Tuesday Night News & Notes

Link dump:

-Here's one about a British POW who asked the Kaiser for permission to see his mother before she passed. The Kaiser said yes but you have to return to the camp afterward...he did.

-Hillary the narcissist. Between her and Obama, I don't know who's more so.

-Pro-gay marriage advocates show they really hate free speech and freedom in general.

-Are the long-term unemployed even employable anymore. Take tech for instance; is someone whose been out of the tech world for 99-weeks come back in and be productive with the pace of advances? It appears not.

-Pakistan has been playing all sides since 9/11. The ISI has been supporting LeT who was responsible for the Mumbai massacre as well as the Haqqani network. They've been taking us for billions and giving us little in return. They knew full well that bin-Laden was within their borders and allowed him refuge for years. The tide may well be turning.

-Jeff Bezos promises some changes at the WaPo. I'm hoping they move from the far-left, Democrat-supporting hacks they currently are to a more centrist brand.

-Have no fear, Dennis Rodman is on the case is NoKo. God help us.

-Alright Eagles fans, we open in less than a week at the comfortable hour of 7:00 PM against the hated Skins. I predict 8-8 with LeShon McCoy having a monster year. Vick will play better since he (hopefully) won't be throwing passes from the horizontal position and Jason Avant may just have a break-out season. Here's to hoping and being a life-long Birds fan means I'm also a hopeless optimist. Here's what we have to look forward to:

Rand Paul: How About We Stop Sending Money to Those Who Hate Us?

It's funny, as much as I despise Ron Paul and his wild band of zealots, I like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). Sen. Paul is a man of vision and common sense, the kind of man that probably only could have gotten elected in a state like Kentucky during a Tea Party revolution.

Rand Paul gets it. He gets that we spend too much money and it's not just a Democratic ailment. He gets that socialized medicine will destroy the greatest health care system ever and he is one who has had to negotiate that system as an MD.

But more importantly, he knows right from wrong and opts for right all the time. He is not afraid to tussle with anyone if he believes he's in the right and has threatened to bring the Senate to a standstill if he isn't at the very least heard out.

Today, he pens a piece in the Washington Times advocating that we shut off the spigot to Egypt, Libya and Pakistan because, well, they hate us and have been playing us for decades. Here's a portion but of course read the entire essay:

Last week, I requested that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, provide a brief amount of time for debate and a vote on my amendment to end U.S. aid to Pakistan, Egypt and Libya. Yet, Senate Democrat leadership blocked it. I will continue my effort this week and have announced my intentions to stop all Senate business with a filibuster. 

You and I have been reminded that our enemies are relentless, but we were also reminded that our so-called allies are often not acting like allies at all. We send billions of taxpayer dollars abroad and what do we get in return? Disrespect, disdain and, ultimately, violence.  

American taxpayer dollars should not go to Libya until the murderers are delivered to justice. Nor should they go to Egypt until the Egyptians prove that they are willing and able to protect our embassy. Finally, not one more penny of American taxpayer dollars should go to Pakistan until the doctor who helped us get bin Laden is freed.

Amen, brother.

Let's start with Egypt. The Egyptians signed a peace treaty while being lead by Anwar Sadat. Sadat risked a lot and ultimately died for his actions at the hands of Egyptian Islamic Jihad or Muslim Brotherhood gunmen. As a thank you to Sadat who suffered condemnation throughout the Middle East, the US gave about a billion dollars to Egypt. This continued during the time Hosni Mubarak was in power.

Mubarak was overthrown last year and "elections' saw the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power. They have set Egypt back decades instituting sharia law and curtailing the rights of women. They also did nothing while our embassy was overrun last week and an al-Qaeda flag was hoisted where ours once had been before it was burned.

Libya is another animal. In the aftermath of the NATO victory over Gadaffi, money was pledged and money was sent. Last week on 9/11, armed militants murdered the ambassador and three other people in a RPG and machine gun attack.

But Pakistan is the real problem. We needed Pakistan to aid us in the War on Terror and our decade-plus conflict against the Taliban. We expected them to be straight shooters but of all the nations in that region, Pakistan is the shadiest character of all. The Pakistani intelligence service ISI was simultaneously smiling at us while hiding bin-Laden. They pledged to be nice and were allegedly behind the deadly attacks in Mumbai. Reports say they've been supporting the Taliban while cashing our checks and, as Sen. Paul notes, have tortured and jailed the doctor who helped us capture bin-Laden (partially because of leaks within the Obama administration).

So yes, as Paul notes, it's time to shut the tap off. If you can't play nice, we won';t support you. Let's see how long the Muslim Brotherhood survives without American largess.

Of course the Russians will step in and try to reclaim their place on the world stage but the Russians will not abide Chechnyan's training in terror camps in Libya or Pakistani's exporting weapons to Dagestan.

China may try to step in but they have no where near the global reach militarily that we have and it would be a difficult task to offer protection.

I agree with Sen. Paul, it's high time we offer the carrot and whack the hell out of them with the stick if they don't play nice. President Bush needed Pakistan, we don't anymore. Bring the boys home and redirect the funds we give the three nations above into our military resources at home.

More here.

Protestor Dies From Burning American Flag

Things that make me chuckle:

Some idiot in Pakistan went to meet his 72 virgins in a way he never intended:

Around 10,000 people participated in the main rally organised on The Mall by the Tehreek Hurmat-i-Rasool. The participants marched from Nila Gumbad to Masjid-i-Shuhada on The Mall. Despite a ban on rallies on The Mall, the road remained blocked for vehicular traffic from noon to 6 pm. … 

One of the participants of the rally, Abdullah Ismail, passed away after he was taken to Mayo Hospital. Witnesses said he had complained of feeling unwell from the smoke from US flags burnt at the rally.

It must have been one of those US flags that were made in China.

Anyway, picture the scene, our hero Abdullah gets to paradise and while waiting in line behind numerous jihadi's who died while killing American soldiers trying to help them or premature explosion victims and ultimately finding out they will be sent to hell instead, wonders if he'll get his 72 raisins virgins.

Whichever prophet makes the decision looks at him says "how did you die?"

Abdullah responds "from the chemicals in the smoke of the burning flag of the Great Satan".

"Wait, how exactly did you come to the door of paradise?'

"I was protesting a movie made by some third-rate director and inhaled too much of the smoke from an American flag"

The decision maker doubles over in laughter and passes him out of sheer embarrassment for the man and then calls after him "shalom".

Obama Killed Osama In Case You Forgot

Really? I mean, how petty and un-presidential is Obama:

A year after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama’s team is launching another precision operation: a full-scale public relations offensive aimed at using the bin Laden mission to boost the president’s reelection bid.

We get it, Obama green-lighted a mission that anyone in his position would have. It didn't take courage if you felt you were doing what was in the best interest of the nation, that what he was elected for. The real courage was shown by the SEAL's and the Army pilots that flew precision routes and got them home.

It takes real big balls to go into what may be the un-friendliest nation in the world, attack a home right near their military academy and kill the man they've sworn to protect. Spare me the rhetoric, Obama. Real men accomplish things and allow others to talk about them, instead we have this insecure moron leading an ad campaign affirming his supposed greatness and guts in ordering true real men to do the task.

 Obama never had the real patriotism and guts required to serve in any branch of our military and, in fact, abhors the military and everything they stand for. Without a standing military honed to a sharp edge by policies put in place by Donald Rumsfeld, the mission would possibly have ended like Carter's misadventure did.

 If this is the best he's got to show the country after nearly four years, he's in a for an ass-kicking of Reaganesque proportions akin to when the Gipper whacked Mondale.

 By the way, the alleged genius Commander in Chief didn't even call the shots.

Update: More at Breitbart.

Is It Time to Invade Pakistan?

It's a question that needs to be asked.

It would be an extreme action by every measure except the one that counts: national security. Should we invade Pakistan or at the very least encourage the Pakistani government to allow us to send troops as "peace keepers" to stem the rapid offensive of the Taliban on the capital? Perhaps utilizing our aircraft to selectively bomb the Talibani militants and gain the Pakistani forces time and distance would be a play we have available.

Allah points to two stories about the Taliban insurrection and the potential for them to take Islamabad. One from the Daily Mail but more importantly one from Roggio:

The Taliban takeover of Haripur would put the Taliban on the doorstep of Islamabad and would also put two major nuclear facilities at risk.

Haripur borders the Margala Hills, a region in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Haripur also borders the Punjab districts of Attock and Rawalpindi.

Attock hosts two major nuclear facilities in Pakistan: the Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex and the Kamra (Minhas) Airbase. The Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex host three sites where nuclear weapons and components are stored and assembled and aircraft and missiles are modified for use in nuclear attacks. The nearby Kamra Airbase is thought to host attack aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Rawalpindi is the "garrison" city for Pakistan's military. The city hosts the headquarters of the Army and Air Force, and several nuclear weapons research facilities are also located there.

During 2007, The Taliban and al Qaeda conducted several suicide attacks at Pakistani facilities that are thought to house nuclear weapons and research facilities. It is unclear if the suicide attacks were a demonstration of the groups' capacity to penetrate security at sensitive locations or merely attacks on targets of opportunity.

There is no way we can allow the Taliban in concert with al-Qaeda to take over the nuke facilities in Pakistan. One would hope that the Pakistanis would have moved the weapons after the previous attacks and it is imperative that the Obama administration find out if they were indeed secreted out to another location. If not, we must press strongly for providing assistance and if they decline we must insist in the strongest possible terms. If that doesn't work, an invasion may need to be considered. A nuclear al-Qaeda is the worst of all possible scenarios. A tight blockade of the entire Pakistani coastline would be a requisite action and stopping and boarding all ships would be the only way we could ensure that a nuke was not smuggled out the country. An action along the northern frontier to prevent transport out through one of the "stans" or west through Iran would require a major effort.

I'm not even adding in that Islamabad is dangerously close to Jammu and Kashmir--the disputed territories--and India is already on edge after the attacks in Mumbai that have ISI fingerprints all over the place.

Add to that the heightened state of tension between India and Pakistan and you're looking at a scenario that could see all-out war in the region with Iran and other Muslim states jumping in to assist Pakistan while we would have no option but to support the Indians.

This is the nightmare scenario playing out in full color and we have to act decisively and with resolve. If the Pakistanis cannot stop this onslaught, we may well have to consider what our options are and what can best ensure our national security. I fear Obama is ill-equipped in both advisers and foreign policy experience to deal with this situation.

Update: To be clear, I'm not advocating that we invade. I'm terrified of an Indian response, which, as Allah points out would lead to civil war with the Taliban leading one side. I'm saying bluntly that this is critical and we may have to make a quick decision on what our options are. Our men and women in uniform have done excellent work in Iraq and Afghanistan but this is a new phase that is crucial and may well decide the WOT.

US Predator Strikes Decimating al-Qaeda

American use of unmanned drone aircraft seems to be a resounding success:

Reporting from Washington -- An intense, six-month campaign of Predator strikes in Pakistan has taken such a toll on Al Qaeda that militants have begun turning violently on one another out of confusion and distrust, U.S. intelligence and counter-terrorism officials say.

The pace of the Predator attacks has accelerated dramatically since August, when the Bush administration made a previously undisclosed decision to abandon the practice of obtaining permission from the Pakistani government before launching missiles from the unmanned aircraft.

...Because of its success, the Obama administration is set to continue the accelerated campaign despite civilian casualties that have fueled anti-U.S. sentiment and prompted protests from the Pakistani government.

"This last year has been a very hard year for them," a senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said of Al Qaeda militants, whose operations he tracks in northwest Pakistan. "They're losing a bunch of their better leaders. But more importantly, at this point they're wondering who's next."

Credit where it's due to Obama for keeping up these attacks. He may be screwing up the economy more every day but at least has the sense to stick with a Bush plan that works.

But of course, the liberals are wringing their hands that we are being so mean to little old al-Qaeda. Matt Yglesias quotes a Rand study that says that 43% of terror threats were ended by "political accommodation" and Yglesias himself worries that our actions will have a backfire effect:

The impact of these strikes on public opinion in the Muslim world writ large, and specifically on political dynamics inside Pakistan, can easily outweigh the gains from killing even a bona fide bad guy. The fact that Miller’s intelligence sources deem the program an unqualified success based on what look to be pure body count considerations is disturbing. There’s no use in killing a terrorist if in the course of doing so you accidentally kill a civilian whose two sons grow up dreaming of avenging their father’s murder, or if it makes it impossible to stay politically viable in Pakistan while publicly cooperating with the United States. This is a delicate balance in which all the considerations need to be taken seriously.

Nut up, Matt! Believe me, they want us dead and it isn't because of an airstrike by a predator. This is what liberals have never understood about the War on Terror; there's no accommodating Muslims who believe it is their religious duty to attack us. They will look at any attempt to strike a deal as weakness, it's their culture. We didn't wipe al-Qaeda in Iraq out by talking with them, we won over hearts and minds of those who were terrorized by them. The elders of the communities wanted the terrorist's out and we won them over by doing so. We didn't ask al-Qaeda nicely, we went door-to-door and either arrested or liquidated them. We're doing that now in Pakistan.

Hand-wringing liberals always believe there's an agreement that can be reached to make driven, hateful people into allies. That's why they are pro-Hamas because they believe that if we just play nice with them and Hezbollah, they'll build a nice, vibrant nation and we'll all live in harmony...that is, once the libs let Israel get erased but they don't say that in polite company. They would be wrong as they always are on issues such as this.

Keep hitting them with extreme prejudice and decapitate the entire organization so they are left with no leadership, no direction and no money. Plus, they're attacking each other, which means they'll leave us alone for awhile.

One last thought, do people like Yglesias realize that we are taking out the heart of al-Qaeda while keeping our troops safely out of harms way? No, I didn't think so.

What the Hell are "Moderate" Taliban?

Tim Blair brings us this opinion piece from the Vancouver Sun:

Richard Holbrooke, United States President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, was urged Tuesday to reach out to reconcilable factions among the Taliban insurgents as an essential move towards bringing peace to the region.

Holbrooke received the advice from Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during a meeting that also included President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

Note the advertisement accompanying the piece (update: the ad is a rotating ad, I'll try to get a screenshot) which portrays a man and a woman in a bikini luxuriating in Scottsdale, AZ. I'm guessing according to the Pakistani's, a "moderate" member of the Taliban is one who would only stone the woman in the picture to death (after lashing her forty or so times) were she in a bikini in Kabul next to a man who is not her brother instead of beheading her.

Bush's Gift to Obama: A "Decimated" al-Qaeda

I've written several times (and here) that I believe President Bush calculated that Obama would win the election and pre-empted that by stepping up our attacks on al-Qaeda in Waziristan last spring and into the fall because he believed that Obama would not follow through and continue to take the offensive approach to fighting them.

It turns out that he may have achieved a goal of taking them out for the near and middle term:

CIA-directed airstrikes against al-Qaida leaders and facilities in Pakistan over the past six to nine months have been so successful, according to senior U.S. officials, that it is now possible to foresee a "complete al-Qaida defeat" in the mountainous region along the border with Afghanistan.

The officials say the terrorist network's leadership cadre has been "decimated," with up to a dozen senior and midlevel operatives killed as a result of the strikes and the remaining leaders reeling from the repeated attacks.

"The enemy is really, really struggling," says one senior U.S. counterterrorism official. "These attacks have produced the broadest, deepest and most rapid reduction in al-Qaida senior leadership that we've seen in several years."

Bush may have helped Obama here and I think that was part of his plan. He was saddled with an al-Qaeda that was emboldened by the Clinton administrations inaction and they unleashed 9/11 on us because of that inaction. My estimation is that Bush didn't want to leave Obama the al-Qaeda threat like it was carelessly left to him.

I am of the mind that Bush did not want to leave any more of a burden than he did. He knew Afghanistan would still be raging but also knew that Iraq was essentially won and was somewhat vindicated in that by the provincial elections last weekend.

It's definitely not over and it may just be the tax-payer subsidized Obama backers at NPR pushing an Obama was responsible meme, but it's good news and Bush deserves the credit for exterminating the al-Qaeda leadership structure; at least from Number 2 or 3 on down.

Predator Strikes Under Obama Much Like Ones Under Bush

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Obama ordered a predator strike to go forward in Pakistan:

Two missile attacks launched from remotely piloted American aircraft killed at least 15 people in western Pakistan on Friday. The strikes suggested that the use of drones to kill militants within Pakistan’s borders would continue under President Obama.

Remotely piloted Predator drones operated by the Central Intelligence Agency have carried out more than 30 missile attacks since last summer against members of Al Qaeda and other terrorism suspects deep in their redoubts on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan.

But some of the attacks have also killed civilians, enraging Pakistanis and making it harder for the country’s shaky government to win support for its own military operations against Taliban guerrillas in the country’s lawless border region.

...In the second attack, missiles struck a house near the village of Wana in South Waziristan, killing seven people, according to local accounts and Pakistani news reports. The reports said three of the dead were children.

But wait, it killed children--what Rethuglicans and Wingnuts call "collateral damage". The anti-warriors must be horrified and screaming about this egregious use of force against civilians, right?

Let's see.

First, we have this quote from Code Pink about the murder of innocents who has vowed to keep an eye on Obama:

...

Ok, what about International A.N.S.W.E.R? They must be appalled and had this to say:

...

What about Not In Our Name? They hate war. Oops, their website is gone inactive.

Hmmm...OK, you know that Iraq Veterans Against the War had something to say about the murderous attack by the Obama administration:

...

Er, what about Veterans for Peace, they have a nice Yes We Can! pic on their front page but they say nothing.

Alright, someone has to have actually stuck by their convictions and is calling out the new President for doing exactly what George Bush did.

United for Peace and Justice, the Campus Anti-War Network website is off back up but says nothing and no other groups thought it important enough to even post anything about the deaths of children at the hands of the military industrial complex.

I had one last option to find someone, anyone from the anti-warrior side who was not a complete hypocrite and would actually come out and challenge the new President. It should be easier now that they don't have to worry about the secret surveillance, secret detention centers and oppressive policies of the Bush administration anymore. I googled Medea Benjamin--founder of Code Pink--in Google News and found...nothing. She found more than enough time to post every single atrocity allegedly committed by Israel (truth was not a paramount concern in the postings either) against the Gazans but just could not find time to criticize The One.

So what can we surmise from this little investigation? How about the left-wing of this country is populated with hypocritical ideologues who not only hated Bush but had a severe dislike for America. Now that they have a leader who they feel a kinship with, well, it's all good.

Update: I also failed to mention that the new Obama administration is acting with more secrecy than Bush ever did with regard to military matters:

It's one of the first military actions of the Obama administration, but press secretary Robert Gibbs wouldn't say a word about it at today's briefing.

Reports indicate that a U.S. Predator drone fired three missiles in Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. When the subject came up, Gibbs said, "As you know, I'm not going to comment on those matters."

He moved quickly on to the second part of the reporter's question, prompting some laughter, but then serious questions from the room: would he really not comment on any military action ever?

"I'm not going to speak about these matters today," Gibbs clarified.

Gibbs is going to make the idiotic Scott McClelland look like a genius.

Update: It seems that the ascension of Obama has had an immediate effect on our standing in the world. Can we get them to hate us more? YES WE CAN!

Update: Awesome. Via Free Republic:


Update: Glenn Reynolds linked. Thanks and please see also this post on Rush, Obama and the Fairness Doctrine.

Note: Changes made as two sites that were not working this morning are working now but have no comments about Obama.

CIA Whacks Wanted Terrorists; Would Panetta Have Allowed It?

Leon Panetta is by far the worst of the Obama selections for top government managers. The man has zero experience with intelligence matters and even less experience with covert operations and clandestine warfare. Plus, he's a stone-cold liberal with liberal tendencies in a position that requires nerve, balls and a kill instinct--personality traits not usually associated with a left-wing budget manager.

Take this incident for instance:

Two top al Qaeda officials are believed dead following a New Year's Day drone attack in northern Pakistan, ABC News has confirmed. U.S. officials said Fahid Mohammed Ali Msalam and Sheikh Ahmed Salem Swedan, both on the FBI's most wanted terrorists list, were killed in the CIA strike.

Msalam, who also went by the alias Usama al-Kini, and Swedan were both from Kenya and were indicted in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and for conspiring to kill U.S. citizens.

"It's amazing that it took 10 years to get these guys when they were on the FBI most wanted list all of this time," said former national security advisor and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke.

U.S. counterterrorism officials said that they believed the al Qaeda leaders were running operations for the terrorist group in Pakistan.

"Hopefully this provides some sense of justice for the 1998 bombings," one official told ABC News.

Yes, it does provide a sense of justice.

Anyway, it's clear that the CIA got wind of where these guys were and it would have been up to CIA Director Hayden to give the green light to launch this operation--effectively an assassination--into Pakistan. Thank goodness he had the guts to OK it.

But would a Leon Panetta have the huevos to make the same call? We saw what indecision and politics can do when they enter into a crucial decision that must be made quickly when the CIA had bin-Laden in their sights and then-National Security Advisor Sandy Berger hemmed and hawed and let him get away to carry on his jihad that resulted in 3,000 dead and a smoking crater in Lower Manhattan and a gaping wound in the Pentagon.

I tend to think that Panetta was purely a political pick and a yes man who will neuter the once-powerful agency once and for all. Panetta will immediately cut back on covert ops and leave us wide open to another attack--one that will not be symbolic but aimed at further destroying our economy. Something we can ill-afford at this time.

Kudos to Michael Hayden for giving the go-ahead to this plan and I hope we can get a few more in the next 11-days leading up to the inauguration.

Mumbai Aftermath

Only ten men caused all that carnage? That's the word from Indian intel. Scary as hell to think a small operation could lay siege to an entire city bigger than NY. The operational security was easy to maintain by the terrorists while the actions of intel, security and police forces was evidently appalling.

It may have been stopped as it started if the Indian police acted as they should have according to this piece.

Always targeting the Jews: "were sent specifically to kill Israelis to avenge "atrocities" against the Palestinians..." The UN will condemn the killing but not even mention this inconvenient fact.

Pakistan is pulling the US into this by threatening to divert troops from the Waziristan area and redeploy them to the Indian border region. We've been quite active of late including getting a big fish last week so this is a serious concern.

Both India and Pakistan are gearing up for war and India has mentioned ending the current cease-fire condition. Pakistanis are protesting in Lahore about India's insistence of blaming them (picture right). Amazingly, and conveniently for both regimes, this will increase Pakistani nationalism helping Zardari and will divert attention on the Indian government for the monumental failure of allowing this to occur.

Odds and Ends

New and notes from around the web.

The 46 is a new (to me at least) blog that's well worth your time perusing. Excellent analysis on events in Iraq and at home. We all need to read fresh takes on issues of the day.

My long-time blogging buddy Terri points us to this Amir Taheri piece that's worth a read.

Uh, yes, yes they are.

Sgt. Stryker remains one of the best Milblogs out there.

Mumbai Update

It's not over yet. Video from the Taj is here.

The attacks left a still unknown amount of people dead and injured but latest estimates have it at 168 dead and 283 wounded including 16 foreign nationals.

The Indian government is going hard after Pakistan--in part to cover up their incredible incompetence. Pakistan vehemently denies but it will fall on deaf ears. (Update: Incompetence was an understatement)

The Pakistani ISI chief will not be going to "assist" in the investigation as tensions mount.

The terrorists were amped up on what was probably amphetamines.

Two traitors equivocate about the murders perpetrated by their co-religionists.

The role of al-Qaeda will become more known the more we learn. They have close ties with LeT.

In other WoT news, US rockets took out three in North Waziristan, Pakistan. The military has stepped up efforts and seem to be eradicating all eschelons of al-Qaeda leadership systematically.

Why Aren't Left-Wing Blogs Reporting on Mumbai Story?

I find it intriguing that very few left-of-center blogs are reporting on the terror attacks in India. This is a story with world-wide implications and people from myriad nations were killed or injured.

It goes to reason that this is a story that should capture their attention as I'm presuming that those targeted and killed were intellectuals and probably liberal-minded. Conservatives from Britain, Australia and America would generally not be the people I would think of as residing or visiting India. I may be wrong but details I've read seem to show this is the case.

In scanning the lefty blogs, I found a blurb from Taylor Marsh sandwiched between a story about Rosie O'Donnell and shopping. Sullivan posts a cut and paste about the Indian/Muslim "divide" and the effect it may have on Obama and Talk Left has a cut and paste post as well with no comment. The only lefty who has run more than one or two posts is TPM.

Maybe it's because they can't quite grasp the violence of the attacks or that they have no concept of weapons, tactics or the military in general so they don't feel comfortable writing about such things. But this is the present and the future, terror attacks are not going away because Obama is inaugurated. The Pakistanis and the Indians are not going to shake hands and sing Imagine just because Obama is sitting in the Oval Office (update: He's already pissed off the Indians). Obama will have to deal with terrorism and odds are that those who wish us harm will get lucky and hit us once again at home.

Liberals are going to have to realize that you can't just puts you fingers in your ears and scream "la la la" while keeping your eyes closed every time terrorists hit. This is a real problem with no clear solutions. You can't throw money at the problem or negotiate with those who have no feelings when executing children. The way to negotiate is from the trigger side of a gun, they understand force and nothing else.

My guess is if they could pin this on President Bush, we'd be hearing a lot more from the liberal blogosphere. Otherwise, we hear nothing but silence.

Mumbai Attack: Pakistan Connection Firming Up

Regardless of who was responsible for the Mumbai attacks, the Indian government was going to blame Pakistan for several reasons: a) it's plausible and b) they failed miserably in protecting the citizens of the country and need a scapegoat.

That said, it appears more and more likely that there is a Pakistani connection:

An arrested terrorist has revealed that the Mumbai terror attack operation was planned about six months ago.

Investigators are examining satellite phone and GPS found on trawler seized in Arabian Sea.

Sources have told NDTV that data from GPS revealed terrorists sailed from Karachi harbour on November 12 or 13. Their phone was used to call Lashkar commander Yusuf Muzamil in Muzaffarabad.

The group of terrorists stayed in Karachi for about four days. The mobile phone found on a dead terrorist was used to make calls to Pakistan.

On November 18, Coast Guard had warned of possibility of infiltration by sea route.

Again, take it with a shovel of salt but if it were proven that the operation did originate in Karachi and the terrorists did contact Muzamil, why would the Indians request the head of ISI to aid in the investigation? ISI has had associations with Lashkar in the past.

If it also plays out that the Coast Guard did indeed warn of infiltration by sea, I would imagine the Indian intelligence apparatus will be ripped apart and rebuilt.

Update: It's being reported that the culprits were part of LeT and hijacked a Vietnam-bound ship from which they entered Indian waters. They're saying twelve were involved with help from Indian Muslims. Scary to think what just twelve 25 men with the proper planning and ammunition can accomplish. Well, we saw what 19 could do here in the states...

Updates and other info here including the report that a security force plane was held up awaiting politicians. Plus, this must-read piece in the Hindustan Times.

Mumbai Update

15 foreigners are known to be dead at this point including two Americans, two French citizens and an Aussie citizen. 17 Russian nationals (including defense contractors) were let go after a review of their passports, either because the terrorists fear Russian reprisal or perhaps they had another reason that I won't speculate on yet.

This looks as if it may continue for some time and it will take weeks to sort out the details.

Barcepundit is all over this story and is the go-to source for all the info as it becomes available.

Mumbai Update (Update: Two Terrorists Brit-born, Two Americans dead)

The Taj Hotel is supposedly cleared. The Jewish Center has been stormed and details are sketchy:


Captured terrorists revealed that the attackers entered on a boat and utilized smaller trawlers to get to shore. LeT is being blamed by nearly everyone now:



This was a monumental security failure by Indian authorities (not unusual) who have been subjected to massive terror attacks in the past. Pakistani involvement is not known but if there was assistance, it would make things very dicey in the region.

I had missed this, but in a significant move, President Zardari of Pakistan disbanded the political wing of their intelligence service ISI earlier this week. That group was believed to have assisted the various terror groups throughout Pakistan, including LeT. Maybe I'm grasping at straws, but could the political wing of ISI have known what was planned in Mumbai (or assisted in procuring weapons, etc) and allowed it to go forward even after they were excised from the government?

Streaming Mumbai video here.

Responsibility for the attacks has not been completely established, however, India has its share of domestic insurgents. I guess we can add the previously unheard of Deccan Mujahideen to the list.

Update: The borders on the embedded IBN video are off due to weird tags.

Update: Shocka! Two of the attackers were British-born Pakistanis. Also, the rhetoric is starting to ratchet up between India and Pakistan.

Update: Those killed were executed by garrote (strangled with wire or other means) according to this radio report from London paper The Guardian. More from The Guardian here in very detailed fashion.

Update: A father and daughter from Viginia are confirmed dead.

Indian Terror Incidents Not Over (Update: Military Official Say From Pakistan)

The battle still rages.

It will be days before we know who attacked numerous locations in Mumbai, India. This was a coordinated attack and the terrorists were well armed:

The wave of terror began after small groups of militants, armed with automatic weapons and grenades, entered the city by boat and fanned out.

They burst into two hotels, a hospital and a railway station as well as a cafe popular with foreign tourists, firing indiscriminately and throwing grenades.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the attacks were well-planned and probably had "external linkages".

The terrorists singled out Americans and Britons, which makews me believe there was indeed a foreign connection meaning Pakistan.

The cowards even went after kids:



This is why we need a man as president who is experienced, terrorists will not wait for our President-elect to get up to speed just as they didn't allow President Bush to get all his people in place in 2001.

Update: Tim Blair has much more including reports of Aussie injuries and sadly, a death.

Update: This from an unnamed Indian military official via AFP:

Militants who staged multiple attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, killing at least 125 people and injuring hundreds more, came from Pakistan, a senior military official said on Thursday.

"They are from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan. They tried to pretend that they were from Hyderabad," Major General R.K. Hooda, leading the military operation to flush out the extremists, told reporters.

Who Cares if Mumbai Attacks Were al-Qaeda?

A strange headline in the NY Times:

Sophisticated Attacks, but Al Qaeda Link Disputed

It doesn't matter if it was al-Qaeda or any other terror group, it was Islamic militants using violence against civilians once again to try to attain their goal of a global caliphate. It doesn't matter if it was Lashkar-e-Taiba, Ansar al-islam or Hezbollah, the simple fact is they are targets that must be hunted and liquidated.

Just as the US military did in Iraq and is currently doing in Afghanistan, we now must do elsewhere, infiltrate these groups if possible, monitor chatter, gain intel and hit them hard, quickly and with extreme violence.

I'm guessing the Times is trying to lessen the gravitas of al-Qaeda or show that Islamo-fascism is increasing in some back-handed stab at President Bush but if it were not al-Qaeda, wouldn't that show that Bush's War on terror has been a success on that front being as al-Qaeda has been substantially weakened by US, Brit and Aussie actions?

The War on Terror Continues: 90 Dead, Hundreds Wounded in India

And on it goes:

Mumbai: In one of the most violent terror attacks on Indian soil, Mumbai came under an unprecedented night attack as terrorists used heavy machine guns, including AK-47s, and grenades to strike at the city's most high-profile targets -- the hyper-busy CST (formerly VT) rail terminus; the landmark Taj Hotel at the Gateway and the luxury Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point; the domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Cama and GT hospitals near CST; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and Mazgaon Dockyard -- killing at least 80 and sending more than 900 to hospital, according to latest reports.

The attacks have taken a tragic toll on the city's top police brass: The high-profile chief of the anti-terror squad Hemant Karkare was killed; Mumbai's additional commissioner of police (east) Ashok Kamte was gunned down outside the Metro; and celebrated encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar was also killed.

Allah mentions that the Pakistani intel service ISI may be involved and if so, that would mean a return to a state of war between two atomic powers. Allah also linked to a story at Fox that Indian troops are attempting to rescue hostages.

Add to this the fact that DHS released a warning citing intel indicating a possible attack in NYC specifically targeting the subway system and we may well be entering the next phase of the WoT whereby AQ and others will test our new, inexperienced president-elect.

Exit thought: Judging by the way this was carried out today in India, I find it astounding that we have not been hit since 9/11 and most of the credit for that goes to George W. Bush, our military and the intelligence agencies.

Update: The worst thing to ever happen to TSA--an agency with some of the brightest intel people in the world--was making the screeners federal employees (soon to be unionized with Obama's blessing). These people are a damned embarrassment.