My Opinion, like it or not

My second try with photostory 3 and youtube

John McCain the ACLU-Republican gets cash from George SOROS!

It looks like our favorite ACLU Republican Senator John McCain
has been getting money from George Soros, Tsar of the Democrats and communists!

FIRST: see this NY Times article McCain Allies Want Reform (and Money)

Quote:

NYTimes.com McCain Allies Want Reform (and Money) By CARL HULSE and Ann E. KORNBLUT Published: March 8, 2005 WASHINGTON, March 7 - In a small office a few miles from Capitol Hill, a handful of top advisers to Senator John McCain run a quiet campaign. They promote his crusade against special interest money in politics. They send out news releases promoting his initiatives. And they raise money - hundreds of thousands of dollars, tapping some McCain backers for more than $50,000 each. This may look like the headquarters of a nascent McCain presidential bid in 2008. But instead, it is the Reform Institute, a nonprofit organization devoted to overhauling campaign finance laws and one whose work has the added benefit of keeping the senator in the spotlight. read more here

NEXT: go to John McCain's Reform Institutes Donation page
then under Donations above $50,000
look for "OSI Constitution & Legal Policy Program".
The "OSI Program" is located at http://www.soros.org/


NEXT: go to http://www.soros.org/about/ were you will see

Quote:

George Soros is founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute and the Soros foundations network. He is also the chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC

Also if you google 'Soros+McCain' you'll find plenty more about our
Seditious Senator from Arizona the ACLU Republican and his friend
George Soros.
http://www.google.com/search?&q=Soros+McCain

John McCain is UNFIT FOR DUTY
He is nothing more than a money hungry politician who is in league with the
Modern Liberals and Euro-Socialists.

$5,000,000.00 Reward For the capture of

Adnan G. El Shukrijumah Video of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah View with RealPlayer Download Free Realplayer View with Windows Media Player Transcript of Video Aliases: Adnan G. El Shukri Jumah, Abu Arif, Ja'far Al-Tayar, Jaffar Al-Tayyar, Jafar Tayar, Jaafar Al-Tayyar DESCRIPTION Date of Birth Used: August 4, 1975 Hair: Black Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia Eyes: Black Height: 5'3" to 5'6" Sex: Male Weight: 132 pounds Complexion: Dark, Mediterranean Build: Average     Remarks: El Shukrijumah occasionally wears a beard. He has a pronounced nose and is asthmatic. El Shukrijumah speaks English and carries a Guyanese passport, but may attempt to enter the United States with a Saudi, Canadian, or Trinidadian passport. DETAILS Adnan G. El Shukrijumah is wanted in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States, including the possible import and intent to use a "Dirty Bomb". REWARD The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the capture of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah. ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS  SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE.

ROBERT S. MUELLER, III DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535 TELEPHONE: (202) 324-3000

| Miami Field Office | En Espanol | Seeking Information - War on Terrorism | | FBI Home Page | FBI Field Offices |

Tony Blankley has Harry Reid's Number at Townhall

Just another political speech

By Tony Blankley

Dateline: London, June 18, 1940 -- The following are the chamber remarks of the fictional Lord Harold Reid (whose fictional grandson in the 21st century would become leader of the fictional Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate).

"I regret to have to stand up tonight, on the day of defeat at the hands of the Germans of our French ally's armies at Sedan and on the Meuse River to observe that on this solemn occasion, Prime Minister Winston Churchill has chosen to politicize and cheapen the moment. Permit me to perform just a brief exegesis of his speech, which his right-wing Press Baron friend Lord Murdoch has quickly labeled 'The Finest Hour' speech in the London Times.

"Right out of the gate Churchill starts making political excuses when he says: 'There are many who would hold an inquest in the House of Commons on the conduct of the Governments. ... This would be a foolish and pernicious process ... Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.' Balderdash. Churchill can't get out of it so neatly. We need to hold hearings to determine exactly who is at fault in the government. There must be no cover up for those who deserve a dressing down. Herr Hitler will just have to wait until we have decided what is what.

"For example, Mr. Churchill glibly states: 'During the last few days we have successfully brought off the great majority of the troops we had on the line of communication in France; and seven-eighths of troops we have sent to France since the beginning of the war -- that is to say, about 350,000 out of the 400,000 men -- are safely back in this country.'

The Arab and Iranian Reaction to 9/11

The Arab and Iranian Reaction to 9/11

Saudi in talks with Russia over weapons sales: Diplomat

The Peninsula - 10 September, 2006

Source :AFP

RIYADH -  Saudi Arabia is in talks with Russia over the possible purchase of

Russian weapons for the first time by the oil-rich kingdom, which has

traditionally used Western defense systems, a Western diplomat said

yesterday.

A team of Russian military experts visited Saudi Arabia in late August to

discuss with Saudi military committees the possible sale to Riyadh of T-95

main battle tanks and Mi-17 helicopters, he told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"The visit was not the first. It was preceded by several visits by experts"

from the Russian state arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport, according to

the source.

Saudi arms experts have also visited Moscow to discuss Russian offers of

weapons, and tests were carried out on the T-95 in

Saudi Arabia to determine the tank's suitability to harsh desert conditions,

the diplomat added.

The Saudi armed forces' needs in terms of battle tanks are estimated at

around 300. Saudi military experts had conducted tests on French Leclerc

tanks more than two years ago.

According to French officials, Leclerc tanks are among weapons systems

Riyadh is expected to buy from France under two military accords signed by

the two countries in July.

U.S. schools compete for Saudi students

Kingdom gives scholarships to thousands for new exchange program

The Associated Press Updated: 5:03 p.m. ET Sept. 9, 2006

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Thousands of students from Saudi Arabia are enrolling on

college campuses across the United States this semester under a new

educational exchange program brokered by President Bush and Saudi King

Abdullah.

The program will quintuple the number of Saudi students and scholars here by

the academic year's end. And big, public universities from Florida to the

Kansas plains are in a fierce competition for their tuition dollars.

The kingdom's royal family - which is paying full scholarships for most of

the 15,000 students - says the program will help

stem unrest at home by schooling the country's brightest in the American

tradition. The U.S. State Department sees the exchange as a way to build

ties with future Saudi leaders and young scholars at a time of unsteady

relations with the Muslim world.

Syria Denies Acceptance of European Border Guards Monitor

Syria Denies Acceptance of European Border Guards Monitor

Sunday, September 10, 2006 - 04:25 PM

CAIRO,  (SANA - Syrian News Agency)  Syria has denied acceptance of European

borders guards to supervise the Syrian-Lebanese borders.

 " The reports by some mass media that Syria has accepted that European

border guards monitor the Lebanese-Syrian borders are not true," Information

Minister Mohsen Bilal said Sunday.

" The phone call was made yesterday between President Bashar al-Assad and

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi didn't discuss this troops or guards

topic, but the talks were on technical assistance that is expected to be

offered to the Syrian border guards," Bilal added in statement to the

Egyptian T.V.

" The UN 1701 resolution pertaining to halting the military acts between

Israel and Lebanon, didn't stipulate for deploying international troops on

the Syria-Lebanese borders," He clarified, pointing out that Israel is the

aggressor and that the Syrians and Lebanese are one family in two sovereign

countries.

He noted that the resolution clearly included the deployment of UNIFIL in

south Lebanon, emphasizing that no one can impose on Syria to accept

deployment of foreign forces on her borders with Lebanon,"

" Keeping security on the borders with Lebanon is a Syrian affair that

Syrian borders guards are responsible for," Bilal said, concluding by saying

that the " Lebanese army is responsible for  keeping security on the borders

with Syria.

EU Foreign Policy chief warns of worsening West-Muslim ties

Solana warns of worsening West-Muslim world ties

Brussels, Sept 8, IRNA [Iranian news agency]

EU-Middle East-Solana

EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana Friday warned of the worsening

situation in the Middle East which could effect relations between Europe and

the Muslim world.

"The situation on the ground is getting worse. And I am concerned about our

broader relations with the Muslim world and the radicalizing impact of the

status quo," Solana said in a speech at the university of Copenhagen during

a visit to Denmark on Friday.

"Europe can and should inject new momentum into the Israeli- Palestinian

track. Of course, this will be difficult. But it is imperative to try," he

said.

Solana noted that the Arab countries have signalled their plans for an

international conference on the Middle East.

Want to see some sickening “Sermons?”

Want to see some sickening “Sermons?”

Ahmad Jannati: The Muslims should learn that they too can stand up to the

enemy. As Hassan Nasrallah said, Israel is weaker than a spider web. This is

based on the Koran, according to which their plots and schemes are weaker

than a spider web. This goes for America as well. It too is weaker than a

spider web. But it requires real men... If the Islamic countries act like

Hizbullah, and stand up to America like men, America will be humiliated,

just like Israel.

Crowd: Allah Akbar

Allah Akbar

Allah Akbar

Khamenei is the leader.

Death to those who oppose the rule of the Jurisprudent

Death to America

Death to England

Death to the hypocrites [Mojahedin-e Khalq] and Saddam

Death to Israel

TO VIEW THIS CLIP: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1261

Fwance Wusses Out, As Usual

France: Int'l fleet won't employ force

HERB KEINON, YAAKOV KATZ and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 7, 2006

France announced on Friday that the international naval force designated to

patrol Lebanon's territorial waters would not be authorized to employ force

to stop ships from entering or leaving Lebanon.

A spokesman for the French defense ministry said that the international

craft would only provide assistance for Lebanese ships, and would not

interfere with other nations' boats, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier Friday, Israel began to remove its naval blockade of Lebanon,

imposed almost two months after Hizbullah launched its cross-border raid and

kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

Maj.-Gen. Alain Pellegrini, the French commander of UNIFIL, said government

officials informed him Friday afternoon that the blockade was being lifted.

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said she didn't have immediate

confirmation that the final order had been given to lift the siege, but said

earlier Friday that the blockade would be ended within hours.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, meeting with Foreign Minister

Tzipi Livni, announced that a multinational task force, commanded by an

Italian admiral, had begun patrolling Lebanese territorial waters.

The Italian Admiral, aboard an Italian aircraft carrier, received command of

the patrols off the Lebanese coast and Israeli Naval ships began returning

back to Israeli waters.

Pakistanis join Taliban terrorists against British in Afganistan.

UK Muslims join Taliban to fight against British troops Michael Smith and Ghulam Hasnaim in Karachi

BRITISH Pakistanis have joined Taliban insurgents fighting the army in southern Afghanistan, according to intelligence briefings given to senior military commanders. The intelligence about their presence in Helmand province, where 13 British soldiers have died, is believed to have come from Pakistan, where the authorities have recently arrested suspects said to be involved in training Al-Qaeda and Taliban recruits. A Pakistani official confirmed yesterday there were a number of British Pakistanis known to be fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. “They come here quietly in twos and threes and then disappear. It’s difficult to trace them as they [also] carry Pakistani nationality,” the official said. A source close to the Taliban claimed two British Pakistanis had gone through Waziristan on their way to fight the British Army six weeks ago. A second Pakistan official said others had since gone into Afghanistan “in an individual capacity”. A second source close to the Taliban said “no more than 10” of its fighters were known to be British passport holders, but added: “There are a lot of Pakistanis [fighting with the Taliban] and one cannot say how many hold British passports.” News of British recruits among the Taliban suggests the war in Afghanistan, like that in Iraq, has become a magnet for extremists determined to fight western forces.

Pipe Bomb, Chicago train station

Pipe Bomb, Chicago train station

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Detonates at Suburban Chicago Train Station

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/hagmann090206.htm

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Northeast Intelligence Network,

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Bomb was planted to detonate at commuter waiting area minutes before a train was scheduled to arrive.

Authorities: The device was more elaborate than some‹it had a timer that allowed a delayed detonation."

A pipe bomb constructed with a timing device exploded at the Metra train station in Hinsdale, a western suburb of Chicago during Friday morning's commute just minutes before a train was scheduled to arrive at the stop. The blast sent metal fragments and shrapnel flying and caused minimal property damage but no injuries, according to police. The bomb exploded inside a garbage can in the commuter waiting area of the station. Had it detonated near passengers, people would have definitely been injured. Remnants of the bomb are being transported to a lab in Maryland for analysis to see what components comprised the device.

At 6:53 a.m., a 911 call was received from a Metra employee who said someone had thrown a firecracker in the garbage of the main depot, 25 E. Hinsdale Ave., and shortly after that, the fire alarm for the depot activated, according to the release from Hinsdale police.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating, and agents remained at the scene in Hinsdale as of 4:30 p.m. yesterday. Local, county and federal authorities swept the station in search of other devices and notified other Metra stations to search their facilities, stated BATFE spokesman Tom Ahern. No other devices were found.

According Hinsdale police, Metra police held a suspect at Union Station, after he was seen putting an item into the garbage can. The suspect then boarded the 6:56 a.m. or 7:04 a.m. train to Chicago. The suspect, who was later released, was described as a "tall, thin black male," appearing to be in his earliy twenties. Ahern, however, said there were no suspects, only a few "people of interest" who authorities want to interview. They include people who were seen either on the platform or in the depot immediately prior to the explosion, he said.

[b]Hinsdale Police Chief Bradley Bloom stated: "We're a little concerned, because it was a somewhat sophisticated device," referring to the timer. "And it was just inside the door" of the station, he said. Police handed out fliers with a description of the incident at train stations Friday afternoon, asking anyone with information to contact authorities, Bloom said.

Ahern said, adding there was minimal damage to the station.

Local, county and federal authorities swept the station in search of other devices and notified other Metra stations to search their facilities, Ahern said. No other devices were found.

Forced embrace of Islam familiar refrain

By Ted Byfield, by courtesy of the Calgary Sun online It was awfully decent of the media not to ask that kidnapped Fox News correspondent and his cameraman, forced by terrorists to embrace Islam as the price of being freed, whether or not they had been Christians.

Two weeks ago, Steve Centanni, 60, an American reporter, and New Zealander Olaf Wiig, 36, a photographer, were abducted by something calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigade.

They were released in Gaza City last week after converting to Islam on videotape and at gunpoint.

They said they had been tied hand and foot in an abandoned garage, and forced to lie face down on the floor.

They went through this "conversion" process on threat of execution.

Precisely what this consisted of was not reported. Presumably, they were required only to repeat the single-sentence creed of Islam: "There is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet."

Now if these men were typical of their profession (and mine), there was little to be concerned about in this "conversion."

That is, they would not have been Christian, but secularist.

They would regard all religious "belief" as a matter of personal sentiment, subject to change when one's sentiments changed, and utterly speculative -- meaning, whether there's a God or there isn't is anybody's guess.

Fact and truth have nothing to do with it.

They would have reasoned: "If these wing-nuts want us to say something about Allah, or anybody else, then why the hell not? Say it, if it gets us out of here. Say anything they want us to say."

Given their outlook on life, can you blame them?

But if they were Christians, that's very different.

To proclaim Muhammad as "the Prophet of God" implicitly elevates Muhammad above Jesus Christ, and therefore constitutes a denial of Christ.

The New Testament is not at all reassuring about this. "If you deny me, I will deny you," says Jesus, referring to the final judgment -- something, he says, all of us will face.

So it was, as I say, exceedingly kind of the media, not to ask these two about their own religion.

Their not doing so, however, might not have been out of kindness. More probably, it never occurred to them to ask.

Which also tells us something about the religion of the reporters who covered the story of their release.

Am I suggesting, therefore, that these two men, if they had been Christian, have consigned themselves to hell by submitting to the terrorist demand?

No, because who does and does not go to hell is not for us to decide, said Jesus.

We're not to "judge" people. All we can do is quote the relevant Biblical evidence.

The name Centanni, of course, is almost certainly Italian, which is interesting because the last Italian that Muslim terrorists confronted with such an ultimatum responded in a somewhat different way.

Hooded, videotaped, and threatened with beheading, he tore the hood from his head, thrust back his shoulders, and declared: "Let me show you how an Italian dies."

Furious, the terrorists shot him dead on the spot, rather than behead him.

Why were they so angry?

Because he was showing them he had greater courage than they had, and they didn't like having their faces rubbed in that fact.

Most Christians are aware that in the first 300 years of their history, tens of thousands of us were presented with such ultimatums.

They were ordered to burn a pinch of incense to the "god" Caesar.

If they did it, they were instantly released.

If not, they were sent as slaves to the mines, effectively a death sentence. Women and boys were consigned to the brothels. Both men and women were often put to death by public torture.

So many refused and suffered so courageously, they eventually converted the whole empire to Christianity.

But many yielded and denied their faith.

In the end, the Church agreed to re-admit them as penitents.

But some Christians refused to re-admit them.

These became known as the Donatist heretics, and the Donatist church endured for more than 200 years.

So what would you do, Byfield, in such a circumstance?

How could I know?

But I'd be in no doubt whatever about what I should do. The gutless bastsrds should have taken the chance to show these assholes for allah that they were MEN, but NO they have to cave. They must had no faith to begin with or a poetaster's faith if it was so weak as to not sustain them in captivity.

Then, he should be an example and do it first

Worthless Asshole Bill Maher Attacks Christians, Advocates Conversion to Islam

Bill Maher on HBO’s September 1 “Real Time” went on quite an anti-theistic rant that clearly demonstrated his utter disdain for Christians as well as conservatives. To be sure, this wasn’t the first time Maher went so atheistically ballistic as reported by NewsBusters here.

In this instance, Maher suggested that, “If converting to Islam is all it takes to get the terrorists off our backs, then all I have to say is, ‘Lalalalalalala!’” He referred to Americans as “Christians in name only,” asserting that "the best part is that nothing that really matters to you will be different. It’s not like we’re asking you to change your e-mail address." And, he stated that converting to Islam would make conservative Christians happy: “You mean we can stone homosexuals instead of just bitching about them on talk-radio? Thank you Jesus…I mean, Allah.”

To fully appreciate the level of the vitriol – albeit disguised as comedy with some admittedly humorous moments – one must see the video captured here by our old friend Ian Schwartz who now works for Hotair. A full transcript follows:

New rule: If converting to Islam is all it takes to get the terrorists off our backs, then all I have to say is, “Lalalalalalala!” Now this week when two Fox News journalists were released by their kidnappers, I was shocked. Fox News has journalists? No, the shocking part of it was that all these Westerners had to do get the blade literally off their neck was say they were Muslims. Just recite a two line pledge. Just say the words, “There’s no god but Allah, Mohammed is his messenger, and,” oh, whoops. There, I did it. I’m now Bill al-Sheik Yerbouti. Welcome to Saudi America.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Bill, if we convert to Islam, doesn’t that mean the terrorists have won?” Well, sort of, but it’s a win-win, because they get to declare victory, and we get to take hair gel on the plane. Plus, we’re not really converting to Islam. We’re just telling our enemies what they want to hear, and trying to convince them we’re something we’re really not. Or, as Hillary Clinton calls it, campaigning. (groans from crowd). Oh, you just can’t take it the other way you little…

And, it’s so simple to convert this way. You know, if you want to convert to Judaism, it’s a huge hassle. You’ve got to find a Rabbi, study the Torah, get circumcised, go to dental school. But, Mohammed made joining his team easy: two line pledge, and you’re in. Which would you go for? The two line pledge, or lopping off the business end of your meat thermometer? And the best part is that nothing that really matters to you will be different. It’s not like we’re asking you to change your e-mail address. We’d be Muslims in name only, instead of what Americans are now – Christians in name only.

I mean, look around, we don’t care for the poor, or differ to the meek, or avoid judging people. It’s not like we’re that committed to Christianity. In fact, the other day I heard a nun say, “Sure, I love Jesus, but I’m not married to him.” Now, I know my plan will meet some resistance, but it shouldn’t come from the right, because converting to Islam will just give conservative Christians everything they love: “Pray five times a day? Where do I sign up? You mean we can stone homosexuals instead of just bitching about them on talk-radio? Thank you Jesus…I mean, Allah.”

We’re a nation enthralled to religious fanatics anyway. Does it really matter which fanatics we’re enthralled to? They’re both filled with moral pieties and codes of conduct nobody follows anyway. So, let’s pick the one that let’s us take hair gel on the plane. Because, no matter what happens, we’ll always be Americans. Nothing can ever change that. Because even if women here had to start wearing burkas, believe me, they would find a way to write the word “Juicy” on their ass!

EU: Too early for sanctions against Iran

Seems to me its past "Time" Associated Press By ROBERT WIELAARD Associated Press Writer LAPPEENRANTA, Finland (AP) - Despite mounting U.S. pressure for sanctions against Iran, the European Union said Friday it is too early to punish Tehran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment by the U.N. Security Council's deadline. The call for renewed diplomacy came as Iran's president vowed never to give up a nuclear program that he said is being misrepresented by the West. "Exploitation of peaceful nuclear energy is our obvious right. We will never give up our legal right," state TV quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as telling a rally in Maku, Iran. "The West's claim that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons is a sheer lie." Iran ignored the Security Council's Thursday deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, opening the way for consideration of economic or other sanctions against the Islamic republic, which the U.S. and others suspect is trying to develop atomic weapons. President Bush said Thursday that "there must be consequences" for Iran's defiance, saying "the world now faces a grave threat from the radical regime in Iran." But EU leaders cautioned against pushing a confrontation. "This is not the time or place" for sanctions, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said after a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers. "For the EU, diplomacy remains the No. 1 way forward." The EU as a whole has been a moderate voice on the Iran issue. However, Britain and France support tough action, while Germany is also believed to back that stance. And the bloc stressed Iran will not be given unlimited time to resolve Western suspicions about its nuclear aims and demands for strengthened international supervision of its atomic program. The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said he would meet with Ali Larijani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, in the coming days, likely in Europe. "That does not mean that Iran has indefinite time," Solana told reporters. "We hope that at the next meeting, or couple of meetings, we have enough knowledge (about Iran's position) to see if formal negotiations can start." John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the Security Council would wait to consider possible actions until after Solana met with Larijani. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin expressed regret that Iran ignored the U.N. deadline. But Russian news agencies said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov felt strong sanctions would be counterproductive in trying to get Iran to cooperate. Russia and China, which as permanent members of the Security Council can veto its actions, have generally opposed punishing Iran. Trade sanctions could cut off badly needed oil exports to China, and Russia is helping Iran build a nuclear reactor. The Rest is Here

The Old Gray Ossama Ain't What He Used to Be

Osama a dimming terrorist superstar Top U.S. target is declining in value

The search for Osama bin Laden was once at the forefront of the war on terror, but lately capturing him has become an afterthought.

President Bush has curtailed the global manhunt for bin Laden, yet is sticking doggedly to our costly occupation of Iraq, even though he recently admitted that Saddam Hussein had "nothing" to do with Sept. 11.

As Hussein faces a likely death sentence, a pared-back search for bin Laden continues without Alec Station, the elite CIA unit charged with tracking him that was shut down in July.

The Rest is Here

Iraq says captures local al Qaeda deputy

By Ibon Villelabeitia and Mussab Al-Khairalla

From Al Reuters via the Scotsman

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Sunday it had arrested the second most senior figure in al Qaeda, "severely wounding" an organisation the U.S. military says is intent on plunging the country into sectarian civil war.

The announcement came as talks between the United States and Iraq on transferring operational command of Iraq's forces to the Defence Ministry were deadlocked. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was demanding more independence from the U.S. military.

Maliki was also at loggerheads with the leader of ethnic Kurds, who brandished the threat of secession in a growing row over the symbolic issue of flying the Iraqi national flag at government buildings in the autonomous Kurdish north.

Hours after an "embarrassed" U.S. military again postponed a ceremony to hand command of Iraqi troops to the government, the National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie summoned reporters to a hastily arranged news conference to announce that al Qaeda leader Hamid Juma Faris al-Suaidi had been seized some days ago.

Also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, he was captured hiding in a building with a group of followers.

"Al Qaeda in Iraq is severely wounded," Rubaie said.

He said Suaidi had been involved in ordering the bombing of the Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February that unleashed the wave of tit-for-tat killings now threatening civil war. Iraqi officials blame al Qaeda for the attack. The group denies it.

Rubaie did not give Suaidi's nationality or say where he had been captured, though he did say he had been tracked to the same area, north of Baghdad near Baquba, where U.S. forces killed al Qaeda's Jordanian leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June.

"He was hiding in a building used by families. He wanted to use children and women as human shields," Rubaie said.

Little is publicly known about Suaidi. Rubaie called him the deputy of Abu Ayyub al-Masri, a shadowy figure, probably Egyptian, who took over the Sunni Islamist group from Zarqawi.

The U.S. military says al Qaeda is a "prime instigator" of the violence between Iraq's Sunni minority and Shi'ite majority but that U.S. and Iraqi operations have "severely disrupted" it.

The U.S. military has reported killing or capturing scores of al Qaeda militants since Zarqawi's death.

HANDOVER CEREMONY

Despite these reported successes, violence has continued. A Pentagon report said this week attacks had risen by 24 percent in the past three months as violence extended north beyond Baghdad. Iraqi casualties soared by 51 percent over the quarter.

The Rest is Here

Anti-terrorist police continue school search

Fresh from Al Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Police continued to search an Islamic school on Sunday after 14 men were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in London, a spokesman said.

A police source said the operation focussed on the suspected training and recruitment of terrorists, while newspapers said security services were probing "terrorist training camps".

Twelve of the men were held at a packed Chinese restaurant as part of a "pre-planned, intelligence-led operation" that followed months of surveillance.

The men, suspected of "the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism", remain in custody at a central London police station.

Dozens of police were searching the Jameah Islameah Islamic school in the East Sussex countryside in southern England.

The report said the London arrests were linked to a possible plot to bomb a London landmark.

Those behind the supposed conspiracy hoped to "outdo" the July 7, 2005 attacks on London's transport network which killed 52 commuters, the paper said, citing an unnamed security source.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said security services fear young British Muslims are being trained to carry out suicide bombings, possibly at train stations and shopping centres.

Police said in February they had uncovered evidence of training camps, while other reports have spoken of militants going for adventure training to forge closer ties. Next

I guess Iran made a decision

Tehran refuses to give up 'one iota' of nuclear rights Bush: time for iran to make a choice

Farhad Pouladi

Agence France Presse

TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a curt message to global powers Friday vowing Iran "will not give up one iota" of its nuclear rights, in the first official reaction to a critical International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. "The enemies should know Iranians are standing firm on obtaining their rights and will not give up one iota of their nuclear rights," Ahmadinejad told a rally in the northwestern city of Makou, state media reported.

On Thursday, the UN nuclear watchdog concluded in a confidential report that the Islamic Republic had not suspended its enrichment-related activities, as demanded by the Security Council's five permanent members along with Germany.

The deputy chief of Iran's nuclear agency insisted the report was "not negative" and vowed to continue uranium enrichment for research purposes while keeping open negotiations with the international community.

"The report is very factual and adds that the Iranian nuclear program is under the supervision of the IAEA and that there has been no deviation" toward any military purpose, he said. Iran insists it is exercising a right to develop civilian atomic energy.

On Friday, Russia expressed "regret that Iran did not fulfill the demands of [UN] Resolution 1696 ... and did not stop work on uranium enrichment," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.

Russia and China have consistently resisted calls for sanctions against Iran in connection with its nuclear enrichment work however, preferring a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

In a speech to university students, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: "We will consider a whole range of options ... but only those options that take us forward."

The IAEA report was filed to the Security Council as an August 31 deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment expired, possibly leading to UN sanctions against Tehran.

Uranium enrichment provides fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but in highly refined form can also serve as the raw material for atom bombs.

In New York, US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the report "provides ample evidence of [Iranian] defiance."

European foreign ministers meeting on Friday in Finland were faced with a diplomatic tight-rope act - considering sanctions with Washington without compromising dialogue with Tehran. http://www.dailystar.com.lb

"European Union diplomacy remains the number-one way forward," Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told reporters. "If their [Iran's] response is truly what they say, that they are ready to engage in negotiations, then we have to see what the conditions are, if these can be met," he said.

As the Security Council deadline passed, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also sought to maintain diplomatic efforts, agreeing to meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Berlin on Wednesday.

They were to discuss Iran's 21-page response to an international package of political and economic incentives in exchange for Tehran suspending uranium enrichment.

According to a Western diplomat in Vienna, those talks would be followed soon after by a meeting in the German capital of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

Once the UN deadline expired, Washington said it was now time to act.

In a speech to a US veterans' group, President George W. Bush said: "It is time for Iran to make a choice. "We will continue to work closely with our allies to plan a diplomatic solution, but there must be consequences for Iran's defiance and we must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon."

Iran's ambassador to France told France-Info radio that Tehran would repel any US military attack.

"If they go that way, we will be forced to defend ourselves. We are capable of defending ourselves and confronting any sort of threat," he said.

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who will represent Washington in Berlin, said he expected the Security Council to adopt a sanctions plan within a month, although either China or Russia could veto such a proposal.

Late on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad urged the Europeans to reject the "wrong and aggressive" policies of the United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980, and to pursue negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that the IAEA report "clearly shows that Iran has acted within the framework of the international safeguards and Non-Proliferation Treaty and is ready to answer the remaining issues through talks with the IAEA."

Hezbollah's 'Victory'

September 01, 2006

Hezbollah's 'Victory'

By Charles Krauthammer

"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not.'' -- Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader, Aug. 27 WASHINGTON -- So much for the "strategic and historic victory'' Nasrallah had claimed less than two weeks earlier. What real victor declares that, had he known, he would not have started the war that ended in triumph?

Nasrallah's admission, vastly underplayed in the West, makes clear what the Lebanese already knew. Hezbollah may have won the propaganda war, but on the ground it lost. Badly.

True, under the inept and indecisive leadership of Ehud Olmert, Israel did miss the opportunity to militarily destroy Hezbollah and make it a non-factor in Israel's security, Lebanon's politics and Iran's foreign policy. Nonetheless, Hezbollah was seriously hurt. It lost hundreds of its best fighters. A deeply entrenched infrastructure on Israel's border is in ruins. The great hero has had to go so deep into hiding that Nasrallah has been called "the underground mullah.''

Most importantly, Hezbollah's political gains within Lebanon during the war have proved illusory. As the dust settles, the Lebanese are furious at Hezbollah for provoking a war that brought them nothing but devastation -- and then crowing about victory amid the ruins.

The Western press was once again taken in by the mystique of the "Arab street.'' The mob came out to cheer Hezbollah for raining rockets on Israel -- surprise! -- and the Arab governments that had initially criticized Hezbollah went conveniently silent. Now that the mob has gone home, Hezbollah is under renewed attack -- in newspapers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt, as well as by many Lebanese, including influential Shiite academics and clan leaders. The Arabs know where their interests lie. And they do not lie with a Shiite militia that fights for Iran.

Even before the devastation, Hezbollah in the last election garnered only about 20 percent of vote, hardly a mandate. Hezbollah has guns, however, and that is the source of its power. But now even that is threatened. Hence Nasrallah's admission. He knows that Lebanon, however weak its army, has a deep desire to disarm him and that the arrival of Europeans in force, however weak their mandate, will make impossible the rebuilding of the vast Maginot Line he spent six years constructing.

Which is why the expected Round Two will, in fact, not happen. Hezbollah is in no position, either militarily or politically, for another round. Nasrallah's admission that the war was a mistake is an implicit pledge not to repeat it, lest he be completely finished as a Lebanese political figure.

The Rest Here

Those horrible Moe-ham-id (Ham headed Moe) cartoons

Now why are the turbanned terrorists for the prophet of pederasty so upset about these cartoons? Even the worse one is the simple truth. This is the kind of garbage that we have to put up with for letting these flea-bitten refugees from a rug bazarre migrate to the West. Upset these jerks and they'll try to kill your family as well as you. To Hell with them, I say.

Death to Is-Lame!!!!