Archive for the 'Terrorism' Category

Ed Peck, Chief of U.S. mission to Iraq under Jimmy Carter, was interviewed on Fox News Channel today, and said some remarkable things (over at HotAir.com).  Here is the conversation I transcribed a few minutes ago.  Ed Peck is EP, and the Fox News Channel commentators are FN.  After being pressed on how to prevent World War III, Ed Peck begins:

EP: Maám, it’s a good question.  I’m a diplomat.  I believe very sincerely on the basis of my experience and whatever knowledge I have of history, that if there’s a problem between two groups, and they sit down to see if they can eliminate or reduce the problem — they talk about it — there’s a chance that they can achieve that objective.  But if they do not talk, there’s no chance.

FN: But Mr. Ambassador, Hezbollah is bent on … you know … sort of wiping Israel off the map.  So what is there more to say?

EP: Well, and Israel is bent on destroying everybody in Hezbollah, so what is there to say?  There is a middle ground, almost always.  But you’ve got to talk, just like we did to the Russians during the cold war, although we knew they could blast us off the face of the earth — at cost.

FN: But Mr. Ambassador, do you believe that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization?

EP: Well, a terrorist organization is in the eye of the beholder.

FN: I’m asking you.

EP: Okay.  You have to understand, now, we parachuted people into Europe in World War II.  You’re too young to remember that.  Their job was to kill Germans.  Now.  Were they terrorists or heros?

FN: Well, let’s go back to Hezbollah.  Do you think its a terrorist organization?

EP: No, I think it has objectives to which we object very strongly, and some of them are bloody, but other people are doing things quite similar to that, and they’re not called terrorists, because they’re on our side.

Permit be a bit of commentary since I went to the trouble of transcribing this juvenile conversation.  Here is a remarkable testimonial to a foreign policy that has been completely unhinged from any value system except, or course, relativism.

The sole criteria that Mr. Peck sees being used to define the word “terrorist” is whether we agree with them or not.  He is incapable of judging any further than that as to means, tactics, purposes or causes.  It represents the impotent Carter administration exactly, and it is again remarkable that Mr. Peck even brought up the examples that he did.  Let’s look at them for a moment.

He brings up the cold war and the talky-talk with Russia.  But Carter accomplished nothing during his administration except the strengthening of communism and terror around the world (well, he did bring us 16% inflation).  It was the Reagan administration that won the cold war, and Peck’s mentioning of it only highlights the abject failure that defined the Carter administration during these years.  That Peck defines this as a success is incredible but informative.

Peck brings up the airborne troops that were dropped into Europe during WWII, asking rhetorically if they were terrorists?  FN failed to give the answer.  Let me supply it.  No.  The U.S. showed incredible restraint in the years leading up to our involvement in WWII.  In the years 1939-1943, German U-Boats sank approximately 4700 U.S. merchant ships, sinking them at a greater rate than the U.S. could manufacture ships.  One merchant ship, in fact, was sunk at the mouth of the Mississippi River on May 12, 1942.

All pathologies bent on world domination (communism, Islamic facism, Nazism, etc.) use times of talking to re-arm, rest, strategize and re-group.  These times of talking have always occurred at strategically beneficial points for those bent on world domination.  Why wouldn’t they?  If all we are willing to do is talk, the enemy waits until he is ready.  We will always be ready.

But this strategic use of timing to re-arm is irrelevant if there is no good and no evil.  If there is no side of right and side of wrong, it really doesn’t matter who is strongest now.  Only under a system that is hopelessly incapable of ascertaining good and evil does one compare the American G.I. in WWII with Hezbollah terrorists who drag non-combatants in front of them to die in their stead — and then celebrate the death of those same non-combatants.

No, the talking that Ed Peck and Jimmy Carter did on their watch caused, at least in part, the situation we now face.

Jimmy and Ed should be ashamed.  But their value system will not allow it.

Amid denials that Iran supports Hezbollah in any way, Nasrallah meets with Iranian Intelligence (from Haaretz):

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was to visit Damascus on Thursday to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, the Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Seyassah reported.

The report, which quoted Syrian sources, said Nasrallah arrived in dressed in civilian clothes, not his normal clerical garb.

Al-Seyassah, known for its opposition to the Syrian regime, said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with “Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories.”

The paper said it learned of the meeting from “well-informed Syrian sources” it did not identify. According to the newspaper, Nasrallah was moving through Damascus with Syrian guards in an intelligence agency car.

And from the Jerusalem Post:

A top Iranian envoy was in Syria on Thursday for talks on the Israeli-Hizbullah conflict in a meeting that brought together the guerrilla organization’s two key sponsors, according to Iranian news reports. A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was taking part in the session.

Kuwait’s Al-Siyassah newspaper, known for its opposition to the Syrian regime, said the meeting was designed to discuss ways to maintain supplies to Hezbollah fighters with “Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories.”

Al-Siyassah said it learned of the meeting from “well-informed Syrian sources” it did not identify. According to the newspaper, Nasrallah was moving through Damascus with Syrian guards in an intelligence agency car. He was dressed in civilian clothes, not his normal clerical garb.

The Mehr news agency in Iran said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was in Damascus for meetings on the crisis, but gave no other details. Similar reports were carried by the Iranian Labor News Agency and the Fars agency.

In words too astonishing to be fabricated (so they must have actually been spoken), Lebanese President Emile Lahoud suggests that Hezbollah “freed” Lebanon:

SPIEGEL: United Nations Resolution 1559 demands that the army should control the whole country — up to the border with Israel.

Lahoud: It (the army) does that. But it wasn’t the army that freed the occupied south of the country, rather it was the resistance which achieved that. Without this resistance Lebanon would still be occupied today.

SPIEGEL: You’re talking about Hezbollah. But Israel’s withdrawal happened six years ago. Why has the state still not fulfilled the task set by the UN?

Lahoud: Naturally the strongholds of the resistance are not known. Despite the hail of bombs, the Israelis have been unable to produce one single photo of a destroyed resistance base, because they don’t know where they are. Army bases, on the other hand, are well known and this is why they are invariably destroying our armed forces and, above all, civilian targets.

Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, sort of like believing that the IRS “freed” my dollars last April.

On the issue of what photographic intelligence there is on Hezbollah positions, see here and here.  Wonder if Lahoud could get a laptop with internet access?  Then type in http://earth.google.com/ …

In words too astonishing to be fabricated (so they must have actually been spoken), Lebanese President Emile Lahoud suggests that Hezbollah “freed” Lebanon:

SPIEGEL: United Nations Resolution 1559 demands that the army should control the whole country — up to the border with Israel.

Lahoud: It (the army) does that. But it wasn’t the army that freed the occupied south of the country, rather it was the resistance which achieved that. Without this resistance Lebanon would still be occupied today.

SPIEGEL: You’re talking about Hezbollah. But Israel’s withdrawal happened six years ago. Why has the state still not fulfilled the task set by the UN?

Lahoud: Naturally the strongholds of the resistance are not known. Despite the hail of bombs, the Israelis have been unable to produce one single photo of a destroyed resistance base, because they don’t know where they are. Army bases, on the other hand, are well known and this is why they are invariably destroying our armed forces and, above all, civilian targets.

Well, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, sort of like believing that the IRS “freed” my dollars last April.

On the issue of what photographic intelligence there is on Hezbollah positions, see here and here.  Wonder if Lahoud could get a laptop with internet access?  Then type in http://earth.google.com/ …

Courtesy of Michelle Malkin who points us to another Debbie Schlussel piece on Hezbollah activities in the U.S., we learn more about the dear Imam Elahi, the “charitable” organization Al Mabarat (a Hezbollah front organization), Hezbollah financier Talal Chahine and the Dearborn, Michigan, connection.  Dearborn is being called the “Capital of Islam” in America.  This is a tangled web of deceipt, terrorism fundrasing, lies and official government inactivity to stop it.

We noted previously that the FBI was having meetings with the Imam in order to “build bridges.”  Yes, that’s right.  Build Bridges.  You can donate money to Al Mabarat and claim it as an income tax deduction next April.  You can also go to Dearborn, Michigan, and hear calls to prayer waft up during the day from the Mosques — with the approval of city council.

Prior at the Captain’s Journal:

• Hezbollah Sleeper Cells to be Activated
• What if Hezbollah Hits Power Grid?
• The Department of Homeland Hezbollah
• More on Hezbollah Threat to U.S.
• Hezbollah Reiterates Threat to Attack U.S. Interests Around Globe
• Are we Prepared for Hezbollah Attacks in the U.S.?

From the Jerusalem Post:

Hizbullah “sleeper” terror cells set up outside Lebanon with Iranian assistance have been put on standby The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday, and are likely planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets throughout the world.

We have discussed world-wide Hezbollah before and the necessity to prepare for attacks.  The Post doesn’t specifically mention the U.S.  However, we are fooling ourselves if we think we are immune.  The world knows that we help to arm Israel, and we have made it no secret that the only democracy in the middle east – Israel – is our ally.

Prior at the Captain’s Journal:

• The Department of Homeland Hezbollah
• More on Hezbollah Threat to U.S.
• Hezbollah Reiterates Threat to Attack U.S. Interests Around Globe
• Are we Prepared for Hezbollah Attacks in the U.S.?

Michelle Malkin has an interesting piece on the power outage in Queens.  They have been without power for six days and nights, and business is bleeding.  The story on the effects to local economy will be a long time being told.  But there is this little nugget of gold at the end of her post:

I hope DHS is paying attention.

U.S. targets are so soft that it really is worrisome.  Now we can add one more soft target to the list, if Hezbollah is watching and listening.  Any future Hezbollah attack in the U.S. might not just involve contamination of drinking water supplies for large population centers, destruction of infrastructure such as buildings and bridges, disruption of financial centers like New York and Charlotte, or the myriad of other pernicious and dastardly things that they could perpetrate.

What if Hezbollah hits power grid infrastructure for the 25 largest population centers in the U.S.?  Is this an issue not only for DHS but for U.S. utilities as well?  U.S. utilities protect generation assets with security forces commensurate with the investment of resources.  What about the transmission assets?

From a Haaretz commentary:

The Pentagon is following the fighting in Lebanon closely. They believe the key is Israel’s ability to strike at the rocket deployment that Hezbollah received from Iran. The Pentagon regards the rocket deployment as strategic for Iran. That is why Israel must destroy it. Washington’s expectations are also reflected in the swift delivery of bombs and munitions from the United States to Israel.

Translation: In any future altercation, Iran holds the power to punish Israel for any action that the U.S. might take (by “pulling the trigger” for Hezbollah to fire off the rockets again).  This would be true in a war with Iran (military altercation) or U.N. sanctions (political altercation).  Unless Israel can destroy the arsenal Hezbollah has built via Iran and Syria, this threat remains into the foreseeable future and could effect U.S. planning and strategy.

Think of this as a smaller version of the Cuban missile crisis.

From the AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. military said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing “an all-out assault

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The Counterterrorism Blog has a good rundown of Hezbollah activities on U.S. soil (Hizballah Activity in North America).  You will notice after studying the incidents cited in their blog that while some of the activities seem to be rather spurious regarding location (L.A., Charlotte), others are not and seem to point to a center for Hezbollah fundraising and militancy.  The case in point is Dearborn, Michigan.

Courtesy of Jihad Watch, an interesting piece on Imam Elahi comes to us from CBN.com.  In part it says:

Debbie Schlussel, a Detroit-based columnist and attorney, was the first to call attention to Elahi’s ties to Iranian government officials.

“Mr. Elahi, I believe, is an agent of the government in Iran. Not only does he have sympathies for them, but he did work for them. And I believe he’s still working for them,