International

I’ve long contended that the idea of Islam being a “religion of peace” was a lie. Michelle Malkin has some photos of European muslims showing what TRUE Islam is about.
Hatred, destruction, division, and holocaust. That’s what I expect from Islam. That there are many nice, peaceful people who practice Islam and contribute to a productive society doesn’t take away from the fact that Satan is at the heart of their “faith.”
IMHO, of course.

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. The left continually says that Iraq posed no threat, that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction, and that Hussein made no attempts to gain access to nuclear materials. None of this is true, of course, but that doesn’t stop people who have no understanding of the word “truth” from saying it over, and over again. Saddam Hussein had made open threats against America many times, and had his military fire on our planes for years. He used WMDs on the Kurds, and we have found chemical weapons. The first two points, therefore, have long since been proven false.
Now, the third major argument of the left goes down in flames. The BBC is reporting on an operation by the United States to remove 1.77 tons of enriched uranium and other radioactive materials. In other words, Iraq had a nuclear program, just like the intel had said.

“The United Nations nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – and Iraqi officials were informed ahead of the operation, which happened ahead of the 28 June handover of sovereignty.”

One day, the left will learn to not speak authoritatively on stands they have no evidence to support.
No, probably not.

As I walked into the break room at work, this morning, a co-worker of mine wondered aloud what the reasons were behind the riots in France. In a carefully worded sentence, and a hushed tone, I gave him a major detail he hadn’t been aware of, and that most of the major media has been avoiding. These youth that are rioting in France are Muslims, and evidence exists that shows the riots to be much more organized than they appear.
Newsday gives a little of the background story of the riots.

“The two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore, were polite young men who liked to play soccer. Their families were of African origin, one from Mauritania, the other from Tunisia.
“They grew up in a sprawling public housing project in Clichy-sous-Bois, a bleak northern Paris suburb, and they died on Oct. 27 by accidental electrocution while fleeing a police identification check.”

Two muslim kids flee from a police ID checkpoint, and in the process of their flight, are accidentally electrocuted. That’s enough motivation to start days of riots, destroy millions of dollars in personal property, and directly or indirectly, cause additional deaths. What a pathetic excuse that is. That’s almost as pathetic an excuse as Yassir Arafat’s “palestinian” intifada because Ariel Sharon decided to pay a visit to the temple mount in Jerusalem.
One of the most visible weapons in the riots is the infamous “Molotov Cocktail.” Now, any kid could grab a glass bottle and a rag, load up on gasoline, and make a firebomb, but police have raided apartments and found bomb factories creating these weapons for the rioters. This is a clear indication that the riots are more than simply a groundswell of dissatisfaction. Someone is fanning these flames, and ensuring that the rioters have the tools to destroy as much as they can.
If you’re willing to dig a little deeper, which is easy enough to do with Google News, you can find this information for yourself. It’s just too bad that we can’t trust CNN or many of the other major media outlets to do this basic research, or tell the truth about it once they discover it.
That Islam was involved in these riots was a surprise to my co-worker. It shouldn’t have been.

It really bothers me to watch the strife in Israel over Sharon’s pullout from Gaza. Israeli citizens are being pulled out of their homes as an appeasement to enemies of Israel, and only Israel is to blame. Israel has been beset by enemies on all sides since its inception thousands of years ago, and today is no different. One difference today, though, is that we have a United Nations to give those enemies political viability. Under the UN’s influence, Israel was restored, only to be divided. At every step, attempts have been made to divide her further.
I believe that Israel should be restored to its biblical borders. My own choice would be those borders of the time of David, minus conquered Syrian land. In current border standards, this would mean the whole of the current borders of Israel, plus the West Bank and Gaza areas. There are no historical “palestinian” claims to these areas that can compete with the claims of Israel.
Luckily, the Bible, being a book of future history in addition to the past, tells of a future united Israel. I only wish that Ariel Sharon was working to reconquer the whole of Israel instead of giving it away.

Christopher Hitchens is one of my favorite liberal commentators. He’s a true “Liberal’s Liberal” in that his liberalism is ideological by nature, and not simply the liberalism of opposition that has become so prevalent in today’s politics. He wasn’t afraid to stand up and point out that Bill Clinton was a useless liberal, in that he made a lot of liberal promises, but rarely followed through with them. Now, he’s laying out his views on Iraq. They’re worth reading

It never seemed to me that there was any alternative to confronting the reality of Iraq, which was already on the verge of implosion and might, if left to rot and crash, have become to the region what the Congo is to Central Africa: a vortex of chaos and misery that would draw in opportunistic interventions from Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Bad as Iraq may look now, it is nothing to what it would have become without the steadying influence of coalition forces. None of the many blunders in postwar planning make any essential difference to that conclusion. Indeed, by drawing attention to the ruined condition of the Iraqi society and its infrastructure, they serve to reinforce the point.

Go and read the whole thing. In fact, if you don’t read Hitchens regularly, you should start. Even when I think he’s wrong, which happens frequently, he bases his views in a well-thought-out belief structure which is usually absent among the left in America.

There are reports of explosions in three London tube stations. Shepherd’s Bush, Warren Street, and Oval stations are reported to have been hit by explosions, with at least one “nail bomb” included. There are also reports of a possible bus explosion, as well. I’d say it’s a good bet that Islamic/Islamicist terrorism is involved.
Fox News is reporting that noises similar to gunshots were also heard at the Warren Street stop, which may have been denotators going off, but failing to actually detonate the bomb. Also, one man’s backpack exploded enough to blow up the pack itself, but not enough to do much else, causing some consternation on his part.
The London Telegraph is reporting that the incident is not being treated as a major event at this time. Reports are that the bus that was hit hat its windows blown out with no casualties.
Early reports seem to show that this attack (possible attack?) did not go off as planned, with failed detonations, smaller-than-expected detonations, smoke and some smells being the end result. Could this be a separate cell that didn’t have the skills of the previous group? Whatever the case, incompetence on the part of the terrorists works in our favor.

[UPDATED]I’m sure a lot of people will try to blame George Bush for this, but you can’t expect better from them. Six explosions, coordinated to go at approximately the same time, have occurred in London. Targets included the subway system and the bus system. Early reports are at least 2 dead and 9 seriously injured. I would expect that these numbers will increase greatly. Casualty numbers are estimated to be at least 200, with news still coming in.
I’m looking at the possibilities for who could have done such an evil thing. I’m down to three big probabilities.

• Buddhists for a Better Tomorrow
• Christian Women’s Knitting Group
• Organized Islamic Terrorists

Any guesses?
CNN, Fox News, Associated Press, UPI
The Washington Post is reporting that the Washington DC Metro system is seeing stepped up security, including searches for unescorted baggage.
BBC Radio is reporting that Al Qaeda has taken credit. I guess the Buddhists are off the hook, but I still worry about the knitting group.
This AP Article says, “A group calling itself ‘The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe’ posted a claim of responsibility for the blasts, saying they were in retaliation for Britain’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Web statement, republished on the site of the German magazine Der Spiegel, could not be immediately confirmed.”
The Australian has this quote, “We are aware that one of the sites does containly[sp] does contain indications of explosives.”