Wednesday - August 16, 2006

Constructive Ambiguity?

Question: what do you get when you combine the United Nations, French troops, angry Hezbollah terrorists and even angrier Israeli army troops?

Answer: I don’t know but it promises to be more hilarious than a barrel of drunk monkeys going over a waterfall singing “Le Marseilles” out of tune.

Evidently the French are confused about what constitutes “hotile activites” ... which is not surprising, considering the military history of the Frogs. Throw the UN into the mix and you have the blind leading the blind .. in the middle of a hornet’s nest.

I have my popcorn all ready for this show. The Frogs are going to maintain peace with the backing of the UN and neither has a clue about how to do it? Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha-ha-ha-ha .... oh, stop it - you’re killing me ....

U.N. Troops’ Mandate Not All That Clear
_{BEIRUT (AP) - August 16, 2006, 3:02 PM EDT}

The U.N. peace troops shipping out soon to south Lebanon may find their first skirmish will be over words—like “hostile activities” and “all necessary action.”

The cease-fire resolution that diplomats produced in New York’s air-conditioned backrooms last week equips the new truce force with an uncertain mandate, one that could confuse as much as calm the situation once they hit the ground in Lebanon’s smoldering summer hills, peacekeeping veterans say.

“They call it `constructive ambiguity,’” one ex-U.N. official, Timur Goksel, said disparagingly of vague passages in Resolution 1701. Another said French commanders, expected to lead the mission, had better nail down detailed, approved rules for action before the mission.

“This, to me, looks like it will be a rough one,” added Ian Johnstone. “My advice to the French is to work this out carefully.”

The Security Council resolution halted a monthlong conflict in which Israel tried and failed to neutralize Hezbollah via air and ground attacks on Lebanon, and the Shiite Muslim militia poured thousands of rockets onto Israeli targets.

The council called for Hezbollah to cease attacks and Israel to cease “offensive military operations,” and for Lebanese army units and the U.N. force to deploy in the south, as Israeli troops withdraw. The 18-mile-deep southern zone is supposed to then be free of armed Hezbollah fighters.

The first fresh peacekeepers may arrive within two weeks under the new mandate, reinforcing UNIFIL, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, U.N. officials say. Full deployment of up to 15,000 U.N. “blue helmets” may take months.

French and other envoys, meanwhile, are returning to those U.N. backrooms to talk over Resolution 1701’s real meaning. “It’s time for a robust force, but they have to negotiate every aspect of that mandate, including when to use force and when not to use force,” said Sir Brian Urquhart, former chief of U.N. peacekeeping.

Questions focus on a paragraph deep in the lengthy document, in which the council authorizes the strengthened U.N. force “to take all necessary action” to, among other things, ensure no “hostile activities” take place in its zone, and to “protect civilians.”

“What constitutes `hostile activities’?” asked Tufts University’s Johnstone, a one-time U.N. peacekeeping official who edits an annual journal on peace operations.

“One can imagine all the situations where one side takes action and that’s interpreted as hostile by the other, and UNIFIL will have to decide.”

- More Frog Fears from AP ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/16/2006 at 03:44 PM   
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Pyrrhic Victory

A Pyrrhic Victory (pronounced pirric) is a victory which comes at devastating cost to the victor. The phrase is a reference to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who during the Pyrrhic War defeated the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum in 279 BCE, but suffered severe and irreplaceable casualties in the process. After the battle of Asculum, Plutarch relates a report by Dionysius that:

“The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.”

The phrase is more often reported as “Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone”.

-- Wikipedia

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/16/2006 at 12:38 AM   
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   Monday - August 14, 2006

All Quiet On The Eastern Front

And so it looks like the fighting will wind down over the next few days ... unless Hezbollocks decides to keep to pattern and continues to fire rockets in spite of themselves. What are the odds that this “peace” will last more than 48 hours? It’s got to be a long shot.

At the very least, keep an eye on southern Lebanon over the next week. If Hezbollocks stays quiet and honors the ceasefire that means they just got their ass whupped badly. If, on the other hand, they decide to break the peace with rocket attacks that probably means they weren’t hurt bad enough. This will be a good barometer of how much damage Israel did to the terorist organization.

Of course, their leader Nostrallah and President Ahmawhackjob of Iran will declare a “great victory over the Zionist state” - which is typical bullcrap from these pencil-dick blowhards. Speaking of pencil-dick blowhards, I hear the Fwench are going to send a force to Lebanon as part of the peacekeeping force. Now that should be fun to watch. Let’s see how fast the Frogs can scurry for cover and surrender when the shooting starts ...

Lebanon Ceasefire Takes Effect
LEBANON (AFP) - Aug 14 1:12 AM US/Eastern

A UN-brokered ceasefire deal aimed at ending the month-long war in Lebanon entered into force at 0500 GMT on Monday. The hours leading up to the agreed hour for an end to the fighting were marked by intense fighting, with Israel launching a series of air raids across Lebanon and Hezbollah firing a barrage of rockets on the Jewish state.

At least 38 Lebanese civilians and four soldiers were killed by Israeli fire as warplanes kept up their deadly bombing, police and rescue workers said, while five Israeli soldiers were also killed in action.

Israel said it would stop the offensive at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) Monday in line with a Security Council resolution passed unanimously Friday calling for a full cessation of hostilities. The Lebanese cabinet, which includes two Hezbollah representatives, also agreed to respect the accord, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s personal envoy, Geir Pedersen, said after talks with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

Earlier Sunday a Lebanese cabinet meeting on the question of disarming Hezbollah was postponed because the Shiite movement was standing by a refusal to give up its arms, a cabinet minister who declined to be named told AFP. “This is the moment of truth and they do not want to give up their arms. We preferred to accept a delay of the meeting to allow the discussions to continue,” the minister had said.

Israel meanwhile urged the world to apply the UN resolution firmly, warning that Hezbollah must be dismantled and the Lebanese army quickly deployed in the south. “The application of the resolution will depend on the will of the Lebanese government, but especially on the determination of the international community,” Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in Jerusalem.

“It is clear that Resolution 1701 foresees the dismantling of Hezbollah and not only the disarming” of the militant group, she said. “We want to see the Lebanese army deployed immediately in south Lebanon.” The agreement to halt fighting raised hopes of an end to the bloodshed which has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Lebanese and some 150 Israelis.

But with Hezbollah vowing to fight until the last Israeli soldier leaves Lebanon and Israel stressing that it will respond to any attack on its troops or rocket fire, it was unclear whether the cessation of hostilities would hold.

And the bloodshed went on as the clock ticked towards the agreed hour to end the fighting. In one of the deadliest raids, at least 15 people were killed, including three children, and 20 wounded by Israeli air strikes that hit eight buildings and a mosque in Beirut’s southern suburbs, emergency services said.

At least eight people were also killed and 30 wounded in Israeli air raids late Sunday near the ancient city of Baalbeck in eastern Lebanon, police said. In Israel a man was killed by a rocket attack in the north of the country as the Shiite militia fired a record 250 rockets at the Jewish state.

- More on the ceasefire from AFP...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/14/2006 at 10:51 AM   
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   Saturday - August 12, 2006

Pigs Will Never Fly

Hezbollocks will observe the truce. Right. And pigs will fly. The check’s in the mail. Hillary isn’t running in 2008. All complete fables or outright lies. Hezbollocks got its arse whupped, is low on rockets so yeah ... I expect them to observe the truce ... until they can restock their armaments from their store in Iran. Why in hell did Bush pressure Israel to go along with this? What is there to be gained? We all know what will happen as sure as this looney Nasrallah wears a turban.

This is going to keep going on and on until Hezbollocks or Israel is wiped out. The Muslim states around Israel have their little proxies in Hezbollocks and Ham-ass. They just need to sit back and watch. Keep the madmen supplied with AK-47’s and rockets and enjoy the show. This show will never end ... and pigs will never learn to fly ...

Hezbollah Will Observe UN Truce
(BBC) - Saturday, 12 August 2006, 17:53 GMT 18:53 UK

Hezbollah’s leader has said his group will abide by a ceasefire plan agreed at the UN to end fighting with Israel. However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.

The UN resolution called for a “full cessation of hostilities”. But Israel has since tripled its troops in south Lebanon and Israeli radio says some have reached the key strategic target of the Litani River.

Israel confirmed seven of its soldiers were killed and more than 50 wounded in fighting on Saturday. Israel’s Cabinet will discuss the UN resolution on Sunday and says it will only halt military action after taking a vote.

On Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV channel on Saturday, Sheikh Nasrallah said the UN resolution was “unfair” in holding his group responsible for the fighting. But he added: “We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government.”

And referring to Israel’s insistence it has the right to continue military operations in Lebanon in self-defence, Sheikh Nasrallah said: “As long as there is Israeli aggression, it is our right to fight them and defend our land.”

He added: “The war has not ended. There have been continued strikes and continued casualties. Today nothing has changed and it appears tomorrow nothing will change.”

Sheikh Nasrallah said Hezbollah would co-operate with the deployment of UN and Lebanese troops in the south.

- More on these ridiculous promises from the BBC...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/12/2006 at 02:57 PM   
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   Friday - August 11, 2006

Apocalypse Now!

Pravda thinks we all need to head for the bomb shelters, bend over and .... well, you know the drill. They are quoting Bernard Lewis in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal as well as Russian Generals and political experts. Pravda has it all laid out as a drama in four acts. No intermission, enjoy the show as mankind destroys itself and the planet.

Paging Dr. Strangelove! Or to paraphrase Country Joe And The Fish ....

Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way over yonder in Teheran
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Teheran;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

“I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die” (1967)

Nuclear War Starting In 10 Days?
(PRAVDA) - August 11, 2006

Such was the conclusion reached in the U.S. Russian generals and political scientists disagree only about its exact starting date. Our world is on the brink of another world war. It will originate August 22nd in the Middle East.

The prediction was presented not by Vagna or Nostradamus but by an American political scientist Bernard Lewis in the acclaimed publication of Wall Street Journal. He is a man with close ties to the Bush administration as well as to the non-conservatives pushing for the radical solution of the “Iranian Threat.”

Lewis believes it will be precisely Teheran who will unleash the ultimate conflict by attacking Israel. Why August 22nd? Perhaps simply because Washington has set a deadline for the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and has demanded a complete wrap up of the nuclear program by that day. It is obvious that Teheran has no intention to comply.

Curiously, this year the night of August 22nd happens to be night Muslims will celebrate the journey of their prophet Mohammed to Jerusalem and his ascension into heaven. According to Lewis the followers of Mohammed have a perfect opportunity to enrich their celebration by throwing an attack on Israel. An immediate retaliation will follow.

“Such a scenario does not seem too unrealistic to me,” comments Sergey Markov, a Russian political scientist, “These days anything is possible in the Middle East. People living there are crazy and they constantly keep playing with fire. Their situation has gone out of control and is ready to explode any minute. In fact, the new world war is already going in that place.”

The First Act

As the Israeli invasion of Lebanon continues it is becoming clearer that Tel-Aviv actually aims at much more than the elimination of Hezbollah. Israel could have long since used its omnipresent scouts to put an end to the resistance’s activity. Neither does the complete destruction of all Hezbollah’s rocket-launching sites present a problem for the Israeli army with its tremendous equipment and might.

So why the endless bombing of Lebanese cities and villages? And why the overwhelming U.S. support? All this is happening precisely during the time when Americans seem unable to force Iran to comply with their demands. Lebanese occupation under the excuse of defending against Hezbollah is itself an excuse for solving the Iranian problem.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/11/2006 at 11:38 AM   
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   Thursday - August 10, 2006

Daily Reading Assignment

Victor Davis Hanson says Israel can take care of herself. It’s the Liberal idiots on the Left and in the media in the West that are confused and often deliberately covering up the true nature of the war on terror that we all find ourselves in. Is this the first sign of the collapse of Western Civilization? Maybe ...

Worry About The West — Not Israel
By Victor Davis Hanson
_{(JEWISH WORLD REVIEW) - August 10, 2006}

The reactions and media coverage coming out of the West regarding this latest war in the Middle East are as bewildering as they are instructive. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., for example, recently said, “I don’t take sides for or against Hezbollah or for or against Israel.” Meanwhile, the Western news agency Reuters, responding to scrutiny by bloggers, withdrew wire photos taken by a freelance photographer of a smoky and burning Beirut. Reuters had failed to catch the freelancer’s doctoring of the photos to emphasize unduly the damage from Israeli bombs.

And the Associated Press notes that initially reported Lebanese claims of 40 “civilians” killed by Israeli air strikes at Houla, Lebanon, in fact, were mistaken — and that the latest reports have lowered the death toll to one. In Qana, where the Israeli military had hit an apartment building (and were quickly censured by European statesmen), the number of civilian fatalities reported also kept decreasing as reports were scrutinized. Plus, we have learned that several hours lapsed between the dropping of the bombs and the fatal collapse of the building, raising further questions about the relationship between the bombing and the fatalities that followed. Finally, based on photographs from the scene, the onsite rescue appeared staged for reporters.

These discrepancies suggest we have little idea what actually happened on the ground there — other than that Qana has been a favored missile-launching site against Israel, as a recent deadly aerial assault from there on Haifa attests. There is a depressing pattern here. The sources for Western erroneous reports and faked pictures always seem to exaggerate the damage to Lebanon — but never to Israel.

Likewise, Western news agencies rarely list a precise number of Hezbollah losses, instead lumping them in with civilian fatalities. Does that mean that someone who launches a missile in Levis and sneakers is not a combatant? In addition, the history and nature of Hezbollah do not matter to many in the West. Knowingly or not, news outlets continue to spread Hezbollah’s propaganda. One wonders if Westerners remember or know that, until Sept. 11, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than had any other terrorist organization.

- Read the rest here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/10/2006 at 10:46 AM   
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   Wednesday - August 09, 2006

Martian Jews Attack!

Posted by Dan Rather     on 08/09/2006 at 02:00 PM   
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Barking Moonbat Of The Week

UNBELIEVABLE. Simply unbelievable. No matter how hard I try I can never seem to anticipate what some reporters will come up with next. Tom Ricks of the Washington Post is the latest example of Moonbattery Gone Wild. In an interview on CNN he accused Israel of intentionally failing to destroy Hezbollah rocket launchers in order to maintain an image of being attacked while they wipe out the terrorists. Yep, you heard that right. I realize it’s only Wednesday but I really don’t think anyone can top this one - unless Katie Couric decides to have Saddam Hussein’s baby - in which case Mr. Ricks will fall to second place. Until then he gets the award this week. Sheesh!

Reporter: Israel Deliberately Not Destroying Launchers
_{WASHINGTON (Y-NET NEWS) - August 8, 2006}

Tom Ricks, military reporter for the Washington Post, accused Israel Tuesday of intentionally failing to destroy a number of rocket launchers in south Lebanon, to maintain a moral defense to its striking civilian of targets in Lebanon. Ricks, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in journalism and recently published his new book “Fiasco” on the failure of the American war in Iraq, made the comments during an interview on CNN.

Ricks, who was hosted on the Howard Kurtz’s weekly media review show on the CNN news network, said: “Civilian casualties are also part of the battlefield play for both sides here. One of the things that is going on, according to some US military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hizbullah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they’re being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.”

Shocked by the prominent commentator’s accusation, interviewer Howard Kurtz replied, “hold on, you’re suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hizbullah to retain some of it’s fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?” Since Ricks made the comments, he has been assailed by numerous organizations which monitor representations of Israel in the United States media. Ricks was also criticized in American radio shows, which represent generally America’s conservative right-wing population.

Rush Limbaugh, who hosts the most popular radio show in the US – with an audience of over 12 million listeners (for the sake of comparison, CNN has 1 million viewers at peak hours), devoted a full one-hour program to the foreign media’s hostile treatment of Israel. Limbaugh discussed the scandal of a Reuters photographer who touched up photographs of the destruction in Lebanon for the first half hour of the program. The second half hour was devoted to the Washington Post’s military correspondent Ricks.

During an interview for Hugh Hewitt’s popular website, on which Ricks book Fiasco was being promoted, the Washington Post journalist was again asked about his severe charges against Israel. I wish I had kept my mouth shut, Ricks said, but added: Everything I said was accurate. Ricks noted than in an off-the-record conversation with a number of military analysts, two of them said they believed it was a clever strategy on the part of Israel to leave a few rocket launchers intact to aid Israel in sharpening public sentiment and give Israeli forces more freedom to operate.

The analysts didn’t think it was a bad strategy, Ricks noted. Rather, they believed it would be a clever move on the part of Israel if it were true. Later, however, Ricks attempted to distance himself from the statements. I have heard from a number of very knowledgeable and intelligent people that while such a strategy could be logical and even morally defensible, Ricks said, of course the Israeli public would never accept it.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/09/2006 at 02:08 AM   
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   Monday - August 07, 2006

Syrian Saber Rattling

Things are spiraling out of control in the Middle East. Lebanon rejected the US/French cease-fire proposal. Syria also rejected the proposal, their foreign minister stormed out of an Arab countries meeting over the crisis and now the Syrians are gearing up the saber rattling, saying they are ready for war.

Countries always say that before the fighting begins. They are about to learn a hard lesson - it’s about time. Syria has been interfering in the region almost as long as Iran. They don’t understand that the Israelis have only committed about 10% of their fighting force to Lebanon. Maybe this whole half-ass war Israel is fighting is a way to sucker Syria into thinking they can whip Israel. If so, all hell is about to break loose.

Now to the really important question ... What’s up with those ugly-ass pink berets the Syrian army wears? Did they borrow them from the French? Not that there’s anything wrong with pink berets. I’m just sayin’ ....

Syria Ready For Possible Regional War
BEIRUT (JERUSALEM POST) - August 6, 2006

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem crossed into Lebanon Sunday for the first visit by a top Syrian official in more than a year, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, Fawzi Salloukh, Moallem said “Syria is ready for the possibility of a regional war if the Israeli aggression continues.”

He added that a US-French draft resolution to end the war “adopted Israel’s point of view only.” Underlining his support for Hizbullah, Moallem said, “as Syria’s foreign minister I hope to be a soldier in the resistance.” Salloukh said that “Israel cannot take in peace what it had failed to take in war.”

“If Israel attacks Syria by any mean, on the ground, by air, our leadership ordered the armed forces to reply immediately,” he said after emerging from a meeting with Lebanese President Emil Lahoud. Israel has issued several pledges not to attack Syria. According to Moallem, the US-French cease-fire plan was “a recipe for the continuation of the war.”

Moallem’s visit comes amid strained relations between Lebanon and Syria as a result of the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A UN investigation has implicated several Syrian officials in the murder. Syria denied any involvement in the Hariri assassination that led to an international isolation of Damascus. Prompted by the crisis that followed Hariri’s assassination, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon in April 2005, ending a 29-year military presence.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/07/2006 at 10:58 AM   
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   Sunday - August 06, 2006

Immoral Equivalence

Why is a dead Jewish woman less important than a dead Lebanese woman? The press is having a field day reporting the deaths in Lebanon but don’t have time to report on the deaths in Israel as hundreds of missiles rain down on Haifa, Galillee and even the West Bank in the most recent attacks. Is there a media bias against the Jews? I would have to say yes, there most definitely is a lot of partisan reporting going on in the current Middle East crisis.

Why do you think that is? Is an Israeli life not the equivalent of a Lebanese life. Hezbollah started this mess and then they hide among civilians while lobbing one missile after another at random targets inside Israel. So why does the Western media wring its collective hands over deaths in Lebanon and drone on endlessly about “Qana massacre” while nobody hears a word about a Jewish grandmother and her two daughters getting blown up by Hezbollah rockets? How can anyone in their right mind call a group that started a fight “resistance fighters”?

The press has lost sight of the difference between good and evil. They are trying to push the concept of media neutrality and “moral equivalence” on us, seeemingly to provide “balanced coverage”. What they are doing instead is practicing immoral equivalence when they refuse to acknowledge the difference between the opposing sides and unfairly report one sides’ deaths but not the other. They might as well admit they are helping the terrorists in their PR war. That is immoral in anyone’s book and there is no “equivalence” when one side of the equation is left empty. Q.E.D.

Israeli War Deaths Go Largely Unnoticed
—(Y-NET NEWS) - 08.06.06, 02:25

Hours after mother and two daughters are killed in Hizbullah rocket attack, media outlets around world fail to report deaths; meanwhile, British press continues anti-Israel tirade. Media bias? Hours after 60-year-old Fadia Jumaa and her two daughters, Samira, 31, and Sultana, 33, were killed by a Hizbullah rocket attack on their home in the Israeli-Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, the international media has so far largely ignored their deaths.

Reuters was alone among non-Israeli media outlets to report the deaths, according to a Google news search, a number of hours after the first reports of the attack surfaced. The lack of coverage of the Israeli civilian war casualties stands in marked contrast to the swift response by many sections of the international media to reported Lebanese casualties.

Meanwhile, the British press, which has produced some of the most venomous anti-Israel coverage during the war, has continued its tirade against Israel. An article in the London-based Guardian, entitled “Militants merge with mainstream ,” argues that Hizbullah has gained widespread, cross-religious support in the Arab world, and uses terms such as “the Qana massacre” to explain the apparent newfound unity.

The article argues that Sunnis and Shiites have come together in their backing of Hizbullah: “Whatever qualms Arabs once had about Hizbullah they have since been dissipated by Israel’s attacks, the hundreds of deaths, the sight of up to a quarter of the Lebanese population fleeing their homes, and especially the bombing of UN observers and the massacre at Qana. The Shiite organisation and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, have become symbols of resistance even in such unlikely places as the Gulf countries where Sunnis and Shiites have been spotted waving the yellow-and-green flag.”

The article was co-written by Issandr el-Amrani, a freelance journalist in Egypt who referred to Hizbullah as “ Lebanese resistance fighters “ on his personal blog and who describes reports of Hizbullah members operating out of civilian areas as “Israeli lies.” The article’s authors failed, however, to note that an influential Saudi Sunni cleric, Sheikh Safar al-Hawali, has issued an anti-Hizbullah fatwa declaring that “Hizbullah is not the ‘Party of God’ but the ‘Party of Satan.’”

An Associated Press report, which undermines the Guardian’s claims, says that “Al-Hawali’s words are an addition to a previous fatwa issued two weeks ago in Saudi Arabia by the leader of the Wahhabi movement, Sheikh Abdullah bin Jabrin, which declared that it is illegal to support, join, or even pray for Hizbullah.” Meanwhile, an article has appeared on the BBC website in which a reporter for the British broadcaster, Hugh Sykes, relays a conversation he has with Lebanese residents.

The article is remarkable as it contains the views of a BBC journalist being given to Lebanese locals, rather than the other way around. In the piece, written in first person narrative, Sykes tells people in Lebanon that there would be “no point” for Israel to strike Hizbullah targets in Lebanon: “‘People keep asking me… ‘ Beirut - will they bomb Beirut again?’ ‘What would be the point?” I reply.’ Four massive thumps one night, and six the next, as Israeli bombs or shells slammed into the ground a few kilometres away. Or into the children’s homes,” Sykes wrote.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/06/2006 at 08:13 AM   
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   Saturday - August 05, 2006

Yalla Ya Nasrallah

One of our readers here found this at Powerline from YouTube. It’s got a good beat and a catchy tune as well as being funny as all get out. The Israelis are just having way too much fun ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/05/2006 at 08:50 PM   
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   Thursday - August 03, 2006

And The Beat Goes On …

This cat, Hachoo Nostrilla, is a real piece of work. He is cunning and good with words. He is a gifted speaker and knows how to turn a phrase, always knowing what to say to keep the faithful following him. In other words, Bill Clinton of the Middle East. He is now a media TV star in the Arab world, surpassing even President Ahmawhackjob of Iran.

That’s the problem over there. Every asshat with at least two followers believes himself to be the next “Mahdi” who will wipe out the infidels and restore the caliphate. The sheeple in the “Arab street’ just love it. It’s all grand theatre to them - until they get bombed. Then they rapidly become “victims of Zionist agression”.

Another day, another hundred dead. Hezbollah is withering under the Israeli assault. I can tell because they have raised the boasting index to Level Seven on the Skipper-Bullshit Scale. This latest threat, if carried out, will infuriate Israel and then the hammer will fall. None too soon ...

Nasrallah: We’ll Bomb Tel Aviv If Beirut Attacked
(Y-NET NEWS) - Aug. 3, 2006

In TV address, Hizbullah leader says terror group will respond to next Israeli strike in Beirut with rockets on Tel Aviv. Israel responds: Lebanese infrastructure will be destroyed if Tel Aviv is hit.

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to bomb Tel Aviv during a TV address Thursday night, should Israel attack in Beirut. “If you indeed do this, I say this clearly. I won’t use terms I used up to now, past Haifa, but I will say clearly and in a way that is not open to interpretation: If you bomb our capital we’ll bomb your capital. We’ll bomb Tel Aviv and we can do this.”

A senior Israeli defense source told Israel’s Channel 1 that Israel will destroy Lebanon’s infrastructure if Hizbullah fires rockets at Tel Aviv. During the speech, which was aired on al-Manar TV, Nasrallah discussed the ‘importance’ of ground battles by Hizbullah members against IDF units: “We are fighting against very heavy pressure and are fighting battles of heroism across the whole front.” He added that his organization had many anti-tank weapons.

Nasrallah branded Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a “fool” for “declaring a victory too early.” “He wants to look like (Ariel) Sharon, (Yitzhak) Rabin, and (Menachem) Begin. Ask him where the accomplishments are that he promised you,” Nasrallah said. He added that he was following Israeli analysts.

Nasrallah mocked the commando raid in Baalbek: “There were two landings near Baalbek and not in the heart of Baalbek. They stormed a hospital and threw a grenade. Pay attention to the great gain, to search for injured fighters who they didn’t capture during the battle. They weren’t there, they kidnapped five civilians and they are hostages. This is intelligence, this is the Mossad?”

Nasrallah added, “We all remember the heroic battles. There are tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers in the field and many tanks with them. They are facing soldiers standing with bravery and stopping the advance. The battle is still going on in front positions and it surprised the Zionists. The Israelis come to enter a village, so that Hizbullah fighters will run away, but up to now – the fighters remained to battle in the villages until the last bullet. Israel was surprised by the human factor. They are fighting against men willing to sacrifice.”

This was Nasrallah’s eighth television appearance since the kidnapping of soldiers on the northern border.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/03/2006 at 03:55 PM   
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How It All Began …

Ever wonder where all this started? I did, so I had to do a little reading and research. It seems our friend, the Prophet For Profit who founded the Religion Of Pees, was good friends with the Jews ... in the beginning. He used them to prove he was a legitimate prophet. Then when they refused to abandon their religion and worship him, he decided to eliminate them. Now, nearly 1400 years later, the grand old tradition of eliminating the Jews continues. You’d think they’d have gotten over it by now ...

Medina - 627 A.D.

When Mohammed first entered Yathrib (Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah), he was counting on the support of its people. One particular ethnic group he thought would give more authority to his prophethood were the Jews because they had the Torah and all the previous Prophets were Jewish.

The Jews were many in Yathrib and its suburbs. There were the Bani Al-Nadheer Jews, the Bani Qaynuqa’ Jews, the Bani Quraytha Jews, and several more. The Jews were rich and successful in their businesses. A great asset to the young Islamic Nation.

At first, Mohammed was trying to befriend the Jews and get them on his side. He insisted that the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) worship the same God. He said that the same God sent down the Torah. He ordered the Muslims to fast Aashoora’ or the Passover. Even the Qibla (the direction the Muslims face in prayer) was towards Jerusalem - the same direction the Jews faced in prayer.

But no matter how hard Mohammed tried to convince them that he is a prophet he just couldn’t. Once he even barged into a Jewish Synagogue in Yathrib (Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah) and said that if only twelve Jews would believe in him then Allah would spare them his wrath.

When he realized that the Jews wouldn’t believe in him, and that their unbelief would turn against him, because they have the Torah which has the criteria for any prophet, he realized that they should be eliminated. So at first he switched the Qibla (the direction the Muslims face in prayer) from Jerusalem to Mecca. Then warned them; they either become Muslims and be safe, or sell their possessions and leave their land.

Mohammed marched towards the Jews in order to either exile them or make a treaty with them. The Bani Al-Nadheer Jews refused to make a treaty with Mohammed so they fought against him, lost, and subsequently were exiled. The Bani Quraytha Jews saw the fate of their Bani Al-Nadheer brethren so they had no choice but to make a peace treaty with him.

Yet Mohammed was determined that all Jews should be either exiled or killed - he was set on their elimination. He cannot simply break the treaty with Bani Quraytha though because it would be bad for his image as a Prophet who’s supposed to keep his promises and treaties. He strongly emphasized the importance of keeping treaties. So his only way out was to make it appear as though Bani Quraytha were the ones who broke the treaty.

Ghazwat Al-Khandaq (The Battle of the Trench or Ditch) came. The Pagan Arab tribes retreated and Mohammed was ready for battle. Mohammed went to the Bani Quraytha Jews and eliminated them because it was claimed that they betrayed the Muslims and renounced the treaty.

- The Bani Quraytha Jews: Traitors or Betrayed?

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/03/2006 at 12:23 PM   
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   Wednesday - August 02, 2006

Target

“Qana Massacre”
-by-
Cox & Forkum

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/02/2006 at 05:11 PM   
Filed Under: • Middle-East • Terrorists •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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