camp Pendleton, Calif. The Army Trident Pier is one of three piers used during Joint Logistics Over the Shore Exercise "Pacific Strike" a joint exercise moving 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division's equipment to the National Training Center.

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Jihad Watch / Dhimmi Watch Digest

Sunday, July 27, 2008

***** JIHAD WATCH *****

Home page: <http://jihadwatch.org/>

Ibrahim: Islam's appeal and Captain Hook

In recent headlines, three American converts to IslamÂ-Gregory Patterson, Levar Wasington, and Kevin JamesÂ-were recently arrested and tried for intending to wage jihad against the U.S. They are by no means the first American converts to Islam to go...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021957.php>

Grover Norquist: "Spencer hates Muslims"

A week or so ago Ed Morrissey put up a post at Hot Air lauding Grover Norquist for his work for tax reform. I added this comment: Grover Norquist has been responsible, more than any other individual, for the infiltration...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021954.php>

India: Second serial bombing in two days

"Suspicion is already falling on Islamist militants intent on destabilizing India by fanning tensions between Hindus and Muslims..." Breaking reports point to higher casualties and more bombs than reported below. "Seven bombs hit India's Ahmedabad, two killed," by Rupam Jain...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021955.php>

Iraq: "Vengeful" women increasingly engaging in suicide attacks

Despairing women and the craven men who exploit them -- is this what the "great" jihad has come to? "US says women suicide bombers seeking revenge in Iraq," from AFP, July 26:BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) Â- In the war-ravaged streets of...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021952.php>

ISNA, NAIT admit ties to Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas

A very significant update on this story: in trying to get themselves off the uninidicted co-conspirator list in a Hamas funding case, two of the leading Islamic organizations in the U.S. admit that they have been connected with the Muslim...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021951.php>

Somali jihadists denounce "recent peace talks," prepare to renew jihad

They must be getting stronger again, no longer in need to feign an interest in "peace talks" with their "apostate" countrymen -- which, according to sunna, is to be resorted to only when jihadists are weak, needing time to regroup....

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021950.php>

"Islam is no more immune from criticism or mockery than Christianity, Judaism or Scientology"

Or at least it shouldn't be. There are some terrific points made along these lines in "Nobody Is Murdered for Christian or Jewish Satire" in the Wall Street Journal letters section, July 26 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist) -- and...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021949.php>

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Home page: <http://jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/>

1/3 of UK Muslims believe murder in the name of Islam is justifiable, according to new pollAnd the other 2/3 are perhaps engaging in taqiyya. "Killing for religion is justified, say third of Muslim students," by Patrick Sawer, for the Telegraph, July 26:A third of Muslim students in Britain believe killing someone in the name of...

Full article:<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021956.php>

"The Islamic regime greatly fears the women, because they are considered a symbol of change"

"They were even escorted when they went to the toilet, as if they were dangerous terrorists or spies that had arrived from Europe to try and overthrow the Iranian regime." "Iran: Film on female footballers exposes more about regime," from...

Full article:<http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021953.php>

Jihad Watch / Dhimmi Watch Digest

Saturday, July 26, 2008

***** JIHAD WATCH *****

Home page: <http://jihadwatch.org/>

The Muslim Brotherhood: Now on Facebook

Forget Scrabulous, will there be a Halal or Haram application? "Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood goes on-line on Facebook," from Adnkronos International, July 25: Cairo, 25 July (AKI) - The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has launched a discussion forum on Facebook, the...Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021947.php>

Serial bombings in Bangalore, regional jihadist groups suspected
Another serial bomb attack in India; the various news organizations differ on the exact number of bombs. "7 blasts rock Bangalore; two killed, 20 wounded," from the Times of India, July 25: BANGALORE: Seven synchronized small bombs shook Bangalore during...
"I'm Muslim and hate Jews"
Now why would a Muslim say such a thing? It's all about Israel, right? Wrong. Note, for example, this exposition of Qur'anic antisemitism from IslamOnline. In it, Sheikh 'Atiyyah Saqr, the former Head of the Fatwa Committee at Cairo's Al-Azhar...
Mysterious blast in Iran: sabotage of Hizballah arms convoy?
Good news -- sabotage inside Iran? "'Mysterious Iran blast likely an attack on Hizbullah arms convoy,'" from the Jerusalem Post, July 25 (thanks to Dennis): A mysterious explosion in a suburb of Teheran that killed 15 people last Saturday was...
Turkey's dilemma
Can democracy be protected by the court-ordered closing of a political party, and possibly even by a coup d'etat? If democracy is simply head-counting, as Hugh Fitzgerald puts it, then no, it cannot. But Turkey faces the possibility that its...Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021938.php>
Australia: Police raid Muslim "charity" that admitted channeling aid to organization banned for jihadist links
And the executive director says he's shocked -- shocked! -- that the illegal activity was still going on. "Police raid on Muslim charity," by Richard Kerbaj for the The Australian, July 25: A SYDNEY charity that admitted channelling aid through...
***** DHIMMI WATCH *****
Maliki tells Pope: No persecution of Christians in Iraq
Never mind stories like this. Or this, this, and this. Nope. It's all copasetic. "Pope tells Iraqi leader Christians need protection," by Phillip Pullella for Reuters, July 25: CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri...
Magic Mountain to become "Muslim Mountain" for a day
Can't help but wonder if on "Muslim Day" the theme park's "six flags" will depict swords with the words "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" -- you know, to better help foster a...
Obama promises to "tear down walls" between Muslims and the rest of the world
More meaningless chatter that only belies Obama's ignorance -- real or feigned -- of Islam. "Walls separating Muslims, Christians, Jews must be torn down," from Khabrein, July 25:Obama BERLIN, (KUNA) -- Democratic candidate for US Presidency Barack Obama on Thursday...Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021943.php>
Saudis continue "reaching out" to Jews and Christians, while simultaneously teaching their children to hate those same Jews and Christians
But then again, they are our politicians' "friends and allies." A closer look into Saudi textbooks for children: "Saudi schoolbooks teach piety, hate," by Anne Applebaum, for GoErie.com, July 24Here, for example, is a multiple-choice question from a recent edition...
Obama's win-win position with Muslims
"Obama and Muslim voters a 'double whammy'?" by Michael Conlon, for Reuters, July 25:CHICAGO (Reuters) - Barack Obama should be able to count on heavy support from U.S. Muslims in the November election, if polls are correct, but he risks...
UN demands British government take "energetic measures to eliminate" Islamophobia
UN continues down the road of unabashed dhimmitude. "Treat Muslims better, Britain told by UN," by Chris Irvine for Telegraph, July 25:The nine-member human rights committee composed of legal experts, said it was concerned "negative public attitudes towards Muslim members...Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021940.php>
Dearborn: Two Muslim women sue McDonalds for $10 million for not hiring them over Islamic attire
Fast food restaurants have employee dress codes not only for appearances, but for hygiene and safety. With that in mind, this case is sounding a lot like the case of the women wanting to wear Islamic attire in a Midwestern...Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021937.php>

Deadly Terror


Newt Gingrich: "I'm Deeply Worried" About Our Safety
Killing for religion is justified, say third of Muslim students
A third of Muslim students in Britain believe killing someone in the name of religion is justified, a new poll claims.
By Patrick Sawer 26 Jul 2008 - Telegraph.co.uk

The survey found that extreme Islamist ideology has a profound influence on a significant minority of Muslims on campuses across the country.

The findings will concern police chiefs, the security services and ministers, who are struggling with radicalisation among Muslim communities.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Sunday Homer






5th Column Group in UK

Former British Navy Lft Commander Brian Gerish exposes the evil charity Common Purpose. This group is a fifth column that has infiltrated the heart of British society & its infrastructure. This is a very important film and should bee seen by all freedom loving people. The full three hour version will be released soon.

Common Purpose is Treason – Brian Gerish

Australia Blessed

Yeah? I’m not too sure about that.
You couldn’t find a better spot to plant a bomb in a 747.
Isn’t that right at the front of the central wing fuel tank?

comments & links from:





Luggage Bags
Spirit of Australia Survives.

Friday, July 25, 2008

U.S. CENTCOM News 17th - 23rd July 2008




The Last Daisy Cutter
by Capt. Patrick Nichols
919th Operations Group

7/21/2008 - DUKE FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- Duke Field Airmen from the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped the last operational Bomb Live Unit-82 from an MC-130E Combat Talon I July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range.
Nicknamed "Commando Vault" in Vietnam and "Daisy Cutter" in Afghanistan, the BLU-82 is a 15,000-pound bomb, and because of its size, the bomb was dropped by parachute from the aircraft.
"We in the Air Force Reserve Command feel fortunate to have been chosen to drop the last operational Daisy Cutter," said Col. Jon Weeks, the 919th Special Operations Wing vice commander and mission commander on the drop. "Our people in the 711th Special Operations Squadron dropped several BLU-82s during the first few months of Operation Enduring Freedom with significant psychological and tactical effect."
When originally designed, the BLU-82 was the largest conventional bomb in existence. It could instantly clear jungles for helicopter landing zones in Vietnam.
Later, the military used the bomb as an antipersonnel weapon because of its large lethal radius combined with the psychological effects of the flash and sound. The warhead contains 12,600 pounds of GSX slurry (ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder and polystyrene). A 38-inch fuse extender detonates the bomb, allowing maximum destruction at ground level without leaving a crater.
"The power of this weapon is overwhelming," Colonel Weeks said. "Even flying the chase plane at 6,000 feet above ground level and approximately three-quarters of a mile away from the bomb's detonation point, we felt a shock wave that shook the aircraft. As former commander of the 711th SOS and a traditional reservist, I feel especially proud to have been part of this historical event."
The crew determines the accurate delivery of the weapon. The navigator positions the aircraft and calculates ballistic and wind computations. The pilot keeps the plane on course with precision instrument flying.
"As far as aircraft loads go, the delivery of the BLU-82 was nothing unusual," said Lt. Col. Mike Theriot, the aircraft commander and pilot on the mission. "Our aircraft routinely drop loads much larger and heavier."
Wing officials said they believe there are no plans, at this time, to produce BLU-82s in the future. The only remaining inactive bombs are used for loadmaster training and for static displays in museums.
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Airport provides travel, economic boost to Najaf
Posted: 23 Jul 2008 02:45 AM CDT
BAGHDAD (July 22, 2008) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped off the first plane landing in Najaf International Airport July 20.

Iraqis gain responsibility for security in Qadasiyah
Posted: 22 Jul 2008 02:55 AM CDT
FOB ECHO, Iraq (July 21, 2008) – The governor of Qadasiyah province assumed security responsibility from Multi-National Force - Iraq.

Mullen: Timeline for drawdown would be dangerous
Posted: 21 Jul 2008 02:56 AM CDT
WASHINGTON (July 20, 2008) – The nation's top military officer advises against a timeline for troop reductions in Iraq.

Marines strengthen relationships through medical care
Posted: 18 Jul 2008 02:42 AM CDT
MUDIQ, Iraq (July 17, 2008) – To strengthen their relationship with local Iraqis, Marines conducted a combined medical engagement.

Gates: Pakistan must do better job near border
Posted: 17 Jul 2008 07:06 AM CDT
WASHINGTON (July 16, 2008) – Pakistan must do more on its side of the border with Afghanistan to combat terrorist extremists.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

JW/DW Digest 23rd, 24th July 2008

Nassau Strike Group

The ships of the Nassau Strike Group transit westward in the Atlantic Ocean as they wrap up their deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility in the Atlantic Ocean, July 5, 2008. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Coleman Thompson



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Jihad Watch / Dhimmi Watch Digest
Thursday, July 24, 2008

***** JIHAD WATCH *****


Home page: <http://jihadwatch.org/>

Intel bill passes with Hoekstra amendment to ban funding to promote gov't guidance on "jihad"-free lexicon

Some good news, in an update on this story. "Michigan rep fights terrorism words ban," from UPI, July 23: HOLLAND, Mich., July 23 (UPI) -- The intelligence bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives includes a ban on a...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021928.php>


Al-Qaeda group recruiting jihadis with videos of "martyred" children

From adults in bunny suits inciting children to jihad, to the "ghastly" images of dead children inciting adults to jihad -- jihad knows no bounds. "Video of 'martyred' child used for recruitment by Al Qaeda-linked group," by James Gordon Meek,...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021927.php>


Russia to give Iran new anti-aircraft defenses

John VI Cantacuzenes Alert: "Iran to get new Russian air defences by '09 -Israel," by Dan Williams for Reuters, July 23 (thanks to Mackie): TEL AVIV, July 23 (Reuters) - Iran is set to receive an advanced Russian-made anti-aircraft system...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021925.php>


New intelligence indicates that "global jihad" is "substantial" threat

Would that the Israeli intelligence's Western counterparts took jihad as seriously. Of course, that the State Department has essentially censored the use of words like "jihad," may be part of the problem. "Intelligence bodies warn threat from global Jihad 'substantial',"...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021924.php>


"Better we go fight for Allah maybe at least we go [to Paradise]...Over there we have good wives, everything."

But despite saying things like that, which makes it clear that these Muslims wanted to kill people at Fort Dix because they thought Allah would reward them for doing so, the defense wants prosecutors to stop talking about "jihad" in...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021923.php>


Fitzgerald: McCain, Bud Day, and Islam

Bud Day was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, but he has a long history of heroism before that. He first went to war at age seventeen (I think), in World War II. He was in that war, and the...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021922.php>


Iraqi forces preparing for grand siege on al-Qaeda bastions

But Shiites trained in Iran may pose a more persistent threat. "30,000 Iraqi troops poised for assault on Qaeda bastion," from AFP, July 23:BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) - Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and police are to launch a military assault against...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021921.php>


Losing the war of ideas

In "Winning the War of Ideas" in the New York Sun, July 23 (thanks to Ethelred), James K. Glassman, the new under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, says many positive things. He points out that our...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021919.php>


Indonesia tries selective "deradicalization," condemning only some jihadist violence, leaving political Islam untouched

As with Saudi Arabia's "rehabilitation" efforts, the main goals here appear to be protecting the regime and stopping domestic jihad attacks -- those could hurt Muslims. While the article notes that "the Indonesian police believe 'that if they could overcome...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021917.php>


Iranian blueprint for nuclear talks: Buy time. Lots of it.

"'The paper calls for a huge exercise in talking,' said one senior European official. 'If you were to try to implement it, it would take a minimum of several years'." That's the idea. "Iran Offers 2 Pages and No Ground...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021916.php>


Spencer: McCain vs. Muslim Radicals

My column in FrontPage this week discusses the Muslim outrage over remarks by McCain's friend Bud Day (news links in the original): Muslim spokesmen in the U.S. are outraged over remarks made last Friday by Bud Day, a key supporter...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021914.php>


Spencer: Good Will Wasted

My column in Human Events this week discusses the Administration's continued attachment to Fantasy-Based Policymaking regarding Israel: In a gesture of good will, Israel last week released five imprisoned terrorists, plus the remains of two hundred others, in exchange for...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021913.php>


Jihadi Jack-Rabbit continues vowing death and destruction to infidels

And you thought cartoon characters that inspire children to jump out of windows to see if they can fly were bad. "Pictured: The TV rabbit preaching hatred and telling young Muslims to 'kill and eat Jews,'" from the Daily...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021915.php>


Islamic suicide bombings not a recent phenomenon, as once thought?

We're all used by now to "radical" Imams instructing the Muslim youth to strap on some dynamite, detonate, kill infidels, and enter paradise--as this Imam told British Muslims, or as "superstar" Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi told millions of al-Jazeera viewers--and well...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021912.php>



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Fitzgerald: No more Muslim refugees from Muslim misrule

In general, Western countries should not make refugee status available to Muslims who continue to identify themselves as Muslims. If they claim that they are ill-treated under a Muslim system, perhaps because of political despotism, or perhaps because of inshallah-fatalism,...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021920.php>


Iran: Tortured Christian, ex-Muslim, flees to Turkey

"I have no doubt they wanted to kill me." Islamic Tolerance Alert: "Iran: Tortured Christian Flees," from Compass Direct News, July 21: ANKARA, July 21 (Compass Direct News) - Days after his release from a month of interrogations and severe...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021918.php>



Jihad Watch / Dhimmi Watch Digest
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

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Home page: <http://jihadwatch.org/>

"You will not meet a young Muslim man in the world who is not angry about something"

More on this story: how would you like your ex-fiancee to say this about you? "He wasn't the brightest crown in the box . . . not the handsomest guy in the world . . . thick mentally. My sister...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021910.php>


"Levant and Steyn are fighting for the defining ideal of Western civilization which, once lost, would spell the beginning of the end of all our other freedoms"

In "Paving the way for 'soft jihad,'" Barbara Kay ably explains the significance of recent Islamic advances against free speech -- which are part of what I call the stealth jihad. From the National Post, July 22: When Ibn Warraq's...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021909.php>


Fitzgerald: Churchill and beyond

Many at this site are familiar with Churchill's comment about the menace of Islam to Western Christendom, and the fanaticism of Muslims (whom he called "Mohammedans" -- a term that, given the centrality of Muhammad to Islam, as uswa hasana,...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021907.php>


"Lions of Islam" joining jihad in Afghanistan from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Chechnya and Turkey

The recruit for jihad across borders always proceeds along explicitly religious lines, with stress placed upon the supranational character of the Islamic umma, and upon the traditional Islamic idea that defensive jihad becomes obligatory upon each and every Muslim if...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021906.php>


Former fiancee of convicted jihadist could have sworn that he was only interested in the "greater jihad" against one's daily struggles

Daddy always warned me about men like that. Odd too that "Khawaja" is the Arabic word for "Westerner" or "Christian." "Terrorism claims against Khawaja stunned his ex-fiance," from CBC News, July 22:The ex-fiance of the Canadian man accused of involvement...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021904.php>


Iranian government response to Fitna "aims to introduce the real Islam"

Fitna, of course, simply contains Qur'an verses and depicts Muslims preaching violence and committing acts of violence on the basis of those verses. So the best response to it from the Iranian government or anyone else would be a comprehensive,...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021901.php>


Lawmakers call on NYC to pull Islamic subway ads

Snapped Shot has some ideas for Wahhaj's marketing campaign The ads are being paid for by the Islamic Circle of North America, which, as Marisol noted here, is one of the organizations listed in the infamous 1991 Muslim Brotherhood...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021898.php>


Another tractor attack in Jerusalem

"A man" is responsible for this one. Time to turn over all the tractors to women. "New digger 'attack' in Jerusalem," from the BBC, July 22 (thanks to Visvas): A man driving a mechanical digger has carried out an attack...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021897.php>


Chad: after listening to "an inflammatory sermon" against Christians and atheists, jihadis become "intoxicated by indescribable extremism...almost mad," and go on wild rampage

As the following anecdote demonstrates, when infidels do not overly concern themselves with "winning the hearts and minds" of jihadis, success quickly follows. "Counter-Insurgency, Chad-Style," by David Axe for Danger Room, July 21:"An alleged [up]rising led by an Islamic preacher...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021896.php>


Canadian Islamic Congress plays race card, says PM Harper indifferent to "brown-skinned" Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr

Never mind the fact that Khadr was captured in a jihadist compound in Afghanistan after killing a U.S. Army medic, according to survivors. "Harper indifferent to 'brown-skinned' Khadr: Islamic group," from the Canadian Press, July 21: Prime Minister Stephen Harper...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/021893.php>


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Fitzgerald: Call journalists and politicians to account

".the group says the ads -- which will coincide with the holy month of Ramadan -- aim to educate non-Muslims and reach out to those interested in joining the faith." -- from this article The "holy month of Ramadan"? No,...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021911.php>


Pakistan: Christian teenager beaten to death for his relationship with Muslim girl

Islamic law allows a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman, but does not allow a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. Since in Islamic cultures a woman generally joins her husband's household, this is yet another provision that...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021908.php>


UK govt drops plan to allow Muslim schools to police themselves

A glimmer of sanity in Insane Britannia. "Government drops plan to allow Muslim schools to police themselves," by Graeme Paton in the Telegraph, July 21 (thanks to Twostellas): Under proposals unveiled earlier this year private Muslim schools were to be...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021905.php>


Philippines: Bishop receives threats to convert to Islam, pay jizya, or face war

In accordance with Qur'an 9:29. "Philippine bishop reports receiving threat to convert to Islam," from Catholic News Service, July 22: MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- A bishop in the southern Philippines reported receiving a letter threatening him with harm if he...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021903.php>


The Protocols of the Elders of Zion as Gospel in Iran

Released yesterday, a new report reveals just how rampant anti-Semitism is in Iran, from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, July 21:The Hate Industry: a blatantly anti-Semitic series which incorporates The Protocols of the Elders of Zion has recently been...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021902.php>


80% of Muslim literature in Russia "contains appeals not to observe laws of non-Muslim states" and "to liquidate peoples with other religious convictions"

Update to this story. Earlier, Russia's Council of Muftis had "accused the experts who compiled the list [banned books] of doing so "tendentiously and subjectively" advising them to be more "balanced." Russia"80% of Islamic literature in Russian offers wahabi ideas...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021900.php>


Bahrain defies human rights, opts to govern according to sharia, releasing kidnapper

Here is what that women who may be deported from the UK to Jordan to have a sharia court decide who gets her son is up against. Considering the mother in the following story has been trying to finalize this...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021899.php>


Islamic version of YouTube "allows Muslim users to feel safe"

Surely the Taliban, which is adamant that Muslims watch only Islamic programming, would approve of this. "Temecula group starts Web site as Muslim alternative to YouTube," by David Olson, for the Press Enterprise, July 20:A Temecula group has launched a...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021895.php>


Obama campaign throws the color green under the bus

Someone in charge of pre-emptive damage control decided green is the color of Hamas. Hamas does use the color, but green is also, as the article notes, traditionally associated with Islam itself in Muslim communities. So much for cultural sensitivity....

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/021894.php>



Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Game Trailers

Fallout 3 Xbox 360 Trailer – Security


Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising PC Games Trailer - All Out War


Killzone 2 'E3 2008 Objective Gameplay' HD QUALITY


BrookesNews 23th July 2008

BrookesNews Update


Obama's economic policies: the road to ruin
Obama's economic policies would be disastrous if implemented. It's not just his bad maths but the fact that the so-called economics upon which the policies are based are complete rubbish. Opponents need to grasp the fundamental economic theory that exposes these policies as dangerous economic quackery

Oil prices, monetary stability and credit expansion
Over the last few years there has been a massive increase in bank credit.This credit fuelled the boom and drove up the demand for energy. So greatwas this expansion that surplus bank credit in the form of deposits started to emerge world-wide. Our economic pundits immediately labeled these deposits surplus savings, adding another fallacy to their erroneous views

Plastic bags v. greenie bigotry
Now that plastic shopping bags are in danger of being banned it is necessary to determine how such a great boon to consumers has been successfully demonised by fanatical greens and dense journalists


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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Bloodiest Conflict of Our Time

Moonlight Falcon
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft sits on a trim pad before an engine run up at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, July 16, 2008. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Julianne Showalter

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Reality of collateral damage

Jim Molan July 19, 2008
IN counterinsurgency, the term collateral damage can prompt cynicism from the uninformed, who see it as military techno-speak sanitising the impact of war on ordinary people. Nothing could be further from the truth. For those who do not have the luxury of criticising without offering an alternative, the term collateral damage is practical and well understood. The process saves thousands of innocent lives: if the collateral damage estimate was too high, we had the option of not striking the target.

(A CDE brought up the fundamental legal and moral considerations of proportionality, humanity, discrimination and necessity. The CDE told us the number of people likely to be killed in the strike. Specialists in Qatar and Florida produced a CDE for every target, based on many different factors.)

We did not employ the term to dehumanise what we were doing. In Iraq we were reminded of the consequences of our actions immediately: as we watched bombs hit, the computer screen, showing TV-like pictures brought down from an unmanned drone, would flare silently and the wind would slowly blow away dust clouds to reveal the wreckage.

Within an hour of the strike, some Arab network would broadcast pictures of the scene and assessments by so-called spokesmen in the local hospital, listing the number of women and children who had been "slaughtered by the crusaders". Of course the network commentary and the doctors did not criticise the terrorists or insurgents for holding their meetings in the midst of their own families or neighbours.

We did everything we could to avoid killing innocents. The coalition did not fight just for the sake of fighting. The coalition commander, US general George Casey, and his field commanders did not want to aggravate an already difficult situation, and their first guiding principle was often expressed as the old medical dictum: "First, do no harm."

There was a continual search for any approach that did not involve bombs and bullets. A bullet achieves its effect by transferring kinetic energy to a human body, something that does not go far in winning the heart or mind. In Iraq we searched for the non-kinetic approach: using anything rather than force, but it was not always possible. Examples of the non-kinetic were: buy weapons back from the population rather than conducting searches in homes that disrupt daily life and risk civilian casualties; rather than kill bomb emplacers, create employment to counter the insurgents who offer money to the unemployed to plant roadside bombs; use police rather than heavily armed soldiers to enforce the law; provide essential services to the people so they see some benefit from our occupation.

Nevertheless, when it comes to significant levels of combat, international law accepts that some innocents may be killed. As long as we apply considerations of proportionality, humanity, discrimination and necessity both legally and morally, the fault for the death of innocents lies with those who choose to wage war from the bosoms of their families. Even if I had a positive identification of a terrorist leader, I still did not have the right to just bomb him. I still had to consider proportionality, humanity, discrimination and necessity.

If our own morality and our own law are not enough to guide us, there is also self-interest. Every time we kill an innocent, we make more enemies for ourselves. Ironically, in the short term, this logic did not necessarily work against the insurgents, but in the longer term their illegality and brutality has started to earn them their share of enemies among the people of Iraq. The slaughter of innocents in the tens or hundreds of thousands is, to them, a tactic. They solve any resentment that may arise from their actions with more violence. They simply kill anyone that objects.

I do not accept that there is any moral equivalence between what I did and what our enemies did. I was acutely aware of the consequences of our actions. It is not necessarily the process that makes time-sensitive targeting difficult, although that is difficult enough. It is being able to make decisions when you know their consequences.

Once I'd received the CDE, the military necessity of striking the target had to be weighed against the number of innocent people who might die. I used a standard set of criteria. One was the knowledge that a terrorist car bomb might kill hundreds of innocents and one terrorist technician was capable of producing any number of these bombs. Each enemy cell could attack the Iraqi population once or twice a week. A member of the leadership is capable of instigating even greater carnage by co-ordinating subordinates who can then kill and maim.

The decision to strike was never taken lightly but it had to be taken quickly. If a terrorist meeting looked as though it was about to break up before the official CDE was ready, I had to estimate a CDE and recommend a strike (or not). I was accountable for that judgment. In fact, the targeting team would be negligent if it missed an important target by taking the safe route and waiting for the formal process every time. This decision about collateral damage is no different in law from the decision made by a lieutenant platoon commander crouched down on the side of a road calling for an air strike on a position from which the enemy is firing at him and his troops. I just did it in a much more comfortable place.

Once we'd ironed out the early problems, the CDE would usually arrive promptly, comparing the impacts of 227kg and 450kg bombs with other weapons for the target in question. Sometimes the facts did not line up nicely. Intelligence may not have been convincing or the CDE was uncomfortably high at the time the attack was proposed. If a target was in a residential area, then the CDE would be high at night. If possible, we would wait until daytime to strike it. But of course for certain types of transient targets, such as leadership meetings, delay might mean losing the targets for days, weeks, even months.

As a staff officer, my decision was not technically a decision but a recommendation to my boss, Casey. Executive authority remained with commanders. So I would make my recommendation, then ring Casey and put the case to him as I saw it, normally without the detail. He then made his decision, approving the strike or directing his own course of action. If necessary, he went up his chain of command.

Rarely did Casey reject my recommendation, but it did happen. And on occasions I differed with the taskforce commander about whether to strike. There were also threats of bypassing me and going directly to Casey. Once or twice that did happen.

The terrorists and insurgents might have subscribed to the old saying that "There are no rules in a knife fight." But there are rules; they just did not obey them. In fact they institutionalised the transgression of international law. My feeling was that the media did not scrutinise our adversaries' actions as carefully as the coalition's. For any faults we may have had, the US-led coalition represented the rule of law. It was right that we were held accountable. But so should the other side. My quarrel with the media was that, on certain occasions, the insurgents seemed to have been given licence to fight the way they did because they were fighting the US and the coalition or resisting an occupation. But barbarity is barbarity, no matter who perpetrates it.

As October 2004 wore on, our intelligence could see that the terrorists were going to stay to defend their base in Fallujah, a Sunni city 70km west of Baghdad that was an insurgency stronghold. Because of this, it became increasingly important to shape Fallujah by separating the residents from the enemy. From October onwards, we dropped more pointed leaflets, we made broadcasts from aircraft and we filled the media with warnings. We staged nightly attacks against the leadership within Fallujah, which encouraged some residents to leave.

Our greatest allies in this endeavour were, much to our surprise, the insurgents. They went to Fallujah to hide among the people but committed mindless acts of violence against them. They set up local religious courts and Fallujans were tried and punished, even tortured and executed, if they did not commit to extreme fundamentalist Islamic ideology and sharia law.

The Sunnis of Fallujah had no desire for any of this and their exodus gathered pace.

As we noticed what was occurring, we tried to hasten their departure. We increased our leaflet drops and broadcasts, and often told the enemy who we had killed. We stated or strongly implied that the killing was the result of betrayal and, indeed, it often was. Betrayal was a constant and, I was assured, successful theme. There must have been some level of paranoia in the minds of enemy leaders: they moved three times a day, escaping death by seconds and watching others die around them. We played on this fear.

We continually told the people of Fallujah and other cities of the evil of those in their midst, particularly the foreign fighters. Like most people, Iraqis are very parochial. They suspect foreigners and admire strength and success. As we achieved victories and put the pressure on the then head of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, Jordanian-born Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, we broadcast on Fallujan radio or dropped leaflets saying: "Foreign terrorists will stay until Iraq has burned to the ground - Do not let these criminals destroy your future."

At that time, Zarqawi's network was only getting into its stride but had publicly claimed responsibility for 62 attacks that had killed 26 coalition soldiers and 478 Iraqi security force members, and probably a far greater number of Iraqi civilians.

We also held out carrots, publicising the fact Fallujah was missing out on millions of dollars of development funds; they would only appear once the terrorists were gone.

As the end of October approached, leaflet drops and broadcasts advised Fallujans to leave for their own safety because the Iraqi interim government intended to conduct direct military action to rid the city of terrorists. The world press assisted by going into a paroxysm of uninformed speculation about what the attack, which eventuated, would look like and when it would occur.

Part of the shaping for Fallujah was trying to kill or capture Zarqawi's lieutenants. They had specific target codenames, which I grew to know as we watched them. The permanent leader of the Zarqawi network in Fallujah was Umar Hadid, known as the Emir (leader) of Fallujah. As one of the three most prominent terrorist leaders in Fallujah (Sheik Abdullah Janabi and Zarqawi were the others), Hadid had about 1800 fighters of his own.

Unable to capture him because of a prohibition on entering Fallujah, I made a sustained effort to kill him and launched several strikes as the taskforce delivered the intelligence. One I remember distinctly was on a house belonging to Hadid's brother Abu Walid, himself a propagandist for the terrorists. Hadid was visiting, and when all the information lined up, I hit the house with a guided bomb, a joint direct attack munition. The house exploded around him and his brother was killed, but Hadid walked out of the rubble.

The next time we found him, he was in one of the many houses he owned in Fallujah. I hit the building with another single bomb and again he escaped, but we were fairly certain we'd wounded him. Later we had intelligence that he was in another house and I again authorised a strike.

As the bomb was in the air I received confirming intelligence that he was at the site. The house exploded around him again, and again he walked out.
Finally, he went to a house where I could use several joint direct attack munitions at once. We got a good clean hit and could see no survivors. We were confident that we had killed him.

Almost immediately, we heard chat on the phones saying he had become a martyr. But then, within a few hours, we overheard other chat saying he had only been wounded and was going to Jordan for medical treatment. Which was the truth, which the attempt atdeception?

During the fighting in Fallujah weeks later, the enemy propaganda machine announced that Hadid had been killed heroically leading his men against US soldiers.

This was not our belief based on our special knowledge but some months later a new insurgent brigade was formed south of Baghdad and it was named Shaykh Umar al-Hadid. New brigades tended to memorialise the dead, so we remained convinced that we had killed him in the house. This new brigade claimed responsibility for a particularly murderous action on the Suwayrah Highway near Salman Pak, so his tradition lived on, even if he did not.

This is an edited extract from Running the War in Iraq: An Australian General, 300,000 Troops, the Bloodiest Conflict of Our Time, by major-general Jim Molan (HarperCollins, $32.99).

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