The War on Terror Continues

Unfortunately with Obama in office the last eight years, the media has dutifully not reported on the ongoing battles that make up the greater War on Terror that started on 9/11. It was on the front page while Bush was in and leveled Bush's wars. The media gleefully reported every death and were giddy as the death toll reached higher levels. That may sound really cold but that is exactly what happened from the invasion of Iraq on. They restrained themselves during the onset of the war in Afghanistan, at least until they felt comfortable criticizing Bush for that affair. They never criticized Obama for the many deaths on his watch.

Then Obama was elected as the anti-war president. He would get the world to understand that peace is the answer and through sheer will and his magical words the world would settle down. That didn't happen. He pulled us out of Iraq without a plan and that's devolved into the mess we now have. He led air strikes against Qaddafi without having a plan to fill the void left by the lack of leadership and he further destroyed any US credibility by drawing a line in the sand with regard to Assad in Syria and then not reacting when that line was crossed.

He labeled ISIS the Jayvee team and paid them no credence until it was too late and they had retaken areas where many US men and women died fighting for. He decided to fight a war where we would send over-worked special operations units in to "advise" with horrible rules of engagement. He said "no boots on the ground" and the media played that up while we had the boots of SEAL's, Rangers and other special operators on the ground.

Now the war has come down to us having troops in more countries than ever. men are dying in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas we will never hear about. Through disjointed "leadership" and men and women advising him who do not believe that we are fighting a true enemy but that we are in fact as bad or worse than they are we have landed in this spot.

President Trump will inherit more of a mess than Obama did and it's all through the sheer lack of a coherent strategy on fighting the greater war.

The Rest of the World: Islamic Terror is Coming to the West Obama: I Have No Plan & I Have a Fundraiser To Get To

Yesterday Great Britain took the rather important step of raising their terror alert status to just short of imminent. Also, Saudi Arabia warned that ISIS will attack Europe within a month and the US within two. Israel has been screaming about the terror threat for months. And we do nothing.

Let's start with the UK:

Britain faces the “greatest and deepest” terror threat in the country’s history, David Cameron warned as he pledged emergency measures to tackle extremists.

The UK threat level was raised to “severe” — its second highest — meaning that a terrorist attack is “highly likely” in light of the growing danger from British jihadists returning from Iraq and Syria.

The Prime Minister said that the risk posed by Isil (the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) will last for “decades” and raised the prospect of an expanding terrorist nation “on the shores of the Mediterranean”.

 When you juxtapose Cameron's speech with Obama's you'll feel even worse. Cameron was direct, had a plan and confidence and instilled a sense of mission. Obama on the other hand looked irritated he even had to disuse the issue, seemed rambling and unsure and said that the US has no plan to deal with it. But hey, he wore a tan suit so that's news, right?




Cameron states very clearly that ISIS is not a result of the Iraq war or any other world events but directly is the result of radical Islam. Obama would never even consider doing that.

The US State Department contends that we are not at war with ISIS but the evidence clearly shows that they are at war with us. This line of thinking coupled with the administration's reluctance to deal with any issue that does not help them politically is a recipe for disaster. ISIS plans on attacking the US and Obama plans on issuing executive orders to allow up to 5-million illegal immigrants into the US. ISIS expands their weapons cache and territory, the US president goes to fundraisers. The borders are left wide open and the Obama administration wants to stick their collective heads in the sand and ignore the fact that those who wish us harm are coming across.

Our folks in the intelligence services and military are working hard to detect these threats and eliminate them but the Obama administration is loathe to act on what they discover. Sure, Obama will authorize a couple of sorties and check the box that he's "doing something" but anything of consequence is not forthcoming. This threat is not just in the Middle East but is in America. As we speak there's a plot being formed somewhere be it Chicago, Washington, DC, New York City or Los Angeles. It will not be airplanes attacking buildings but much more ambitious as we are seeing evidence of coming from ISIS strongholds.

This is the direct result of electing (twice) and ideologue with no experience. Obama cares only about expanding his power and his statist goals. everything else is secondary. Where we should have someone, anyone on the Democrat side speaking out we have nothing. Can anyone make the controlling party see that everything they supposedly abhor: rape, racism, misogyny, genocide are being perpetrated by an enemy that has a stated goal of attacking the US? No, they rail about a fictitious war on women by the Republicans. The war on women is happening in Syria and Iraq as we speak where 12-year old girls are being sold for $10 each to ruthless thugs to be used as sex slaves but there's one thing that the Democrats will never speak out against and that's Islam.

Maybe a terror attack in the heart of San Francisco will wake people up but i fear it will be way too late to do anything about it.

Wednesday Night News & Notes

I ran 3.5 miles today. Working my way up to 15 per week and getting in shape to play hoops this winter. I ran 25 days last month so it's now a habit and I felt like I could've gone another mile tonight.

Anyway, here's what's new:

-Obama blatantly lies and says he never set the "red line". Despite the fact that there's tons of video of it, the media will parse it say that no, he didn't say that because they will do anything to protect The One.

-Can Anthony Weiner please just go away? What is up with NY Democrats. Cuomo, Shumer, Spitzer and Weiner are all just plain embarrassing. Yeah, we in NJ have the underage prostitute chasing Menendez but NY'ers take debauchery and downright sleaziness to new levels daily.

-The joy of socialism.

-Matt Drudge is about to part with the Republican party. I'll vote GOP but I am not in line with them on a lot of issues. I'm more of a conservative-libertarian who really wants nothing to to do the Christian wings of the party that is anti-gay anything and generally kill-joys. I'm a South Park Republican.

-The latest whip count on voting for war in Syria via Ace. It is not a done deal. Hopefully Boehner has this blow up in his face and is ousted as soon as possible.

-Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Pirates. 20 years without a winning season ended last night. Here's to them making the playoffs, knocking out the Braves and winning it all. 

-Hang in there y'all, only 5 more days until we open up a can of serious whoop ass on the Skins and RG III. This oughta get you a little psyched:

Liberals Have a Fever and the Only Cure is Bombing Syria (and Helping al-Qaeda)

It felt like a Monday but tomorrow is hump day so it's all good.

Here's what's going on in bizarro world where Democrats become war mongers over suspected weapons of mass destruction after spending the last 13 years berating us for not finding WMD when we know they used. Just a thought, wouldn't it be ironic if the WMD the Democrats are about to go to war over are actually ones transferred by Saddam out of iraq into Syria?

-Debbie Wasserman Schultz says that there are "dozens" of countries allying with us against Syria but can't name them because it's classified. Kind of like the stories virgin nerds tell about "this girl I met at a lake in Canada who really liked me...you wouldn't know her".

-John Kerry and John McCain damn near kissed with full-on tongue today while Kerry was being questioned about Syria. I get they are friends and have a lot in common (like both losing elections they should have won) but to call each other "John" during senate testimony about putting our troops in harms way is just too damn much. It was, frankly, embarrassing but both these men are well passed any sort of shame. I respect McCain for his service and strong will against the Viet Cong but he's off the reservation on so many issues now including playing poker on his I-Phone while testimony was ongoing and comparing Christians saying "thank God" to Muslims saying "Allahu akhbar".

-MSNBC was the worldwide leader in counting down the days until the body count in Iraq hit 3,000. They were elated they could really stick it to that Neocon, cowboy war-loving bastard W. But all of a sudden, MSNBC is making W. sound like Cindy Sheehan.

-Speaking of Sheehan, Medea Benjamin--the head of Code Pink interrupted Sec. Kerry today before his testimony shouting about not going to war in Syria. Kerry remembered his traitorous testimony with regard to Vietnam (video at link). While Benjamin is a fucking loon and doesn't deserve my time, I will give her the props for sticking up for her principles and not acting, like, well, the  NY Times or MSNBC.

-Ace's Top Twenty Wisecracks About John Kerry's and Chuck Hagel's Catastrophic Senate Testimony. My favorite:

16. Shorter Chuck Hagel: This is the first war in ten years that the Jews didn't trick us into so Let's Do This

-And Ace really wins the day with this tweet:

NYT '05: The warmonger Bush scorns international law with his Cowboy swagger Real '13 NYT Headline: "Let's bomb Syria even if it's illegal"
— The_One_Who_Brings (@AceofSpadesHQ) September 3, 2013

Labor Day Links

What you should be reading when the thunder storms hit today:

-John Kerry was for Bashar Assad before he recently turned against him. I understand that diplomacy is two nations fucking each other but Kerry was really pro Assad. BTW, the nation Kerry dissed earlier this week intercepted some intel indicating that the Assad regime did indeed order the attacks.

-Syria asked the UN for cover. Imagine if this goes to a vote and Obama loses, that would be an embarrassment of epic proportions. Then if he attacks, he's going to literally be a unilateralist. For the record, there were 17 resolutions passed by the UN against Iraq before Bush authorized attack.

-Ace puts the wood to Buzzfeed's Ben Smith and NBC's Chuck Todd.

-The Border Patrol named a boat after Agent Brian Terry. Terry was killed by guns that the Obama administration allowed to be "walked" into Mexico and then were lost. They've tuned up at numerous shootings including the one in which Terry was killed. The questions surrounding his death have not been adequately answered.

-NY Post: Why are major media outlets ignoring best-selling author Mark Levin? Because Levin writes about freedom, prosperity and patriotism--all things anathema to what liberals believe. Next question.

-Happy labor day: Citing Obamacare, 40,000 longshoremen leave the AFL-CIO.

-We knew the anti-war protesters were not protesting the act of war per se but were instead political shills for the Democrats. They hated Bush more than our sworn enemies. How many protests have we seen for Syria, Yemen, Libya and so on?

-Another Republican-led state ends up in the black. Govs. Haley, Walker, Perry and Pence show what can happen when conservative principles are applied and adhered to.

-College recap: So what did we learn?

+Teddy Bridgewater was 23-28 for 355 and 5 TD's. This dude is the real deal.
+Georgia is on the ropes early and the Gamecocks are pretty darn good.
+Temple was game against ND but the Owls still have a way to go.
+Johnny Manziel is an a-hole but he sure can play.
+PSU may be rebounding. It would be nice to see the Lions beat a ranked opponent or two this year.

Saturday Morning News & Notes

Morning y'all.

-Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't want to be Speaker again. That's great because no one wants her to be Speaker again plus the Dems are not taking back the House

-Yes, Obama call the US military "my military". Unless you served sir, you have no right to call them your anything. Ours would be better but would then sound inclusive of liberals and they hate the military.


-LET ALLAH SORT IT OUT 

“So we’re bombing Syria because Syria is bombing Syria? And I’m the idiot?” - Sarah Palin

-I meant to post this last week. An Obama Organizing for America global warming event drew exactly zero people. That seems to be the norm for OFA events. 

-The Brits are rightfully pissed at Obama and by extension the entire US. This is not good news as they have one of the best intelligence operations in the world. We are dissing our respected ally for France whom is only our friends when it serves their interests and is downright hostile when our aims do not. 

-WTF is going on at the Washington Post? 

-Col. Ralph Peters (R) on the non-strategy with regard to Syria. 

Obama Destroys Another Alliance

Name America's greatest allies historically. Go ahead, I'll wait...

France? When it suits their needs (which it did not in Iraq). Poland? Yes, but they lack the military capabilities we require. Germany? Yes, after that bit of ugliness in the 30 and 40's. But who has always been there for us? What nation has always had our backs? Great Britain has. 

We've enjoyed what's been referred to as "a special relationship" with the UK and whenever we needed help they were there for us and us them. Until now.

Earlier this week, the UK parliament rejected becoming our allies in the upcoming war in Syria. Parliament has not voted against a war since 1792 and that was to fund more money for the American Revolution!

So today, the Secretary of State John (f-ing) Kerry drops this embarrassment on the UK:

In laying out the case for military strikes on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday had praise for the French, who he called “our oldest ally,” but snubbed any mention of the British, who have long believed they enjoyed a “special relationship” with the U.S.

Yes, yes he did. He just destroyed 250 years of goodwill with a nation that we need in everything from intelligence gathering to special operations. And his boss encouraged it. Obama is the man who pissed on the Brits when it came to the Falklands last year, gave the frigging queen an Ipod filled with his own speeches and essentially ruined the career of their PM David Cameron.

And not just the UK, everyone from Russia to Poland to Japan to Israel has been disrespected by this administration. He even turned Canada away and into the arms of China. 

The left in this country screamed about "Bush the cowboy" ruining our relationships while he used in statesmanship to build a coalition that routed the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. Obama on the other hand has turned his back on Hosni Mubarak leading directly to our arch enemies taking power in Egypt (a problem rectified by their military), allowed al-Qaeda to flourish in Libya and has allowed our enemies to strengthen.

Just as in life; if you screw your friends over enough, you end up alone and vulnerable. Add to that Obama allowed our own citizens to die in Benghazi and our former allies know what could await them. Obama has done to us in five years what every president we've ever had didn't do, lose all of our friends. 

Monday Night News & Notes

At least in two weeks we'll have MNF to make our Mondays a little better. And it kicks off with the Eagles versus the hated Skins.

Anyway, here's what is new in this crazy-ass world:

-The media is playing lapdog to Obama again over his "red line" comments. Here's what Obama actually said:

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” the president said a year ago last week. “That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”

Yes, there's definitely wiggle room there and Obama used the typical mealy-mouthed bullshit we always hear from him when it comes to acting tough. Indeed, he never did say what his actions would be and he did use the weaselly "bunch of chemical weapons", which could be one time using enough to kill a thousand or ten times killing a hundred...either way, a thousand are dead. But anyone who follows the Arab media through sites like MEMRI know damn well that it was interpreted on al-Jazeera and every other middle eastern station that Obama made a threat, Assad disregarded what Obama said and gave him the finger. Obama now needs ABC to cover his ass. Except no one in the Arab world will read that and everyone will think Obama is backing down and got punked.  That will lead to us looking weak and further attacks as any weakness in the part of the world where tribal rules still take precedence is a sign to make your move.

-For crying out loud, legalize it already. When half the country is on government assistance and many can't find a full-time job, worrying about whether or not someone is blowing a blunt seems superfluous.

-Dude, what the fuck was up with Miley Cyrus? I mean, bears, her horrid voice, her twerking, her ridiculous dancing, her outfit, her hair, her tongue? I don't even know where to begin. Dude, if she was even remotely good looking, I may give her a pass on some of it (because, I'm feel, a guy) but that shit was just embarrassing. Actually, the whole VMA's are a joke. 

-But at least we have proof that all young people mindless idiots. Some are heroes and these are the ones we should be talking about. Army Staff Sergeant Ty Carter received the MOH today. Thanks to heroes like this man we can be proud of who we are. Who is this man who "sucked at being a civilian"? Watch this:



-James O'Keefe is relentless. The new media is awesome when it gets former US Attorney's to lose their friggin minds.

-Is the IRS targeting the American Legion? It appears that way. Liberals hate anything that's good about America.

Sunday Morning News & Notes

Some things I meant to get to earlier but didn't.

-The long list of Obama's broken promises. I'm surprised it fit in one column.

-Obama said that if Syria crossed his imaginary "red line", there would be consequences. It appears they not only crossed it but leapt over it with both feet while giving him the finger. I'm guessing he's going to choose the Clinton route and launch some missiles into Syrian army targets so he has cover and can say he did something. Plus, he'd have the extra added benefit of taking the heat off himself with all these scandals going on ala Clinton when the Monica Lewinsky scandal was...um...blowing up.

-Aside from the "fuck you" aspect of Muslim organizers of a march in DC selecting 9-11 as the day, I have other issues with this march. One being the fact that Muslim's have not been harassed as much as the media would want you to believe and they really have no grievance against treatment in the US. At the same time, the leaders of that community have never come out against any of the attacks from 9-11 to Nidal Hasan. While they as a group did not plan or participate in the attacks, groups like CAIR have not exactly condemned them either. A group of bikers intend to make this anniversary of the 9-11 attacks a memorable one by organizing a huge rally on the same day. I'm sure the DC police are thrilled. Via Katie Pavlich.

-What the hell is going on in San Diego? While politicians have always come from a lower breed of human, San Diego really seems to have scraped the bottom of the barrel. Granted, this latest charge is probably bull shit but for crying out loud, my former city is a mess.

-The state of Texas gives the victims of the Nidal Hasan jihadi attack what they've earned: the status of war combatants. This is a war and Hasan said exactly that in the court room.

-Delbert Belton was a war hero. He was brutally beaten to death by two young black men. This could be the real trigger for a debate on race in America where we discuss why violence is the norm in minority community. Why are places like Chicago, Detroit and Trenton witnessing huge spikes in black on black crime? Why is the African-American community suffering through immensely higher unemployment? These are just some of the questions we could discuss and make the death of Mr. Belton a watershed moment where we actually talked about the issue openly and honestly. Instead, the media and President Obama want nothing to do with it because when they talk about race, they would rather quote MLK III who is a divider than talk about solving the problems and making us united. The media and hate pimps like Al Sharpton want no dialogue or solutions because they make their money on perpetuating hate and poverty.

-Liberal and feminist icon Camille Paglia asks what exactly has Hillary done that she deserves to be president? When you've lost Ms. Paglia...

-While I find Juan Cole a pretty detestable person, he does have a point on the NSA cases including new info that NSA staffers were cyber stalking ex-girlfriends.

Why Syria Matters

American intelligence officials are now saying that al-Qaeda was responsible for recent bombings in Syria designed to further incite regime opponents. They also claim that al-Qaeda is not new to the insurgency but has been part of the uprising since the beginning.

The vengeful part of me thinks this is excellent since Bashar Assad is now fighting violent insurgents in his own backyard after assisting insurgents battling the US in Iraq. Another part says that this could be the spark that truly sets the Middle East ablaze.

A year ago, we watched as Tunisia and Egypt overthrew despotic regimes with Libya doing the same--with NATO help--later in the year. We've also watched as the vacuum created by the downfall of the dictators has been filled by hard line Islamist's with a goal of changing these states into Muslim-only nations with Sharia being the law of the land. Al-Qaeda stands to benefit from these new regimes more than any other group. Zawahiri needs state sponsorship to continue his jihad and now he may just have it in northern Africa thanks to the disarray brought on by the uprisings.

But back to Syria. If the insurgency in Syria is successful and Assad is ousted, does anyone really believe that a moderate will take over? Does the Obama administration as a whole and Hillary Clinton in particular really expect that a new Syria will become a democracy and elect a secular leader? No, al-Qaeda will push for some group in the mold of the Muslim Brotherhood to ascend and asset them in doing so. Essentially we'd see a caliphate from Morocco to Pakistan (except Shiite-led Iran) led by like-minded Muslims who wish ill-will to the US and our allies.

And what about Israel? Can Israel idly sit by while Syria and Egypt continue down the road to becoming a Pakistan clone? Of course they can't and if Syria falls, it will not be long until Jordan and Lebanon do as well. Yes, Assad is a thug and a despot but he's also managed to keep Syria stable after his vile father died and went to hell. But he's a thug and despot that we know and he's predictable. The same when Mubarak led Egypt, we knew a thugocracy was better than theocracy. Israel will have to protect itself and no one with any understanding of the history of the region can honestly say that these new regimes will be peaceful towards their only non-Muslim neighbor. The conflagration that will arise is scary as hell to consider. A massed Islamic army would be very disconcerting to Israel and once the fighting starts, the US will be forced to aid Israel while China and Russia will reap huge benefits from double-dealing and arms deals.

Am I saying we should prop up Assad? No f-ing way. What I am saying is that we should learn from what happened in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and not be so quick to fan any flames against Boy Assad because that fire could burn us and our allies just as easily.

Exit questions: How are the Sunni al-Qaeda able to stir up so much trouble in Syria, which is a proxy of Shiite Iran? Has Iran lost that much clout in the Muslim world?

Tuesday Afternoon News and Notes

Happy Tuesday.

Here's what's new in the solar system:

Howard Fineman almost criticizes Obama. He's still on his knees but is realizing that The One may not be the one.

The San Francisco Examiner shows how to really criticize a president. Perhaps the aforementioned Fineman should take notes. You know the BHO administration is a mess when a Frisco paper belittles him.

Pelosi abuses her office and the Air Force by using AF planes as her own personal shuttle. I wonder what her carbon footprint is and I wonder how much the Air Force personnel enjoy having the Diva of Dc aboard so often.

The Chinese Navy is getting chippy. Perhaps it's time to show them who the big fish in the sea still is. I think sneaking an SSN in and pinging the hell out of them would suffice. Hell, they did it to us.

How's that "smart diplomacy" thing Obama promised working out? Not so well. My new favorite mistake is Shrillary claiming that America is an older democracy than anything in Europe. Amateur hour continues.

New Aussie alcohol guidelines explained.

You may recall when Israel launched a raid on Syria back in 2007. It didn't get much play at first because neither the Israeli's nor the Assad said anything about it. Some picked up on it and we eventually heard it was a nuke facility. Here's the rest of the story thus far and a must-read.

Obama Talked With Syrian and Iranian Leaders Before Election

Obama made a great spectacle of announcing that he was not going to comment on world and national events in the months between the election and the inauguration because there was only "one president at a time". Now we find out that he was having discussions with two problem nations before the election:

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama has already used experts within the last few months to hold high-level but discreet talks with both Iran and Syria, organizers of the meetings told AFP.

Officially, Obama's overtures toward both Tehran and Damascus have remained limited.

In an interview broadcast Monday, Obama said the United States would offer arch-foe Iran an extended hand of diplomacy if the Islamic Republic's leaders "unclenched their fist."

Meanwhile, his secretary of state Hillary Clinton warned that the Israeli-Syrian track of the Middle East peace negotiations took a back seat to the Israeli-Palestinian track, especially because of the recent war in Gaza.

However, even before winning the November 4 election, Obama unofficially used what experts call "track two" discussions to approach America's two foes in the region.

Think about the chutzpah of doing that. Obama talked with a nation that wishes us harm without any portfolio to do so. It sounds like they got played pretty much like a violin as well.

That's dangerous and if not illegal, definitely shady. What if what he discussed damaged any back channel discussions the Bush administration was conducting? Imagine the media outrage if George W. Bush's reps had contacted Somalian or Chinese leadership in October of 2000 and had secret discussions. They'd have been outraged and it would have been national news for days--and rightfully so.

Obama is not only an elitist but a dangerous one at that.

Shocker! Bombed Syrian Site Was Nuke Facility

Leave it to the Israeli's to give the world the finger and handle issues of concern to their national security on their own:

Samples taken from a Syrian site reportedly bombed by Israel on suspicion that it was a covert nuclear reactor contained traces of uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation, diplomats said Monday.

The diplomats - who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential - said the uranium was processed and not in raw form, suggesting some kind of nuclear link.

Emphasis mine.

The IAEA tried their best to play down the significance of this but they had no choice but to release this info. This is the clearest indication that Syria was nearer to a nuke weapon than anyone would admit and shows once again just how feckless the UN offshoot IAEA really is.

Just as they did in 1981 when PM Menachem Begin--fearing the next government would be slow to act--attacked the Osiraq nuclear facility in Iraq, Israel had to act on intel showing Syria was nearing the makings of a nuclear warhead. They attacked (allegedly with US assistance or at least a nod from Bush) and took out what Boy Assad had in the planning stages.

Next on the agenda for the IAF is Iran. It will be a much harder nut to crack as the Iranians have been smarter in hiding their weapons and their overall program. Look for the attack to occur prior to Obama taking office.

The Continuing Battle Against al-Qaeda

I've written numerous times before that I believe President Bush secretly stepped up operations to wipe out al-Qaeda as much as possible before he's out of office--especially should the election winner be Barack Obama. I guess I had it right (except the NY Times ensures it's no longer secret):

The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President George W. Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.

Except, as one reads on, they got cold feet during some of the more intense operations.

It seems it was a well-thought out strategy whereby it streamlined operations while also leaving open lines of communication so that we could disavow some aspects were an operation to go wrong yet still leave the military planners some free rein to move on actionable intel.

I'm guessing that President-elect Obama will kill this executive order while instituting others that will have separate, yet far-reaching effect.

Syrian TV Coverage of US Insurgent Strike

US forces crossed the border into Syria and liquidated the main al-Qaeda thug in that nation who has been assisting insurgents and supplying weapons across the border into Iraq.

Note that this is a Syrian broadcast as interpreted by the indispensable MEMRI so it is heavy on propaganda:



You can visit MEMRI by following the link on the right sidebar.

Update: Hmmmm...Did Boy Assad OK the US incursion across his eastern border?

Just a Reminder; the War on Terror Is Still Continuing

I know there's been really important things going on like digging into Joe the Plumber's financial statements, inventorying the total tanning beds Sarah Palin has in the Alaskan governors mansion and looking at the price tags on Palin's clothes, but in case anyone forgot, we are still fighting two wars.

US forces put boots on the ground in Syria over the weekend and killed the al-Qaeda bigwig there (Boy Assad of course threw a hissy fit):

The US military incursion into Syria was aimed at the senior leader of al Qaeda's extensive network that funnels foreign fighters, weapons, and cash from Syria into Iraq, a senior intelligence official told The Long War Journal.

US special operations hunter-killer teams entered Syria in an attempt to capture Abu Ghadiya, a senior al Qaeda leader who has been in charge of the Syrian network since 2005. US intelligence analysts identified Ghadiya as the leader of the Syrian network, The Washington Post reported in July. Ghadiya was identified as a “major target” by the US military in February 2008.

Unfortunately (or fortunately considering an Obama administration would just allow him to return to his home country) he was exterminated and sent to hang with forty, probably horrified virgins.

Lost in the cacophony of noise over the last several months is the fact that we have not won anything as of yet and as I wrote earlier, I strongly believe that President Bush is trying to mop up as much of al-Qaeda as possible because he knows a President Obama (shudder) will cut back and make us a target once again. Barney Frank is already calling for a 25% reduction in military spending so the math isn't too hard to figure out.

We will remain target number one and without the vigilance we've seen during the Bush years, we will be hit and it won't be symbolic but strategic. It will be aimed at our infrastructure and result in a further blow to our economy. If, as expected, Obama returns to a defensive posture, Joe Biden's words will ring true and Obama will fail dramatically. We can't chance it but it looks as though that's going to be the case.

The Nuclear Terror Legacy of A. Q. Khan Lives On

Pakistani metallurgist A.Q. Khan helped his home country develop their small nuclear arsenal throughout the 1990's. He is also believed to have shared the knowledge with other rogue nations including Libya (who has since said they abandoned nukes because Qaddaffi didn't want to sufer the same fate as Saddam), North Korea and Iran.

His lasting legacy may be the obliteration of Tel Aviv and a nuclear war in the Mideast. Swiss authorities have discovered 1,000 gigs of plans on a computer that detail how to make a nuke warhead that would fit existing missiles of the aforementioned rogue nations. This is not making me feel all warm and fuzzy:

The computer contents -- among more than 1,000 gigabytes of data seized -- were recently destroyed by Swiss authorities under the supervision of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which is investigating the now-defunct smuggling ring previously led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

But U.N. officials cannot rule out the possibility that the blueprints were shared with others before their discovery, said the report's author, David Albright, a prominent nuclear weapons expert who spent four years researching the smuggling network.

"These advanced nuclear weapons designs may have long ago been sold off to some of the most treacherous regimes in the world," Albright wrote in a draft report about the blueprint's discovery. A copy of the report, expected to be published later this week, was provided to The Washington Post.

I have no fear because the IAEA is on the case. Note heavy sarcasm.

One has to imagine that the Saudi's have a copy and potentially Syria who had a nuke site obliterated by the IAF last year. In other words, proliferation is going to happen and quickly. You may want to think about that if you plan on pulling the lever for Obama.

Chertoff: Hezbollah Makes al-Qaeda Look "Minor League"

The left will just call this blustering and lash out that Chertoff in particular and the Bush administration in general is making Hezbollah seem worse than they are but the DHS Secretary does make a salient point:

JERUSALEM — Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff warned Thursday that the radical Islamic group Hezbollah "makes Al Qaeda look like a minor league team," and poses the greatest threat to national security.

"Someone described Hezbollah like the A-team of terrorists in terms of capabilities, in terms of range of weapons they have, in terms of internal discipline," Chertoff told FOX News. "To be honest, they make Al Qaeda look like a minor league team.

"They have been more disciplined, and they've been in some senses more restrained in the kinds of attacks they carry out ... in recent years, but that's not something we can take for granted," he warned.

Left unsaid by Chertoff is that the reason al-Qaeda is a lesser foe is solely because our efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq have decimated them. Hezbollah by contrast has been relatively unscathed by the GWOT with the exception of the Israeli offensive in the recent past that didn't go so well for the army carrying the Star of David. They've been allowed to grow and gain political clout thanks to backing by Syria and Iran and have become the most-dangerous terror group on the planet.

Many don't recall but it was those Arabs of Palestinian descent that created modern terrorism. Nasrallah and his followers have that knowledge, a gaggle of money and a strong presence in the political process of Lebanon. A deadly combo no matter what prism it's viewed through.

Exit question: Now that Hezbollah has 37 seats in the Lebanese parliament and has veto authority, would any attack on US interests be considered an attack by Lebanon?

A Chilling Insight Into Who We are Fighting

Terrorist Imad Mugniyah was splattered all over Damascus by a bomb many believe was planted by the Mossad. His mother shows exactly why bringing them to justice is just not an option in some cases:

Hizbullah commander Imad Mugniyah's mother said Thursday that she is "pleased" that all three of her sons gave their lives for the Jihad way.

In an interview on Hizbullah's Al-Manar television, Mugniyah's mother called on Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah not to fear, saying she regrets not having a fourth son to offer Jihad.

Emphasis mine.

Ma'am, I would say you've not raised sons, you've raised targets. I would further say that Nasrallah has plenty to fear since Mugniyah was supposedly highly protected. If they can get to him, Nasrallah wouldn't be much harder.

This was a major take out and in conjunction with the aircraft assault a few months ago shows that the Israeli's are not going to sit back and allow any terrorist group to get stronger. They have put Hezbollah, Syria and Iran on notice that they have long reach and excellent human intel.

Petraeus Credits Syria With Assistance in Iraq

General David Petraeus says that Syria has been a great help in damming the flow of insurgents into Iraq:

"The progress that has been made against al Qaeda-Iraq this year is very significant," Petraeus said on the December 28 edition of Bill O'Reilly's radio show, which was guest-hosted by Dom Giordano.

"It has been helped, I should note, by the way, by actions in a number of source countries, including Saudi Arabia, some of the Gulf states, and some north African countries, who have conducted operations against so-called foreign fighter facilitators, financiers, and others who have supported and provided money and individuals to al Qaeda-Iraq. And also, by Syria, which has taken more aggressive action against al Qaeda-Iraq in the networks in Syria that take individuals through Damascus Airport and then on into Iraq."

Why would Syria be helping us? I think it has a great deal to do with the fact that when Israel launched the air raid earlier this year (most likely with US assistance), we and Israel were extremely tight-lipped and did not gloat or even claim anything had occurred. This helped "Boy" Assad immeasurably as leadership in the Mideast is based on strength and any sign of weakness allows ones enemies to grow in stature. An Israeli invasion of Syria would be seen as a major sign of weakness for Assad and the allied Israel and US spared him the humiliation by tamping down the story from the outset.

Add to that some secret diplomacy and our carrot and stick approach when dealing with Syria and you come to the conclusion that they are finally seeing the light. By Petraeus' acknowledging their aid it is the Bush administration saying in not so subtle terms that if you help us, we'll help you and hopefully will lead to a more stable Lebanon and pressure on Hezbollah.

While the General credited the Saudis and others, the pipeline of Jihadist's coming through Syria on the west and Iran on the east has been stanched and that is one of the major victories that Petraeus has won this year.