#afghanistan The end of a civilization, or the West latest fad: self-castration

Taleban insurgents fighting German forces in northern Afghanistan have often lived to fight another day thanks to trilingual warnings that have to be shouted out before the men from the Bundeswehr can squeeze their triggers. The seven-page pocket guide to combat tucked into the breast pocket of every German soldier offers such instructions as: “Before opening fire you are expected to declare loudly, in English, ‘United Nations — stop, or I will fire,” followed by a version in Pashtu — Melgaero Mellatuna- Dreesch, ka ne se dasee kawum!”

The alert must also be issued in Dari, and the booklet, devised by a committee in some faraway ministerial office, adds: “If the situation allows, the warning should be repeated.” The joke going round Nato mess tents poses the question: “How can you identify a German soldier? He is the corpse clutching a pocket guide.”

When we will stumble about, our only eye burned to charcoal by a red hot pointed log, in horrible pain, crying “who did this to us?”, someone will answer: “Nobody!”, and he will be right.

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#Obama: the mask slips and the arrogance, ignorance and racism surface for all to see

Melanie, great as always:

For the President of the United States to get involved at all in such a local matter was off-limits. For him to do so without even bothering to discover the facts was disturbing. For him to damn the Cambridge police as ‘stupid’ whereas it was clearly Gates who was ‘stupid’(and worse), thereby demonstrating how the Presidential knee automatically jerks to the crudest of anti-white (and anti-police) tunes regardless of the facts, was deeply alarming.  

But not surprising.

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#Burma #myanmar #assk Excellent article: Clinton's myopia on Burma

An excellent article by Enzo Reale on Burma and the umpteenth foreign policy mistake of the current Administration:

The attempt to buy Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom by the promise of new investments shows an amount of improvisation and naivety that should worry activists for democracy inside and outside Burma and, in general, all those who have always looked at U.S. as a force for democratic change in authoritarian countries. Instead of working to free Burma and its citizens, Mrs. Clinton chooses to concentrate U.S. efforts in pursuing a symbolic, popular and limited goal, the liberation of the Nobel Prize laureate. "What about reconciliation dialogue, the election in 2010 and ethnic issues?  Don’t they know that they would detain her again?" veteran journalist and opposition leader Win Tin observed, when asked about Mrs. Clinton's remarks.

Read it all.

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Anyone would like to vomit on the latest European hypocrisy?

Sweden called on Venezuela Monday to explain how Swedish-made weapons sold to the South American country ended up in the hands of Colombian FARC guerillas. The revelation of the weapons acquisition by the Marxist group -- long a thorn in Bogota's side -- has strained already tense relations between the South American neighbors which have been at stark odds over various military issues, including US involvement in anti-drug operations in the region. "We have asked the officials of the government of Venezuela to give us information on how they believe this material was found in Colombia," said Jens Eriksson, a political advisor to the Swedish ministry of commerce.

If you are thinking that the Swedes must be complete idiots, you would be wrong; they know very well that arms sold to Chavez end up in the hands of the FARC terrorists. They have cultivated this aura of pacifism for years but only a moron would be fooled by their Nobel Peace Prize antics.

"We have it confirmed that a small amount of (defence) material made in Sweden has been found in a FARC camp," Eriksson said, stressing that no Swedish company had ever been granted a permit to sell to Colombia.

Note how they are careful to say: ”small amount” of defence material! Small amount? Sweden Ranks Second in the World in Per Capita Weapons Exports, and Saab is the biggest one (and not even all Swedes are aware of it).

Nothing wrong with that, most industrialized countries do the same, but at least they don’t go around preaching non-violence!

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Talibans' new code of conduct: join the caliphate and be happy!

Taking a page from Petreus’ successful counterinsurgency manual, the Taliban have decided to adopt its core principles and try to win over Afghanistan civilian population’s hearts and minds.

The book, with 13 chapters and 67 articles, lays out what one of the most secretive organisations in the world today, can and cannot do. It talks of limiting suicide attacks, avoiding civilian casualties and winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the local civilian population. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the capital, Kabul, said every fighter is being issued the pocket book entitled "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Rules for Mujahideen".

We have had the opportunity to peruse the manual before its release to the general terrorist public and are convinced that, if Mullah Omar succeeds in implementing it, the Taliban will shortly become a force to be reckoned with.

The basic rules, to be applied with immediate effect, are:

1) Suicide bombers, before blowing themselves up, must make sure that no one is in the vicinity; if necessary, they must jump in a ditch before exploding to avoid injuring civilians.

2) Prisoners must be treated like guests and their every wish complied with, even if it implies sacrificing wives, sisters, daughters or one’s favorite goat’s purity or impoverish the kidnapper in the process. It is imperative for our success that when released, the “guest” must speak highly of his hosts and long to return to his Afghanistan prison.

3) When flirting with a prospective bride or even a “one night wedding”, avoid the “wam, bam, thank you mam” typical macho attitude, especially if the girl is younger than 4 years old; a romantic dinner and some flowers would be in order.

4) Night clubs are a great way to win over the population, especially if drinks are cheap and women in some state of undress while dancing wildly on the “cubes”. However, avoid loud music and disorderly conduct outside these establishments if they are close to hospitals, schools or Christian churches; people will be thankful.

5) Encourage the adoption of the new burkas, the short, transparent ones; winning over the ladies is the first step towards world domination.

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#iran #iranelection Anarchist/communist anti-semite Noam Chomsky gets one right?

Anarchist/communist anti-semite Noam Chomsky gets one right (must have noticed his bank account wasn’t getting any fatter of late) and attacks the Iranian regime without once saying that it is America’s fault; must be some kind of record….

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Stop the presses! Obama declassifies Google maps classified by the evil Bush!

So funny! Someone tell the Guardian one-meter resolution images can be found everywhere online…

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It is always amateur hour at the White House!

Just weeks after a summit meeting intended to show a thawing in relations between the United States and Russia, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made blistering references to Russia’s failing economy, loss of face and a leadership that is “clinging to something in the past,” in an interview published on Saturday…The Kremlin immediately responded to the comments, made in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, with a demand for a clarification of the administration’s intentions toward Russia…

It used to be common knowledge that Obama picked an idiot as his deputy in order to look good himself by comparison; it would now appear however, that he picked Joe Biden as a life insurance: the guy is so unstable, uninformed, unspeakably stupid that not even a terrorist would put Obama’s life in danger knowing that the alternative would be Biden as President.

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#indonesia #indonesiaunite #Jakarta bombings. KAMI TIDAK TAKUT. We Are Not Afraid.

After Friday bombings of two luxury hotels in Jakarta, the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton, which caused 9 dead and 50 wounded, the week-end was peaceful. I had just read a tweet about Los Angeles Four Seasons hotel being evacuated, when I heard alarms going off and police cars arriving in front of the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta, which I can see from my apartment. Apparently it was a false alarm because everything was soon quiet again.

People who live here easily forget that this country has been the target of various attacks (Bali, Marriott, Australian Embassy, etc.) and that it was inevitable that someone sometimes would attempt again to undermine this Muslim country’s road to a multiethnic and multifaith democratic society based on the five principles of Pancasila, the Indonesian state philosophical foundation. Other countries of the Region have the same problems, although the Muslim minorities of south Thailand and Philippines are fighting more for territorial gains than for a caliphate. Furthermore, South East Asian countries anti-terrorism cooperation needs much more work although it must be admitted that the logistics are appallingly difficult.

Nobody (unless serving a particular agenda that we all know too well) will ever accuse terrorists of being intelligent and in fact, their attempts in Indonesia are as hopeless as they are. Indonesia is a country where Islam lives together (and sometimes fuses) with animism, Buddhism, Christianity; where religion is more a means of social cohesion and tradition than blind belief; where some people will look surprised (and would not know what to answer) if you asked them whether they are Sunni or Shia’; where young educated people strive to be modern.

Indonesia was recently praised for having made advances in the fight against terrorism by adopting re-education techniques and demonstrating some leniency towards those who were (and now are again) suspected to be the masterminds or at least of giving their blessing and ideological inspiration to the terrorists. While this approach might work in Saudi Arabia, where the state, through an ancient covenant between the clergy and the “Royal” family reminiscent of Egypt’s pharaohs times, controls everything (including the content of Friday sermons), it is doubtful that a young democratic state like Indonesia can afford to implement it.

It is to be hoped that, having successfully won the presidential elections with ample margin, SBY will stop paying lip service to the more extreme Islamic parties in Indonesia and avoid half measures and compromises in this fight, adopting a more robust and exemplar policy against those who want to destroy his beautiful country.

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#indonesia #Jakarta Hotel Marriott and Ritz-Carlton bombed: 9 dead, 50 wounded

I started using twitter last year, to have fresh news on the Bombay (yes, I prefer it this way) terrorist attack and – as I was about to travel through Bangkok – the unrest in Thailand and the airport occupation. Since then, I have “followed” a number of news sources and individuals and I must say that “real time” news is addictive and – in many instances – indispensable.

This morning, at about 7:30, two powerful bombs went off five minutes apart in two luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta: the Marriott Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton; a few minutes later the first tweets started appearing. What is incredible is the delay with which the main media outlets (including local ones) reported the first news.

What started as a ridiculous application for megalomaniacs intent on inflicting their moods on the world has become, surprisingly, a fantastic information (and “intelligence”?) tool; I doubt very much that the public, getting more and more used to this kind of immediate feedback, will have in future any uses for current means of information dissemination.

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#iran #iranelection Revolutionaries often end up adopting to the habits and methods of those they once opposed

However, because the system Ayatollah Khamenei protects is dysfunctional, and because of widespread public disaffection, the people of Iran are like tinder awaiting another spark. A people that could not be intimidated by the shah cannot be expected to remain supine for long in the face of the present incompetent and corrupt autocracy.

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#iran #iranelection Will Ahmadinejad Be Absent From Friday Prayers Led By Rafsanjani with Mousavi and Khatami?

Iranian websites are reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be absent this week from Tehran Friday prayers, which are to be led by Hashemi Rafsanjani, his main political rival, with the participation of presidential candidate Mir Hossen Mousavi and former president Mohammad Khatami.

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Start taking chinese classes...

China wants to explore alternate energy sources, but for reasons economic not environmental. China would like to reduce urban pollution for health reasons, but not at the cost of growth. The bottom line is that Beijing does not accept the global warming thesis, but will exploit the phobia among Western liberals to gain a competitive advantage for the Chinese economy.

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#iran #iranelection Ahmadinejad can't seem to get traction for a second term. The so-called Green Revolution hardly looks to be over.

"We remain ready to engage with Iran, but the time for action is now," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. So much for waiting to see how Iran's post-election drama plays out.

Premature would be a generous description of this diplomatic outreach. Leave aside that this regime can't be trusted to negotiate anything. More immediately relevant is that millions of Iranians refuse to accept the "leaders" of the "Islamic Republic" (in Mrs. Clinton's words) that the Administration so eagerly aims to engage. Massive street protests roiled Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan and other cities in the wake of the transparently fraudulent June 12 poll. The Basij and Revolutionary Guard goon squads got the people off the streets, killing an unknown number, and the regime blocked nearly all foreign reporting out of Iran.

Oh, the stupid bitch!

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Goodbye Iraq, and Good Luck

A very good article and a very good question by Friedman:

We have special envoys for Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Arab-Israeli affairs, but for Iraq — a country key to the Middle East in which we have lost so many lives and are spending a trillion dollars — there is no special envoy, or secretary of state, totally focused on securing a decent outcome here.

…

After we invaded and stabilized Bosnia, we didn’t just toss their competing factions the keys. President Bill Clinton organized the Dayton peace talks and Richard Holbrooke brokered a deal that has lasted to this day. Why are we not doing in Iraq what we did in Bosnia — when the outcome here is 100 times more important?

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Imagine discussing the "two-state solution" with these idiots; can they even count to two?

Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to "corrupt the young," an official said on Tuesday.…it has detained members of a gang that helped to bring in the products. "They admitted during the investigation they were linked to the Zionist intelligence services," he said.

The story came to light after a Palestinian man filed a complaint that his daughter had experienced "dubious side effects" after chewing the offending gum, Israeli media reported.

Yeah, right…

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#iranelection the Islamic republic is irreversibly in transition, and the internal tension that exploded after June 12 won't go away

But it's increasingly difficult to believe that President Obama really thinks he can stop Tehran's quest for a bomb with diplomacy and sanctions. One gets vibrations from the administration that the game is changing--that the policy of engagement is for after Ali Khamenei gets his nuke. If this is so, the supreme leader will not reciprocate the kindness. He will just view it as weakness: The Islamic republic bested the United States, and the president has come groveling. Obama's diligent attempt not to meddle in Iran during the demonstrations earned him and America no kudos.

Scary.

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Obama continues to sell fluff for substance; meanwhile his interlocutors laugh and laugh...

Reflecting on the hour I spent with Mr. Schlesinger, I can't help but think: Do we really want to do this?.. Are we heading toward a nuclear-free world anytime soon? He shoots back a one-word answer: ‘No.’ I keep silent, hoping he will go on. ‘We will need a strong deterrent,’ he finally says, ‘and that is measured at least in decades -- in my judgment, in fact, more or less in perpetuity. The notion that we can abolish nuclear weapons reflects on a combination of American utopianism and American parochialism.. . . . It's not based upon an understanding of reality.’”

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#Iranelection Ahmadinejad will pretend to accept Obama's open hand while increasing Iran's sponsorship of terror

Now, however, with Iran boiling, its leaders increasingly angry at us for their truant flock, state-sponsored Iranian terrorism could hit us with gale force. … It's a very good bet that the supreme leader, Ahmadinejad, and Rafsanjani, who has always been a fan of outreach to Sunni militants, are already hunting for foreign partners who hate the United States as much as they do. (There is a reason beyond uranium exports why Tehran loves Hugo Chávez.) Once they are backed by nuclear weapons, it's hard to see what the leaders of the Islamic republic would fear from an American president who avoids the word jihad when describing 9/11 for fear of offending Muslim sensitivities."

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"G-8 Historic breakthrough on global warming" OR "G-8 Climate-Change Agreement Falls Short"?

President Obama and other leaders backed historic new targets for tackling global warming last night in an agreement designed to pave the way for a world deal in the autumn.
For the first time, America and the other seven richest economies agreed to the goal of keeping the world’s average temperature from rising more than 2C (3.6F). They also agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 as they strove for a worldwide deal at Copenhagen in December.

Or

U.S. officials framed the L'Aquila climate-change declarations as progress. Numerical targets for emissions reductions by 2050 are largely meaningless anyway, as the target is so far in the future, they said. "It would be a big mistake to look only at 2050," said Todd Stern, the chief U.S. climate-change negotiator.But it was the failure of the developed nations to set short-term goals that gave the developing countries their reason for torpedoing a broader deal that seemed within reach just a week ago. The G-8 nations also couldn't agree on a pledge to help fund poorer countries' moves toward cleaner energy sources and mitigate the effects of climate change they are already feeling.
A draft declaration had provisionally called for $400 million in this aid -- a figure many nations called too small and others called too large. In the end, they got only theoretical commitments to help with finances and technology.

So, which is which? My opinion is that, despite the Times’ bombastic title, Western leaders have started to realize (as most people) that global warming is a scam, climate change is a naïve attempt to use a nicer term for the same fraud, but all in all it would only bankrupt their countries and probably not even earn them political kudos (not anymore). The agreement to keep world average temperature from increasing more than 2C is as ridiculous as it sounds; in any case – they must have thought – if the world is in fact cooling as it has for the last 10 or 13 years, we will even be able to keep our promises!

It is unfortunate that all the noise about global warming, so clearly in bad faith, has put off both the public and politicians from facing and solving real problems like pollution, energy independence, implementation of cleaner sources of energy (real ones: atom, clean coal, etc.) at a time where all these could be easily and cheaply achieved with existing technologies; instead, we sit on our bums and wait for the wind to spin our turbines.