Monday - June 18, 2007

This is a New Twist

According to UN General Secretary Ki-Moon, the genocide in Darfur was not caused by radical Islam, but rather Man-Made Global Warming.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change and that more such conflicts may be on the horizon, in an article published Saturday.

“The Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change,” Ban said in a Washington Post opinion column.

Yup, that’s it.  Because man (read: America) is killing mother Gaia, those poor folks in Sudan have to eliminate all infidels.

Makes sense to me.

And there was a slim hope that this guy was going to be better than Koffing Anus^TM

Posted by Drew458     on 06/18/2007 at 06:14 AM   
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   Wednesday - December 13, 2006

Koffing Anus Departs

Koffing Anus has now officially gotten on my last nerve. First, he decides to come here to Missouri to deliver his last parting shot at the United States. Second, he does so at the Truman Presidential Library and invokes the memory of the man who coined the phrase ”the buck stops here.” Third, he lashes out at the US after presiding over the most corrupt administration ever at the United Nations.

Enough is enough. Send this asshat back to the third-world crap-hole he came from and never let him near the US or the UN again. I still fail to see what we stand to gain by remaining a member of this despicable organization which hires hypocritical jerks like Big Anus to bash the US while taking untold millions under the table from Saddam Hussein.

And to top it all off, Democrats in Congress refuse to send to the United Nations a man who proved he was capable of standing up to the corrupt, bigoted idiots from every corner of the planet. Democrats owe an apology to John Bolton and Koffing Anus owes an apology to the entire human race ... especially the US.

Now keep this mealy-mouthed bastard out of my state. I smell the fumes of sulfur since he was here spouting his drivel. The devil was here and we don’t want him back. Adios, Kofi! Now get the hell out of my country and stay out.

_{Bob Englehart - The Hartford Courant (CT)}

Annan Chides U.S. In Farewell Speech
_{INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (CNN) - 7:32 p.m. EST, December 11, 2006}

Kofi Annan had some strong words Monday for the United States in his farewell speech as secretary-general of the United Nations. Throughout the address, given at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library, Annan invoked America’s 33rd president to tell the United States, and implicitly its 43rd president, George W. Bush, how he thought they ought to behave.

“As [Harry] Truman said, ‘We must, once and for all, prove by our acts conclusively that right has might.’ That’s why this country has historically been in the vanguard of the global human rights movement,” Annan said. (Watch Annan’s relationship with the U.S. turn from friendly to frosty) Video

“But that lead can only be maintained if America remains true to its principles, including in the struggle against terrorism. When it appears to abandon its own ideas and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused.” Annan’s successor, South Korean Ban Ki-Moon, will take office on January 1.

Annan on Monday admonished the United States to use its global supremacy judiciously, saying, “The U.S. has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level.

“As Harry Truman said, ‘We all have to recognize, no matter how great our strength, that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please.’ States need to play by the rules toward each other as well as toward their own citizens.

“When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose, for broadly shared aims, in accordance with broadly accepted norms.

“No community anywhere suffers from too much rule of law; many do suffer from too little and the international community is among them,” he added. “This we must change.”

During his 10 years as U.N. secretary-general, Annan has had his differences with the United States, which originally backed his candidacy. There were quarrels over finances with then-Sen. Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina, during the 1990s.

But his relationship with Washington became downright frosty during the Bush years as the Republican Party’s more conservative wing took power. Much of the strain has been due to the situation in Iraq. Annan strongly opposed the 2003 invasion by the U.S.-led coalition. He has called it an illegal war.

- Full text of the speech (PDF) here ...

- More on the story from CNN...

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/13/2006 at 02:56 AM   
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   Monday - December 04, 2006

Bolton Resigns

It looks like the wheels are falling off the cart completely now. John Bolton just submitted his resignation to President Bush. Thanks to the Democrats and one RINO (Lincoln Chafee) the best man we’ve had at the UN in decades will be gone in January. The next two years are looking darker and darker every minute that goes by.

Bush Accepts Bolton’s U.N. Resignation
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Monday, December 4, 2006; 9:55 AM}

Unable to win Senate confirmation, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton will step down when his temporary appointment expires within weeks, the White House said Monday.

Bolton’s nomination has languished in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for more than a year, blocked by Democrats and several Republicans. Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican who lost in the midterm elections Nov. 7 that swept Democrats to power in both houses of Congress, was adamantly opposed to Bolton.

Critics have questioned Bolton’s brusque style and whether he could be an effective bureaucrat who could force reform at the U.N. President Bush gave Bolton the job temporarily in August 2005, while Congress was in recess. Under that process, the appointment expires when Congress formally adjourns, no later than early January.

The White House resubmitted Bolton’s nomination last month. But with Democrats capturing control of the next Congress, his chances of winning confirmation appeared slight. The incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said he saw “no point in considering Mr. Bolton’s nomination again.”

While Bush could not give Bolton another recess appointment, the White House was believed to be exploring other ways of keeping him in the job, perhaps by giving him a title other than ambassador. But Bolton informed the White House he intended to leave when his current appointment expires, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.

Bush planned to meet with Bolton and his wife later Monday in the Oval Office. As late as last month, Bush, through his top aides, said he would not relent in his defense of Bolton, despite unwavering opposition from Democrats who view Bolton as too combative for international diplomacy.

Perino said that among Bolton’s accomplishments, he assembled coalitions addressing North Korea’s nuclear activity, Iran’s uranium enrichment and reprocessing work and the horrific violence in Darfur. She said he also made reform at the United Nations a top issue because the United States is searching for a more “credible” and more “effective.”

“Ambassador Bolton served his country with distinction and he achieve a great deal at the United Nations,” Perino said. “Despite the support of a strong bipartisan majority of senators, Ambassdor Bolton’s confirmation was blocked by a Democratic filibuster, and this is a clear example of the breakdown in the Senate confirmation process,” she said. “Nominees deserve the opportunity for a clean up or down vote. Ambassador Bolton was never given that opportunity.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/04/2006 at 10:04 AM   
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   Friday - November 10, 2006

Another Casualty

Well, they have knifed Donald Rumsfeld and he’s gone. Now it looks like John Bolton will be the next to go in the fallout from the election. President Bush is trying to line up legislation that he wants to enact before the Donks come to town in full force in January and confirming John Bolton is on the list. We all realize that after that date, there will be no chance of anything getting done in Washginton.

Bipartisanship? Cooperation? Don’t make me laugh. The Democrats have already proven in 2000 and 2004 that they are sore losers. Now that they have finally won one, expect to see even more and worse obstructionism. Sore losers always turn out to be vindictive, hateful winners. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go after Dick Cheney next. Anything is possible with this bunch.

For now though, it looks like John Bolton will retire after December. That sucks on a grand scale. Bolton has been a good man to have at the UN and has done an admirable job for the last few years. His only sin is that Lincoln Chafee dislikes him. Which makes the Democrats happy. As for the rest of us, we are indeed screwed without proper oversight and protection of American interests at the snake pit of the UN ....

_{Olle Johansson - Sweden}

---

Bolton May Not Return As U.N. Envoy
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Friday, November 10, 2006}

Key lawmakers said yesterday they would block the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, all but killing chances for him to remain in the post past December. For nearly 20 months, President Bush has tried, unsuccessfully, to get Bolton confirmed in a job he has held since August 2005. Bolton then received a recess appointment after not getting enough support in the Senate.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and its presumed chairman when the Democrats take control of the Senate in January, said yesterday that Bolton’s nomination is “going nowhere.” “I see no point in considering Mr. Bolton’s nomination again in the Foreign Relations Committee because, regardless of what happens there, he is unlikely to be considered by the full Senate,” Biden said in a statement.

The White House had hoped Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), a moderate Republican who earlier raised questions about Bolton and the administration’s policies in the Middle East, would support Bolton after the election. But Chafee lost his seat Tuesday.

“On Tuesday, the American people sent a clear message of dissatisfaction with the foreign policy approach of the Bush administration,” Chafee said in a statement. “To confirm Mr. Bolton to the position of U.N. ambassador would fly in the face of the clear consensus of the country that a new direction is called for.” Chafee said Bolton lacks the “collaborative approach” needed to make the United States “the strongest country in a peaceful world.” Without Chafee’s support, Republicans on the committee do not have enough votes to recommend Bolton’s confirmation.

Bolton’s recess appointment is set to expire at the end of December, when the current Congress goes out of session. With only a few months remaining, the White House tried again to get Bolton confirmed during the summer. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee came to the administration’s aid, lobbying heavily for Bolton’s nomination. It persuaded several Democrats to support Bolton but the nomination was snagged by Chafee.

Yesterday, a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the administration had explored options for keeping Bolton at the United Nations. A second recess appointment is not possible, but officials considered making Bolton an “acting ambassador.” But the official, who would discuss internal deliberations only on the condition of anonymity, said none of the options is appealing, especially given the strong opposition shown by the Democrats, who are poised to take over Congress.

If there is no confirmation, “we assume he’ll probably resign,” the official said. Several administration officials speculated that Zalmay Khalilzad, the ambassador to Iraq, could be a candidate to replace Bolton.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/10/2006 at 09:54 AM   
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   Tuesday - October 17, 2006

UN Says NO To Chavez

First, Cindy Sheehan failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize and now, Hugo Chavez fails to win a seat on the UN Security Council. It was a bad day for the Moonbats. Next thing you know, Danny Glover will fail to win an Oscar. What a shame.

Seriously, what I find interesting in the story below is that South American countries are beginning to back away from Chavez and his mad dream of becoming Supreme Leader of South America. Chavez may have overstepped himself with some of his recent alliances, most noteably Bolivia.

With Castro dying, it would be most unfortunate if Chavez died in an unexplained airplane crash while en route to his buddies in Iran or North Korea. Yes, it would be most unfortunate indeed ....

Venezuela Is Denied Security Council Seat
_{UNITED NATIONS (WASHINGTON POST) - Tuesday, October 17, 2006}

Venezuela was stymied Monday in its bid to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council, a result that shocked diplomats who had expected President Hugo Chavez’s leftist, oil-rich government to gain a platform on the international stage.

Guatemala finished ahead of Venezuela in nine of the first 10 rounds of secret voting held by the U.N. General Assembly. But neither secured the required two-thirds vote to succeed Argentina on Jan. 1 in the open Latin American seat on the 15-nation council.

Delegates at the United Nations had predicted that Venezuela would easily receive enough support for the seat, but the opening ballot showed Guatemala ahead 114 to 74. Venezuela gained votes through the day but never did better than a 93 to 93 tie with Guatemala. Afterward, several envoys expressed surprise that Venezuela had fared so poorly.

The result came as a relief to the United States, which had lobbied actively on behalf of Guatemala. Chavez’s government, U.S. officials warned, would play a destructive role on the council, lending its support to those countries, including Iran, Sudan and North Korea, that have defied the United Nations.

It also represented a personal blow to Chavez, who had run a costly political campaign that involved millions of dollars in aid to poor countries as well as state visits to Russia, China and the Middle East.

Chavez may have undercut his country’s chances with a provocative speech last month before the General Assembly, in which he described President Bush as “the devil.” And once-solid support for Venezuela in South America, from countries including Chile and Paraguay, wavered after Chavez’s government entered into a military pact with Bolivia, which has lost territory to both those countries.

The United States, Britain, China, Russia and France enjoy permanent membership on the 15-member Security Council. The other 10 seats are distributed regionally for two-year terms; a vote by the General Assembly fills five seats each year. South Africa, Indonesia, Italy and Belgium were easily elected Monday for their regions.

But the deadlock over the Latin American seat raised the prospect of a long election and that a compromise candidate—possibly Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay or Chile—might enter the race. Mexico and Cuba received single votes on some ballots Monday.

- More on the story at WAPO ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/17/2006 at 06:39 AM   
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   Thursday - September 21, 2006

Satanic Verses

par·o·dy (păr’ə-dē), n., pl. -dies. def: Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty. Hugo Chavez is a self-parody. Every time he opens his mouth, he demonstrates a complete lack of rationality and merely succeeds in mocking himself. A clown. No less, no more.

He belongs to a select group of people with the same affliction, most noteably Cindy Sheehan, Howard Dean, Barbara Streisand, Kim Jung Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and last but not least Al Gore. These people listen to the voices in their head and shut off all communication with the outside world.

The problem is not that they won’t listen but that they won’t shut up. They are surrounded by sycophants who serve only to reinforce any and every ridiculous thing they say. This is not healthy - either for them or for us. Their minds have wandered off into another dimension and we can laugh at them only for a brief time before our own brains begin to hurt.

Like the 9/11 conspiracy theorists who continue to hammer us with absurd conjecture, these people like Chavez just keep spouting nonsense day after mind-numbing day. Their main delusion seems to be that they think the rest of us will start believing them - eventually.

How much longer must we continue to laugh at them before they wake up and realize what complete fools they have become? Odds are they will continue no matter how much ridicule is heaped on them. Why? Because, to a clown, laughter is the same thing as applause.

ig·no·ra·nus (ig-n&-’rA-n&s), n., pl. -nus·es also ig·no·ra·ni. def: An individual who is not only stupid as hell but is also a colossal asshole. From the latin: ignorare - “do not kow” and anus - “the terminal point of the rectum”. In other words, unable to find their ass using both hands and a road map.

 
 
Calvin: Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?
 
 
Hobbes: I’m not sure that man needs the help.

_{Mike Lester - The Rome News-Tribune (GA)}

Chavez: Bush ‘Devil;’ U.S. ‘On The Way Down’
_{UNITED NATIONS (CNN) - 7:40 p.m. EDT, September 20, 2006}

“The devil came here yesterday,” Chavez said, referring to Bush, who addressed the world body during its annual meeting Tuesday. “And it smells of sulfur still today.” Chavez accused Bush of having spoken “as if he owned the world” and said a psychiatrist could be called to analyze the statement.

“As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: ‘The Devil’s Recipe.’ “

Chavez also blasted the United Nations, calling the General Assembly “merely a deliberative organ” that meets once a year. “We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world,” he said.

All countries should dispose of their nuclear bombs, he said, but he would like to tap the technology for energy purposes because Venezuela’s oil reserves are nonrenewable and finite. He ended the news conference by saying, “I have a meeting with the axis of evil somewhere around here, so I have to go.”

John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed the speech, saying, “I think that [Chavez’s] rhetoric today shows exactly what kind of man he is. We’re not going to address that sort of comic-strip approach to international affairs. The real issue here is he knows he can exercise freedom of speech on that podium and, as I say, he could exercise it in Central Park, too. He’s not giving the same freedom to the people of Venezuela.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/21/2006 at 01:35 AM   
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   Wednesday - September 20, 2006

Chavez, Chomsky & Chutzpah

South American lunatic Hugo Chavez. Holding up a book by Liberal Moonbat Noam Chomsky. Screaming “Bush Is The Devil” to the United Nations General Assembly. Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha-ha-ha-ha .....

Even the normally sympathetic delegates who hate America burst out laughing. It takes a lot of chutzpah to continue to put on the act that Chavez and Ahmadinejad have been displaying for us lately. This one takes the cake though.

The only intelligent thing El Presidente Chavez said in his rabid diatribe was when he appealed to the UN to move its headquarters to Venezuela. Now that’s an idea I can live with. You bet. Right on! Start packing! Need any help?

Chavez: Bush Is ‘The Devil’
Venezuelan President Lambastes Bush, ‘Imperialist’ U.S. In U.N. Speech
_{NEW YORK (CBS/AP) - Sept. 20, 2006}

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush “the devil.”

“The devil came here yesterday,” Chavez said. “He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world.” The leftist leader, who has joined Iran in opposing U.S. influence, accused Washington of “domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world.”

“We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head,” he said. He also said the U.N. “doesn’t work” in its current system and is “antidemocratic.” He called for reform, saying the U.S. government’s “immoral veto” had allowed recent Israeli bombings of Lebanon to continue unabated for more than a month.

“Venezuela once again proposes today that we reform the United Nations,” he said. He drew tentative giggles at times from the audience, but also some applause when called U.S. “imperialism” a menace.

Chavez lambasted Washington for trying to block Venezuela’s campaign for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council. He said if chosen over U.S.-favorite Guatemala in a secret-ballot U.N. vote next month, Venezuela would be “the voice of the Third World.”

He asked the international community to lend it’s support to the movement, even suggesting the U.N. realign itself more closely by relocating to somewhere in the southern hemisphere. “I have suggested Venezuela,” he said.

Chavez several times accused Mr. Bush of have a double standard on dealing with terrorism. He said the U.S. government was “protecting terrorists” who were involved with anti-government actions in Venezuela, including a former CIA operative and militant Castro foe wanted in Venezuela for the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

Before leaving the podium to applause, Chavez, again inciting the “devil” reference to Mr. Bush, said, “it smells of sulfur here, but God is with us!”

_{(-- Hat tip to Jay at StopTheACLU for this hilarious lead --)}

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/20/2006 at 11:53 AM   
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   Thursday - September 14, 2006

A Frosty Welcome

Ahmawhackjob is coming to America next week to address the United Notions. Hold on to your hats, kiddies. This promises to be quite entertaining. President Bush is also scheduled to speak to the UN. I wonder what will happen if these two should happen to meet in a hallway somewhere. I envision a scene from “High Noon” with Dubya as Gary Cooper. Do not forsake me, Oh my darlin’ ....

Ahmadinejad in New York
_{(NY SUN) - September 13, 2006}

If the Holocaust-denying, nuclear bomb-building, terrorism-sponsoring president of Iran thinks he’s going to flit into New York next week for the U.N. General Assembly and escape unchallenged, boy is he going to be in for a surprise. Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel yesterday added his name to a small but high-powered international group of private citizens who are pushing to have Iran thrown out of the United Nations in response to Iran’s violations of the 1948 Convention to Prevent and Punish the Crime of Genocide.

President Ahmadinejad will also be met with a large rally on September 20 outside the U.N. at noon organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and the UJA-Federation of New York. The rally, in support of Israel, calls for implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for disarming Iran’s proxy army Hezbollah. It also calls for supporting the war against state sponsors of terror, including Iran. The executive vice chairman of the Conference, Malcolm Hoenlein, told us yesterday that he’s received requests from as far away as Texas, Arkansas, Ottawa, and New Hampshire to participate in the rally.

The legal effort in which Mr. Wiesel is involved, established at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, includes a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dore Gold, and a former Israeli ambassador to America, Meir Rosenne. “It is hard to believe that at a time when the president of Iran is making statements denying the Holocaust and does not hide his intention to erase Israel from the map, the enlightened world is planning to host Ahmadinejad at the opening of the General Assembly instead of evicting his country from the U.N. altogether,” the group said in a statement issued yesterday.

It might seem farfetched to invoke a genocide convention against Iran when, thank goodness, no genocide has happened yet. But the treaty — which Iran itself signed and ratified — is called the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur, the United Nations and the world waited until after the slaughter to act. In this case, there has been a warning. The leader of Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, has stated that if the Jews “all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide,” and said, “it is an open war until the elimination of Israel and until the death of the last Jew on earth.”

The treaty states that “Direct and public incitement to commit genocide” is punishable. We don’t have much confidence in the enforceability of international law, which seems to be used in practice mainly as a hammer by neutralist groups like Human Rights Watch to pound Israel and America. Yet the legal campaign, like the rally to be held in New York, is significant in shaping public awareness of Iran’s intentions — an awareness that is vital to preventing the genocide that Iran openly boasts that it intends.

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/14/2006 at 03:14 PM   
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   Wednesday - September 13, 2006

Joke Du Jour

Did you hear the one about ....

French Tanks Give Teeth To Peacekeepers
_{9/12/2006, 2:19 p.m. ET}

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Thirteen French tanks, the most powerful armor ever deployed by a U.N. peacekeeping force, rolled ashore Tuesday, beefing up a mission aimed at helping cement an uneasy cease-fire in Lebanon.

But some European officials are concerned international peacekeepers will be at best ineffective and at worst humiliated if hostilities flare between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.

Scores of blue-helmeted French troops transferred the Leclerc tanks, AUF-1 artillery cannons, two high-tech Cobra radar trucks, and dozens of armored vehicles and transport trucks from a cargo ship in Beirut’s port. The port reopened Friday after a nearly two-month Israeli blockade.

- More Fwench humor here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 09/13/2006 at 12:45 AM   
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   Wednesday - August 30, 2006

Our Feature Presentation

Good evening, Ladies and Germs! Welcome to the Skipper Theatre and our feature presentation for today’s matinee. Today we bring you a rock ‘em, sock ‘em, rip-roaring comedy that’ll leave you rolling in the aisles. Today’s feature is entitled “The Three Stooges In Lebanon” and features our favorite slapstick bozos in a wild comedy full of their usual hilarious antics and pratfalls. So settle back with your popcorn, root beer and Raisenets and enjoy the show ...

Moe is in Jerusalem giving the Jews a hard time and blaming them for everything that has gone wrong since the beginning of time.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that Israel was responsible for most of the violations of the UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah two weeks ago.

Annan said he would ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in talks on Wednesday to lift Israel’s air and sea blockade of Lebanon, imposed at the start of the war nearly seven weeks ago.

Speaking after a meeting with Defense Minister Amir Peretz in Jerusalem, Annan appealed for all sides to work together to ensure the peace holds and “not risk another explosion in six years or 20 years.”

- HAARETZ (Israel) - August 30, 2006

Larry is in Beirut preaching to Hezbollah in hopes of convincing them to let his people go free. Hallelujah!

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson met with exiled Hamas leaders to try to mediate an exchange of prisoners between the Palestinian group and Israel, a high-level Hamas member said.

“Reverend Jackson had a good and useful meeting yesterday evening with Khaled Meshaal,” Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal said. “Hamas is open to discussing all details, but we insist that any exchange of prisoners must be simultaneous, which is the main sticking point,” Mr Nazzal said.

Rev Jackson, who is not an official US government representative on his trip, is hoping to use respect he has gained in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East to succeed where others have failed.

- The Australian - August 29, 2006

Curly Joe is in Damascus stirring up trouble and sucking up to any dictator he can find. Oh, a wise guy? Whoop-whoop-whoop!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that his government is united with Syria in strong opposition to the U.S. government’s “imperialistic” aggression in the Middle East.

“We are here in Damascus to call for peace,” Chavez told Venezuela’s state television by phone shortly after arriving in Syria late Tuesday. “These two countries are strongly united against the imperialistic aggression and hegemonic pretensions of the U.S. empire.”

Chavez was scheduled to meet Assad on Wednesday, the Venezuelan president’s office said in a statement. Officials of both governments will sign a document opposing Washington’s “aggression” in the Middle East, Chavez said.

- Washington Post - August 30, 2006

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/30/2006 at 03:00 AM   
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   Tuesday - August 22, 2006

UN Wussies Tossed Aside

I found this via LGF this morning. There is really nothing surprising about this story. Hezbollah decided to test the new UN forces in Lebanon and blew right by them. The UN forces cheerfully obliged by getting out of the way. But never fear, the last line of this story below is really encouraging ...

Hizbollah Pushes Past Guards In Show Of Force
(TELEGRAPH-UK) NAQOURA, Lebanon - 08/21/2006

Hizbollah mourners on a funeral parade shoved aside anti-tank barriers at a United Nations base in Lebanon yesterday in a demonstration of their new political strength. The party had been told it would be allowed to bury three “martyrs” at the Naqoura town cemetery inside the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) compound, but only if there was no flag-waving or political sloganising.

When the chanting procession, several hundred strong, reached the gates, it found the way barred by cruci-form steel tank traps. Mourners argued with the French guards, but failed to gain entry. A mob of young men then dragged the barriers away and the UN opened the gates. “They will eat us alive,” said a middle-aged official as the throng surged in.

A column of black-shirted men carried the three coffins to the graveyard. They waved yellow Hizbollah banners and portraits of the movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and yelled anti-Israeli and anti-American doggerel.

Among the mourners was Naqoura’s mayor, Hussein Darwish, a 59-year-old former teacher. “Israel is allowed to carry on raiding our country without Unifil doing anything,” he said, referring to an abortive raid by Israeli commandos in the Bekaa valley the previous day. “Why do they try to stop us burying our dead the way we wish?” The angry scenes were seen as a troubling portent of what may happen when a boosted UN force begins deploying to police the delicate, week-old ceasefire.

“Until now we’ve had good relations, but I don’t know what will happen after this,” said Mr Darwish. “Every-one is waiting.” Others among the mourners complained that when they sought shelter at the base during the bombardments of the month-long conflict, they were placed in open ground without bedding or water. Unifil’s hitherto easy dealings with the locals are partly due to its initial mandate, which only required it to observe and report. The new force will be expected to fill the space left by the departing Israelis and Hizbollah fighters, and police the border area, although its rules of engagement have not been finalised.

Its activities will inevitably bring it into close contact with Hizbollah, which has moved fast to consolidate its political grip on the region. Nowhere in the border area yesterday was there any sign of the Lebanese Army. It has been warned by Israel that it will not be allowed to deploy close to the frontier before the arrival of international troops. There was little sign yesterday that the security vacuum would be filled soon.

UN officials are desperate to get a vanguard force of 3,500 on the ground within a fortnight. But Israel is opposing the use of troops from some of the Muslim countries with which it does not have diplomatic ties but have offered to supply soldiers. By last night, Unifil’s standing force of 2,000 had been supplemented only by the arrival of 49 French military engineers.

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/22/2006 at 10:30 AM   
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   Friday - August 18, 2006

Frogs On A Plane

3,500 Troops Pledged For Expanded UN Lebanon Force
_{(IRISH EXAMINER) - August 18, 2006}

The United Nations has received pledges of 3,500 troops for an expanded peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but it is unclear whether the soldiers represent the right mix of countries and units that could deploy quickly. Bangladesh made the largest offer of up to 2,000 troops, but France offered just 200 new troops, a disappointment to some who expected more from the country likely to lead the force.

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown told a meeting of nearly 50 potential troop-contributing countries that at least 3,500 new troops were needed in south Lebanon within 10 days to expand the 2,000-strong UN force trying to help maintain an uneasy truce between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

Before the meeting, French President Jacques Chirac announced that France would immediately double its 200-strong contingent already in the UN force to 400. Chirac also told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a phone call that France was prepared to command the strengthened force until February, and was also prepared to keep 1,700 troops mobilised in the region. “Well, we were disappointed, yes,” Malloch Brown said of the French announcement, adding that he feared it would “cast a shadow” over the meeting but other countries came forward.

Britain’s UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry announced a “quite substantial” maritime and aviation commitment of six Jaguar aircraft, two AWACS surveillance planes, and one naval frigate. Britain also offered one of its bases in Cyprus at Akrotiri as a staging point, he said.

Germany’s UN Ambassador Thomas Matussek said he offered “a rather substantive maritime component which is so encompassing that it could patrol and secure the whole of the Lebanese coast to make sure that weapons or other related materials don’t get into Lebanon”. Germany also offered customs agents, police and border protection agents to patrol the Syrian border, he said.

The United States is providing planning and logistical support and has experts at UN headquarters determining what is needed, said US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff.

Denmark pledged two ships for maritime patrol and many other countries said they would study the operational plans for the force and the draft rules of engagement before making any decisions.

- More Frog FUBAR here ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/18/2006 at 10:34 AM   
Filed Under: • EUro-peons • Terrorists • United-Nations •  
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   Thursday - August 17, 2006

Who’s On First?

Posted by The Skipper     on 08/17/2006 at 12:49 PM   
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   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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