Arabian dissent

Let`s just say he had a rough day in the office.

2006-11-22T02:46:00.000-04:00

Tough day to be in Bush`s entourage:

Top three stories on Drudge:

BUSH DAUGHTER ROBBED IN ARGENTINA

THREE MOTORCYCLES IN BUSH MOTORCADE CRASH IN HONOLULU...

White House Staffer Robbed, Beaten at Waikiki Nightclub...

DAM! When it rains it pours.

First question that will be on Life insurance forms tomorow:

Do you, or have you ever had a relationship (personal or professional) with George W. Bush?

Free Karim Soliman!

2006-11-07T00:55:00.000-04:00

I know its getting tiring for some of the readers who visit my blog to read about these things and me asking them to help to help contribute, but believe me its well worth the effort. This cause is very important to me, its very important to the the moderates in the Middle East and its also important to you. It is this kind of strangulation in Middle Eastern society that helps breed religious fanaticism and the ignorance that runs wild in the Muslim World today, I cannot emphasize how important it is for people like Karim to know that the majority of decent human beings are standing by his side)

Abdelkareem first received international attention in early 2006 when he was kicked out of Al Azhar University for posts he wrote on his blog. During that first incident, he was detained by police but eventually released. Despite his first arrest, he has continued to speak his mind on women's rights, religious freedom, and academic freedom.

On November 6, Abdelkareem was again interrogated over his blogposts. A human rights lawyer from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information was present to represent Abdelkareem. But the police still decided to arrest him.

They set up a letter writing campaign to help lobby for his release, its VERY simple. If you can`t be bothered to write a letter, just go here, add your name, e-mail and country and just press "send". And please spread the word. Link this campaign on your blog, e-mail friends and relatives, mention this to your co-workers any help would be very much appreciated.

Let me stress that this is not an online petition, as many of those just end up being invitations to spam and junk mail. These letters will be filtered for duplications and spam, and sent to the following officials:

General Adel Ali Labib, Governor of Alexandria,
David Welch, US Undersecretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs,
Francis Ricciardone, US Ambassador to Egypt,
Habib el Adly, Egypt's Interior Minister,
Ahmed Nazif, Egyptian Prime Minister,
Nabil Fahmy, Egypt's Ambassador to the US

Fellow Cannucks, it would probably be a good idea to copy and paste the e-mail and send to the MP`s on the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development:

Jason Kenney Kenney.J@parl.gc.ca
Mario Silva: Silva.M@parl.gc.ca
Caroline St-Hilaire: St-Hilaire.C@parl.gc.ca
Irwin Colter: cotler.i@parl.gc.ca
Ted Menzies Menzies.T@parl.gc.ca
Wayne Marston Marston.W@parl.gc.ca
Kevin Sorenson Sorenson.K@parl.gc.ca

You can follow-up on the proceedings here,

Saddam gets the easy way out.

2006-11-05T06:49:00.000-04:00

I oppose this death sentence on the same grounds to which I opposed sending Zacherias Moussaoi to hell sooner rather than later.

Its also a reflection as to why (In most cases anyway) I oppose the death penalty. Its not that I believe its a cruel punishment nor the fact that I have compassion for the prick. My issue revolves around the fact that the death penalty allows guys like this to take the easy way out of this world. In other words, I believe it doesn't go far enough in terms of punishment. It doesn't`t give the convicted any idea of the pain and misery he made other people feel due to his crime.

Let`s think about this, this man has put people people to death through the most brutal ways imaginable to any decent human being. Lashing, electric shock, drowning, you name it. And what does he get as punishment, three meals a day, and a lethal injection to the neck? Please. Furthermore we have to consider how his supporters in the Arab world will view this. In their view, they see a defiant statesman standing strong against his country`s occupiers.

There are other ways of helping Saddam really come to grasp for his crimes against humanity which could deliver the message to both him and his supporters:

Some suggestions:

-Beatings from the hands of friends and relatives of the victims that died from his orders.
-His cell block would consist of a small, dark room, with a bed shaped cement and one toilet.
-Just for kicks, let`s also make the room`s ceiling shorter than his height.
-For entertainment purposes, let`s throw in a non-poisonous cobra in his cell every once in a while (We have to give each victim`s relative an opportunity to give him at least one beating!), the cobra harms him and we laugh, he fights off the cobra and that`s his meal for the day.
-Again like Moussaoi, construct a built in-wall t.v showing all the birthdays, wedding ceremonies, graduations of all his victims over and over.
-Videotape his condition as time goes along, and distribute it all over Iraq as a message to the armed militias. "Disarm and make peace, or you`ll go through what he`s going through".

What? A little too graphic for ya? Well...so is this.

Update (06-11-2006)

Note to self, in the unlikely event that I ever become a leader of a country, Jarrett will be the one responsible of the entire "rehabilitation" system:

My idea involves a large number of bottles of Canadian whiskey, a bunch of waxed Kurdish bodybuilders of ambiguous sexuality, a camel, and the Fox Network.

(You now owe me two Keyboards Jarrett ;) )

A couple of must-read reactions across the Arab Blogsphere:

Mahmood’s Den.

and

Sudanese Thinker

Sanmonkey covers the idiotic coverage by the Arab MSM.

The dominant Middle Eastern Psyche

2006-11-05T06:28:00.000-04:00

How to describe it? A few adjectives come to mind: sick, hypocritical, dumb, twisted and so on.

Let me bring your attention to a recent media campaign launched by some Iraqi moderates who are doing their part to help curb the the violence in Iraq that has claimed the lives of many of their countrymen.

"Terror has no religion"

Recently they released several t.v commercials and print ads in which they aim to:

To reveal the true and ample doctrines of Islam, and expose the contempt these terrorists hold for the spiritual essence of our religion. These terrorists and their ungodly way are the ones responsible for making Islam an easily marked target in the eyes of the world, as well as causing Muslims to be the subject of criticism before the world community.

The target audience are meant to be the younger generation of Iraqis in hopes of deterring them from ever joining the jihadist militia (either Shiite or Sunni) as a means to redeem their frustrations of the current atmosphere. Here`s one example:

Suicide Bombing in Baghdad

But unfortunately, despite this group`s best intentions, this ABC reporter stationed in Jordan sums up why this project is dead on arrival:

Sadly, these ads appear to miss the mark. Sure they get your attention but they do look VERY American and will likely be viewed with plenty of skepticism, seen as mere propaganda. More importantly, all the ads are based on one message, "Terror Has No Religion" and suicide bombing runs counter Islam.

The initial message that`s being displayed in these ads will not matter. The simple fact that this group received "American" aid in helping develop this message will, in the eyes of many in the Arab world, just be brushed off as mere "Propaganda" (As if the simple guideline of killing innocent people is bad is Verboten! as it is conveyed by American interests. Give me a break!).

The simple fact that many Arabs and Muslims cannot simply look past the "American" nature of these commercials is an indication to just how intellectually bankrupt today`s Middle East has become. This intellectual bankruptcy itself reveals the reason as to why many "closeted" moderates don`t even bother changing the status-quo in the middle east today. And simply look for the easy way out.

(H.T. Mental Mayham)

This war is going to happen, whether you like it or not.

2006-10-30T03:12:00.000-04:00

This is not a post I write with great joy. By by the manner in which many of our esteemed "progressives" and isolationaists commentators have been describing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this point has to be re-iterated over and over.

5 years after 9/11, two wars in two different countries, and numerous terrorist activities and busts, the left side of the political spectrum all over the western world still propagate the never-ending philosphy in which they claim is the best tool to curb the extremist islamist ideology. The manner in which it is described varies from one progressive to another, however it all comes down to this:

"If were nice to them, they`ll be nice to us."
or
"They`re here, because we are there."

Basically they believe the west should extend an olive branch whether in the form of removing its troops from muslim lands, or diplomatic and political sacrifice to give in to the muslim world`s concerns. Examples: Giving the Palestinian people their own state or "talking" with the Taliban.

These opinions and talking points illustrate the sad handicap many of our progressive friends suffer from. Like the famous conservative joke says it: "The best thing about being a liberal is that history only begins this mourning".

History, the best conservative tool since Reagan.

I hate to repeat what I`ve been saying all along, but historic facts and past events regarding conflict with fundamentalist muslim militants suggest that neither approach (military withdrawal or diplomatic negotiation) have worked to quench the other side`s thirst for more war and conflict. Quite the contrary, it made them more popular among the muslim world, more determined and more powerful and stronger (Both political and militarily).

Case studies:

Lebanon

Past events in Lebanon gives more than enough ammo to help support our argument that the current enemy we`re fighting is not exactly is not exactly someone whom we can discuss matters of mutual interest over tea and crumpets.

Take for instance, the case of southern lebanon. Since the 80`s international human rights organizations, the UN, the EU and many left-wing talking heads were repeating over and over again that Israel needs to withdraw from the south for there to be peace in the region. Israel was assured from everyone that this withdrawal would result in Hezbollah being less influential to distribute its anti-Israeli propaganda, and that cooler heads would prevail in Lebanon where the moderates would gain the upper hand in pushing for peace.

In 2000, Israel obeyed. It withdrew from southern lebanon with little or nothing in return from the other side. Unfortunately it backfired, very very badly. Hezbollah was given credit for the withdrawal, and were greeted as liberators from the majority of people in Lebanon. The moderates were shut out, as their talking points of reform and moderation were drowned by the loud ovation that "jihad works!" and the the most effective way to get matters done, is through holly war and bloodshed. Hezbollah was rewarded for its popularity with political power in Beirut and self-rule in the predominantly shiite region in Southern Lebanon. To make matters worse, Hezbollah continued to receive more than ever, military supplies from Iran.

Another event of note in Lebanon was the 1983 Marine barracks bombing. Following the bombing, and the huge public outcry back in the US to withdraw the troops, many Americans were not aware the at the time, the Islamists were taking notes, as Bin Laden stated in an interview in 1998:

Osama bin Laden, identified as the mastermind behind Sept. 11, underscored the symbolic importance of the 1983 violence when he told ABC News in 1998 that U.S. soldiers were "paper tigers."

"The Marines fled after two explosions," he recalled.

"There is no question it was a major cause of 9/11," said former Navy Secretary John Lehman, a member of the Sept. 11 investigative commission quoted recently in Knight Ridder Newspapers. "We told the world that terrorism succeeds."

Palestine:

Palestine is a different case study, where different actions took place, but unfortunately yielded similar results. Since time immemorial the Israelis were being pushed in making "sacrifices" with the PLO. And in the early 90`s, the Israelis decided to roll the dice. And proceed with the demands many leftists are making today.

They withdrew from cities like Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Gaza City, Hebron and gave civic control to east Jerusalem. They also agreed to "negotiate" and engage in talks with their arch enemy Yassir Arafat. The overall principles of this negotiation was revolved around "Land for Peace". Basically, the Israelis would give back the lands they took in 1967, in return the Palestinians would cease terrorist activities against Israeli civilians, and crack down on radical groups whose purpose it is to destroy Israel.

The outcome,
Arafat did not crack down terrorism. He greeted Hamas and Islamic jihad with hugs and kisses.
Groups tied to Arafat carried out suicide attacks by the droves.
More Israeli civilians died due to terrorism after the peace process than before Oslo.
Arafat personally wrote the checks to suicide bombing materials.

But, naively, Israel kept on giving, last summer they withdrew from the entire Gaza Strip. Resulting in the same results experienced in Southern Lebanon.
-Hamas was credited for the withdrawal.
-They`re more popular than ever.
-They continue to carry out terrorist activities against Israeli civilians.

In both cases, Israel did exactly what the progressive and isolationist movements are advising to do today. Withdraw militarily and sacrifice politically. Now judge for yourselves:
-Is Israel more in danger today than it was pre-PLO negotiation or withdrawal from south lebanon?
-Are the fundamentalists more or less popular than they were?
-Are the fundamentalists more or less politically influential than they were?

And then, ask yourselves, do you think that withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan would not result in a similar fate?

Truth be told, is that if history of the region teaches us anything is that we have two choices:
-Fight them now and take losses by the dozen.
-Withdraw now, and face them again in 10 years when they get more powerful and influential.

Pick your bullet wound.

The "Muslim Outrage".

On talking point the anti-war lobby loves to repeat over and over is the explanation of how Al-Qaida grows in numbers and supporters. The way they see it, whenever muslims see they`re own brethren get killed by Western troops, they instantly become more receptive towards the extremist propaganda who offer them the opportunity avenge those deaths.

Unfortunately, like most matters in the middle east, its not that simple. While there`s no doubt that civilian deaths in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq do in fact enrage the muslim youth, thanks to constant brainwashing and propaganda by the religious leaders in the region, you would have to step back and look at the atrocities committed throughout the entire middle east and look at the different reactions the muslim world chooses to display. Namely, at the killing of muslims when the killers are muslims themselves.

Examples:

1. The Hama Massacre: In 1982 following an assassination attempt on Syrian dictator Hafez Al Assad, the Syrian government raided the city of HAMA (where it was believed that it housed the largest opposition members to the Syrian Baathist regime). According to the Syrian Human rights committee, 30000-40000 civilians were massacred. And if you want more in-depth details of the raid, you can find it here:

many families were victims of genocide, whether it was under the heavy artillery shelling or massacres committed by gunning down the victims with light fire weapons. The most terrifying massacres occurred in public squares and in graveyards, even hospitals and schools were not spared, all available buildings were converted to a detention center during the massacre period. It is safe to assert that the massacre of Hama was a collection of separate massacres, which targeted about one fifth of the city’s inhabitants. One survivor of the Sriheen Massacre, which is one of the most horrific massacres then, how people were taken to their fate in eleven trucks. In his testimony, he said: “I was among a huge number of people, so crowded that we almost could not breeze, and we were taken to Sriheen, where we were ordered to step out of the trucks, so we did as told. First thing we noticed was those hundreds of shoes scattered everywhere on the ground. It was then when we realized that it meant that hundreds of our fellow citizens were killed and we were next to face the same imminent death. We were searched afterwards, and any cash or watches were taken off us. Then, the elements of the Syrian authorities ordered us to move forward towards a deeply dug trench, which stretched long. Some of us were ordered to go to another nearby trench. When I stepped forward to my spot by the trench, I saw the pile of bodies in their still tainted by running blood, which horrified me so much that I had to close my eyes and I had to contain myself to avoid falling off. As expected, streams of bullets were fired towards us and everyone fell in their blood into the trenches, whilst the ones who were inside the other trench got shot inside the trench where they stood.” The survivor went on: “My injury was not life threatening and God granted me survival by inspiring me to wait patiently till the murderers left the premises and I ran despite my injuries. I was divinely saved from that fate whereas the injured could die under the weight of the other bodies most definitely.

2. The massacres in Algeria: The armed Islamic group committed massive amounts of massacres all accross rural Algeria, killing as much as 100-300 innocent civilians in a matter of 1-2 hours per day. This occurred more frequently during the holly month of ramadan.

I`m not going to go into details as they`re quite horrific, you can look into this horrific matter on your own, however, just know that Islamists considered no one to be off limits, the targets were specifically women and children. Some put the body count at 60000 others go as high as 120000.

Many more atrocities and human rights abuses were committed on Muslims by muslims themselves. But here`s the interesting (and shocking) fact about all the heinous acts of barbarism.

What was the reaction from the Muslim across the middle east to these massacres.

Nothing.

There was no marches, no debates, no call ins to radio stations, no angry sermons at the mosque, no call for Jihad to avenge those deaths.

Should`nt this reaction at least raise a flag among the anti-war crowd? Why are the lives of muslims killed by Americans or any Western troops considered more important than those killed by their own people?

Doesn't`t this show, to put it mildly, a lack of consistency within the muslim world on the value they place on human life as a whole? The more you think about this, the more you begin to understand the sick ideology and hypocrisy many muslims are living in today. And raises a question as to who is delivering them the message rather than what message is being delivered to them.

Possible reasons for leftist opposition to Mid-East wars:

As I mentioned many times, the left has taken a nasty turn in modern times. Where their hatred for their political enemies outweigh their own principles.

(A good example of this was when the left slammed Bush on his supposed lack of funding for AIDS research. When Bush announced more funding than any other western leader to combat aids, the very same talking heads in turn slammed him for undermining the UN.).

Case in point: the defeat of their political enemies is more important to lefties toda than the well-being of the third-world.

Notice how the death of any civilian in Iraq or Afghanistan is a call for masturbation among many Progressive Bloggers. The thought of dragging dead corpses in the Middle East with the sole intent on attacking their domestic political gain is something many of them get excited about. Repercussion to military withdrawal be dammed. They want their political enemies`heads on a platter. Omar from ITM, hits the nail on the head:

Among the things I cannot accept is exploiting the suffering of people to make gains that are not the least related to easing the suffering of those people.

To others, its a a case of denial. They cannot bring themselves into believing that their are some real sick bastards in this world. And the solution in dealing with them should not be a bullet in their skull, but a hug and the intent on proving to them that were not bad people.

To some, the wars today tend to draw attention away from issues dear to their hearts. Such as the environment, or social programs. Therefore they more we ignore the problem or get it over with, the sooner we could get back to those matters they hold in priority.

Any way you look at it, the opposition talking points to these wars are very easily demolished with some good ole fashion common sense and history.

Conclusion

Its not that I refuse to look at the the left`s talking points or don`t think some of their concerns are not sincere. I wish it could be as simple as us being nice to them. I WANT to believe that just a little gesture of generosity and compassion on our part would put this whole nightmare to rest.

And its not the fact that I`m right-wing, or heartless, or militaristic, or that I have no desire to see a war-free world. Let be known that if I ever find a magic lamp, with a genie inside, my first wish would be for World Peace.

Its just that I know the reality on the ground. And I know how the middle eastern psyche works.

You want to withdraw now? Fine. Go on ahead, bring back the troops, sit down with Al Qaida, invite the Taliban over for tea, let`s give in to their demands. And then...well`ll be back at war with them in 10 years time, only this time they will be 10 times deadlier.

Be it now, or tomorrow, or 10 years from now. We will still be at war with this ideology. Whether we want it or not.

Don`t these people ever come out with something original?

2006-09-05T07:07:00.000-04:00

First it was Brison ripping off Clement`s platform.

And now its Dion copying Suzuki`s report word by word? (h/t Steve Janke).

With all respect to Steve, I`m not sure. Dion is considered (at least in the Academic World) a very well respected University professor prior to his entry into politics. Which is why I`m willing to believe that this was a fu*k up made by his legislative team rather than him personally.

But then again, you`d expect someone like Dion (who never stops reminding us of his environmental credentials or the priority he gives to this issue) to have read an important report by Suzuki and put 2 and 2 together when he read his own platform.

People making a difference:

2006-09-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

There are people who talk about making the world a better place, and there are people who actually work to make the world a better place. Like the following:

1. 4 Canadian soldiers killed Afghanistan during a successful offensive mounted by Afghan, American, British and Canadian on Taliban strongholds. Deepest condolences and prayers go out the the friends and families of
* Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish
* Warrant Officer Richard Francis Nolan
and the two other unidentified soldiers.

2. Arab Peace Warrior dies:

Novelist Naguib Mahfouz, who in my opinion, is the greatest novelist ever to come out of the Arab World, passed away on Thursday, he was 92. For those of you unfamiliar with Mahfouz, he was a Nobel prize winner for literature in 1988, who stood side by side with Anwar Sadat when he signed the Peace Deal with Israel at Camp David in the late 70`s. He was considered a hero and a mentor to many Arab Moderates and Democracy activists throughout the middle east. And was also highly critical of the status-quo currently held in the Arab world today. Needless to say he faced allot of this:

It is no wonder that Islamists condemned him for this very reason. In 1994, he was stabbed in the neck by extremists while he was taking his daily walk to a favorite café in Cairo. He survived the assault but lived under constant protection by the authorities ever since.

In addition to the hostility he faced from the religious establishment, he was also criticized by so-called intellectuals in the Arab world for his moderate stance toward Israel and his outspoken support for President Anwar Al-Sadat and the Camp David peace accords. Before that, he was branded a reactionary because of his well-hidden disapproval of the destructive policies of President Gamal Abdul Nasser and the coup that brought him to power in 1952. Many of his novels were banned in Arab countries.

(h/t Healing Iraq)

God Bless you Naguib. You were the beacon of light to our people for many of us.

Make sure to read more about Mahfouz:
Big Pharaoh

Sandmonkey:

Freedom for Egyptians:

Kabob Fest

And Roba:

3. Fellow Blogger Brian Gardiner from Home At Hepster is running for Terry Fox. Probably the greatest Canadian ever to have lived. If you can, help him by sponsoring him through this link. Blue Blogging Soapbox has put out a 500$ challenge. So far there`s 205$.

"Talking to the Taliban"....sooo 2001.

2006-09-03T05:53:00.000-04:00

By now, everybody is aware of Jack Chamberlain`s idiotic suggestion of "talking with the Taliban", progressive goals be dammed, this guy shown that he has no principles in which he believes in, and that the Liberal Party was right when it joked that Layton would sell out his own mother for an extra vote in the ballot box.

What you probably missed was that the Liberal party is in favor of this approach as well, and I would`nt have realized it without Eva Braun`s long lost daughter Liberal Catnip:

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh also rejected the NDP call to withdraw troops, but agreed that talks with the Taliban could be helpful.

The problem for the Grits and the Dippers is that believe it or not...its already been tried. And by George W. Bush nonetheless:

CNN (17.09.01)

Taliban given three days to hand over bin Laden

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani government, led by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, will ask the Taliban, Afghanistan's rulers, to hand over suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden in three days or face massive military action led by the United States, CNN learned Sunday.

In a move called "very encouraging" by a senior Bush administration official Sunday, a high-level Pakistani delegation is traveling to Afghanistan Monday to carry this message to the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in Kandahar.

But to no avail.

AFGHANISTAN'S ruling Taliban yesterday ignored an edict by Islamic clerics that Osama bin Laden be asked to leave the country, defying America's demands that they hand him over or face military strikes. President Bush had also said that the Taliban should yield senior members of the suspected terrorist mastermind's al-Qa'eda organisation, and close all militant training camps inside Afghanistan, where he has lived for five years.

They said no back then, they`ll say no again. In fact just like Hezbollah and Hamas, they`ll see this as a sign of weakness and help their propaganda campaign. Its the way these people think and work.

Update (03/09/06) 5:24 pm:

Andrew Coyne with the money shot to Layton, what does he mean by "negotiations"?:

Or would they, having absorbed the initial round of gains, simply resume fighting the minute the opportunity presented itself? In which case, would any negotiations not require the continued presence of international troops to enforce the results? And what if the Taliban refused to abide by the terms even then? Why would they be likely to accede to the demands of the international community in that event, when they have been so unwilling to date? In which case, would we not have to, you know, fight them?

(H/T Daimnation!)

Debunking the Hezbollah whitewashing.

2006-09-03T04:44:00.000-04:00

I know I`m very late to comment on this, but during my mini-hiatus from the blogging world, there`s been quite a few interesting developments when it comes to Canadian Foreign Policy and anti-terrorism.

Predictably, many on the Canadian Left have called for invitations to Hezbollah to come to the negotiating table and be treated as equals in the peace process. I will list the excuses and talking points (at least the predominant ones) followed by a simple rebuke using nothing but historical facts and common sense logic.

This will be a an ongoing post, meaning every time I hear a new talking point/excuse for Hezbollah to be scratched off the terror list and begin negotiations with them, I will post it, source it, and follow it up by a rebuke. Now I`m not going to be alone in this. A few of my Lebanese-Canadian buddies will be helping me out on this: My best friend Khaled is just itching to blast away any `misconceptions`the Left has to offer on Hezbollah, he`ll be doing some of the debunking. So will Deema (an ex girlfriend who has relatives in the SLA), her cousin Ramzi, Geroge (who spent his entire childhood in Lebanon) and Eli (Lebanese foreign student in Canada).

This is just a heads up in case you see one answer/post with a different signature on it. I`m still here, only others will also be answering your questions.

Also if you happen to come accross any new excuse, let us know in the comments section, and we`ll take care of it.

I have plans to turn Arabian Dissent into a group blog, and if your of Middle Eastern origin who needs a channel to vent your frustration against the fuckers who are dragging our name in the mud, and is for Democracy, and widescale reform to take hold in the Middle East, e-mail me.

Now...on to the Debunking:

Myth number 1:

Hezbollah is a democraticaly elected party in the Lebanese legislature, if Lebanese politicians talk with them freely, why can`t we?

Answer: Hezbollah may have been democraticaly elected in the legislature, however, that does not mean they respect and honour their democratic duties. Flashback:

Some 100 lawmakers, including Geagea's wife, voted for the amnesty motions,
while about 15 legislators of Shia Muslim group Hizb Allah and their allies
walked out when lawmakers began debating Geagea's case.

The violence began when sticks and rocks were used in fighting between
members
of the Shia Amal movement and Christian Maronite supporters of
Geagea.
When gunfire broke out, Lebanese army units were deployed
to
the area to stop the violence.

There`s your reason why Lebanese politicians have no choice but to have formal talks with them. If they don`t, they get killed, its as simple as that.

Next.

Myth number 2:

We`ve dealt with the IRA, why can`t we deal with Hezbollah!?

Answer: Very simple. The nature of both groups are very very different. For starters, the IRA does not advocate nor aim for the destruction of Engalnd. And peace negottiations with the IRA only began AFTER they moderated their stance not before. The IRA also has no major plans for territorial expansion aimed at wiping an entire race from the face of Europe. And is not an active satelite for a country that`s known to fund and aid terrorist groups. The same cannot be said for Hezbollah.

Myth number 3:
comes from the well-meaning but historicaly ignorant Mike from Rational Reasons:
"including these groups in the political process (see IRA, PLO, currently ETA) has moderated their positions and brought about negotiations and peace."

The PLO moderating its stance since its inclusion into the political process? Only in Dipper world, where history begins this morning.

Since being "included in the political process" the PLO (and its sub organizations) under Yasser Arafat has:
-Doubled anti-semitic Propaghanda in their social system through state-controlled media and through its education system.
-Personally wrote checks for suicide operations.
-Helped form a sub-division that carried out suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
-Refused to crack down on Hamas and Islamic Jihad (a pre-requisite for the PA when it signed onto Oslo)
-Tried to sneak in a boatload of ammunition into Gaza.
-Pulled two-faced tactics, saying one thing in English in front of the international community, while saying another in Arabic to its people.
-Refused a generous offer by Ehud Barak to get back 95 per cent of West Bank and Gaza Strip land and instead launched a civilian uprising against the Israelis.
(Initifada 2)

Does that sound like "moderating their position" to you Mike?

Myth number 4:
Hezbollah runs various charities and social programs that aim to help the Lebanese civilian population.

Answer: Let`s use this logic through a different scenario. Say I killed an innocent passer-by because I was having a bad day. However, I`m also a member of the Red Cross and volunteer at the local Food Bank from time to time. In the court of law, the later would`nt mean squat. I`m still a murderer. And will be judged as such. My volunteer work and goodwill cannot be used as a bargaining chip with the law. And neither can Hezbollah (and its apologists) use this as a tool to convince people that they`re really not that bad.

Myth Number 5:

Some Israelis don`t view Hezbollah as "terrorists"

Answer: Like I said in my previous post, the Israeli left has been very naive over the past few years.
Almost all their concessions and negotiations they championed have lead to more and more disasters for both people. So while many on the Israeli side are well-meaning, they`re not necessarily right on this matter.

(More will come...)

Delaying the inevitable.

2006-09-02T23:01:00.000-04:00

I wish I can express some level of optimism regarding the so-called “ceasefire” in Lebanon. No more bombs, no more dead innocent civilians and no more destruction to property. The Lebanese people will just have to pull back their sleeves and begin the re-construction phase once again and eventually peace will come…..

If only that was true! However, just a glimpse at the history of the region would indicate that the current UN brokered ceasefire is only a delay of the even bigger war that will create ten times more destruction and death.

The way things are perceived in the Arab world is that Hezbollah stood up against the Jews, caused many casualties, humiliated the once-might Israeli army, and have restored honor to “Muslim Pride”. It’s the exact similar reaction they had when the Israelis withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza last summer.

You’d think that this alone would raise a red flag in the mainstream media, the halls of academia or even individual citizens to properly assess what’s coming in the next few years. Unfortunately all were hearing are calls for inviting Hezbollah to the negotiations table, the “excessive force” displayed by the Israeli military and the questioning of whether or not military solutions are the proper response to Islamist threats.

Which is weird, considering all what’s happening in the recent months can be directly attributed to actions and “peace solutions” in which “Progressives” worldwide assured everybody would pay off. Many on the right however, had reservations.

Consider:

- Everybody pushed Israel to make territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza in the hopes that b withdrawing and giving the Palestinian people autonomy, political and economic control and a better handle to their social system. Eventually, the Israeli were told, the Palestinians would moderate, and tings would eventually fall into place for peace to take hold for future generations.

And the Israelis went for it, they gave back Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Gaza City, Bethlehem, Jericho and Jenin.

13 years later, the Palestinians elect Hamas. Hmmm…not exactly according to plans…but what the hell.

Case number 2:

Southern Lebanon:

Almost the same exact scenario as today. Israel was occupying Southern Lebanon in hopes of creating a buffer zone between northern Israel and Hezbollah. But things were getting hairy. It was getting expensive, in both finance and military lives on the Israeli side. And the Labor party in Israel under Ehud Barak caves into international pressure to eventually withdraw from Southern Lebanon and give control to the Lebanese. They were told by everyone from the UN, Bill Clinton and the EU that this move would send the right message to the Lebanese and Arabs in general that Israel would be willing to make concessions in return for peace. Once again, the Israeli right wing had different feelings. Nonetheless, on April of 2000, the last Israeli solider officially withdrew from Southern Lebanon.

6 years later: Hezbollah terrorists are praised as Liberators, they gain major political autonomy in Shiite regions in Lebanon, more political representation and message is sent to the Arab world that Israel eventually caves once you kill the right amount. Possibly setting the motivation for Arafat to launch the second intifada shortly after Camp David 2.

Was this what the people who were calling for the withdrawal back then had in mind? Who knows…but just a few years later they advocate for the same thing only this time in the Gaza Strip.

Case number 3:

The Gaza Strip

Ariel Sharon breaks off with his traditional right-wing allies in Israel and decides to create a centrist alternative to both Likud and Labor. He goes against his right flank and announces a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The left in Israel and all over the world is overjoyed. This is the right thing to do they said. Concessions and sacrifices are they key to the peace process. This will help the Palestinian moderates. Cooler heads would prevail. The Palestinians would finally build a prosperous and peaceful society that would help deflect terrorist and radical intentions.

One year later:

Hamas gets praised as liberators. Israel is seen as weak to pressure. They begin using the Gaza strip as a lunch pad to their rockets that target Israeli civilians. The economy in Gaza is in ruins, and the moderates are nowhere to be seen.

Hmmmm…so far they’re 0-for 3.

Now what you need to do is consider the three scenarios mentioned and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is Israel more or less in danger today following the withdrawals?
2. Who gave more concessions throughout the whole peace process Israel (with territorial concessions) or the Arabs (cracking down on terrorist groups)?
3. Who has prevailed in the Arab world after all those concessions? The Moderates? Or the religious fundamentalists?
4. Has the situation in the Palestinian territories and Southern Lebanon improved following the withdrawals?
5. Do you think the continued violence is due to the fact because the Israeli right was listened to? Or is it because they were ignored?

And finally…do you think following the withdrawal this time from Southern Lebanon, the Israelis have avoided or simply delayed a bigger fight in the future?

Judging from the scenarios before us, I’m leaning towards the later.

And I’m not the only one. Khaled (my buddy who was evacuated from Lebanon a few weeks ago) swears that Lebanon is dead to him. As far as he’s concerned, he ain’t ever going back. My Lebanese friends aren’t even considering returning for even a visit for the next 10 years.

I’ve just run into an Israeli-Canadian friend from University in the gym. Says he’s just trying to get back in shape because all signs in Israel point to him being called back for military service. Does this sound like peace is right around the corner?

Mail Call

2006-08-11T17:52:00.000-04:00

So I decided to check my Outlook mail for the first time in weeks this mourning, and this is the first thing that pops up:

I thought you might want to take a look at this. Nice crew you’re rolling with you self-hating asshole.

Fuck you.

That is all.

So...what exactly is this link that this anonymous coward decides to
link to, to "prove" the so-called collective racism of the "Blogging
Tories"? It's none other than a post by Liberal Blogger Cerebrus in
which he (rightly) slams a bigoted post by RightGirl on the Western
Standard blog. The post is followed by many members of the
Liberal-Left puffing up their chest and patting each other on the
back, congratulating themselves on their built-in tolerant nature and
how a member of their party would never stoop this low in terms of
racial bigotry or generalization. But, as usual, Ted plays with fire.
He labels the post as "Why I'm not a Conservative", trying to blanket
the thoughts of one person as the thoughts of an entire political
movement, party and blog avatar. He then goes on and throws a brick in
a glass house:

I'm on the record for clarifying a number of times that these wingnuts
are part of why I could never be conservative but there are still a
lot of conservatives equally offended by The Western Standard
obscenity. Nevertheless, meanwhile, over here... still nada.

That's quite a statement to make. However, a dangerous one. If Ted
wants to be jackass, well I have no choice but to fight fire with
fire.

Now, let us be very very clear. RightGirl's comments regarding
criminalizing Islam in Canada is, unbelievably dumb, bigoted, short
sighted and is nothing less than totalitarian.
Freedom of religion is a non-negotiable right for any Democratic
state. And generalizations in the way she applied are…to mince
words…stupid.

But equally as dumb, is Ted's generalization of the Conservative
movement, as well as his wondering of why the Blogging Tories are
"silent" on the issue. Unfortunately to Ted and his friends,
RightGirl's opinion, generalization and bigotry is not limited to the
Conservative movement, and lack of denunciations to these things is
not limited to the Blogging Tories.

A few examples of bigotry and racist generalization from supporters
from Cerebrus' party:

-Last June, shortly after the arrest of the "Toronto 17", one self
described Liberal Blogger leaves this message on my blog. (This is no
sarcasm; he later on defends his statement).

We need to decrease immigration from the Arab countries. That's the best way.

Funny, I never really heard much denunciation from members of Liblogs
for this comment.

-Or how about Liberal Catnip, the old hag who smugly suggested that
Muslims and Arabs in the Middle East are not worthy of humanitarian
intervention. Or better yet, how about her comments regarding the
Muslim activists who risked their necks writing a manifesto urging
their fellow Muslims to reject extremism and terrorism, in which she
suggested that they didn't know what they were talking about?

-And if Ted is mad at RightGirl for using a bigoted generalization on
all Muslims, then I'd expect him to be spitting mad at Liblogs founder
Jason Cherniak for using an absurd ethnic generalization of his own.
Claiming a terrorist-supporting hypocrite MP is an representation of
all Muslims. Apparently, we all interpret things the same way and
are unable of independent thought.

-Or better yet, when the Al Alkhras family was killed in Southern
Lebanon, the reaction from many lefty bloggers was not a sense of
sadness or sympathy, but joy that these deaths can be politically
useful to slam Harper politically. (This simply confirms what I've
been saying all along, the only third-world deaths worth giving a dam
about to the Liberal Party are those which can be spun into blaming
Conservative politicians.)

-Another Liberal idiot a while back tried to convince me that Syria
(which has killed more Muslims than Bush, Sharon and Blair could ever
do in a lifetime) was actually playing a peacekeeping role in Lebanon
shortly after the Cold War. A few of my Lebanese buddies would find
that comment just a tad extreme and would just a little bit annoyed to
say the least, but there he was, actually believing the c rap he was
spewing. (To my recollection, no Liberal blogger stepped in and told
this guy to keep his historical ignorance to himself).

Now these are just examples in the blogging world. If we want to step
back and take a look at the bigger picture when it comes to
Islamic-Canadian relations, the Liberal party flunks big:

-Do the 70+ Liberal MP's, who expressed no protest whatsoever when
Martin sent Troops to Khandahar but suddenly wished for Canadian
troops to withdraw when Harper came to power represent realize that
the Taliban and Al Qaeda (who would reclaim more power following the
Canadian withdrawal) bigoted for using the lives of Afghans so cheaply
to advance their own political needs?

-What the hell was Colleen Baumier thinking when she visited Iraq
prior to the Invasion to express her support for the Iraqi regime? Are
you honestly going to convince me she had no idea that this was going
on by the very regime she was supporting? How the hell is that
evidence that the Liberal party really is the party that stands for
the safety and freedom of Muslims worldwide?

-If the Liberal party really wanted more Muslim representation in
parliament, did they really have to go out and parachute the most
idiotic, bigoted, terrorist-supporting dumbass that has ever set foot
in this country? Is that the Liberal party's view of the Islamic
community?

All in all, I think Ted ought to be a little bit careful whenever he
wants to set off an anti-racist crusade against the conservatives
regarding Islamaphobia. Truth is, if Ted was serious about this, he
would tackle the anti-Islamic bigotry in his party first before
picking on others, and the only silence he should be questioning, is
that of his fellow Libloggers who have always remained silent during
the incidents I have just mentioned.

So in conclusion, Ted, as a Muslim I really appreciate your disgust at
this kind of bigotry and the concern for my safety which you display.
But as I have shown, you have your hands full with your own camp.

He’s coming home!

2006-07-24T19:23:00.000-04:00

He’s coming home!

First of all I want to thank everyone who sent their best wishes and prayers for Khaled's safe return from Lebanon. I’m always surprised by the affection and care many people express toward a complete stranger they never met. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Khaled was evacuated from Lebanon two days ago, disembarked in Cyprus, spent the night in a high school gymnasium, and was later on bussed towards Lanarca airport, where he got on a chartered flight one-way towards Montreal. He’s expected to land in a few hours. And I finally get to breath!!!!!!

I also wanted to apologize (once again) for suddenly disappearing for the past few days. Like I said a few days ago I’ve been doing pretty much anything to avoid the news. That meant purposely staying long hours at work (I am waaayyyyy ahead of schedule for my projects), re-arranging the furniture in my condo, helping neighbors with any home maintenance tasks (Fixing A/C’s, Chairs, Painting a room), alphabetizing my CD’s, balancing my checkbook…basically whatever the hell gets my mind off the situation. I’ve even been avoiding friends, because I know the first question they’d be asking when they see me is “Hey…how’s Khaled?” Not that I didn’t appreciate the concern, its just that I wanted to get my mind off the fact that he was in danger.

But he’s safe now. I honestly have no idea what the hell I’m going to say when I pick him up (what? “Ummmm…so….nice trip?” or “How’s Lebanon?”), I have no idea what to say to a person who was listening to bombs fall close to his location for that past week. In way I’m wondering whether or not I made the right decision by taking the day off tomorrow, I hate awkward moments.

So basically, feelings of gratitude, relief, nervousness, guilt, anxiety and uneasiness all wrapped in one….

I better hit the bar before going to the airport~

Deserved and undeserved criticisms of Harper

2006-07-19T10:59:00.000-04:00

Apologies again for not staying on top of things for the past two days, but considering the circumstances of what’s going on in the Middle East and the little dilemma I face, I’ve been trying to keep myself as busy as I can just for the sake of not loosing my mind pondering the situation. A couple of things I need to comment on regarding the Prime Minister’s handling of the situation and the reactions from the so-called “Arab-Canadian” advocacy groups.

1.The CAF blaming Harper for the deaths of the Canadians killed in Lebanon:

What a fu*cked up accusation to make! Let’s first consider the entire scenario before even taking this seriously. First of all, the Canadians that were killed were (according to Newsreports) located in Southern Lebanon. An area which the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affaires has long advocated to citizens visiting Lebanon to avoid at all costs. Even after the initial Israeli withdrawal in 2000. Second of all, when the situation got out of control last week, the Canadian Embassy in Beirut urged all its citizens to stay indoors and await further instructions for evacuation. These are two instructions which the victims tragically chose to defy.

Now that is not to say that the victims are to blame for their own deaths. Far from it, in fact had I been in a similar situation, I would have also tried to get the hell out of the area as soon as humanly possible. What I’m simply saying is that the Canadian government, bearing the circumstances, has done everything it could to warn its citizens from experiencing this kind of tragic fate.

And as for the accusation that Harper deserves flak for the deaths because he has not called for an immediate ceasefire, I find that unbelievably naïve. As much as I hate to point out the impotence of my country whenever it comes to matters of International affaires, this has to be said:

If the Israelis were not willing to listen to the Presidents of France and Russia to stand down, then chances are they wouldn’t exactly jump for the Prime Minister of Canada either. The Israelis were going to go through this military action with Canada’s blessing or not. So please, let’s leave out the retarded accusations throughout this nightmare from hell. Unless the CAF has unmistakable evidence showing that Harper was the pilot of the jet that launched the air-to-surface missile that killed the Canadians, the CAF has just made itself to be the biggest joke of all the advocacy groups in Canada.

2. Harper said he has not contacted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seeking an explanation of the air strike that killed the Canadians on Sunday, nor had his officials.

Now this is just straight out bullshit on Harper’s part. I understand his pro-Israel sentiment and I agree with his opinion that Hezbollah and Hamas are the principal parties to blame for the escalation of violence and rising death toll. But…the Prime Minster of Canada has the duty to make sure that justice prevails for all his citizens. No matter what the circumstances are. He should at least call Prime Minister Olmert and ask for an inquiry into the deaths. Was there a viable threat in the area in which the Israeli pilot fired the missile at? On what basis? Was the targeted threat worthy of such a response? Israel has an explanation to do…and the only person who must make sure that these deaths were not killed in cold-blood or human error in the Prime Minster of Canada. If it is indeed the case of human error, than he should ask for a compensation for the family members of the victims from the Israeli government.

There's no light at the end of this tunnel

2006-07-16T23:40:00.000-04:00

"Its all a bad dream".

For the past 4 days, I've been trying desperately to convince myself that all what's happening in Lebanon at the moment is just one gigantic nightmare in which I would soon wake up.

I try not to think of how a country like Lebanon, a country that was a beacon of hope to many Arab democrats and moderates has fallen in the current mess its in. With its democratic reforms, its secular nature and booming economy, many of us hoped Lebanon would turn out to be the shining example people around the Arab world would try to emulate for the sake of everyone. This is why the current events have been have been extremely hard to accept as reality. After a long painful 16 years, we were so close, and now were back to square one.

For almost 10 hours a day, I've been desperately trying to think of any feasible, armchair solution to this whole mess. In the past, whenever a military conflict arises, those of us in the west simply listen to the news, and come up with our theories for a peace settlement for both sides. In the Gulf War, the armchair solution was for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait and mediate the problems between both countries regarding the oil dispute. In the Israel/Palestine conflict, everybody agreed that the Palestinians had to recognize Israel and stop all terrorist activities against her. Israel in return would give back the land it took from the Palestinians in the 1967 war. Land for Peace.

Those solutions may have been easier said than done, they may have even been unrealistic.But (and I hate to say this), they gave us a secure sense of denial in which we thought eventually all parties involved would come to the same conclusion. After all, you can't live in a state of war forever.

But for this conflict, I don't even have that. I can't think of any possible solution that would get all parties involved come to one level of compromise. Not after we add up the different variables and evaluate what's at stake for the different parties involved and take account the history of this god forsaken bloodbath.

Let's evaluate what's at stake here for the different players involved and why they will not back down this time:

Player: Israel
Why is it in this conflict: Two of its soldiers were kidnapped at the border, in which Hezbollah demanded prisoner negotiations.
What's at stake: Israel is now fighting in two areas it thought to be history to them. Southern Lebanon and Gaza. When it withdrew from those lands, it had hoped (naively) that cooler heads would prevail and that the Palestinians and the Lebanese would view it as an extension of an olive branch. Reducing the incentive for young men in those regions to become terrorist and hope to annihilate it and her people. But as I explained, that's not what happened. And the withdrawals backfired making Hamas and Hezbollah more popular, more confidant, and more determined. With that factor considered, Israel will not be fooled again. It will make sure that the infrastructure and determination of both groups to be wiped off before even thinking of coming back to the negotiating table. If It backs down, and accepts Hezbollah's demands, the enemy gets stronger and more determined. Therefore, its a fight to the death as far as its concerned.

Player: Lebanon
Why is it in this conflict: Having negotiated with Hezbollah to include it in its government, it is linked with the terrorist organization in the eyes of the Israelis. So when Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, the Israeli government had no choice but include the country as Hezbollah's accomplice (as they have negotiated to integrate them in their government).
What's at stake: Lebanon is by far the biggest victim in all this mess. Whatever decision it makes, its dammed to destruction. It can either:
a) Ally itself with Hezbollah, provoking an all out war with Israel: Which would lead to its destruction (Socially, economically, politically, everything).
b) Ally itself with Israel: Provoking the ire of its huge Shiite population (which is supportive of Hezbollah) provoking an all out civil war between Shiites and the Rest of the Lebanese. Which would also lead to its destruction economically, socially and politically.
c) Door number three is the worse, it can turn on both sides and have an all out civil war AS WELL AS an all out war with Israel.

Players: Hezbollah and Hamas
Why is it in this conflict: Believes in the destruction of Israel in order to complete their goals of a giant Islamic Caliph to dominate the Middle East. So they kidnapped Israeli soldiers and provoked Israel into war. Knowing fully well Israel will not comply with their demands.
What's at stake: These two organizations suffer from the opposite fate that awaits Lebanon. Its a win-win situation with them. If they press forward with this conflict and eventually (in their eyes) get Israel to agree with their demands, it gains more power and popularity from its people, if they don't, then they will simply keep on fighting, and those that die believe that they would end up in heaven along with 72 virgins for their sexual pleasure. How can you fight that? So in conclusion: They fight and win: They get their lands and wishes back over time, they loose: well...they die as martyrs and enjoy the company of those virgins.

Players: Syria and Iran
Why are they in this conflict: For the supply and support of Hezbollah and Hamas. The incentive is to get both groups to cause as much havoc and destruction distracting the international community of their own totalitarian rule and "behind the scenes" activities.
What's at stake: Very very simple. They keep this conflict going, the international community is distracted and bickering on how to resolve the issue. Should there be a ceasefire, then all eyes are back on them. Its in their survival instincts that this mess prolongs itself as long as humanly possible. As long as Lebanese, Israelis and Palestinians are dying, they're living.

A must read for all.

2006-07-16T20:12:00.000-04:00

As usual, Canadianna is dead on with her commentary regarding the French response to the situation in the Middle East.

Be sure to read it.

8 Canadians Killed in Lebanon:

2006-07-16T18:28:00.000-04:00

Eight Lebanese-Canadians are dead and six others injured after an Israeli air strike in Lebanon, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

"Pending further information and contact with their families, all we can say is that there are eight confirmed casualties (and) six who have been critically injured, and we're actively pursuing as much information as quickly as possible," MacKay told CTV Newsnet on Sunday.

According to The Associated Press, five of the dead are Lebanese-Canadians from a single family who were killed in an Israeli air strike while in their home in Aitaroun, on the border of Israel.

Deepest prayers and condolences goes out the families and friends of the deceased and injured. The most tragic episodes in a armed conflict is whenever innocent civilians get caught up in the crossfire.

But probably what's even more sickening is the that the political grandstanding some of our resident progressives have been making of these deaths. At a time when the middle east is about to explode in world war 3, the only I thing can make out from their reactions is a sense of joy that these deaths might end up hurting Stephen Harper's political game.

Let us first go through some facts and questions regarding the deaths and the "progressive" response:

Do many of the people who are calling this an act of war believe that Israel deliberately targeted these civilians?

Southern Lebanon (which according to the news report is where the Canadians have been killed) has always been an area which the Department of Foreign affaires has warned Canadians of going whenever you travel to Lebanon. And I know this because I remember being contacted by the Canadian Embassy in Saudi Arabia 48 hours before departing to Lebanon in 2002 for a 3 day vacation, warning me specifically to avoid the southern region (any region south of Saida to be specific). As the region has always been a point of constant violence between Palestinian and Lebanese militias as well as attacks from the Israeli border. We must therefore assume that proper warning have been in place for the Lebanese-Canadians involved, and that ignoring the or disregarding that warning comes at their own judgment.

Liberal MP Dan McTeague also tried to politicize the situation on CTV by point the finger of blame on the Harper Government and tried to look informed in the whole matter by giving out a number in which Canadians in Lebanon can access. The turd apparently had no idea that Canadians in Lebanon who were calling the embassy were already being transferred to the Ottawa Switchboard, at least according to my friend Khaled.

Since when did the left in Canada ever give a dam about Canadian residents in the middle east in the he first place? When the storey of Iran jailing a Canadian professor came out earlier in the year, it was met by stunning silence by the leftist blogsphere. Ditto with the Kouzimi case. Why weren't they screaming bloody murder at Iran for clearly and intentionally harming Canadian life then? Simple: Because that would mean having them agree with the new Government's tough approach to Iran. Therefore there was no need for an outrage. Or even care. This compliments what I've been saying all along when it comes to the Left and the Middle East: Deaths in the region to them are only tragic when it can be spun into an attack on their political opponents.

The Israeli government owes Canada an explanation. There's absolutely no denying this whatsoever. What exactly were the Israelis targeting? Did they have solid evidence to back up that a threat did reside in the targeted location?

Most important point to consider in all this: ALL these deaths, Canadian and non-Canadian, could have been avoided without Hezbollah declaring war on Israel by kidnapping two of their soldiers and demanding appeasement.

That's it for now. I'm still working the phones like crazy trying to get Khaled out of the fucking country as soon and as safely as possible. He's still alive, I talked to him last night. He was contacted by the Ottawa Foreign Affairs Bureau, who told him to expect instructions for evacuation in 1 to 2 days. But according to him he's going to try to get out of there on his own through the north.

And the chutzpah award goes to...

2006-07-15T01:53:00.000-04:00

Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha!

I don't know how many of you caught this interview Thursday evening on Wolf Blitzer, but for those of you who didn't, you missed one hell of a comedian act by the official spokesperson of Assad's tototaltarian regime in Washington.

Luckily I caught a glimpse of it, and let's just say there are some talking points the good ambassador neglected to mention during his stuttering in the CNN studios.

Here's the transcript of the interview between Wolf Blitzer and Imad Moustapha along with some rather interesting hyperlinks that would either make you laugh or cry at the level of chutzpah this prick demonstrates:

Mr. Ambassador, thanks for coming in.

IMAD MOUSTAPHA, SYRIAN AMB. TO U.S.: Hi, Wolf.

BLITZER: You heard earlier from the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Ayalon, that Iran and Syria right now are, in his words -- are playing with fire and it could have serious consequences.

How worried are you that Israel could take retaliatory action against targets in Syria?

MOUSTAPHA: Well, of course, this is pretty preposterous. The only party to blame for this collision of violence in the Middle East is Israel itself with its continuous occupation and with the atrocities it has committed against the Palestinians, particularly in the past two months.

Now, suddenly, it is Damascus once again, and it's Iran once again. Who is to blame for the results of their occupation?

BLITZER: But you acknowledge that it was in recent days, along the border between Israel and Lebanon, that Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel, killed some Israeli soldiers, kidnapped two others, took them back into Lebanon.

Isn't that an act of war?

MOUSTAPHA: Look, for the past -- past decade at least, the Israelis have abducted many Lebanese. They are still in the Israeli prisons. Hezbollah has repeatedly demanded in the past six months that the Israelis should release their prisoners. The Israelis have done even worse things in the Palestinian territories.

BLITZER: But Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago.

MOUSTAPHA: Not all of Lebanon. The Shebaa Farms are still under Israeli occupation.

BLITZER: That's a tiny sliver that Syria -- that your government says it's part of Syria.

MOUSTAPHA: But also -- no, we don't say -- we never have said this is a part of Syria. We have always said this is a part of Lebanon.

But, most importantly, Israel continues to have Lebanese prisoners in its prisons, and Israel continues to infringe on the Lebanese sovereignty.(AK:!!!!!!!!!) Continuously it has done this, without any cessation in the past two, three years. But an important thing...

BLITZER: I don't want to get into a debate over Shebaa Farms right now.

MOUSTAPHA: Yes, of course.

BLITZER: It's a very complicated, small, little area. But do you justify Hezbollah going in and recent days and starting this escalating situation?

MOUSTAPHA: What I do not justify is that -- for the whole world to sit silently watching Israel doing whatever it wants to do. In the past two weeks, Israel has killed many, many Palestinian civilians. Today, Israel has killed tens and tens of Lebanese civilians. Families are wiped out completely.

And what happens? The United States -- this is very important. You have to compare the attitude of this administration to the past attitudes of all -- all past administrations in the United States.

BLITZER: Does the Syrian -- does the Syrian government want these Hezbollah militants to give up those two Israeli soldiers and to calm the situation down?

MOUSTAPHA: Hezbollah has said they want to exchange their imprisoned soldiers with the imprisoned Lebanese.

BLITZER: So do you support that position?

MOUSTAPHA: Would you agree with me that the Lebanese prisoners are also human beings equal to the Israeli soldiers?

BLITZER: But do you support that position of Hezbollah?

MOUSTAPHA: What we support -- what we support is the following: We want a comprehensive solution to the problem in the Middle East. Israel has stopped -- has to stop its occupation of the Arab territories. Israel has to understand that it cannot go on forever with immunity, doing whatever it wants to do.

Only last week they went into the Palestinian territories, they abducted, the Israelis, tens of civilians from Palestine, cabinet minister, elected members of the parliament. Nobody gave a damn about what the Israelis are doing.

Once two Israeli soldiers are captured by Hezbollah, look -- look at the reaction. And the stereotypical reaction of this administration is to blame Syria.

In the past, you know what the U.S. administration would have done? It would have sent envoys to the Middle East, it would have mediated, it would have calmed down the situation. This administration...

BLITZER: The administration isn't just blaming Syria. They are blaming Iran, too.

MOUSTAPHA: Yes. Yes, this administration typically would only blame other parties and they would do nothing. This flagrant bias towards Israel is not helping the situation in the Middle East.

BLITZER: You heard -- maybe you didn't hear what the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in the last hour here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

MOUSTAPHA: No, I didn't.

BLITZER: Something similar to the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Ayalon. Said almost the same thing, that they sense that Iran, under great pressure to suspend its nuclear activities, is trying to change the subject now by allowing or encouraging Hezbollah and Hamas to go ahead and kidnap Israeli soldiers.

MOUSTAPHA: There's a dichotomy here. What we say is the following.

Israel is trying to divert attention to what it has been doing to the Palestinians since Hamas was elected democratically by the Palestinian people. Israel has driven the Palestinian economy into collapse. Israel has killed tens and tens of Israeli civilians (AK:???????), including men and women and children in the past three, four months. And everything that is happening has Israel to blame because Israel continues to occupy the Palestinian territories

BLITZER: Is there an alliance now in effect between Syria and Iran?

MOUSTAPHA: No, there is no alliance. Iran is our regional neighbor. We have good relations with all of our neighbors: Iran, Turkey, Jordan Egypt.

We want good relations with everybody. And repeatedly, repeatedly we have invited Israel itself to engage in peace talks with us. It was Israel who categorically refused, because does not want peace to prevail in the Middle East.

BLITZER: That border between Israel and Lebanon had been very peaceful in recent years since the -- relatively peaceful since the Israeli withdrawal in the year 2000. Only two weeks ago you were here in THE SITUATION ROOM, and you said this -- I want you to listen to what you said.

MOUSTAPHA: Very good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOUSTAPHA: Once the Israelis left Lebanon, Hezbollah has not been involved in any way whatsoever in anything that has nothing -- that has not to do with the Lebanese issues. This should be clear, and we should not believe Israeli propaganda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you want to clarify what you meant?

MOUSTAPHA: Of course. Let me remind everybody of what's happening.

Israel actually holds Lebanese prisoners who happen to be members of the Hezbollah. Hezbollah has repeatedly invited Israel to engage in a prisoner exchange. It's very similar to what Israel has twice done with Hezbollah with German mediation.

And Hezbollah is saying today the same, we want Israelis, through mediation, through third parties, to involve in a prisoner exchange. Why do you think it's fair for Israel to have Lebanese prisoners while it's not fair for Hezbollah to have Israeli prisoners?

BLITZER: Is there any solution?

MOUSTAPHA: I think the only solution is for the United States to play the role it used to play in the past and to undertake its responsibilities as a superpower, and to impose on its ally, Israel, restraint, not something similar to the -- to the killing that is happening today under destruction in Lebanon, and to ask all parties to involve in real serious peace talks.

BLITZER: Are you afraid of all-out war?

MOUSTAPHA: It is a possibility. Israel is trying to escalate the situation, the tension in the region. We have -- we have to call for restraint.

The United States has a play to role. It is the role of the United States. Today, what did the United States do? It vetoed a United Nation's Security Council resolution.

This is negative diplomacy. We want proactive, positive diplomacy from the United States. The United States has to undertake its international obligations.

BLITZER: Imad Moustapha is the Syrian ambassador here in Washington.

Thanks for coming in.

MOUSTAPHA: You are welcome. Thank you.

World War 3 begins in T-minus 10...9...

2006-07-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

According to From Beirut to the Beltway the Lebanese army has officially joined the fighting against the Israeli Unit that landed on Sideon Beach, marking the first time in recent memory where you have two democratically elected governments engaging in a armed conflict.

The feeling out of Lebanon right out is mainly anger. Anger at Hezbollah for having kick started all this, anger at Israel for causing the destruction, Anger at the United States for refusing to diffuse the situation, Anger at Syria and Iran for backing all this up and using their country as a means of a shield and political posturing. And that's understandable, for years now, Lebanon has undergone a series of political and social reforms and experienced an economic boom that was helping the country establish itself once again as the "Jewel of the Mediterranean".

But unfortunately I can't agree with the feeling which some Lebanese have been expressing concerning the Hezbollah connections, like this:

Every one knows that the Lebanese government has no control over Hezbollah. The government didn’t even know of Hezbollah kidnapping plans, even though they (Hezbollah) are part of the government. Hezbollah is a "state within a state ", thanks to Israel, Iran and Syria.

. Israeli continued occupation of Shebaa farms territory gives Hezbollah an excuse to hold onto its arms.

. Iran's financing of Hezbollah, will allow it to use the organization to achieve its objectives in the region, regardless of the interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese.

. Syria's support to Hezbollah, allows it to use this organization as its card in dealing with Israel. Every time Syria is under pressure, Hezbollah creates a crises of some sort in South Lebanon

But who is the biggest loser in all of this: Lebanon and the innocent Lebanese people. The Lebanese will again have to rebuild their country on their own and accumulate more debt, in addition to the $38 billion they have accumulated so far, in rebuilding their country during the Syrian occupation.

But unfortunately, I believe the Lebanese government bears some responsibility in all this. They have partnered themselves with Hezbollah when it comes to governing, knowing fully well that Hezbollah's terrorist operations against Israel hasn't ceased. But then again Lebanon never really had a choice in this, like I said yesterday, the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in the Spring of 2000 has painted Hezbollah as liberators and saviors in the eyes of many Shiite Lebanese. The country could not have acted in any way against the organization without risking a huge backlash from its Shiite community and risking the spark of another civil war. So needless to say, the situation is far too complicated for anyone to come up with a solution.

I honestly cannot predict what will happen tomorrow or even in 2 days. All I can say is that its amazing how 16 years of social, economic and political progress can be smashed up in 16 short hours.

A glimpse into Beirut

2006-07-14T06:08:00.000-04:00

Just hung up on a disturbing phone conversation with Khaled. A Lebanese-Canadian buddy of mine since High school. We both attended the same private, US-accredited high school in Saudi and were in the same grade. When we graduated, we both came back to Canada. He attended McGill and majored in Management, I registered in Concordia and studied accounting. We shared an apartment for 4 crazy years and when we were finally free from the hellhole that is called "higher education", we finally parted ways. I got a job with RBC here in mtl, and he left to Beirut to work as an assistant manager to his brother at a 4 star hotel in Beirut. He was, and still is my best friend to this day. So you can imagine the shock and fear that I had to go through when I heard his angry, terrified voice on the phone just 10 minutes ago.

4:15 in the mourning.

*me passed out on the couch in the living room*
The phone rings. And after 20 seconds of constant ringing, I finally wake up and stumble towards the phone.

Me: Who the fuck is this?
Khaled: Top of the morning dickhead...
Me: HEY!!! Were have you been? I've trying to call you since mourning, but for some reason I keep getting Turkey!
Khaled: Phone lines are mess right now. This was my 19th attempt to call you.
Me: What's going on? Are you allright?
Khaled: I'm ok...Alaa is ok...Rania is ok...were all good.
Me: Thank god!

*Fast Forward 5 minutes*

Khaled: The streets are deserted man...its like scene from Resident Evil only more creepier.
Me: Are you in a shelter?
Khaled: No no. Were in the apartment. But no one is going out. Not even to the store.
Me: You have enough food and water in there?
Khaled: Umm not really. The people in the building have locked the front door and have opened their apartment doors. So in a way its like living in a crowded 9 story house. Everybody's sharing their food and stuff. So were ok for now.

*Fast forward 2 minutes*

Me: How are people handling this?
Khaled: Its a mess! Some women are sobbing, the men are screaming in outrage, everybody's scared. And angry at the same time. Can't really describe it in words...you have to see it to believe it.
Me: shit...
Khaled: Just when things look to be going on the right path, shit like this happens. Fuck man! Does trouble come looking for our people?
Me: (laughing) I don't think so. It seems to know where we are most of the time.
Khaled: This isn't the right time to be cute with me....
Me: Sorry, Sorry.

Fast forward 2 minutes:

Khaled: I don't know what the hell I was thinking of coming back here. Dude were never going to live in peace in this fucking region. Its always going to be like this.
Me: *silent*
Khaled: Its never going to end....never..
Me: Things will change eventually..I mean Rome wasn't built in a-
Khaled: NO MAN! This is who we are! Let's face it. There are some areas in this world which were just not built for peace. First the civil war, then Southern Lebanon, then the Syrians, and now this!!!

Fast forward:

Me: So what are you going to do know?
Khaled: That's why I'm calling you. I'm planning on coming back to Canada.
Me: WHAT?? Bro...
Khaled: Its already been decided man. I cannot live in this freaking environment. My bags are packed and Alaa has my letter of resignation. Its now just a question of how to get to Damascus. Unless the Jews begin to bomb that as well, then I might have to make further plans to go into Jordan. And from there I can easily book my return to Canada.
Me: And you need a place to stay (laughing)
Khaled: *laughing*..just for a couple of days. If its okay with you...just a few days to get my stuff in order and then head on over to Alberta.
Me: No problem.
Khaled: I owe you BIG TIME man! Thank you very much.
Khaled: I just wanted to tell you, I might be on your doorstep at any time now. Could be in 24 hours. Could be on 6 weeks. Whenever I could find a safe passageway out of here. Its now choked. There;s almost now way out of Lebanon.
Me: There's no chance that the airport might get fixed any time soon?
Khaled: Forget it. Not any time soon. They're saying it might take a few months. But given how we usually do things around here, I'd say we'd be lucky if things are back in place by next July.
And what's worse is that the highways are all destroyed-
Me: Yeah I heard.
Khaled: And there's rumors that some Israeli destroyers are patrolling our sea.
Me: Really? Sea as well?
Khaled: That's what Alaa heard from the neighbors.
Me: Call the embassy. They'd surely help you out of here.
Khaled: Embassy's closed man. We keep getting transferred to the Ottawa switchboard, but I have to hold for like hours and I always get cut off.
Me: *sigh*

Khaled: Just a heads up allright. Could be tomorrow or a month from now.
Me: Sure thing. Take care of yourself man.
Khaled: Thanks. I'll call you whenever I get to Am-

*Phone line gets cut off*.

Israel pays the price for appeasement

2006-07-14T01:07:00.000-04:00

First of all let me apologize for the blog neglect for the past few months. The reason for this is a combination of work, moving into my new condo, and great weather tends to keep me from indoor activities. I've honestly haven't even glanced at a newspaper or a T.V. news program from the past 4 weeks. but judging from the current chaos
that were now witnessing in the region, I cannot neglect things any longer.

The last thing we ever want to do during a time of chaos and tragedy, is blame the victim. Not for being the principle reason for the damage done, the blame mainly lies with the perpetrator of the crime But for taking gullible actions that indirectly leads to the present day damage.

Examples: You wake up one mourning to find out that your next door neighbors' car has been stolen from their own garage and their tools have also gone missing. You feel terrible for the guy, and at the moment there's nothing more you want to do but cause as much pain to the burglars as possible. But somehow, you still cannot get the thought out of your mind that this burglary might have been prevented to steal had your neighbor actually remembered to close his garage during the night instead of leaving it open.

Another scenario: Your brother gets robbed while walking home from a party last night. His wallet is gone and is suddenly missing a pair of shoes. For a second you actually contemplate lobbying your government to adopting the same crime policy as Saudi Arabia when it comes to these things, but you just cannot resist the temptation of slapping your brother across the head for being dumb enough to walk through a crime-ridden neighborhood at 3 o'clock in the morning, wearing a 500$ Versace suit and 200$ shoes.

Getting back to the relevant subject, I cannot help but feel the same away about Israel during this whole series of conflict. Now the blame for all this squarely lies with Hezbollah and Hamas, there's absolutely no justification whatsoever for their actions of kidnapping and missile launching against Israeli civilians. But Israel did in fact exercise some action which does play a huge part in all this; appeasement.

Think back to the summer of 2005 and the spring of 2000. That's the time frame when Israel bowed to international pressure (that was dictated by the ever-naive line of thinking that Islamic militants are reasonable souls simply fighting the occupation of their lands) and withdrew their forces from Gaza and Southern Lebanon respectively.

And what occurred afterwards was something all terrorism experts predicted a long long time ago. More chaos, more terror, more bloodshed and no decreased security for either side. Far from taming the two terrorist groups, or the hope that the withdrawals would be perceived as an extension of an olive branch, the withdrawals made Hezbollah and Hamas more forceful, more popular, more power hungry and the perception? That was considered as plain old weakness. Which further ingrained the idea that should they increase their activities, Israel would make more and more concessions for land and power.

The reaction from the people in Southern Lebanon and Gaza were, not surprisingly jubial. Both people credited the terrorists for driving the "Jews" out of their lands, and were now completely indebted to them

To make maters worse, moderate Palestinians and Lebanese who have tried warning their people of the threat groups like these pose to their lives, were seen as useless, traitorous fools. In the eyes of most people it was "Yeah, well they got rid of the Israelis for us, what did you do?" So unfortunately cooler heads did not prevail following the withdrawals.

And in both cases, the people have rewarded the terrorist groups handsomely. The Lebanese government gave Hezbollah autonomy in the south, as well as political power. The Palestinians elected Hamas to form their legislative branch.

So all in all the withdrawals resulted in both cases:

-Two terrorist groups who were still armed and at large.
-Hamas and Hezbollah receiving the gratitude and respect of the people.
-Isolation of the Arab Moderates.
-More power and determination given to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Other countries should take note of what has happened here and notice how this ties to their battles with terrorism. We now have proof first hand, that withdrawal always causes more havoc and destruction than the alternative.

Coming back tot he original point, the actions we see today are simply reminders to the Israelis of their mistakes. Mistakes that have come back to haunt them in a brutal way against a brutal enemy. Just like the next door neighbor who made the mistake of keeping his garage door open at night, or the brother who walked right into a crime-ridden neighborhood, Israel's decision to show weakness at a time it should have shown strength, is one mistake they are paying for dearly today.

Update: Mideast Bloggers speak out:

Beirut Spring:

Hezbollah is trying to fool us. It wants us to believe that it’s offering Israel a fair deal. We are being bluffed to relax, to conclude that Israel will eventually do “the right thing”; because -and here goes the bluff aimed at Israel- we have “Surprises” hidden up our sleeves. (…)
By unilaterally provoking the trigger-happy Israelis yesterday, Hezbollah is squarely to blame for the Lebanese lives wasted, the infrastructure destroyed, the inconvenience caused to millions because of the stalled airport, and the unearned millions of dollars in tourist revenues (with the resulting unemployment and immigration).

Rambling Hal

There are so many outside forces that are constantly working against the happiness of multitudes. I want to slap the members of every single Middle Eastern government - and especially the heads of these allegedly 'democratic' parliaments and governments we adhere to coz we have no other choise - I want to slap them silly with a cheap flip flop and tell them to get the hell out of our lives.

I also want to slap religious fanatics that think they have the right to call violence and murder and terrorism by Islam. Them I don't want to just slap. I want to do other things to them instead. But I won't go into that now. I'll try and curb my violent tendencies. It's too early in the day for blood.

2:48 AM: (No, really that's the name of the blog)

With these current attacks you would think the government would wake up and realize that its time to distance themselves from Hezbollah and let the whole world know that the Lebanese people are against Hezbollah and against their actions. But, of course that didn’t happen, the Lebanese government is calling all parties to be united against Israel. What a load of political crap, they are going to make things a lot worst for everyone.”

itoot has more roundup of reactions from mideast bloggers.

Cherniak tries to BS his way out of his own stupidity.

2006-07-05T21:43:00.000-04:00

Unlike many in the Canadian Blogspehere, I'm not of those who tend to view Jason Cherniak as either intelligent or a good political spinster. Heck, I don't even have respect for the guy. Having read some of his posts during the last federal election, and listening to him regularly on the Bloggers Hotstove, I knew that in the political world, Jason Cherniak is as bad of a Hack as they come. I'm not going to mince words, he strikes me as snobbish, arrogant, clueless, there's a whiff of elitism whenever he describes his political future, and is someone who takes party affiliations very seriously. I mean if the entire Liberal caucus grabbed a bunch of AK-47's and started a rampage across Toronto, I can guarantee you that Jason would be spinning it into a version of how those MP's have been driven to madness by the actions of Stephen Harper, and should anyone bear the responsibility for the murders, its the PM himself.

Anyway, after his latest post regarding the Muslim Community and Omar Alghabra, we can also add incompetence and soft bigotry into the whole mix.

He begins:

For those who do not know the background, when I was on the Coren show I tried to argue that Muslims will not vote Conservative because if you consider the manner in which many Conservatives talk about Omar, you will realize that they are not exactly open to the Muslim community.

(emphasis mine)

Right off the bat, Jason surprises us all with his remarkable skills of Telepathy and Divination in stating that Muslims in Canada will simply be turned off to voting Conservative simply because of the manner in which Conservatives have raised the alarm over one Muslim's scary past and statements.

Now right away, this raises a flag. What the hell does Jason know about the Muslim community? So far the only thing he demonstrated in knowledge is that he believes Muslims in Canada all think alike and interpret any action in the same manner. Whether they are male or female, Arab or non-Arab, Pakistani or Moroccan, rich or poor, landed immigrant or naturalized, all Muslims are the same. Apparently to Jason we are unable of exercising independent thought, and interpret events and words in a different manner he does.

Among the many things we have learned in grade school when discussing prejudice and racism, is that to never group any minority group into one big "groupthink". Not all Muslims think alike, Not all Blacks think alike and not all whites think alike. The reason why we were taught in that manner is to never paint an entire ethnic group with one brush. But there he is, labeling us all into one groupthink
and dictating our voting patterns for us.

But it doesn't really end there for out Star liberal blogger.

"because if you consider the manner in which many Conservatives talk about Omar, you will realize that they are not exactly open to the Muslim community."

In these 20 words or so, Jason exemplifies more bigotry and stupidity at the same time. Take note of the logic: The manner in which many Conservatives talk about an MP who:

-Is a member and speaker for a student group which calls for divestment from Israel and has circulated anti-Semitic conspiracies in their literature. The group has also incited a riot on September of 2002 in which many anti-Semitic attacks occurred.
-Is involved with an organization that's under investigation for terrorist funding.
- Does not consider Hamas or Islamic Jihad to be terrorist groups and strongly lobbied the Federal government against criminalizing them.
-Does not believe in mixture of religion and politics. But is all for the implementation of Sharia.
-Constantly attacks law enforcement of racism.

is according to Jason...brutal. And this alone signifies that Conservatives are not "open" to the Islamic community. Now if Cherniak believes that Omar Alghabra is the true representation of the Islamic community when all those points are considered, then Jason himself is the true bigot who mislabels the Muslim community. To this liberal, an attack on Omar Alghabra is simply an attack on his religion and nothing else.

Since 9/11, we have constantly heard from political, religious and social leaders to not group or label an the entire Muslim community of being from one mindset. Perhaps the real person who should remember that and take it to heart is none other than Jason Cherniak.

WOW…From a self-described Liberal nonetheless.

2006-06-10T07:24:00.000-04:00

To the people who reacted angrily when I suggested that its actually the left that has demonstrated more bigotry and racism against middle easterners since 9/11, get a load of this guy who left this message on my previous post:

We need to decrease immigration from the Arab countries. That's the best way.

Heh. And I thought that Liberals were supposed to be the "enlightened" ones compared to us "xenophobic" and "racist" Tories.

But truth for the matter is such a decision would likely bring in more radicalization within the Muslim community in Canada and would not help Canada's message abroad of trying to help, not strangle, Arabs and Muslims in achieving a more secure and democratic life.

The best way to wipe out the threat of terrorists from Muslim Extremists is to change the very conditions in the Middle East that help breed their kind of philosophy. And there's no other way of achieving that other than a radical overhaul in the status-quo in the Middle East. That means pressure on the totalitarian leaders who who's interest it is to keep things the way they are in that region.
Contrary to what many people want you to believe that's easier said than done. It's not a problem that can be fixed in 5 or 10 short years, it might take a generation or more for the Middle East to finally rid itself of its self-destructing virus that's taking that region to the gutter. It’s a non-traditional war, a war that has to be won not only on the battle fields of Afghanistan or Iraq or even Palestine but in the minds of Muslims worldwide.

And winning the hearts and minds of people in the region doesn't just mean things like Foreign Aid, but rather a message. A message which states that the fundamentalist ideology held by some Muslims in the world cannot a widely accepted belief for the two-world to peacefully co-exist. That doesn't mean appeasing the hardliners by withdrawing from Afghanistan or Iraq, or cowering to the threats of the Iranian President.

An action like this tends to strengthen the resolve and dedication of the Jihadi fighters. To give you an example, I remember clearly a few days after the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon in 2000 listening to the Friday Sermon in my mosque.

What do you think the sermon was about? You think after Israel withdrew from its fighting from Lebanon the Imam's message was "The Jews have sent us an Olive Branch! Let’s put down our weapons and negotiate a proper way for co-existence among our people"? No effin way! It was very much "Jihad Works!! On to Jerusalem!"

And that's where were stuck, we either carry on fighting in those hotspots, ridding as much Jihadists as we can along the way, while helping democratic and enlightened reform to take hold that will help diminish the amount of future Jihadis taking shape WHILE taking losses. OR…we can withdraw, strengthen their resolve and deal with a much worse and dedicated Islamist threat 5 or 10 years down the line.

The choice is that clear.

I can't seem to get away from these people

2006-06-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

Not in Saudi, not in the UAE, not in Jordan, and not even in Canada:

In a sweeping raid, police arrested at least a dozen men in the Toronto area on terrorism-related charges Friday night, the RCMP announced.
Intelligence sources allege the men were part of a terrorist cell, close to carrying out attacks on one or more Canadian targets.
Police seized chemicals used to make explosives and weapons.
"That's the tool of choice for anybody who wants to cause damage," a source who asked not to be named told The Canadian Press.
The suspects are either second-generation Canadians or recently immigrated to Canada with their families.
Sources claimed the men have no connection to al Qaeda, but were allegedly inspired by militant Islamic groups.
The arrests were made in co-operation with the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, Cpl. Michele Paradis, a spokeswoman for the RCMP said in a release.
The operation involved at least four police forces, CSIS and the RCMP.
Undercover officers made the arrests, which were all carried out in the Greater Toronto Area.
"The investigation is ongoing," Paradis said Friday night.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper was made aware of the raid but did not comment. A spokesperson said Harper did not want to impede the operation as it unfolds.
The arrested suspects were reportedly being held in a police station in Pickering, a northeast suburb of Toronto.
Heavily-armed police officers kept guard outside the building Friday.
According to The Toronto Star, CSIS has monitored the suspects since 2004, while the RCMP began its investigation last year.
Sources discounted earlier reports that the CN Tower and the city's subway system were allegedly potential targets by the group.

Stephen Taylor has the names of those arrested:

Arrested and charged with offences under the Criminal Code of Canada are:

1. Fahim Ahmad, 21, of Robinstone Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
2. Zakaria Amara, 20, of Periwinkle Crescent, Mississauga, Ontario;
3. Asad Ansari, 21, of Rosehurst Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
4. Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, of Lowville Heights, Mississauga, Ontario;
5. Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, of Montevideo Road, Mississauga, Ontario;
6. Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ontario;
7. Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston, Ontario;
8. Jahmaal James, 23, of Trudelle Street, Toronto, Ontario;
9. Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, of Stonehill Court, Toronto, Ontario;
10. Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, of Treverton Drive, Toronto, Ontario;
11. Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, of Robin Drive, Mississauga, Ontario;
12. Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario

Along with a bone-chilling poem by one of the alleged terrorists Zakaria Amara:

Soon I'll return to my lord , the one that deserves every grace
Oh you don't have to worry cause of me you'll find no traceIt really is to late, why did you wait?
You could have sent me at least one dinner plate
I guess it is my fate
And La Ilaha Illa Allah is my mate. (translation: "I shall worship no God but Allah". This is usually the verse suicide bombers yell out before detonating their bombs).

(developing)

Europe’s new found immigration rational too-little too-late.

2006-06-02T01:54:00.000-04:00

I freakin love the Sandmonkey’s response to the Austrian Interior Minister’s comment on how Muslim immigrants to Europe are “unintegratable” after years and years of Multi Culti worship excercised by his country.

Check it out:

Dude, you can't call them unintegratable when you never tried to integrate them. They are not assimilated because you never tried to assimilate them in the freakin first place. You felt guilty about being european and having different cultural values, so you told them they can have their own ghettos, their own schools and patted yourself on the back for your enlightend toelrant views. Now look where it got you! And what do u do? Do you attempt to fix the problem the right way? By forcing assimilation? By ending your stupid multiculturalism policy? Nooo. You just want to get rid of those who proved that it failed. Yeah, get rid of the evidence that there is a problem. Much easier than fixing it!

Fu*k yeah!

To Canadian readers:
Do the bold lines remind you of anyone?

This explains things a bit

2006-06-02T01:50:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder why those on the left become a bunch of pricks when debated?

Leftism, and liberalism, and progressivism, and etc-ism. are not merely simple politics for most of these people. Their politics to them are a core part of their identity, and, more importantly, a central support propping up their egos. They are enlightened because they believe these things; someone who does not believe these things, and yet who, superficially at least, appears to be about as smart as they might be, represents a threat to their egos. The foundation upon which a crucial structure of their sense of self-worth is undermined if they discover that there may be people who can pass as normal and intelligent and yet do not believe as they do.
If one is smart, then one believes in progressivism.
If one believes in progressivism, then one is smart.
Those are the two assumptions that prop up their sense of self worth, and they are refuted by examples of smart people who don't believe in progressivism.
And because there is a great deal of personal psychological investment in progressivism, they react intemperately to rejections of it. It's not merely a tax cut that's being debated; it's they're very sense of importance that's being attacked. It's not merely gay marriage which is being argued against; it's their value as human beings that is being uncouthly denigrated.
This tends to make the left more emotional and, well, angry when debating issues. It's all well and good to discuss a purely theoretical issue. But when you have a strong emotional investment in it -- when you have skin in the game, as it were -- it becomes not an academic debate but a heated argument.

H/T Hugh Hewitt