2 Comments, 2 Threads

1. 1. Yehudit

   I look forward to meeting you Steve.

   November 15, 2005 - 2:32 am   Link to this Comment

   

   
2. 2. Riz Wyman Barr.

   I take it this is an open forun,
   Check this out
   November 15, 2005

   A Weekly Update

   Notes and Comments

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   AL-QAEDA IN JORDAN: Responsibility for the bombings in Jordan last week was claimed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, commander of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

   A little background: Zarqawi has sponsored at least a half dozen attacks against Jordan, beginning as far back as the “millennium plot” of late 1990, which took place just seven months after Zarqawi was released from a Jordanian prison, following an amnesty granted by King Abdullah.

   Zarqawi went on to train terrorists and fight Americans in Afghanistan. When it became clear the U.S. was going to prevail there he fled to Iraq where Saddam Hussein gave him refuge. (Apologists for Saddam claim he didn’t know Zarqawi was living in Baghdad and regularly making excursions to a terrorist training camp in northeast Iraq affiliated with al-Qaeda.)

   In 2002, Zarqawi organized, from his Iraqi base, the assassination of Lawrence Foley, an American diplomat based in Amman.

   NOW IMAGINE: Suppose that the U.S. does as the post-humanitarian left and isolationist right advocate: withdraws from Iraq.

   What happens then? Perhaps Zarqawi takes over Iraq. Or perhaps he merely establishes a secure base of operations in western Iraq, the Sunni areas along the Jordanian and Syrian borders, expanding his working relationship with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad — who will now have reason to be confident that the U.S. poses no threat to him.

   From there, Zarqawi would be able to much more safely and efficiently target Jordan with a wave of suicide bombings and assassinations in an effort to bring down the Hashemite monarchy and replace it with an Islamist regime, one that would unite with his emirate — now the capital of an expanding caliphate.

   In such a circumstance, Iraq’s Shia population would be frightened and would look to Iran for protection. To whom else could they look? Jacques Chirac? Kofi Annan?

   But perhaps even more significant, if the U.S. were to “cut its losses” and run from Iraq — the battlefield on which al-Qaeda is more active and lethal than anywhere else — the message would be clear: The American-led war against Militant Islamism and terrorism has failed.

   THE QUESTION: The U.S. and the rest of the world would then have to decide how to respond to that defeat and how to accommodate the victors. They would have to adjust to a world in which the nation that had been seen as the only superpower had proven no match for a band of determined Militant Islamist terrorists.

   Those who advocate U.S. withdrawal need to address this prospect forthrightly.

   ON THE OTHER HAND: As Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.VA.) said on Sunday morning:

   “Get Zarqawi and our problems in Iraq are going to start diminishing quickly.”

   Easier said than done, I realize (as does Rockefeller), for military and intelligence communities that had not planned to be fighting this kind of war. But is there anyone who doubts that, given time, resources and support, our soldiers and spies can figure out how to do it?

   AL-QAEDA VS. THE QUEEN: Ayman al-Zawahiri, second-in-command to Osama Bin Laden, has targeted the Queen of England as one of Islam’s “severest enemies.”

   He has also sent a warning to British Islamic leaders who are loyal to the Crown, chiding those who say: “We are British citizens, subject to Britain’s crusader laws, and we are proud of our submission… to Elizabeth, head of the Church of England.” More here.

   SADDAM HUSSEIN’S BIOLOGICAL WMD: “Think how many can be killed by just a tiny bit of anthrax. …Think about all the other terrorists and other bad actors who could just parade through Baghdad and pick up their stores.”

   We now know that when President Bush said that he was lying — and trying to manipulate us into war.

   Oh sorry. I got that wrong. Bush didn’t say that. President Clinton did.

   It’s in this interesting New York Sun piece on Ahmed Chalabi by Laurie Mylroie (who served as a Clinton advisor on Iraq).

   WHO IS LYING ABOUT IRAQ? For a more detailed look at the record, read the distinguished author, Norman Podhoretz, in the December issue of Commentary. He assembles the facts to demonstrate, conclusively, that that the charges being leveled against President Bush regarding the genesis of the war not only are baseless but are themselves a lie. It’s here.

   FRONT LINES: Film-maker Tex Fuller received a letter from Lieutenant Colonel Scott D. Barnes, a surgeon serving with the Marine Corps in Iraq. An excerpt:

   We take care of more Iraqi civilians, military, and police than US military. We also provide state of the art medical/surgical care for enemy combatants. We even have an entire combat support hospital set up just for detainees. Can you imagine that?! One minute they are shooting at us, trying to kill us and we capture them and immediately begin to minister to their injuries and illnesses. Evil Americans that we are and all!

   We are making a difference in the lives over here. The media has no idea what is going on or at least they chose to ignore the truth on the ground. There is only a small percentage of people that do not want us here and just about everybody that comes in contact with the real heart of America over here, sees the incredible value. None of us want to remain here in the long run, but so many are very, very supportive of having us here in the present. Just don’t believe most of what you hear on the news channels and in the papers. This is a very just cause, and the good is overcoming forces of evil for Iraq.
   THE USUAL SCAPEGOATS: From this New York Times story from Amman:

   The suspicion of some here over the hotel killings mirrors the unfounded rumor that thousands of Jews did not show up for work at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, because Israel was behind those attacks.

   In Egypt, Israel was also widely blamed for the bombing attacks in Taba and Sharm el Sheik over the last year, and for the recent sectarian violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Alexandria. In Syria, officials at the highest levels of the government have blamed Israel for killing Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.

   While it appears that most Jordanians have accepted that Mr. Zarqawi was involved — with many saying they are sickened by his actions — there is little criticism for those who scapegoat Israel.
   C’EST LA GUERRE: Regarding the “Franco-fada,” Ralph Peters, retired army officer and author, most recently, of “Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace” writes in the New York Post:

   Paralyzed French officials complain of “unfair” media attention (welcome to the reality club, Pierre). Yet, hardly two months ago the French media celebrated the suffering in New Orleans — ignoring the brave response of millions of Americans to Hurricane Katrina to concentrate exclusively on the Crescent City’s lower 9th ward and one nutty, incompetent mayor.

   Utterly devoid of self-awareness, the French cherish their image of America as racist. But minorities in the United States have opportunities for which their French counterparts would risk their lives. Our problem is that demagogues convince the poorest of our poor to give up on getting ahead. In France, the non-white poor never have a chance of any kind.

   France has no Colin Powell or Condi Rice, no minority heading the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company, no vibrant minority political culture. When Americans who adore la vie en France go to Paris (the intelligentsia’s Orlando), they don’t visit the drug-and-crime-plagued slums. If tourists encounter a Moroccan or a Senegalese “Frenchman,” he’s cleaning up the sidewalks after the dogs of the bourgeoisie.

   Willfully blind to reality, liberals continue to praise the racist culture of France by citing the Parisian welcome for Josephine Baker or the Harlem jazz musicians in the 1920s. But the French regarded those few as exotic pets. The test is how they treat the millions of immigrant families whose members don’t play trumpets in bars or sell their flesh in strip clubs.

   There is no Western country more profoundly racist than France. …Does anyone really believe that the country that enthusiastically handed over more of its Jewish citizens to the Nazis than the Nazis asked for is going to treat brown or black Muslims as equals?

   Meanwhile, the Chirac government is stunned. Its members truly believed that supporting Arab and African dictators and defying America’s efforts to liberate tens of millions of Muslims would buy safety from the 5 million immigrants and their children who have not the slightest hope of a decent future.

   …Desperate apologists for France’s apartheid system claim that the present uproar is merely about youthful anger that Muslim fundamentalism isn’t in play. Just wait. Islamist extremists aren’t stupid. Thrilled by this spontaneous uprising, they’ll move to exploit the fervor of the young to serve their own ends.

   Expect terror. Whether the current violence ebbs tonight or lasts for weeks to come, the uprising of the excluded and oppressed in the streets of France has only begun.
   DUELING IN DUBLIN: My column on the debate I participated in at Trinity College, Dubllin is here.

   Essentially, my opponents went beyond garden-variety Bush bashing to vehement anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism.

   Ralph Peters wrote me this comment:

   Cliff: Well-done piece. Disheartening, but, of course, the 1930′s intellectuals in Britain were even worse, since their arguments appeared to have intellectual coherence. Much of the silly, illogical anti-Americanism is a combination of fashion statement (as I like to observe, the problem with intellectuals is that they don’t THINK) and Freudian daddy-killing urge. In general, intellectuals are simply outraged by America’s power and success because the US isn’t a state of the intellectuals, by the intellectuals and for the intellectuals, with an intellectuals’ dirigiste regime, as in France (and we now see, again, the efficacy of intellectuals, such as de Villepin, being put in charge of anything).

   In a legitimate debate before an unbiased audience, the anti-American crowd would lose. But it can’t happen in such a forum as you entered (rather courageously), since unruly children can never admit that their parent was right–a fundamental law of human nature.

   Anyway, good piece and worthy effort in Dublin (it’s a long way downhill from Dean Swift to the posturing of Bono).

   Best, Ralph

   - Cliff May

   In Their Own Words

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   “The law compels me to chop off the head of anyone who insults Allah and the prophet.”
   (11/11/2005) Mohammed Bouyeri, Confessed murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh

   “The extremists think it’s their obligation to kill people they consider to be enemies of Islam.”
   (11/11/2005) Prof. Afshin Ellian, Iranian-born professor at Leiden University Law School

   “We reject integration when it leads to assimilation. I don’t believe in a host country. We are at home here [in Europe] and whatever we consider our culture to be also belongs to our chosen country. I’m in my country, not the country of the Westerners.”
   (11/11/2005) Dyab Abou Jahjah, Leader of the Arab European League

   FDD Events and Activities

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   Please click on the underlined items to view the full article.
   Danger Zone – Nov. 13th
   (11/13/2005)
   This Sunday’s Danger Zone featured Tony Blankley and Retired Lt. Col. Bill Cowan. [Read More]

   In the Media

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   Please click on the underlined items to view the full article.

   Print & Online
   Thursday, November 10, 2005
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   A General’s ‘Suicide’
   Amb. Richard Carlson, Barbara Newman, The Washington Times
   The conclusion of United Nations investigators that Syria’s leadership planned the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, and had their Lebanese agents-in-place carry out the murder, is having a deep impact in the region. [Read More]

   Blaming America First
   Clifford D. May, Scripps Howard News Service
   We had gathered at the venerable University Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin to debate the resolution: “This house believes that George W. Bush is a danger to world stability.” [Read More]

   Jordan’s 11/9
   Walid Phares, Front Page Magazine
   After every jihadist terror attack or violent outburst around the world, the mainstream media always advances its myriad theories about the so-called “root causes” of the particular attack in question. Unfortunately, most of the time their analyses are fictions. [Read More]

   Death as a Political Option
   Amb. Richard Carlson, Barbara Newman, The Pittsburgh Tribune
   The conclusion of United Nations’ investigators that Syria’s leadership planned the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri — and had their Lebanese agents-in-place carry out the murder — is having a deep impact in the region. [Read More]

   Tuesday, November 08, 2005
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   A Patriotic Partnership
   2005 FDD Student Fellow, Elise M. Stefanik, The Harvard Crimson
   At Harvard, discourse surrounding the U.S. military is awash with issues such as President Bush’s foreign policy, the war in Iraq, military recruitment on campus and the Solomon Amendment. While these dialogues are important to promoting political engagement, these policy debates can splinter the unity of the Harvard community. Similar to the growing partisanship in Washington, it is apparent from the current ideological warfare among students that Harvard seems to be following suit. [Read More]

   Monday, November 07, 2005
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   A War of the Worlds
   Richard Z. Chesnoff, The New York Daily News
   The government must act quickly to improve conditions and attitudes on both sides, to make it clear to the Muslims that violence is no recourse, that France is indeed the land of liberty, equality, fraternity – and opportunity. If it doesn’t, France’s national nightmare will grow worse, and deadlier. [Read More]

   Sunday, November 06, 2005
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   The Value of Peace through Strength
   2005 FDD Student Fellow, Kerry Eskenas, The California Patriot
   The world received word this week that a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five and wounded thirty-four in Hadera, Israel. Although the world community is stunned that terrorists would continue to attack Israel after the Gaza Disengagement that took place about two months ago, I can’t say that I personally felt any amount of surprise. [Read More]

   Broadcast
   Sunday, November 13, 2005
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   Fox News Live, FOX News Network
   Walid Phares
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   Friday, November 11, 2005
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   The Liddy and Hill Show, Radio America
   Walid Phares
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   The Rick Tyler Show, Right Talk Radio Network
   David Silverstein
   The situation in Iran.

   The Caplis & Silverman Show, KHOW Radio Denver
   Clifford D. May
   The situation in Iran.

   Wednesday, November 09, 2005
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   Fox & Friends, FOX News Network
   Walid Phares
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   MSNBC Live, MSNBC
   Walid Phares
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   Tuesday, November 08, 2005
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   The Right Balance, NPR
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   MSNBC Live, MSNBC
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   News Update, KTSA San Antonio Radio
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   News Update, WMET Radio
   Clifford D. May
   The situation in Iran.

   The Liddy and Hill Show, Radio America
   Clifford D. May
   The Paris riots.

   Monday, November 07, 2005
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   The Ronn Owens Programs, KGO Radio San Fransisco
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   The Linda Chavez Show, Syndicated Radio
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   Prime Time America, ABC Radio Chicago
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   The John Gambling Show, WABC Radio
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   The Laura Ingraham Show, Syndicated Radio
   Walid Phares
   The Paris riots.

   International Media
   Sunday, November 13, 2005
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   News Update
   Mark Dubowitz, Reshet Bet Radio (Israel)
   Al-Manar television.

   Thursday, November 10, 2005
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   Securing South Asia
   Maneeza Hossain, The Daily Star
   The stakes for the Bangladesh government, currently hosting the 13th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), are considerably higher than usual for such gatherings due to the public image considerations. [Read More]

   Wednesday, November 09, 2005
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   News Hour
   Walid Phares, BBC Radio
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   The World Today
   Walid Phares, Global Television
   The suicide bombings in Jordan.

   News Update
   Clifford D. May, Channel 4 (UK)
   The U.S. approach to the global war on terrorism.

   Tuesday, November 08, 2005
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   The World Today
   Clifford D. May, BBC News
   Should the torture of terrorist suspects be permitted?

   Monday, November 07, 2005
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   The World Tonight
   Walid Phares, Corus Entertainment (Canada)
   The Paris riots.

   Publications

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   Please click on the underlined items to view the full article.
   Iranian Threats
   (11/11/2005) Jonathan L. Snow, Backgrounders
   On October 26, 2005, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at the “World Without Zionism” conference in Tehran. In widely reported remarks, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and expressed the goal of witnessing a “world without America.” His statements were universally condemned by world leaders. [Read More]

   Global Jihad Monitor
   (11/09/2005) Jonathan L. Snow, Global Jihad Monitor
   Days after Prime Minister Howard warned of an imminent terrorist threat, Australian authorities arrested seventeen suspects believed to be plotting a catastrophic attack. [Read More]

   In Case You Missed It

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   Please click on the underlined items to view the full article.
   Domestic Threats to Iranian Stability: Khuzistan and Baluchistan
   (11/13/2005) Michael Rubin, Jerusalem Issue Brief
   The Islamic Republic of Iran is facing a new wave of domestic violence, with multiple bombings in the provinces of Khuzistan and Baluchistan in the past six months. [Read More]

   I Spy With My Little Eye…
   (11/09/2005) Reuel Marc Gerecht, The Wall Street Journal (Opinion Journal)
   Langley’s systemic sloppiness–the flimsiness of cover is but the tip of the iceberg of incompetence–has repeatedly destroyed agent networks and provoked “flaps” with some of our closest allies. A serious CIA would never have allowed Mr. Wilson to go on such an odd, short “fact finding” mission. [Read More]

   Reflections on the Revolution in France
   (11/08/2005) Daniel Pipes, New York Sun
   The rioting by Muslim youth that began October 27 in France to calls of “Allahu Akbar” may be a turning point in European history. What started in Clichy-sous-Bois, on the outskirts of Paris, by its 11th night had spread to 300 French cities and towns, as well as to Belgium and Germany. The violence, which has already been called some evocative names

   November 15, 2005 - 11:25 am   Link to this Comment