Every time I see the video of Steve Centani and Olaf Wiig my heart breaks.  A heretofore unknown group "Jihad Holy Brigades" released the video, some leaflets and a 72 hour ultimatum.  While the two looked "relaxed," as much as kidnapped persons might be, my mind drifts to the Nick Berg and Danny Pearl slaughters.  I pray to God that that does not happen, Centani feels like family.  He has been a fixture in our home for some time now, bringing Fair and Balanced into the Neophyte Pundit home.  I do not despair, but it is pretty close...

When do we as a nation come to the realization that this movement is greater than the sum of its individual parts?  When do we take on Islamofacism with the same fervor we did Nazism, Communism and Japanese Imperialism?  How many more innocents need to die before we actually assume the real War footing?  Will it take Iran bombing Jerusalem with a uclear bomb?  Will it be real then?  Will it be real when we pull out of Iraq and Iran align as a Shiite power, then able to attack Israel?

These are troubled times, and I just don't think 50% of the US political population understand the threat. 

I ask again, does anyone read my stuff?  Email me ejadding AT gmail DOT com

One of the finest counterterrorism experts is Bill Roggio over at, aptly named, Counterterroism Blog, has a post on the growing problem in Somalia: 

"The Islamic Courts is further consolidating power by instituting a program to disarm Somalis not affiliated with the Islamists. They are disarming any potential rivals. The imposition of strict shariah law continues. Three Somalis caught in possession of marijuana were publicly whipped in Mogadishu. The Islamic Courts are organizing "a national forum to chart the lawless country's future," further eroding the power of the Transitional Federal Government. A Hezbollah-styled aid program is being set up to gain the loyalty of the Somalis."

16 of 17 known locations of terror training camps. Map is from 2002. Click map to view

We have identified another Taliban style movment, which looks the other way while radical elements train to carry out attacks against the US and her allies.  We must be diligent and consistent.  If the UN fails to act, the US must...war on the African Continent again makes it clear that Islamofacism is a global problem.

 "What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness
only that gives every thing its value."

-- Thomas Paine (The American Crisis, No. 1, 19 December 1776)

Reference: Paine, Collected Writings, Library of America p.91

At least I am not the only one that pigpiles on Kevin Drum!  The "journalist" and self described counterterrorism "expert" is none too impressed with the recent events in Britain.  Namely, the foiled airliner bomb plot.

Okay, the way I see it, now I am the "expert."  The British authorities received a tip that something big was being planned following the 7-7-05 underground and bus bombings.  24 plotters were arrested (at the behest of GW, ya know) and virtually every airport in the world is now on notice about liquids being used as a potential bomb making source.

According to Kevin the arrests were to "justify the massive round of fear-mongering and airport hysteria that the British and American governments so eagerly foisted on us two weeks ago."  Ah, the old terrorism is just a tool by the governments to fool the people. 

Well, I am happy to see that Marc Schulman is on top of Kevin's comments: Leftist Idiocy, Vividly Displayed

I was listening to Hugh Hewitt yesterday afternoon interview Gen. Abazaid and I was impressed with his clarity about the ENEMY we face, and the threat they are:

HH: What is their vision of the world, the enemy, General?

JA: And I think that's the unspoken story, it's the enemy.

HH: General?

JA: I'm sorry, Hugh. I didn't understand...

HH: What is their vision, the enemy's vision of the world?

JA: Well certainly, if you look at al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, all you have to do is go on to one of their website. But you see it is to drive out the United States from the region, overthrow the regional powers, take over the Sunni Arab world first, and then the Muslim world, and install a Sharia type of government that would look very much like the government that they installed under the Taliban, when the Taliban ran Afghanistan. And if you want to know what that looks like, it's executions in the soccer stadium, no rights for women anywhere, Sharia law strictly enforced, no music, you name it. And the people in the region really don't want that kind of a future for themselves, or for their kids.

HH: And the vision of the Iranian revolutionary regime?

JA: Well, the Iranian revolutionary regime has a different sort of a notion, but it's one that's primarily a world in which Iranian influence and power call the shots in the Middle East, and done so under the current Shiia revolutionary precepts that you see played out in Tehran, which again, is very, very restrictive. Not as restrictive as what Osama bin Laden brings, but certainly more restrictive than the people like. When you ask Iranians whether or not they approve of this government, they'd just as soon get onto some other kind of government that's more liberal. (Read the rest here).

The difference between Dimocrats and Republicans is the view of the threat.  Again, Dimocrats see the threat as criminal activity, to be faced with police tactics.  Republicans see a greater threat, a threat to civilization and to face our enemy with all necessary means.

The mere suggestion that Bush and Blair are using terrorism as means to gain political points is sheer folly.  The election of 2006 is huge.  If the Dimocrats win both houses (not likely, but possible) we can expect the troops to pull out of Iraq, the NSA eavesdropping to cease (incorrectly identified as wiretapping), Guantanamo to close, and impeachment hearings to begin.  We will be less safe, the likelihood of another 9/11 style attack will increase exponentially.  Hugh says that we will "lose the war."  I do not believe we will lose the war, but most certainly will lose some battles, and it will be bloody.  But better heads will prevail, eventually, at much cost to botht the American people, the economy, and certainly our troops.

Kevin represents the MSM view.  If the real story is not told we are in serious trouble.  If the dynamics of the Middle East change, al Qaeda succeeds in moving US troops out of Iraq, toppling the house of Saud, and Iran becomes nuclear armed Israel will become a land of blood.  THe United States will suffer an economic downturn not seen since the Great Depression.

Can we afford to elect Dimocrats to a majority in the House and Senate?  Can we really wake up in November 2008 to the words "Madame President Clinton..."


PS: Does anyone read my posts?  Email me or make comments, it is kind of lonely here in Oceanside...

The smart guys over at Power Line tear apart the NSA ruling:

"Anyone who knows what legal analysis and argument looks like -- anyone who knows the requisites of legal reasoning -- must look at the handiwork of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in the NSA case in amazement. It is a pathetic piece of work. If it had been submitted by a student in my second year legal writing class at the University of St. Thomas Law School, it would have earned a failing grade.

On the issue of the legality of warrantless interception of enemy communication, for example, it is entirely conclusory. It does not address precedent. It assumes its conclusion, framing the issue as whether the president can break the law. It simply asserts that the NSA eavesdropping program is "obviously in violation of the Fourth Amendment" -- apparently because it is warrantless. (Wrong.) She sagely observes that the "President of the United States is himself created by that same Constitution" -- you know, the one with the Fourth Amendment that she apparently thinks requires warrants in all cases.

Judge Taylor is like the big bad wolf in the fairly tale. She huffs and she puffs. I think she's facing the brick house that can't be blown down -- she at least can't blow it down -- but the end of this unedifying fairy tale has yet to be written by a higher and presumably more competent authority."

Ouch...can you see a reversal forthcoming?  Not over at Washington Monthly as Kevin Drum is all giddy!

There's more criticism of the ruling by more smart guys, and lots of them:

Judge Rules NSA Program Unconstitutional

"As expected, Judge Taylor of the Eastern District of Michigan ruled today that the President's Terrorist Surveillance Program is unconstitutional. The kicker is that no one is exactly sure why. (I blogged about the two hearings held back in June & July, here and here). The 44-page opinion can be found here.

I say that no one is sure why because the opinion reads more like a policy analysis with conclusory language, rather than a legal opinion filled with careful reasoning and consideration of all aspects of the law. The 4th Amendment Search & Seizure analysis, which lies at the heart of the case, is a mere 3 pages long filled mainly with block quotations taken from other cases.

For expert analysis see Professor Orin Kerr, Professor Eugene Volokh (also here on why he thinks the reasoning is overtly partisan and unconvincing), and Professor Jack Balkin (Kerr & Balkin at least have argued prior to the opinion's release that the program should be held unconstitutional, but still struggle with the argument in this opinion issued today). For a round-up of all of the initial legal commentary, see Patterico's Pontifications."

Pretty damning stuff...

And more yet via Power Line:

Update:Over at National Review Online, Bryan Cunningham argues:

We can sympathize with her motives, and even share some of her gut feelings of uneasiness about the program. But we cannot accept the stunningly amateurish piece of, I hesitate even to call it legal work, by which she purports to make our government go deaf and dumb to those would murder us en masse. Her bosses on the Court of Appeals and/or the United States Supreme Court will not accept it.

Much will be said about this opinion in the coming days. I’ll start with this: I wouldn’t accept this utterly unsupported, constitutionally and logically bankrupt collection of musings from a first-year law student, much less a new lawyer at my firm. Why not? Herewith, a start at a very long list of what’s wrong with Judge Taylor’s opinion.

Over at one of the best terror reporting sites American Future, Marc Schulman is blogging that the BBC is reporting "that a suitcase containing items which could be used to construct a bomb has been found. A police source told the BBC the case contained "everything you would need to make an improvised device." Other officers have confirmed only that a suitcase was found. Scotland Yard has not officially commented on any finds."

I, for one, am happy to see that efforts are being taken to monitor and take down these bad guys.  Even if it turns out that one or two of the 24-30 people arrested were really plotting to take down an airliner (it seems that many commenters are downplaying the conspiracy).  If I were flying from Lodon to the US, I would feel safer today.

That being said, I am getting tired of those who claim that the Bush Administration (Cheney et al) and the Republican Party are only using terrorism as a political football.  It scares me that we cant, as a nation, agree that there are those out there that are trying desperately to kill Americans, Londoners, and bring down Western Civilization.  Until we do we will never be able to defeat this cancer spreading throughout the world.  Every corner of the Earth is covered in the stench that is Islamo-facisism.  The goal is to defeat/destroy our civilization and replace it with Sharia Law and a Islamic Caliphate...

It has been a busy day amongst those protecting our lives from danger:

Jon Benet Ramsey's killer caught in Thailand : Good

Felix Arrellano Caught Fishing : Better

Al Qaeda Commander Caught : Great News

Puts away a brutal murderer of an innocent child, a brutal drug king pin brought to justice, and the London Airline plotter caught, maybe it can lead to Osama and Zarwahiri...

Today is a good day to be on the side of goodness, and a very bad day to be an evildoer.

Cease-fire or the calm before the next storm?  The cease-fire that was put in place between Lebanon and Israel, or rather between Hezbollah and Israel, accomplishes nothing...

Syria has said so: Assad is claiming that the Bush doctrine is DOA, and Israel is at fault for a "pre-emptive war."  Put aside that Hezbollah infiltrated and attacked a sovereign nation and killed 8 soldiers and kidnapped 2.  That notwithstanding Iran and Syria are stronger in the eyes of the Lebanese...

Neither the UNIFIL nor the Lebanese army are going to disarm Hezbollah...Who Will Disarm Hezbollah? So again I ask, Who is victorious?

Israel has suffered billions of dollars in lost revenue, sunk billions in attacking Hezbollah, and gained nothing.

Hezbollah is not going to lay down their arms.  They are going to rebuild and attack Israel, what next month, next year, in five years.  Make no mistake, they will attack again.  When Iran is backed into a corner for it's nuclear program, Hezbollah will be given it's marching orders.  Let's just pray that stronger heads will prevail in Israel, and in the US to give back bone to destroying Islamofacism.

Which will lead us to the recent break ups of several terrorist cells in Canada, Britain, and the US.  Do you think that the terrorists are emboldened now?

I often times find myself on the exact opposite of the political spectrum from Kevin Drum, he of The Washington Monthly.  Suffice it to say when he says black, I am thinking white.  Today I am convinces that this man is dangerous for the country, and the scary thing is that there are many others that think just like him...

FORBEARANCE....Over at bloggingheads.tv, Robert Wright mentions something that's been on my mind for a while. He's talking with Ann Althouse about the war in Lebanon and makes the following observation:

What I think is actually sometimes the smartest thing to do in response to terrorist provocation, which is forbearance, is very hard to counsel. [But] if you ask what kind of shape would Israel be in if they had done a day's worth of retaliation, and since then just endured any missiles, and said, "OK, look, at this point there's no excuse for what they're doing, we're not even fighting them," I think Israel as a nation would be more secure than they are.

But it's very hard to convince people of that, and I admit that rhetorically it's hard to make that a winning strategy.
________________________________________________________________

Okay, I  will pick myself up off the floor now.  Forebearance might be a fine strategy, if say Hezbollah meandered into Israeli territory, and say, "tagged" the concrete barriers the Israeli's put up as a bomb barrier.  (See Michael Totten's trip into Hezbollah's free fire zone).  They did not do that, now did they.  They snuck in via a maze of tunnels, took on Israeli Defense Forces, killed 8 soldiers, and kidnapped 2 more.  Would they have, they would have killed 80, 800, 8000.  They weren't there to sing Cuymbaya(?).  Their stated goal is the annhilation of the State of Israel.  The president of Iran has called, I lost count ho many times, for the end of the State of Israel, and for the destruction of the West. 

No wonder no one will take the Dimocrats seriously.  Kevin Drum, Ann Althouse et al, while not directly, are rooting for the terrorists (oh, sorry, freedom fighters).

Moral equivalence at it's finest...I fear the words President Hillary Clinton, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid...

Did we expect anythng else?

___________________________________________________________________
McKinney to file election challenge

Brian Beutler
Published: Friday August 11, 2006

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), who lost Tuesday's runoff bid to challenger Hank Johnson, is seeking to legally contest the results after alleging that error-prone electronic voting machines and constituent disenfranchisement had caused her campaign to suffer.

RAW STORY has learned that, as of yesterday, her campaign officials had tallied 25 sworn affidavits and believed that several dozen more had yet to be counted.





___________________________________________________________________________
She's lost her mind, of course that presumes that she had a mind to begin with...

StratFor analysis of the terror plot thwarted in London show the clear implications of an al Qaeda link:

1) ability to launch successful attacks outside of the Middle East is severely degraded

2) lost its ability to operate below the radar of Western -- or at least U.K. -- intelligence agencies

3) lost the ability to alter the political decision-making of its targets


If, indeed, the London terror plot, much like the Operation Bojinka plot of 1994 by Ramzi Yousef, is linked directly or indirectly to al Qaeda the operation reveals much.  al Qaeda has been greatly diminished as a terror organization.  This does however reveal another large problem: Iran and Hezbollah.  al Qaeda is calling for a merging of the Egyptian terror group al Gamma(?).  al Qaeda is a Sunni organization, and Hezbollah is Shiite.  The group of 25 or so arrested in London are of Pakistani origin.  Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, now Somalia, Asia.  Talk about global, can't those who want to negotiate for Hezbollah see the folly of giving terrorists more power.

Thank God MI5 infiltrated this terror group.  Thank God 3000 people are still alive today because someone takes the War on Terror seriously.  We are in trouble if the likes of Ned Lamont, Harry Reed, San Fran Nan, and John Murtha are in charge of our (in)security.  I think if that happens, I may have to go get myself some training with weapons.  Apply for a concealed weapons license, and get sniper training to protect my family from Islamofacists...

FOXNews is reporting the following:

London Police Disrupt Terrorist Plot to Blow Up Aircraft in Mid-Flight

Thursday, August 10, 2006 LONDON — Authorities in London thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up an aircraft in mid-flight between the United States and the United Kingdom using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, police said Thursday. Click here to read the Sky News story. Police have arrested a number of people in London after a major covert counter-terrorist operation lasting several months, police said in a statement. Couple that with the 11 Egyotian young men missing, 3 now under arrest: 8/8/06-FBI Alert FBI Alert: 11 Egyptians Missing From Montana The FBI has issued an urgent nationwide alert for 11 Egyptian students who entered the United States last week but failed to show up for their courses at Montana State University. An FBI advisory says there are, at present, no known connections to any terrorist group but that the students are to be "approached with caution" and taken into custody.  They "are here illegally and wanted for questioning," the advisory says. The advisory comes just over a month before the five-year anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States. "This is of very serious concern and is being closely tracked," said Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Clearly we, and our allies, are under attack.  Can you trust your lives and the lives of your families to the Dimocrats?

What is the significance of August 22nd?  And should we be worried, skeptical or vigilant?  I heard the date tonight, I think, while listening to Hannity and Colmes while making dinner. 

(Side note: great steak tonight with corn on the cob and a baked potato!  Ah, freedom and the American way, I celebrate it's greatness!)

So, I did a google search to see if there is anything to the date.  I found the following very interesting.
    
The date was more or less a threat uttered by none other than Iran's "Thug-In-Chief" Ahmad-whack-job (for those who need translation of my jest that's, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad):

The Western governments had asked Ahmadinejad to reply by June 29; why would Tehran need two extra months? Farid Ghadry, the president of the Reform Party of Syria, has offered a provocative explanation for this delay. He asserts that the Supreme National Security Council of Iran chose the August 22 date “for a very precise reason. August 21, 2006 (Rajab 27, 1427) is known in the Islamic calendar as the Night of the Sira’a and Miira’aj, the night Prophet Mohammed (saas) ascended to heaven from the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on a Bourak (Half animal, half man), while a great light lit-up the night sky, and visited Heaven and Hell also Beit al-Saada and Beit al-Shaqaa (House of Happiness and House of Misery) and then descended back to Mecca.…”
_______________________________
(See:

Iran's Day of Terror?

By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | July 27, 2006)
_______________________________
Do we take this threat seriously?  Considering that Iran has been fighting a proxy war in Lebanon, it is awfully hard to at least not take note.  A nuclear strike, or any WMD strike against Israel should be met with absolute ferocity in striking back and destroying the forces of evil in Iran and Syria.  There can be no equivocating in assuring that Israel is not wiped from the face of the Earth by Islamofacists. 

Sidenote:  following her defeat in Georgia Cynthia McKinney was "protected" by the Nation of Islam "security."  In the heat of the moment, Ms. McKinney blamed the media, the rigged voting machines, and everyone but herself, tried to  exit.  A scuffle ensued, and one Nation of Islam (I presume) guard uttered anti-Semitic, racist epithets.  Among them "this is not Lebanon...", "go put your Yarmulke on..." the usual "Jews starting the wars...etc."  Do you think that Ms. McKinney might aplologize to the Jewish Community?  Do you think that the MSM will take 4 days to trace the beginnings of the racists remarks?  Or will there merely be silence?  It's deafening...I say again, goodbye and good riddance Ms. McKinney, the national debate can only improve without your innane conspiracy theories and jerking out the race card at every turn.

If the MSM and Hollywood were truly traumatized by Mel's comments, then the same energy should be put into denouncing McKinney.  However, it was politically motivated to destroy Mel, and his beliefs as a Christian.  Had he not made Passion of the Christ he would probably have been put on his pedestal as a member of the Hollywood crowd that needs "therapy and rehabilitation."

The war in Lebanon by Israel against Hezbollah is a fight against Islamofacism.  This is the war that the United States and the West are fighting.  France doesn't want to admit that, nor do the Dimocrats.  We will be in trouble if the Dimocrats take over the House and Senate and their energies are focused on impeaching Bush, rahter than fighting the war against Islamofacists.  And those 11 (now 8) Egyptians may be more than just missing students

UPDATE: Here's more information on August 22nd :
(Via:ThreatsWatch: RapidRecon )

From yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Bernard Lewis in his commentary, August 22: Does Iran have something in store?

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time—Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as “by the end of August,” but Mr. Ahmadinejad’s statement was more precise.

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to “the farthest mosque,” usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

A passage from the Ayatollah Khomeini, quoted in an 11th-grade Iranian schoolbook, is revealing. “I am decisively announcing to the whole world that if the world-devourers [i.e., the infidel powers] wish to stand against our religion, we will stand against their whole world and will not cease until the annihilation of all them. Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom which is martyrdom. Either we shake one another’s hands in joy at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, victory and success are ours.”

In this context, mutual assured destruction, the deterrent that worked so well during the Cold War, would have no meaning. At the end of time, there will be general destruction anyway. What will matter will be the final destination of the dead—hell for the infidels, and heaven for the believers. For people with this mindset, MAD is not a constraint; it is an inducement.

So, we now know both have lost their respective races.  The Nutroots have scored a victory against, of course, George W. Bush and the war.  Ned Lamont ran as an anti-war critic, and Lieberman was unabashedly supportive of the efforts in Iraq.  Set aside the fact that Lieberman votes supremely liberally, 90% voting record with Dimocrats.  Al Gore, Hillary, Edwards all abandoned Sen. Lieberman.  Sad, really.  Then I see on CNN News that Ned Lamont called Lieberman and thank him for his efforts and asked him not to run as an indy!

The guts!  Maybe, that's because Lamont is going to spend gobs of his own moeny, that of the loony left Kos Kidz.

and, speaking of Loony Lefties, one can not leave out Rep. Cynthia McKinney.   Personal responsibilty seems to slip the minds of the Dimocrats, shock...She blames everyone and everything from the media bias to voting machine irregularities.  It won't be long before we hear the sounds of the Race Card being pulled out.  Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that she represented her Georgia district poorly.  Conspiracy theories, slugging Capitol Policeman, and just being down right disagreeable.

Personal responsibility escapes the Dimocrats...

Joe Lieberman will make a great Independent Senator!  Ned Lamont is winning the primary.

Cynthia McKinney is once again the former Representative from Georgia:

U.S. House Democratic District 4

Precincts Reporting:  167 of 167  (100%)

Candidate	Votes	Vote %
Hank Johnson (winner)	41178	59%
Cynthia McKinney (I)	28832	41%

So, how long will it take for her to claim voter irregularities or racism?  Ooops, I heard earlier today that she was already claiming the irregularities...

So, my question, which race is more indicative of the mood of the country?  Does one portend a harbinger of times to come for the Republican Party in November?  McKinney was throwing around that she was going to sponsor the impeachment proceedings against GWB...

As to Sen. Lieberman, man, nice way to throw himunder the bus.  None of the big Dimocratic leaders could be bothered to support the former Vice Presidential nominee.  Nice.  Gotta love the party that stabs you in the back...

Goodbye and good riddance to Ms. McKinney.  Sorry to see you go, Joe.