Jun 14, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
From AP: Kerry Outlines Way to Limit Nuke Threat."At this hour, stockpiles go unguarded, bomb-making materials sit in forgotten facilities, and terrorists plot away," the senator said. "They have their technology. They have their scientists. All they need is that material. But we can stop them." ... "Remember. No material. No bomb. No nuclear terrorism," he said. [June 1, 2004]
Senator Kerry seems to be applying the leftists' anti-handgun philosophy to nukes: It's the weapons that are evil not necessarily the people who misuse them. In the same way the anti-handgun fascists want to limit a law abiding citizen's right to self defense, so Kerry wants to limit America's right to self defense, by reducing our nuclear weapons stockpile and stopping further research.
I have a "new" strategy suggestion: "No terrorists. No terrorist-sponsoring states. No terrorism." This used to be known as the Bush Doctrine, but we haven't heard it in a while.
Robert Tracinski commented on Kerry's new strategies in TIA Daily:In a new speech, Democratic candidate John Kerry sets forth his plan to deal with the threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. His answer, as usual, is to fire off a barrage of paper bullets, negotiating new "anti-proliferation" treaties and appointing new people, as a cover for doing nothing of real substance.
Jun 13, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
The New York Times reported:There has, in fact, been a profound silence in the kingdom in the wake of the attacks in Yanbu and Khobar, in which foreigners were the main targets and Muslims were pointedly spared. Web sites popular with the more religious Saudis brimmed over with condemnation for the April bombing of the traffic police headquarters in Riyadh because all the victims were Saudis, while virtually ignoring the two subsequent attacks. That leads some Saudi intellectuals to conclude that the religious establishment, or at least its more militant elements, basically support Al Qaeda's goal of driving all foreigners out of the Arabian peninsula and establishing a Taliban-like caliphate. (The Saudis Fight Terror, but Not Those Who Wage It)
Meanwhile, in news from the kingdom yesterday, CNN reported: American shot dead in Saudi Arabia (the second fatal attack on Westerners in three days) and Poll of Saudis shows wide support for bin Laden's views. From the latter story:Almost half of all Saudis said in a poll conducted last year that they have a favorable view of Osama bin Laden's sermons and rhetoric, but fewer than 5 percent thought it was a good idea for bin Laden to rule the Arabian Peninsula. The poll involved interviews with more than 15,000 Saudis and was overseen by Nawaf Obaid, a Saudi national security consultant. It was conducted between August and November 2003, after simultaneous suicide attacks in May 2003 when 36 people were killed in Riyadh.
The Times article did note an exception to this sympathy with the terrorists' goals, a Saudi prince who recently said that the kingdom's religious scholars, or clerics, "have to declare jihad against those deviants [terrorists] and to fully support it, as those who keep silent about the truth are mute devils." But as John Lewis observed in the June 4 TIA Daily:The Saudi declaration must not be confused with America's war. The Saudis have declared a war, not against fundamentalist Islam -- of which they are a part -- but against those Muslims who disagree with Saudi Wahhabism. [...] For those who think that Islam is not violent, or that only "some" Muslims have "hijacked a great religion," consider that all sides in these conflicts require the sanction of clerics for their declaration of wars.
CNN reports: Saudi hunt for missing American; Another American murdered.The man was reported missing shortly after gunmen killed Kenneth Scroggs, an American working for a British-Saudi company, at his home in Riyadh's upscale Malaz neighborhood. The [Al Falluja Squadron group's] statement identified the man it said it had kidnapped, posting a driver's license, passport, business card and other documents and described him as a system engineering "specialist" for the Apache AH-64 helicopter."We have our legal right to treat them [hostages] the same way they treat our people," the statement reads. "We will publish more details about the man kidnapped and explain the mujahedeen's demands." The group added, "We will continue this determination in the same road toward Jihad and for supporting our brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Cuba and everywhere."
Meanwhile, the same Web site posted a video purporting to show the killing of Robert Jacobs, an American worker Saudi authorities said was gunned down Tuesday at his Riyadh home. CNN has not confirmed the authenticity of the video, and the victim's face is never seen. Jacobs, a 63-year-old employee of Vinnell Arabia, was gunned down in the eastern Riyadh neighborhood of al-Khaleej, which contains several residential compounds for Westerners, according to Saudi police and Jacobs' company.
Jun 13, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
CNN reported today: Car bomb kills 12 Iraqis; Government official assassinated outside home in BaghdadMembers of Iraq's government have become targets of insurgents who see them as collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition.
Saturday morning, Bassam Salih Kubba, one of Iraq's four deputy foreign ministers, was killed when a carful of assailants drove by and fired at him. Assailants also opened fire on Iraq's deputy health minister, Ammar al-Saffar, Wednesday morning as he left his home for work. He escaped unharmed. Last month, a convoy carrying Salama al-Khafaji, a female member of the Iraqi Governing Council, was ambushed. Al-Khafaji survived the assassination attempt. In mid-May, a suicide bomber killed Izzedine Salim, who was just two weeks into his monthlong term as the council's president.
The governing council dissolved itself June 1 to make way for the interim government, which assumes leadership from the coalition June 30.
CNN reports: Baghdad car bomb kills 13; At least 16 people killed in five attacks MondayJun 11, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
This cartoon was inspired by a post at Charles Johnson's blog, Little Green Footballs. We stole his title outright: Hip-Hop, Islamofascist Style. The post is about an Iranian rapper who was allowed by the theocracy to release an album, but only after the "ministry of Islamic guidance and culture" censored 20 lyrical excerpts and a few songs. What was left? According the London Telegraph article:
Many of the songs question the habit of girls following western fashions. The lyrics mock the girls in Teheran who stroll through the capital with designer headscarves and make-up. "More important than bread at night is your lipstick and lipliner," raps Binesh Pagoh about a conceited girl. "There's a lot of religious people here, cover your legs with that skirt."
The article claims the album's release is an indication that officials are easing the restrictions on art. Perhaps. It's certainly an indication of how far Iranian people are from a free society.
Jun 8, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
CNN reports on the G-8 Summit:This year terrorism and its likely impact on world oil prices will see the European leaders lining up with the U.S. in common concern, according to [Katynka] Barysch [, an analyst at the Center for European Reform].
Jun 8, 2004 | Dollars & Crosses
It's been thee months since the last suicide bombing. Remember how Hamas vowed to 'avenge' Yassin and al-Rantissi?
From the Jerusalem Post (June 3, 2004):
"The main factor in the decline of their capability is the killing and capture of their leadership. Only one senior West Bank Hamas figure, Ibrahim Hamad who is the commander in the Ramallah area, is still at large, having survived numerous attempts to capture or kill him. Others have fled and are believed to be in Syria...
..."Their rotating leadership is expending all its energy hiding. They are afraid of Israel hitting them which makes any sort of sophisticated planning difficult," said Bar, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya." [Hat Tip: Max Harris]
