Condi’s War

That what Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post has dubbed the situation in Lebanon. A twisted view of the world that is hard to fathom. But Robinson is plucky and pours his views out in a veritable technicolor yawn of leftism.

It was Rice who waited more than a week, giving Israel time to pound the daylights out of Lebanon, before finding time to visit Beirut and Tel Aviv and attend a crisis summit in Rome. It was Rice who spent her trip categorically ruling out a quick cease-fire, which made one wonder if she really needed to travel at all, since she could have just thumbed out a text message: "2 soon 2 stop boom boom."

The most significant development from Rice's swing through the region was that she took personal ownership of the bloody, escalating war between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas with a single breathtaking pronouncement:

"It is time for a new Middle East. It is time to say to those who do not want a different kind of Middle East that we will prevail, they will not."

Take a moment to absorb those two sentences. The bit about how "we will prevail" is just standard chest-thumping from the Bush administration, the equivalent of George W. Bush's "bring it on" challenge to the Iraqi insurgents. It's the "new Middle East" part, which she repeated at every opportunity, that makes this Condi's war and that should send shivers down the spine of anyone who has more than a passing knowledge of the region.

What secretary of state hasn't dreamed of a new Middle East where peaceful, democratic nations live in harmony? They all have, I suspect, but any utopian fantasies they might have entertained inevitably ran smack into dystopian realities. The current-model Middle East is replete with legitimate grievances, non-negotiable demands, ancient resentments, Machiavellian alliances, religious fanaticism and modern weapons of war. The idea of a grand stroke that would somehow create a "new" model is not just unrealistic, it's downright frightening.

His condescension is absolutely limitless. Take a moment to absorb his words (to steal a phrase). You see, he understands the world and the Middle East better than the Secretary of State and the elected govenment of the country. For he is journalist, hear him roar. Oh- excuse me, he is columnist hear him roar. Yes we must go back to the same old strategy and do it all again. Because it has worked so well all these years. Right Eugene? It's led to genuine peace and prosperity for the Palestinians and has marginalized and defeated terror groups like Hezbollah, right?

Other stalwarts of the Bush administration's grandiose schemes seem exhausted — Rumsfeld is more philosopher than conqueror when he talks about Iraq these days, while Cheney bizarrely sticks with the story that everything's just fine. But Rice's life story — little black girl from Birmingham rises to become secretary of state, somehow becoming a hawkish Republican along the way — and her obvious potential in politics still make her an intriguing figure. I personally know three people who are writing books about her.

Now, in her first real test as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice will be judged on more than her impressive résumé, her obvious intelligence, her poise on the world stage and her fashion sense. Now she has her own war to sort out, and all she's done so far is scare people with her talk of somehow making the world's tinderbox into something "new."

Here his condescension reaches new depths heights depths (Hell, you decide). A little black girl? Her fashion sense? Say what? If you said that to her face, she'd be justified to put you, and your attitude, on the floor with a right cross.

And you know what? I'd cheer her on.

But she wouldn't. She's got more class than you. By about a mile or so. No, more than that.

“No Principles Beyond Political Expedience”

I rather suspect Peter Beinart just got himself dropped from a number of Democratic politician's Christmas card lists. I also rather think he doesn't give a fig. Writing in the Washington Post he describes what he sees as the new Democratic party policy. Pander and run. It's a brutal assessment.

After years of struggling to define their own approach to post-Sept. 11 foreign policy, Democrats seem finally to have hit on one. It's called pandering. In those rare cases when George W. Bush shows genuine sensitivity to America's allies and propounds a broader, more enlightened view of the national interest, Democrats will make him pay. It's jingoism with a liberal face.

The latest example came this week when Democratic senators and House members demanded that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki either retract his criticisms of Israel or forfeit his chance to address Congress. Great idea. Maliki — who runs a government propped up by U.S. troops — is desperate to show Iraqis that he is not Washington's puppet. And the United States desperately needs him to succeed because, unless he gains political credibility at home, his government will have no hope of surviving on its own.

Maliki took a small step in that direction this week when he articulated a view of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict quite different from that of the Bush administration. His views were hardly surprising: Iraq is not only a majority-Arab country; it is a majority-Shiite Arab country. And in a democracy, leaders usually reflect public opinion. Maliki's forthright disagreement with the United States was a sign of political strength, one the Bush administration wisely indulged.

But not congressional Democrats. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid demanded that Maliki eat his words or be disinvited from addressing Congress. "Your failure to condemn Hezbollah's aggression and recognize Israel's right to defend itself raise serious questions about whether Iraq under your leadership can play a constructive role in resolving the current crisis and bringing stability to the Middle East," wrote Reid and fellow Democratic Sens. Richard J. Durbin and Charles E. Schumer on July 24.

This is as rough as it gets in assessing the party strategy up until now. Beinart is tough as heck on the Democratic "leadership" - and with good cause. What they have been doing is shameful, sleazy pandering. Mostly playing to the left, the Pelosi-Reid strategy is to be against Bush - even if it screws allies. That one of Pelosi's strongest allies is the execrable John Murtha pretty well wraps it up. Read this whole thing. It is as good as it gets.

UPDATE: Others: The Influence Peddler, Captain's Quarters,  

Arrow

Flash! Proof Al Qaeda Listens To US Media!

Those of us not on the left have long suspected that al Qaeda listened to the Western media, especially the US media, and tailored their public pronouncements to feed the media's biases. Now, in a Blue Crab Boulevard exclusive, we have proof positive. Al Qaeda's big number two Zawahri made a pronouncement on his latest greatest-soon-to-be-hit® video tape broadcast on al Jazeera. It also seems he has a bit of trouble figuring out what is important to the left, much as they do themselves. Anyway, our double secret operative from the Magic 8-Ball Detective Agency and Swap Shop, LLC. was able to obtain this scrap of video tape from the floor of the al Jazeera cutting room. In it, Zawahri addresses what he thinks must be one of the biggest concerns in the left blogosphere since the Plame case imploded. Al Jazeera chose not to show it - but we have it, just for our loyal readers! Enjoy! (Must credit Blue Crab Boulevard, 'cause Drudge wants nothing to do with this).

A Firm Grip On Reality….

Not.

Cindy Sheehan has bought some property in Crawford, Texas using insurance money from her son's death. She plans on using the property until President Bush is impeached or resigns. Which shows her complete lack of understanding of the process. Clinton was impeached but was not removed.

The group she helps lead, Gold Star Families for Peace, says on its Web site that it will return next month to protest the war in Iraq in the small town near Waco where President Bush has a ranch. Like last year, Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, will again demand to meet with the president.

"We decided to buy property in Crawford to use until George's resignation or impeachment, which we all hope is soon for the sake of the world," Sheehan said in a newsletter set to be sent to supporters Thursday. "I can't think of a better way to use Casey's insurance money than for peace, and I am sure that Casey approves."

Her anti-war gathering in Crawford is scheduled for Aug. 16 through Sept. 2. But Bush is scheduled to be at his ranch mainly during the first two weeks of August.

Sheehan reportedly celebrated the closure on the property with a barbecue chicken and jalapeño pepper pizza made into a smoothie in accordance with her strict fast.

UPDATE: Sister Toldjah is all kinds of impressed with Cindy.

IAF Knocks Out Hezbollah Rocket Command

Ha'aretz is reporting that the Israeli Air Force destroyed the Hezbollah Rocket command unit in Tyre, the source of most of the Rocket hits against Haifa. The effect of doing so is not clear yet, but the command center no longer exists.

The Israel Air Force on Thursday scored a successful direct hit against Hezbollah's missile command center deployed in Tyre, which has been primarily responsible for targeting Haifa and its surroundings. The regional command center was located on the 12th floor of a Tyre building that the IAF destroyed.

The IAF bombings continued bombing as Israel Defense Forces artillery pounded townships in the south. According to reports from Lebanon, two women were killed in the attacks, raising the number of Lebanese killed in the fighting to about 400.

The western sector of south Lebanon, which was quiet until recently, was also shelled on Thursday, and residents of more villages were ordered to leave their homes. For instance, residents of the Christian village of Ain Abel, near the border, were ordered to leave, presumably in order to allow the IDF to tighten the blockade on Bint Jbail.

Hezbollah maintains a number of regional command centers in southern Lebanon similar to that destroyed on Thursday. The organization calls them planning units. The unit in Tyre controlled a large number of 220mm rockets manufactured in Syria, which had caused most of the Israeli civilian fatalities.

The impact of the attack on Hezbollah's bombardment capabilities against Haifa and its surroundings is not yet clear. Nevertheless, Tyre will continue to be a target for the air force.

The attack against Tyre has not affected Hezbollah's ability to launch short-range rockets against northern Israel; most of the group's rockets in southern Lebanon are of the short-range variety, about 100 of which are being launched against Israel on a daily basis, with most falling in empty fields.

It is possible that Hezbollah, under constant air force pressure, will try to carry out previous threats by its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and launch Zelzal-1 rockets against targets south of Haifa. The missile is capable of ranges of 125 km.

Ministers at Thursday's government meeting discussed the possibility of terrorist activity aimed at Israeli and Jewish targets abroad. Hezbollah will seek authorization from Tehran for any such action, which would result in a broader air force attack against strategic targets that Israel has avoided thus far.

Syria continues to try to expand its resupplying effort of Hezbollah. Four Syrian trucks crossing the border into Lebanon were attacked by air Wednesday night.

Syria will put itself in harms way if they continue to try to resupply Hezbollah. This is really not a good idea for them. But the Iranian puppetmasters must be pushing the Syrians hard on this.

Method To Madness?

Wretchard at the Belmont Club has what he labels as "pulp fiction". Speculating about what is relay going on in Lebanon right now. And you know what? It makes a lot of odd facts fit together. Read at your own risk and draw your own conclusions.

The first question that must be answered in divining IDF intentions in Lebanon is what the center of gravity of the Hezbollah is, because that is what the IDF must be aiming to destroy. The two obvious ones are Hezbollah's ability to influence the Lebanese government and the motor of that influence — the military force that Hezbollah maintains in the south. A step down we can ask, what is the most important component of Hezbollah's power in the south? Again the answer is easy. It is the Hezbollah cadres themselves. Hezbollah's most precious possession isn't Katyushas, long-range rockets, night vision goggles or antitank missiles or electronic equipment. It is the trained core of its military force. Equipment can be replaced but Hezbollah's cadres represent an expensive, almost irreplaceable investment. In them resides the organizational knowledge of Nasrallah's organization. It embodies man-decades of operational experience against Israel. Rockets can be replaced. The stars of Hezbollah's operational force are less expendable.

From this observation I'm going to say that despite the received wisdom of the newspapers to the contrary, the fighting at Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil have been and continue to be an unmitigated defeat for the Hezbollah. The Hezbollah are doing the single most stupid thing imaginable for a guerilla organization. They are fighting to keep territory. Oh, I know that this will be justified in terms of "inflicting casualties" on the Israelis. But the Hez are probably losing 10 for every Israeli lost. A bad bargain for Israel you say? No. A bad bargain for Hezbollah to trade their terrorist elite for highly trained but nevertheless conventional infantry. Guerillas should trade 1 for 10, not 10 for 1.

There's quite a bit more, well worth the read even if it is speculative.

Night Of The Living Dead Moose

A zombie moose is loose in Connecticut. Residents are warned to hide the women and children immediately. Ok, we made that last bit up. But how else do you explain this? A moose was seriously injured after being struck by a car. A police officer who found the injured animal shot it to put it out of it's misery. Later when police and state wildlife officials returned to retrieve the carcass, it was gone. (Cue creepy music).

GOSHEN, Conn. - A dead moose is missing. The 600-pound bull was shot to death by police Tuesday night after being found seriously injured by the side of Route 272, where it had apparently been hit by car.

But officers from the state Department of Environmental Protection could not find the carcass when they went to retrieve it Wednesday.

State wildlife biologist Howard Kilpatrick said someone may have taken the road kill to eat it. Quite a a few people who learned of the collision called the DEP's 24-hour emergency number to ask if they could take it for its meat.

They were told, "No."

"No one had permission to take it. Our goal was to look at its general condition and gain its biological data," Kilpatrick said. "The moose population is expanding but there is no hunting season to give us a chance to examine carcasses."

Oh sure, people were going to eat it. This isn't Cajun country, it's Connecticut. It's just a cover story made up by authorities to hide their terror. Just wait until the zombie moose sighting start coming in. And they will. I see a movie in this: Bullwinkle of the Dead. It will be huge! With antlers!

House Approves Nuke Deal With India

The House has approved the deal with India to allow nuclear fuel and civilian technology sharing.

WASHINGTON - The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to allow U.S. shipments of civilian nuclear fuel and technology to India, handing President Bush a victory on one of his top foreign policy initiatives.

Rep. Tom Lantos said the proposal, which reverses decades of U.S. anti-proliferation policy, is "a tidal shift in relations between India and the United States."

"We are at a hinge of history, as we seek to build a fundamentally new relationship," said Lantos, the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee and a strong champion of the plan.

The House approved the measure 359-68.

The Senate has yet to vote on the plan, which must clear several more hurdles before nuclear trade between the two countries could begin.

For Bush to implement his accord with India, lawmakers must first exempt New Delhi from U.S. laws that bar nuclear trade with countries that have not submitted to full international inspections.

Congressional action is needed because India built its nuclear weapons program outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which provides civil nuclear trade in exchange for a pledge from nations not to pursue nuclear weapons.

Before the vote, lawmakers made last-ditch attempts to attach conditions they said were needed to make sure the United States was not supporting a massive increase in India's nuclear stockpile. Supporters of the accord quashed proposals they said would cause India to balk and the delicately worded deal to collapse.

Several lawmakers strongly questioned the initiative, arguing that it would undermine the world's premier nonproliferation treaty.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., portrayed the plan as a "historic failure" that "pours nuclear fuel on the fire of an India-Pakistan nuclear arms race." Pakistan, India's nuclear-armed archrival and neighbor, has not been offered a similar deal by the United States.

Pretty lopsided victory.

Chicago Commits Economic Suicide

A "victory" for people promoting legislation to force large retailers to pay a so-called living wage in Chicago will virtually guarantee that the city of Chicago will see no large retailers bring tax revenue or much needed jobs to the city.

The world's largest retailer suffered a blow on Wednesday when Chicago aldermen passed a bill that requires big-box stores, including Wal-Mart, to pay a so-called living wage. The ordinance could curb Wal-Mart's appetite to build stores in the city limits.

But it's not stopping the company's longstanding plans to blanket the Chicago suburbs with Supercenters, the giant stores that sell general merchandise and groceries.

Indeed, Wal-Mart for the first time has a veteran supermarket executive planted in Chicago, signaling that big changes are ahead.

Michael J. Lewis, president of Wal-Mart's Midwest division, sees millions of consumers hungry for Wal-Mart's low-priced groceries and envisions operating 40 Supercenters in the Chicago area in the next three years by building new stores and expanding existing stores. Wal-Mart currently has only a handful of Supercenters in the outlying suburbs.

"Our share of the market is relatively low in Chicago," said Lewis. "And that's an opportunity for us. We think there's tremendous opportunity to double or even triple our market share in Chicagoland."

That expansion is a threat to Jewel and Dominick's, the Chicago area's two major supermarket chains, where workers are unionized and where prices are generally 15 to 30 percent higher than those at Wal-Mart.

In an interview at Wal-Mart's Chicago office last week, Lewis said if the city council approved the bill, Wal-Mart would "put more time and effort in the suburbs," in particular focusing on those close to the city in order to draw shoppers across city lines.

"It would stand to reason that we would ring Chicago with Supercenters," Lewis said.

Late Wednesday in a written statement issued after the Chicago vote, Lewis added, "Our preference is to serve the people of Chicago in their communities and we will do what we can to keep up with significant consumer demand from city residents." The official statement didn't address whether Wal-Mart would carry through with threats to avoid opening stores within the city limits.

Good thinking guys. This was a not even well hidden push by the unionized stores (and the unions) to keep Wal-Mart out, not a victory for the people. Because they'll suffer for the decision.

Irish Psalm Book Update

I posted about the discovery of a psalm book in an Irish bog a couple of days ago. The book dates from somewhere between 800-1000 AD. The Irish museum has issued a clarification of what the book was open to. They say it is not the 83rd psalm as we are familiar with it, instead it is what we would call the 84th psalm. The difference arose because the book is a translation of the older Vulgate bible, not the later King James version. The numbers apparently changed.

The National Museum of Ireland announced on Tuesday what it said was one of the most significant Irish discoveries in decades; an ancient Psalter or Book of Psalms, written around 800 AD. It said part of Psalm 83 was legible.

In modern versions of the Bible, Psalm 83 is a lament to God over other nations' attempts to wipe out Israel and many commentators wondered at the coincidence of such a discovery at a time of heightened tension in the Middle East.

"The above mention of Psalm 83 has led to misconceptions about the revealed wording and may be a source of concern for people who believe Psalm 83 deals with 'the wiping out of Israel'," the museum said in its clarification.

The confusion arose because the manuscript uses an old Latin translation of the Bible known at the Vulgate, which numbers the psalms differently from the later King James version, the 1611 English translation from which many modern texts derive.

"The Director of the National Museum of Ireland … would like to highlight that the text visible on the manuscript does not refer to wiping out Israel but to the 'vale of tears'," the museum said.

The vale of tears is in Psalm 84 in the King James version.

Hmm. Curious, isn't it? Here's the Vulgate bible translated. Psalm 83 does not mention Israel. Here is the King James. The number change is indeed shown.

Whoa - BIG Callup Of Reserves

The Israeli government has authorized the calling up 30,000 reserves. Statements from both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush indicate that they are backing Israel's play all the way.

JERUSALEM - Israel's government decided Thursday not to expand its battle with Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon for now, but authorized the army to call up 30,000 reserve soldiers in case the fighting intensified. The Lebanese health minister said up to 600 civilians have been killed in the campaign, including as many as 200 still buried in the rubble of destroyed buildings.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, said she was "willing and ready" to return to the region to work for a sustainable peace agreement. But President Bush, meanwhile, said she was "willing and ready" to return to the region to work for a sustainable peace agreement. But President Bush suggested he would support the offensive for as long as it would take to cripple Hezbollah.

Bush also sharply condemned Iran for its support of Hezbollah.

The events signaled that Israel and the United States were settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, one that could grow far bloodier if Israel decides its air attacks and small-scale invasion into Lebanon is not working and sends in thousands of more ground forces.

I think Hezbollah miscalculated even worse than they have admitted. Let's see if Nasrallah stays in Damascus now. If he does, he's abandoning his fighters to their doom.

Nasrallah In Damascus To Meet Iranians?

The Jerusalem Post, citing a Kuwaiti newspaper, reports that the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is in Damascus to meet with an Iranian envoy. They are supposedly discussing resupply of Hezbollah with Iranian weapons.

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 Iranian puppetmasters are prepared to fight to the last drop of Hezbollah's blood. Anything to keep the pot boiling.

“It’s Our Turn Now.”

So said Captain Ori Lavie of the Israeli Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion addressing his company before jumping off into Lebanon.

Shortly before midnight, the soldiers of the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion, Company A gathered a few meters from the Lebanese border. In a few minutes, they were due to cross the border and join the battle, like their comrades in 51st Battalion, who fought in Bint Jbail on Wednesday and sustained fatalities.

"It's our turn now," said Captain Ori Lavie. "It's our turn to protect the border. And we'll carry out any mission we need to, against any force, in the best way possible. If we don't, we have no right to exist."

Excited and armed from head to toe, the young soldiers listened, hanging onto every word he uttered.

"We will not lose this war," said Lavie. "We did not start it, but it's our duty to protect the Jewish nation and see to it that the residents of Metula and Haifa can live in peace. If we don't do it, no one will. We waited 2,000 years for our own state, and we won't fold because a group of terrorists think that they can scare us."

"Someone who cannot protect his freedom does not deserve it," he continued. "When missiles and rockets land on all the northern cities and reach Haifa, and when two of our soldiers have been kidnapped and ten have been killed and dozens have been wounded - this is no time to talk, it's time to fight. From the moment we cross the border, you must be super alert, super sharp. We are threatened from every side. Each of you is responsible for his comrades."

Read the whole thing. It's a good portrait of a company going into combat. Including the weird anomaly of the troops breaking formation to use their cellphones to talk to parents and loved ones.

Rain Of Rockets Continues

Ha'aretz is reporting more than 100 rockets have landed in Israel today.

Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon fired over 100 Katyusha rockets at targets in northern Israel on Thursday, landing across the Galilee and Hula Valley.

A barrage of rockets struck Kiryat Shmona around 6:30 P.M., lightly wounding two people. Earlier, a rocket struck a factory in the city, and a house sustained a direct hit.

Fires broke out in the Galilee panhandle as a result of rocket strikes.

In Haifa, sirens sounded at 6 P.M. Two rockets landed in the city's suburbs, causing no injuries.

Thirteen people were lightly injured in rocket strikes on Carmiel, Majdal Krum, Kiryat Shmona, and the area of Rosh Pina.

Four rockets landed in the afternoon in the area of Tiberias. Some rockets fell in open areas, causing fires to break out.

The first barrage came at around 8 A.M., when six rockets struck Safed and three fell in Ma'alot. Some two hours later, six rockets landed in the Rosh Pina area, two more struck the Safed region and a single rocket struck the Carmiel area. The border town of Rosh Hanikra was also hit.

Five rockets fell on Nahariya, one of them hitting an empty house.

Since the start of the conflict in Lebanon, more than 1,400 rockets have been launched at Israel. Of that number, 352 have hit cities, and 19 people have been killed.

Another 26 people have been seriously injured, 36 have suffered moderate injuries and 319 have been lightly hurt. A total of 595 people have been treated for shock.

Hezbollah continues to commit war crimes, of course.