Nailing it down

I've been going bonkers watching the Left defend Hezbollah, Lebanon, and any state that attacks Israel, while decrying Israel's response. And quite honestly, I've been so damn frustrated that I couldn't manage to put my thoughts into words.

Ace must've used some brainwave reading machine, because he nails my thoughts down rather nicely.

If the left consists of such kill-crazy super-terrorist-keyboard-warriors as they so often claim, who are really, really are eager to fight the "right war" against terror (generally defined as any war the US is not actually involved in, or about to enter), then why are they incapable of supporting Israel's war against a group which is

1) unambiguously terroristic,

2) without any legitimate claims to land (as Hamas might have),

3) supported and armed by Iran, the country they often claim is the country we should have fought instead of Iraq (of course, had we done so, they'd've said we should have fought Iraq instead),

4) provoked Israel into an unavoidable defensive War of Necessity, not a "War of Choice," by raining rockets upon its cities

and

5) is furthermore required by the UN -- the UN! -- to disarm and cease all illegal paramilitary attacks on Israel?

All the usual prerequisites the left usually lists for gaining their blessing for war are easily met here. And yet-- no blessing.

Why?

In essence, the Left has exposed itself to be bigger terrorism supporters than anything we at the Right could have guessed. There is no nuance here. Hezbollah fires rockets into civilian towns. That the wrong thing to do. Hezbollah targets civilians. That is the wrong thing to do. Hezbollah hides behind civilians, and bases their operations out of civilian areas such as apartment buildings, schools, and hospitals. That is the wrong thing to do! Israel is defending themselves from a group of terrorists who receive money and weapons from Iran and Syria, who target women and children, who kill as randomly as possible, who are operating illegally out of a sovereign nation in defiance of international law, the list goes on and on.

And yet, the Left, both international and here in America, do not, cannot, and will not support Israel's war against Hezbollah. A war that is needed to protect and defend the citizens of Israel.

If they cannot support this war, then it is clear to anyone with half a mind that they will not support any war against terrorism, and thus are on the side of the terrorists. Plain and simple. What was it that Orwell said? "A pacifist is essentially pro-fascist." Well, it's time to update that - "A pacifist is essentially pro-terrorist."

If you do nothing but prevent, hinder, or otherwise impede the war against a terrorist group, then you are pro-terrorist. When this country eventually ends, whether it be next year or the next millennium, it will be because of people like the American Left, who care more about their politics and gaining power than protecting this country from terrorists.

I hate to be a Yuppie

But all I can do is read this and go "Yup".

One of the most classic lines parenthood is; "You're known by the company you keep".

And when neighbors choose as their company those who are sworn to the destruction of America, whose blood oath entails forcing me and you to choose between converting to their perverted cult of a false religion, or paying a huge jizya (tax) in order to rent the right to live as an infidel, or worse, to be slaughtered like a beast in the field merely because they deem it fitting.......

.....When they choose them as their company, companions and allies, they have then declared their emnity towards me, my friends and loved ones, your neighbors and this Nation.

You can go read the rest.

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!

I'm in the wrong damn Army!

The Women of the IDF.

Mwuahahaaaa!

Ace

Make you sure you catch the last line.

Quick Digest

See Ned Run. See Ned Run From Jane. Or not.

Key endorsement for Ned:



Not contented by slurring blacks, Lamont's people go for gays.

Meanwhile, Radical Muslims target children - protest in Cambridge imminent!!!

Dave, TVE, other bloggers

2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11

"This Says It All"

An Unsealed Room

CREEP

Jane Hamsher.

Ironically, liberal blogs such as Eschaton and TalkLeft have criticized the use of blackface in other settings. And even more ironically, Hamsher herself went ballistic last fall when first lady Laura Bush made a reference to comedian Eddie Cantor, who gained a following with his blackface routine.

"Does the first lady not know who Eddie Cantor was?" Hamsher wrote. "Or does she actually think it's appropriate to invoke a comedian famous for appearing in blackface when talking about minority students, and then crack wise about their erstwhile future as criminals?"

Beltway Blogroll: Blogger Kills Lieberman Image At Lamont's Bidding

Hamsher, earlier this week:



UPDATE: Ned Lamont is lying about the nutroots and he.

Maxine Waters has gone silent, which is one good thing about this, I reckon.

RCOB

Tell me about border security again?

WASHINGTON — Undercover investigators entered the United States using fake documents repeatedly this year — including some cases in which Homeland Security Department agents didn't ask for identification.

At nine border crossings on the Mexico and Canadian borders, agents "never questioned the authenticity of the counterfeit documents," according to Government Accountability Office testimony to be released Wednesday

I'm speechless. I really am. After years of living in a world where people want to blow up Americans any way possible, the fact that these agents could easily get into this country just blows my mind.

What. The. HELL?!

Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said agents are trained to identify false birth certificates, driver's licenses and other documents. But he conceded that agents sometimes cannot verify more than 8,000 different kinds of currently acceptable IDs without significantly slowing border traffic.

Then simply narrow the list of accepted documents! WOW, WHAT A CONCEPT! I can't get into any other country without a passport. No other form of ID is acceptable. I can't stroll into Panama with just my driver's license. Why can't we enforce that same rule here? No passport, NO ENTRY!

It seems that people in the government still don't get it. If we don't have a secure border, then we cannot stop people from coming into America to kill us. Or run drugs. Or other contraband.

Gah. I think I'm done reading the news today. My blood pressure can't stand it.

SSDD

That's Same S**t, Different Day.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown may want to stick to reforming his own office and stop criticizing member states, a State Department spokesman said Wednesday.

Malloch Brown was quoted in a British newspaper Wednesday suggesting that he does not think that Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-backed group currently fighting Israeli Defense Forces, is a terrorist organization.

"It's not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism. Hezbollah employs terrorist tactics; it is an organization, however, whose roots historically are completely separate and different from Al Qaeda," he said, according to a transcript of an interview.

And he wonders why most of America regards the U.N. much as they would regard a malignant tumor? Tell me, just what would make Mr. Brown call Hezbullah a terrorist organization? I mean, beyond the using civilians as human shields, beyond the daily rocket fire into civilian areas of Israel, beyond the calls for Israel's destruction, just what in the name of all that is holy would make Mr. Brown call Hezbullah a terrorist group?

My sweet God, what an asshat. My opinion of the U.N. drops with every passing day.

Tropical Storm Update

Well, that was dissapointing.

TS Chris passed to the North of us, giving us nothing more than a few showers. We've gotten more rain on a normal day. We'll see if we get any more rain today, but I think it's safe to say that we won't be getting hit.

Israel hijacking TV and radio broadcasts

Neat:

A series of pictures and statements, apparently from Israeli-backed hackers, have appeared on Lebanon's Hezbollah-run television station, some showing pictures of corpses and others labelling the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as a liar.

One of the images shown on al-Manar television portrayed the body of a fighter lying face-down, wearing khaki trousers with a text in Arabic beneath: "This is the photograph of a body of a member of Hezbollah's special forces."

I have wondered for years why we don't do this stuff, which, I guess, requires me to assume that we don't.

I mean, if American imaging machines can make Drew Barrymore deliver a flying roundhouse kick to the head of a 6'6" 245 pound man, they surely can make Osama bin Laden have sex with his brother.

You know?

Yoni the Blogger

Blackface of the day

What a bunch of assholes the Left are.

UPDATE: Graphic removed, without comment.

See it here: Michelle Malkin: Ned Lamont's favorite nutball

From a political discussion...

...at the Hockey's Future boards:

Hezbollah is using civillians (and UN observer posts) as shields. Or as you say, Hezbollah are firing rockets into Israel from positions next to apartment buildings. Or from within hospitals and schools, even. Or from playgrounds filled with smiling Hezbollese children. Take any or all of those statements as you like.

Israel is then bombing those Hezbollah-occupied positions.

I just don't understand what kind of person thinks it's ok to fire back in that situation.

It's that kind of thinking that causes many to type the words "We're doomed" these days.

Need a knife?

I've always stated that you need to support the companies that support you. So when I read this, I thought I'd pass it on.

POST FALLS -- Five area businesses were recently honored for their dedication toward employing veterans.

American Legion National Commander Thomas L. Bock presented special Employment of Veterans awards to Life Care Center of Coeur d'Alene and IMCO Recycling of Post Falls during the recent American Legion state convention at Templin's Red Lion Hotel in Post Falls. Ground Force Manufacturing of Post Falls earned the Small Employer of the Year award. The category was for businesses with less than 50 employees. Buck Knives of Post Falls won the Large Employer of the Year award for firms with more than 250 employees.

Buck knives recently relocated from California to Post Falls, Idaho. So what did they do to win this award?

• Buck Knives employed 276 at the time of the nomination and had 30 veterans (12 percent) on staff.

"Buck Knives has long been committed to providing employment opportunities for veterans, including the disabled," Shoeman said. "Patriotism has deep roots within the Buck family. It is clear that issues affecting our nation's veterans receive top priority with Buck Knives."

All local members of the 116th Engineer Battalion of the Idaho National Guard were presented a specially engraved knife upon return from combat duty in Iraq. The company also hosted a knife sale open to the public, with proceeds supporting troops and family members.

(emphasis mine)

I know what kind of knife I'll be buying when I next need one.

Murtha to be sued

Check it out:

The move by Wuterich is rare, as statements made by members of Congress generally are protected under the "speech or debate" clause in Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution. But legal experts said the clause grants immunity only for what lawmakers say in legislative proceedings and does not apply to news releases, speeches and other public comments.

Rodney A. Smolla, dean of the University of Richmond Law School and a libel expert, said yesterday that Wuterich would have the burden of proving that he is innocent and that Murtha's statements were false, but he added that the quotations appear to be actionable in court. He said the suit shows that Wuterich probably thinks he did nothing wrong.

"Part of the subtext of this is it's a showing of confidence and a preemptive strike of sorts," Smolla said. "The congressman's statement does not sound as if it is merely hyperbole or opinion or name-calling. Instead, it conveys the idea that the Marines violated professional standards and perhaps the law."

The questionable events at Qana in Lebanon sure do place Haditha in a different light, don't they?

Marine Names Murtha in Defamation Suit

Linky Love

Via Malkin comes the story of a Marine who's had enough of Murtha's BS.

A Marine Corps staff sergeant who led the squad accused of killing two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, will file a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington claiming that Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) defamed him when the congressman made public comments about the incident earlier this year.

Attorneys for Frank D. Wuterich, 26, argue in court papers that Murtha tarnished the Marine's reputation by telling news organizations in May that the Marine unit cracked after a roadside bomb killed one of its members and that the troops "killed innocent civilians in cold blood." Murtha also said repeatedly that the incident was covered up.

Since Murtha made these statements on every newscast that would have him, and not on the floor as part of a legislative session, there's a good chance this lawsuit has legs. And if it does, good. Murtha called those Marines murderers, thugs, and brutal animals without a shred of evidence to back up his accusations. Every chance he got, he slandered them endlessly. It's about time that someone reminds Murtha of a statement that he should have remembered from his own days as a Marine.

You don't fuck with the Marine Corps.

Murtha may have served in the Marines, but he's an EX-Marine. I don't think there's a Marine alive that would claim allegience to Murtha in any regard. Just think about the meaning of that statement.

Captain Ed reports that the IDF has captured Hezbullah terrorists in a hospital.

After several hours of intense fighting in and around the hospital in the eastern Lebanon town of Baalbek, which was built by Iran for the express purpose of treating Hizbullah operatives, IDF commando forces on Wednesday morning took a number of Hizbullah operatives captive.

An IAF helicopter dropped commando forces a short distance from the hospital late Tuesday night. The force was discovered as it moved towards the structure, where Hizbullah operatives were suspected of hiding. Several hours of gunfights ensued, and at least 10 Hizbullah guerrillas were reported killed. Another force was helicoptered in to extricate the commandos and provide backup for the mission.

But gosh, why would Hezbullah be operating out of a hospital? I mean, that's against the rules of war and stuff!

Feh. Hezbullah delights in the murder of civilians, and will do anything they can in order to cause more civilian deaths. After all, if they could get Israel to bomb their base of operations and then show a blown up hospital on Arab TV, they get the propaganda victory. They don't care how many innocent people die. Because they're worthless TERRORISTS!

It really is that simple.

Personally, I'm at the point where I think that not only should we be killing the terrorists, we should be killing anyone associated with the terrorists as a message to anyone who would support them. But then, I'm not in charge. Probably for the best.

And last, it looks like Floyd Landis got busted for doping.

Just damn.

If it turns out to be true, then as far as I'm concerned, we need to pound his ass into a pulp just as quickly as we rejoiced when he won. American loves a winner, but not one who cheats. That is, unless you're a San Francisco Giant's fan.

Look, steroids have been a problem for years. The NFL has had people juiced up to their eyeballs. Anyone remember Lyle Alzado? Guy was pumped on steroids for years, and it ended up killing him. Most people who juice have health problems later on in life, which is the most likely reason why Barry Bonds' knees are now as fragile as 300 year old paper. And as much as I hate to say it, Mark Maguire is in the same boat. Sammy Sosa? Can anyone else explain to me how a skinny little base-stealing kid bulks up quickly and has an acne problem that would make a teenage boy sympathetic? Steroids, man. He's juiced.

I think that the steroid problem goes a lot farther than any of us can guess. And the only way I can see it stopping is if we, the sports fans, turn our backs on anyone who is a confirmed doper. Just let them hang on their own petard. Protest your team hiring someone who's a doper. If they can't get the big bucks with their hormonally enhanced performance, then maybe they'll stop using it.

It could be a start, at least.

A little something from vacation

Have a nice day!

The Senate did something yesterday

Booyaka!

The US Senate approved legislation that would make 8.3 million acres (3.4 million hectares) of Gulf of Mexico coastline available for oil and natural gas drilling.

The bill, which passed by a vote of 71 to 25, would end a quarter-century ban against tapping the coastal waters for energy, and comes as Americans face ever-spiraling prices at the gas pump and to heat and cool their homes.

We'll see what happens in conference with the House.

This is the kind of thing Republicans should be running ads on, to disabuse "working families" (and union workers) of the notion that Democrats care about them.

US Senate backs opening protected US coastline to oil, gas drilling

Seen @ Gateway Pundit

Batten down the hatches

'cause I think I'm gonna get hit with this one.

Tropical Storm Chris, the third named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, developed early Tuesday near the Leeward Islands, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said.

Now, my family and I live in a concrete house that resembles a bomb shelter, so I doubt that we're going to be in any danger whatsoever. I also have a week's worth of fresh water saved up, and plenty of non-perishable food. However, knowing the quality of utility services down here, any storm stronger than a mouse fart is going to knock out power for a day or two. So, if I don't blog in the next couple of days, don't worry about me. I'm safe. I just don't have any electricity. I have a generator for my house, but that won't help the company that provides me with the internet.

Granted, I'll have to deal with all the Puerto Ricans who didn't plan ahead and are now completely SOL, but I think I can handle that.

More About Qana

Related to TVE's post below:

On the morning of July 30, according to the IDF, the air force came in three waves. In the first, between midnight and one in the morning, there was a strike at or near the building that eventually collapsed. There was a second strike at other targets far from the collapse building several hours later, and a third strike at around 7:30 in the morning. There too the nearest hit was some 460 meters away, according to the IDF. But first reports of a building collapse came only around 8 am.

Thus there was an unexplained 7 to 8 hour gap between the time of the helicopter strike and the building collapse. Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters, in a press briefing, told journalists that "the attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear."

I must admit I am having trouble keeping it all clear in my role as a part time analyst of the event (har). One of the things the "Hezbollah Staged It" crowd are saying is that the bodies show signs of rigor mortis in the early morning just an hour after the collapse. But what if the collapse occured at the initial strike "between midnight and one in the morning"? Then rigor mortis at 0900 would be consistent.

I guess this is where lack of intrepid and objective reporting adds to "the fog of war".

Who says the strike occured "between midnight and one in the morning"? Who says the building collpase occured at 0800 or thereabouts?

Who in the MSM are digging deep to cover this story?

Confederate Yankee: Were the Qana Bodies Staged?

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin gathers the research here.

A Truth Exploited By The Terrorist-Leftist Nexus

From David Galula's treatise on insurgency war via The Corner on National Review Online.

Propaganda and spin is always easier for an insurgent force:

"The asymmetrical situation has important effects on propaganda. The insurgent, having no responsibility, is free to use every trick; if necessary, he can lie, cheat, exaggerate. He is not obliged to prove; he is judged by what he promises, not by what he does. Consequently, propaganda is a powerful weapon for him. With no positive policy but with good propaganda, the insurgent may still win.

The counterinsurgent is tied to his responsibilities and to his past, and for him, facts speak louder than works. He is judged on what he does, not on what he says. If he lies, cheats, exaggerates, and does not prove, he may achieve some temporary successes, but at the price of being discredited for good. And he cannot cheat much unless his political structures are monolithic, for the legitimate opposition in his own camp would soon disclose his every psychological maneuver. For him, propaganda can be no more than a secondary weapon, valuable only if intended to inform and not to fool. A counterinsurgent can seldom cover bad or nonexistent policy with propaganda. "

The utter lack of accountability inherent in the nature of terror organizations is what lead President Bush to state that you are either with us or you are with the terrorists. An absolute truth, for by their very actions they demand to be dealt with by all civilized societies. Who is Hezbollah accountable to? Lebanon? They utilize Lebanese land and infrastructure. If the government of Lebanon is forced to provide Hezbollah these resources against their will, then Lebanon is a failed state incapable of reigning in the foriegn financed terror organization perched on their land and Israel's norther border. Iran and Syria are paying the terror group's bills. If Lebanon's intentions are pure, then we can strenthen their state and force Hezbollah to find another host. And if they have no willing host (or failed state to leach off of), they will eventually run out of resources and starve. If, on the other hand, they have a symbiotic relationship with the government of Lebanon, then they join Iran and Syria in waging a proxy war on their neighbor and all three governments must be held accountable for essentially waging a war by proxy.

That same lack of accountability is what lead to the creation of Article 28 of the 4th Geneva Convention:

The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations.

As RD pointed out, anyone who hides in the midst of civilians to shield themselves from counter attack is responsible for the deaths of those they put in harms way. That is true in southern Lebanon, it is true in the al Anbar province in Iraq where insurgents attack our soldiers wearing civilian clothing and rush into civilian homes to evade capture, and it is true anywhere such tactics are employed.

Our soldiers are scrutinized in every possible way. In fighting for their lives, in holding captives caught in battle, in questioning captives, and in their very words and attitudes. They receive tepid and fickel support for performing near impossible tasks. Yet when is the last time you heard of a terrorist group being taken to account for the ghastly beheading of a captured soldier or civilian or for setting off bombs in crowded civilian areas or for the brutal torture and mutilation of a captive? You don't. And that is partly because there is no way to hold a stateless and often faceless and nameless foe to account, and partly because the only ones that could possibly hold them to account are OUR SOLDIERS. And they know it. And they TARGET and kill the very people they claim to fight on behalf of in order to further their goals. And they get away with it because people offer them the legitimacy EARNED by those who strive toward civility and are accountable to all. The terrorists know full well how to take advantage of this and the left willingly serves their cause by breathlessly covering incidents like Qana as the great human tragedy it is without telling you that Hezbollah had been firing rockets from Qana and then rushing to hide in civilian structures. Hezbollah is responsible for the deaths in Qana. If they cared about the people in souther Lebanon, they wouldn't use them as shields. And if the left concerned themselves with responsible dissent rather than the scorched earth variety they engage in almost exclusively then perhaps the civilian targeting, civilian shield using terrorists would be incapable of selling their deceptive propaganda, or at least much less capable. Buying into their ploys is bad enough. Today the left fabricates propaganda for them.

What Dave Said...

...Ben Stein-style:

Because it is impossible to beat a terrorist movement without using terror tactics, and we as a people of compassion and restraint, both in Israel and the U.S., will not use terror tactics even when survival is at stake, and this means we will not survive.

It is very much as if, after Pearl Harbor, after the bombing of London, we said, "We will fight the Japanese and the Nazis, but we will only use humane means, and we will show total restraint and will never kill civilians. And we will search our souls and agonize about every move."

Roger that.

The American Spectator: How to Lose to Terrorists


I, like Dave, am not agonizing about Qana.

More:

We know, from e-mails discovered after the Israelis killed four UN observers at an outpost more than a week ago, that the UN "peacekeepers" had been overrun and held captive by Hizballah. The UN people wanted to get out of the path of the battle, but the Hizballah wouldn't let them leave. On Sunday morning, we awoke to the reports of horrific civilian casualties in the Lebanese town of Qana. Dozens of children are among the dead.

Qana, like many other villages in south Lebanon, was papered with Israeli leaflets warning the citizens to flee the impending battle. Israeli aircraft have been broadcasting warnings and the Israeli forces -- imitating what our Commando Solo aircraft did in Iraq before the 2003 invasion began -- were literally telephoning Lebanese in their homes asking them to get out of the line of fire. Thousands have not. Why?

Israel as George Bush

It reminds me of The Final Countdown, 1980, when F-14s from an American carrier were buzzing, and being buzzed by, World War Two era Zeros. The F-14s go head-to-head with the Zeros, who narrowly miss the F-14s with machine gun fire.

"What are we messing around with these guys for????", one of the F-14 pilots asks.

I am reminded of that.

Qana

Look, I'm about to sound pretty damn heartless right now, so if you're some bleeding heart Leftist, don't stick around unless you want to hear some unpleasant truths.

Hezbullah uses civilian as shields. They hide amongst them, they bury themselves in civilian areas, and they use civilian facilities as bases to attack Israel. They attack from apartment buildings, schools, and anywhere they think that Israel is afraid to counter-attack.

Add to this the fact that there are people in Lebanon who not only agree with what Hezbullah is doing, but actively work with them to further their goal.

So what do you get when you mix terrorists who use civilians as shields, with civilians who agreeably turn themselves into shields ?

You get civilian deaths, that's what you get.

The one constant in all of this is the fact that Israel must be allowed to defend herself. And despite what the Leftists think, they ARE defending themselves. Perhaps when Hezbullah stops firing rockets from the middle of apartment complexes, Israel won't have to drop a bomb on the people who are launching that rocket.

Do I want people to die? No, of course not. I can't think of any sane person who cheers for the death of innocents. But let's just keep in mind that the people responsible for those deaths are the terrorists who use apartment complexes as rocket-launching pads.

Don't blame Israel for defending herself. Blame the people who made in necessary.

Deb Frisch...

...is still all over Jeff Goldstein and his family. What a cavedweller.

Hezbollah...

..., they loves them some human shields.

Marine does job, patriots react

Florida Marine metes out swift death in Iraq

Democratic Underpanters mete out swift condemnation in their air conditioned rooms

Quick Digest

Back from vacation, glad to see Dave back online, quick linkz here:

Gateway Pundit does a wee bit more digging on this story:



(I took the time to draw a multiline box around the "key graf" because I found it interesting that "ADVERTISEMENT" appears right beneath it.)

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If a drunken Mel Gibson did indeed call out...

BANG!

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Tragedy Presentation at Qana.

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The Ravers are out in force: "Obviously not, so why hasn't USA done something about the misuse of their Apache helicopters used to deliver bombs, not to mention the bombs themselves?"

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Confederate Yankee: "There Are No Civilians Here". Go see it.

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Power Line ponders banners.