Bush targets Iran's role in Iraq (and other news items of significant progress in Iraq)

Bush was speaking to the American Legion and not only reminded everyone that our troops have killed or captured 10,000 terrorists and insurgents, but that Iran is playing a major role in Iraq. In Iraq, Sunni extremists, led by al Qaeda, are staging sensational attacks on innocent men, women, and children in an attempt to stoke sectarian violence. Their operatives have assassinated those seeking to build a new future for the Iraqi people. Their targets include everyone they consider infidels -- including Christians and Jews and Yezidis and Shia, and even fellow Sunnis who do not share their radical distortion of Islam. Their ranks include foreign fighters who travel to Iraq through Syria. Their operations seek to create images of chaos and carnage to break the will of the American people. These killers don't understand our country. America does not give in to thugs and assassins -- and America will not abandon Iraq in its hour of need. (Applause.) Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on our forces and the Iraqi people. Members of the Qods Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are supplying extremist groups with funding and weapons, including sophisticated IEDs. And with the assistance of Hezbollah, they've provided training for these violent forces inside of Iraq. Recently, coalition forces seized 240-millimeter rockets that had been manufactured in Iran this year and that had been provided to Iraqi extremist groups by Iranian agents. The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased in the last few months -- despite pledges by Iran to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq. Some say Iran's leaders are not aware of what members of their own regime are doing. Others say Iran's leaders are actively seeking to provoke the West. Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities. And one of the ways Bush may target Iran is by labelling Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist force. Ahmadinejad responded to that likely threat: TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would respond if the United States were to label the Islamic state's Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist" force, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday. "They know that any action against the Iranian nation would be faced with a proper response," Ahmadinejad, himself a former Guards commander, told a news conference. But he also said he believed it was "highly unlikely that the American government will take such an illogical approach ... it would be a joke I guess." U.S. officials said this month Washington may soon name the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist group, a move that would enable the United States to target the force's finances. I think it'd be a great joke, and I hope we give it a try. Of course the challenge with the terrorists designation is also going to be getting other nations to recognize the Revlutionary Guards as a terrorist force as well. But Bush is (finally) out there trying to drum up support for the war, trying to get the word out about our progress in Iraq. One thing that seems to be slipping through the cracks though was discussed this morning on Dennis Prager's show. Dennis interviewed Robert McFarlane, former National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan. McFarlane has been working in Iraq and has achieved a momentous agreement; something that should be the headline on every newspaper in the country: A Fatwa Against Violence. Last week, I participated in a three day meeting here that included six of the most senior Iraqi Sunni and Shia religious leaders. At the meeting, held at a Marriott hotel in a Cairo suburb, they formally agreed to "end terrorist violence, and to disband militia activity in order to build a civilized country and work within the framework of law." This gathering was a truly historic event, given the authority of the participants -- including Sheikh Ahmed al Kubaisi, acknowledged by all Iraqis as the senior Sunni religious authority (the weekly audience for his Friday sermons, broadcast from Dubai, number 20 million), and Ayatollah Sayyid Ammar Abu Ragheef, chief of staff for Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the acknowledged leader of the Shia community in Iraq and beyond. One has only to consider the power of these specific religious leaders, and the instruments at their disposal for getting results, to grasp the gathering's enormous potential importance. Going well beyond traditional rhetoric in their closing statement late last week, they stated their intention to work for the early issuance of a joint Sunni-Shia fatwa to the Iraqi people. A fatwa such as this will carry the force of law for all followers. Think about that. After more than four years of brutal warfare and untold suffering, the leading religious authorities in Iraq have joined hands and said "Enough," and have committed to use their authority to bring peace to their country. Why isn't this ANYWHERE in the MSM? A google new search of Robert McFarlane yields only 48 results, and the #4 result is the WSJ article linked above. Most of the results appear to be about a completely different Robert McFarlane! Where's the NYTimes? LATimes? Chicago Trib? CNN? MSNBC? ABC? All the other alphabet soup networks? No where to be found... Once again the MSM seems to news that shows the progress we're making in Iraq.

Wackypants Ahmadinejad says he's freeing the kidnapped British soldiers

After he gives his Iranian troops who captured them medals of honor of course... WaPo - Iran today announced the release of 15 British sailors and marines it seized two weeks ago in disputed waters of the Persian Gulf, ending a diplomatic crisis with a bit of political theater that included a chatty, smiling round of goodbyes between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Britons. In a surprise turn of events, Ahmadinejad in a Tehran press conference first awarded bravery medals to an Iranian commander involved in seizing the British seamen on March 23, then announced that the captives were being freed as a "gift" honoring both the Easter holiday and Muslim celebrations commemorating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. "I announce their freedom," the Iranian president said, according to a translation of his press conference aired on CNN. "They will be free after our meeting. They will go to the airport and be with their families." Wackypants also took the media spotlight and used it to poke fun at the West by questioning our family values because we allow women to join the armed forces and also jokingly pleaded with Blair to not be mad at his soldiers for their remarks that Iran broadcast saying Britain was at fault. As if Britain would actually bring legal action against them for statements made while be held captive, basically a POW. But that's what you get from a megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur... a lame sense of humor after reckless acts of war.

Love letters from Wackypants Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud "the madman" Ahmadinejad is at it again. And this time he penned a crap-filled letter to the American people. How sweet... Noble Americans, Wow. He sure knows how to butter up us freedom loving, capitalistic types... Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries; Right, it's all Bush's fault. If it weren't for that meddling Texan, the Taliban would still be running Afghanistan instead of running for their lives, Saddam would still be in power instead of on trial for genocide, and Iran would be so much closer to nuclear weapons. Women would be busy being seen and not heard, wearing their burkas, and not *gasp* educating themselves, voting, holding hands with their boyfriends, or running for office. We'd still be stoning homosexuals in the streets and respecting the right of a father to kill his daughter should the mood strike. It must suck having the US make life better for so many people... Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities; God-fearing? Don't you mean infidel or Great Satan? I'm confused... And since you're in such an open and honest, "truth-loving and Justice-seeking" frame of mind, let's talk about those nuclear weapons you think are your God given right... And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity; And by freedom you mean killing courageous college students who've stood up against your regime? I don't recall that happening in the US... you must be confusing us some other ass-backwards tinpot dictator like Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro... Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you. While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, Thank God for small favors... we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together. That "common human spirit" line may get you all the babes in Iran, it may even get you a date with Kofi Annan, but your humanity is in question until you can accept reality. You know... equality for women, freedom of religion, that the holocaust really happened and isn't just some Zionist conspiracy... Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection. Wait... didn't you say that already? Don't you have any other pick up lines? Both greatly value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity, and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and bullies. Well we value human ideals at least... We are all inclined towards the good, and towards extending a helping hand to one another, particularly to those in need. We all deplore injustice, the trampling of peoples' rights and the intimidation and humiliation of human beings. We all detest darkness, deceit, lies and distortion, and seek and admire salvation, enlightenment, sincerity and honesty. The pure human essence of the two great nations of Iran and the United States testify to the veracity of these statements. You don't get to talk about my essence until you can stop lying about your nuclear ambitions, acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist, and confirm the simple fact that the Holocaust happened. Millions of Jews died in it. Until then keep your mitts off my essence. Perv. Noble Americans, Funny... I don't feel noble... I feel like I work for a living... Our nation has always extended its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world. And by friendship you must mean holding our diplomats hostage in our embassy, your subversive role in the Lebanese assassinations along with Syria, and your desire to wipe Israel off the map. I don't know how those were misinterpretted... Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society. Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restrictions of US authorities. And the funny thing about most of the people of Iranian descent here in the US is that they hate you and the mullahs. That's why they live here and not there... As mentioned, we have common concerns, face similar challenges, and are pained by the sufferings and afflictions in the world. There'd be a lot less suffering and affliction if you'd just dissapear. Too bad the CIA's been all sissified and won't take you out... We, like you, are aggrieved by the ever-worsening pain and misery of the Palestinian people. Persistent aggressions by the Zionists are making life more and more difficult for the rightful owners of the land of Palestine. In broad day-light, in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world, they are bombarding innocent defenseless civilians, bulldozing houses, firing machine guns at students in the streets and alleys, and subjecting their families to endless grief. It's the eeeeeviiil Jooooooos fault! Bombing civilians, buldozing houses, killing Palestinian students, yada yada yada... You forgot that the eeeeviil Jooos need the blood of the Palestinian babies to bake their matza. You ought to have your speech writer shot. No day goes by without a new crime. Palestinian mothers, just like Iranian and American mothers, love their children, and are painfully bereaved by the imprisonment, wounding and murder of their children. What mother wouldn't? Matza bread! What about the matza?! Famous quote: There will not be peace in the until Palestian parents love their children more than they hate Jews. How else do you explain 14 year old Hamas wannabes blowing themselves up in pizza parlors... For 60 years, the Zionist regime has driven millions of the inhabitants of Palestine out of their homes. Many of these refugees have died in the Diaspora and in refugee camps. Their children have spent their youth in these camps and are aging while still in the hope of returning to homeland. Yet the Palestinian government can't function to meet the basic needs of it's people without the Israeli government. How weird is that? You know well that the US administration has persistently provided blind and blanket support to the Zionist regime, has emboldened it to continue its crimes, and has prevented the UN Security Council from condemning it. Those evil Zionists at it again... Next you'll tell me they were behind 9/11... Who can deny such broken promises and grave injustices towards humanity by the US administration? Governments are there to serve their own people. No people wants to side with or support any oppressors. But regrettably, the US administration disregards even its own public opinion and remains in the forefront of supporting the trampling of the rights of the Palestinian people. How are they trampling the rights of the Palestinians? They had free elections. They elected Hamas terrorists into power. That's their right. And it's our right to decide to not deal with those terrorists now matter how fair the election. Next time maybe they'll think electing terrorists to office isn't a good idea when the rest of the world doesn't want to deal with terrorists. Let's take a look at Iraq. Oh goody... I can't wait... Since the commencement of the US military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Unfortunately lots have. And 99% of of those were killed by terrorists, insurgents, and other peace-loving Muslims... If only the US would get out so the religion of peace fanatics can really start killing. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. ...because they're too cowardly to actually come out and fight and have to resort to kidnapping, suicide bombs, car bombs, and booby trapping dead bodies... With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty. Bullshit. We're building hospitals and schools. Rebuilding roads and refineries. If you're so concerned get off your ass, go to your neighbor nation, and help. The US Government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie and a deception. Weapons have been found, just not the quantity that was expected based on the huge friggin' stink Saddam put up about allowing inspections. Inspections were all we wanted to begin with. Invasion was the next option. He thought we were bluffing. Although Saddam was overthrown and people are happy about his departure, the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people has persisted and has even been aggravated. I'm sure they'll feel lots better after he's hung. In Iraq, about one hundred and fifty thousand American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current US administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government. While every US death is a tragedy, our casualty rate is far below just about any other war in our history. Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from US shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq. Should you, by some weird twist of fate, actually come face to face with a military mom and compare her to Cindy Sheehan, expect an ass-whoppin'. Cindy Sheehan does not speak for anyone other than herself. I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure. Don't worry. It's worth it. Freedom's not free and it's certainly not cheap... That's about all I can stand... If you really want to punish yourself and read the other half (yes that's only half of his letter), here's the link to page 2... UPDATE 12/1/06 @ 4:17pm: Cox & Forkum mocks wackypants too...

What to do with Iran...

It's funny to see this coming from the LATimes, but it's an op-ed that basically says diplomacy's failed, start bombing Iran. So if sanctions won't work, what's left? The overthrow of the current Iranian regime might offer a silver bullet, but with hard-liners firmly in the saddle in Tehran, any such prospect seems even more remote today than it did a decade ago, when students were demonstrating and reformers were ascendant. Meanwhile, the completion of Iran's bomb grows nearer every day. Our options therefore are narrowed to two: We can prepare to live with a nuclear-armed Iran, or we can use force to prevent it. Former ABC newsman Ted Koppel argues for the former, saying that "if Iran is bound and determined to have nuclear weapons, let it." We should rely, he says, on the threat of retaliation to keep Iran from using its bomb. Similarly, Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria points out that we have succeeded in deterring other hostile nuclear states, such as the Soviet Union and China. Go figure... the MSM runs around in circles screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling." I don't know that I'd totally throw in the towel on revolutionary elements within Iran, but time is short. If that's still an option, something needs to happen there fast. Besides that, our options are bleak if we continue to put all our eggs into the diplomacy basket. Do we simply sit back and hope Israel can take out all of Iran's reactors? If that fails we're faced with a nuclear Iran, and what Koppel fails to realize is that this would be more than just a cold war. Iran would be more than willing to pass a nuke off to a terrorist group. Why else could they want an Iranian, Saif Adel, to take bin Laden's place as al Qaeda's leader? That'd certainly be convenient, wouldn't it? And what about the power shifft in the region? Israel's nuclear program is probably the only reason they still exist, along with their willingness to pre-emptively strike at those attempting to develop nukes. Would a nuclear Iran send Iraq's fledgling democracy into a tailspin? And Syria could easily hop on the coat tails of their nieghbor. Syria's going to continue to get bolder as we continue to wring our hands, so we'll get more demands from Syria, like their current demand for a timetable of our withdrawal from Iraq. Should we take bets on what Iran wants to discuss with this summit they've invited Syria and Iraq to? They say it's about the sectarian violence, but if you take what Ahmadinejad tells you at face value, I've got some great beach front property in Arkansas I'd love to sell you. I'd like to keep the "bombing Iran back to the stone age" option on the shelf, but we're painting ourselves into a corner here...

Iran continues to expand its uranium enrichment program

And they're doing it as the UN discusses possible sanctions against Iran... Do you think Ahmadinejad really cares what the UN says? His actions fly right in the face of their stupid talks, memos, resolutions, and sanctions. VIENNA, Austria -- Iran is expanding its uranium enrichment program even as the U.N. Security Council focuses on possible sanctions for its defiance of a demand to give up the activity and ease fears it seeks nuclear weapons, diplomats said Monday. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the information to media, told The Associated Press that within the past few weeks Iranian nuclear experts had started up a second pilot enrichment facility. [...] In Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country's nuclear capability has increased tenfold despite Western pressure to roll back its atomic program, which Iran insists is peaceful. Ahmadinejad keeps spewing his hate and lies, but who's to say here what's a truth and what's a lie? This isn't a game. It's not Where's Waldo; we're talking about nuclear weapons here, not a dork in a striped shirt. But the UN keeps talking sanctions, and who here wants to know why those are going to be worthless? [...] Moscow and Beijing are reluctant to impose harsh punishments on Tehran, an economic and strategic partner. They also fear that any sanctions _ which for now rule out military action _ could still start the process toward consideration of force. That's why. And they won't be willing to do anything until Tehran actually has a nuke and tests it. Then, maybe, we can get China and Russia on board and then they'll only go along with something pointless like banning Iranian luxury item sales. So who's going to stop the inevitable?

And now we hear from the Iran wacko who wants nukes

Iran is North Korea from 10 years ago and Ahmadinejad is learning that he can get nuclear weapons if he plays the diplomtic game just like Ping Pong Kim Jong. And if wackypants Ahmadinejad gets nukes, Iran will destroy Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Israel no longer has any reason to exist and will soon disappear. The latest threats are adding to Israel's already deep concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Israeli officials say the saber-rattling from Iran is another warning to the international community that the Islamic regime must not be allowed to get a nuclear bomb. At a pro-Palestinian rally in Tehran, Iran's president said Israeli leaders are a "group of terrorists," and he threatened any country that supports the Jewish state. He also said Israel is a fake regime that would soon disappear. It was a similar statement to one a year ago, when he threatened "to wipe Israel off the map." Iran will keep playing us until he gets exactly what he wants, and I'm afraid Israel will be the only nation with enough backbone to stand in Iran's way. Since we won't be directly affected immediately after Iran announces it has finally made a nuclear weapon, I'm afraid the US will stand by and watch (especially if we elect Democrats) as Israel has to act alone, again. Just like Osirak back in 1981. The US will play dumb while Israel saves the world. Ahmadinejad is telling us what he will do. Flat out. He will destroy Israel. Wipe them off the map. Make them disappear. When will we believe him and will we do anything about it? UPDATE @ 4:17pm: Cox & Forkum's latest on the supreme leader of Iran...

Iran tries to play innocent

I can just see Ahmadinejad getting up in front of the reporters and giving them the sad puppy dog eyes while saying "Nukes are bad, mkay?" TEHERAN - Iran, itself accused by the West of seeking to make atomic bombs, said on Tuesday it was against any country possessing such weapons after North Korea announced it had conducted its first underground nuclear test. As world powers condemned North Korea’s announcement on Monday, Washington called for harsh U.N. sanctions that could further isolate the communist state. “Iran is against the use and production of nuclear weapons. No country is competent to use nuclear weapons,” government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a weekly news conference, when asked about North Korea’s nuclear test. Perhaps Iran sees the similarities between how North Korea ended up with nukes and the path that they're on, and thinking that if they placate the West enough, we'll just talk and treaty and sanction ourselves into oblivion and in the end Iran will end up just like North Korea... A nuclear superpower.