IRIS Blog

Lawmakers Claim Numbers to Override Bush Veto on Port Deal

An Army of Davids, led by bloggers, has raised an outcry against this security nightmare via political correctness. Bush, who is nomally allergic to the use of the veto, is threatening an exception in this case to defeat what he is hinting to be racism. The blogosphere, however, has revealed that the UAE government itself, which owns the ports company, is a financier of the ideological jihad. They are not professional business partners who should be treated with "fairness." Like the rest of the Muslim world, they are largely a combination of openly jihadi Muslims, "moderate" Muslims who do not yet believe the time is ripe for the future jihad that they dream of, and those paralyzed by fear.

Contrary to Bush's defense that the ownership of the port is irrelevant to security:

company officials would be briefed on security procedures and countermeasures that, if compromised, could allow foreign terrorists to get through various screening procedures....there is no cohesive hiring or screening process for port workers.

Michelle Malkin has an in-depth analysis of the issue.

Bush still hasn't learned the lesson of the Harriet Miers nomination. The president is a Goliath of power who has learned to adapt his actions to the Goliaths of the leftist elite such as the mainstream media. The left-wing elite loved the Miers nomination as yet another watered-down conservative Supreme Court pick. The Davids of the blogosphere quickly hurled some smooth stones that hit their mark before millions of dollars in Goliathian war chests had time to be spent in her defense.

We Davids have had enough of watered-down conservative Supreme Court nominations. And we have had enough of Homeland Security policies emasculated by political correctness, such as the ban on racial profiling on airplanes.

In my opinion, the title of this book, by a leading David, will prove to be among the most influential in history. The blogosphere is primarily led by Davids, people who are inspired to enter battles in which they do not have an "official" responsibility, in order to fight some neglected, glaring injustice. Here is the greatest example so far, a single graphic that largely undid a dirty trick by the leading MSM Goliath on the eve of the last presidential election. The "Army of Davids" title will cause an enormous penny to drop among the great majority of unsung bloggers. The Internet, which permits Davids to work together, has enabled us to start bringing down evil, primarily by exposing the falsehood upon which it depends. This title so perfectly articulates this new force and counteracts our self-doubt due to a dearth of positive feedback. With this confident reframing of our self-concept, we are unstoppable as an allied force.

Updates:

Mar. 14: Analysis Confirmed: Dubai Port Pullout a Fraud

Mar. 9: Dubai Port Capitulation Likely Fraudulent

Feb: 28: Dubai Ports Firm Enforces Boycott of Israel

Feb. 27: UAE Confiscates Textbooks at American School
For portraying Israel too positively

Feb. 25: UAE Harbors Terror Organizations
Such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, on the US terror list.

Feb. 25: There Are 5 Year Old Working Slaves In UAE

Feb. 24: Did UAE Save Bin Laden?
The 9/11 commission strongly suggests that Richard Clarke made a call to a high-ranking UAE official which was transmitted to Afghanistan that saved bin Laden from a U.S. missile strike

Feb. 24: Welcoming Terror to US Ports
The UAE has been a major supporter of Hamas

Feb. 23: UAE to Run US Military Ports?
Credit bloggers for moving this story forward. This article, on the other hand, is what has replaced investigative journalism in the MSM: No Risk to US from Arab Port Takeover-Experts

Feb. 22: UAE Think Tank Founder Hails Mothers of Suicide Bombers

Here is a sample of today's news regarding Israel's long-running daily rocket barrage:

Palestinian Rocket Hits Israeli Kibbutz

IDF Finds Kassam in West Bank (Maariv-Hebrew):

Based on intelligence information from the Shin Bet, Israel Defense Forces troops uncovered a tunnel concealing a 40 kg. Kassam rocket near Kabatiya, close in Jenin in the West Bank.

Yaalon: "We've Gotten Use to Palestinian Rockets As If It Was Rain" (Maariv-Hebrew):

[Ex-Chief of Staff] Yaalon suggested that Israel take steps to cause the other side to face the dilemma of deciding whether or not it is worthwhile to continue firing rockets at Israel. He added, "The paradigm that there is a solution involving two states for two peoples is no longer relevant."

Israel is taking John Kerry's approach to terror, as expressed in the last election. This is not accidental--Israel's leadership also comes from the ideological left. As in many areas, Israel is not significantly different from the rest of the world, just ahead of the curve in terms of timing because of our location on the front lines of the Global Jihad. Most obviously, the aggressive Muslim intifada now sweeping the world is precisely what we have been fighting.

1. Try to keep it at the "annoyance level."
Currently the missiles are considered "annoyances." They rarely cause serious injury to people or buildings, and appear to be only slowly making their way toward the population center of the country. People in the outlying areas where rockets are a nightly nightmare have the option of moving out if the pressure becomes too much to bear, and most do not. The lesson here is that terror can become managed and even routinized like any constant danger and that former outrages can regularly pass without comment by the political leadership. Psychologically, people largely adapt by living in a state of denial, thinking that the rockets won't ever reach "me" or that the constant incitement to genocide is "just bluster" or that if they ever attack beyond the "annoyance" level, we will devastate them with our "superior" military might.

This incrementalism has been a long-term strategy of the Global Jihad, with the operant metaphor being the frog that passively accepts being boiled because the heat in its water was continuously raised slowly. According to the commonly told story, if the water was heated suddenly the frog would take action and jump out.

Israel has been relatively successfully keeping the rocket attacks at an "annoyance" level by playing a pretty good game of defense--rooting out bomb factories and missiles, harrassing missile crews, etc. It does not change the fact, however, that we are under daily attack with the widespread support of Muslims and their leaders and that any non-leftist leadership would consider this an obvious act of war. It reminds me of the Steven Wright joke about the "acceptable number of rat hairs" quality standard that the US government allegedly imposes on food. He quips that his personal standard is zero.

2. Treat it as law-enforcement, not war.
The media has been focused on the issue of whether Israel would cut off payments to the PA now that the terror mask is so undeniably off. To be technically accurate, it is undeniable to anyone to the right of Jimmy Carter. This attention has obscured the fact that Israel recognized that the PA was really a Terror Authority long ago. Prime Minister Sharon himself said the "Palestinian leadership continues to support, fund, and initiate terror."

Israel has been treating the problem of rocket attacks and terror attacks as specific incidents of law enforcement, by trying to stop the attackers, slow them down by destroying their "infrastructure," target them in the act, and always to try to arrest them if feasible. This is defense. Never has offense against the PA in general been seriously pursued. Never has the simple act of stopping providing them money been tried, including now (despite the disinformation to that effect).

Here is a must-read editorial in Jyllands-Posten, regarding the Danish dairy firm Arla and its deals with Arab countries:

Food Fair in Dubai: A man with a tight smile announces that Arla in no way ?supports? any cartoons in Jyllands-Posten.

What cartoons in Jyllands-Posten have to do with a food fair in Dubai can only be explained by the gallopping lunacy of the times, but for now that is not our focus.

A different kind of weird is: what does the man mean by ?support?? The statement, coming as it does from Arla, can only be about money. The matter at hand, we must deduce, is that Arla was thinking of sending us a check made out to some amount, but has now decided not to.

Thank you. To be blunt, it would be deeply insulting for us to receive any such ?support? from Arla. We still have to consider our dignity.

And that is not for sale. We do not crawl for oriental dictators and we wouldn?t dream of boycotting the democratic state of Israel in order to please some bloodthirsty dictatorship out of medieval times.

But Arla has no such scruples. It is more profitable to kowtow to dictatorships than to stand up for democracy.

Danish history has seen other examples of grubbing merchants who haven?t let democratic principles or even ordinary decency stand in the way of profits.

While the man from Arla is in Dubai talking about his lack of ?support? for the cartoons in Jyllands-Posten, the thugs of the dictators are busy desecrating national symbols and burning down embassies.

Arla doesn?t seem to mind.

Known madmen invade our TV sets, shrilly promising slavery to Danes, demanding that the Danish cartoonists be handed over to suffer torture and eventual death.

Arla becomes silent.

Moslems act as madmen over a cartoonist who - to their astonishment - portrayed the prophet with a bomb in his turban. Certainly not the most unnatural thought, considering the deeds that have been done in his name.

Arla is silent.

Plundering hordes scream that Islam is the Religion of Peace. Some of us say they have a funny way of showing it.

Arla stays silent.

We wouldn?t be as primitive as to suggest that Arla be boycotted.

But we are astonished.

Danish Companies Feel Cartoon Boycott Pain

Olmert Accused of Still More Shady Dealing

When Fear Cows the Media, a must-read by Jeff Jacoby
'A brutally candid editorial explained: ''Our primary reason," the editors confessed, is ''fear of retaliation from...bloodthirsty Islamists who seek to impose their will on those who do not believe as they do....Simply stated, we are being terrorized, and...could not in good conscience place the men and women who work at the Phoenix and its related companies in physical jeopardy.'

Former Chief of Staff: Gaza Disengagement Empowered Hamas
As emphasized repeatedly here. See this must-read for context: Hamas Victory Sparks Terrorist Activity

Nigerian Christians: Our Appeasement and MSM Silence is Killing Us
Update: Christians retaliate, so the MSM can report their identity

Bolton Hits Annan Over Sudan Talk
"Mr. Bolton signaled America's sense of urgency on Darfur when he elevated the issue to the top of the Security Council's agenda." Sudan is the leading victorious front in the Global Jihad. The genocide and mass rape is a harbinger for all non-Muslim countries. For context, see this must-read post

56% of Palestinians Support Suicide Bombings Against Israeli Civilians
This disproves the "they voted for Hamas despite their genocidal platform" mantra

IDF Uncovers Large Bomb Factory in Nablus
While Israel is still paying Palestinians, they are feverishly preparing more terror

Hamas: Ayatollah Will Have Major Role in Palestine

Russia Offers Hamas Emergency Aid

IDF Reserve Duty Colonel Reports He Too Was Beaten in Amona

Earlier I warned that The Sum of All Fears is Upon Us. This was no idle speculation--on a Hamas Web site, there is now an animated graphic of a Star of David being destroyed in a nuclear mushroom cloud.

The old rules are gone--the fear of mutually assured destruction does not work with a religion increasingly devoted to suicide martyrdom. As I have been repeatedly warning, the purpose of suicide bombings has primarily been to increase public support for the mass Muslim WMD death that Muslims have been planning.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Olmert and his Kadima party have announced that they are no longer paying the PA now that it is being run by Hamas. This admittedly temporary decision was made in the end of an election campaign in which the Israeli public clearly clearly favors the move. While this would be an obviously insufficient response to the genocidal enemy's attacks, it is more of the constant disinformation since Oslo.

The announcement is false, however, for several reasons:

1) Israel is still providing massive aid to the Palestinians in the form of services that are never paid for, such as electricity, fuel, water, medical treatment, as well as systemic theft from Israel on a mass scale, including open counterfeiting operations.

2) Money for the Palestinian Authority is still being placed in escrow, meaning that the funds are being paid by Israel, not available to Israel in the future, and are legally intended for use by the Palestinian Authority. If a company pays money into a retirement fund for a worker for access at a future time, that is still considered an employee asset. There are many scenarios in which the Palestinians may access the funds. Here are some: "humanitarian" purposes, Israeli court order, international court order, American pressure and "carrots" for various insincere public expressions in English.

3) Regarding "humanitarian" payments, Israel has announced that they will still be made despite the overwhelming evidence that these payments in the past have been stolen and used for terror. Because money is fungible and there is literally no reliable accounting in the PA, the idea of distinguishing funds is simply a charade.

4) The universally reported impending "bankruptcy" of the PA, a manufactured cover for Israel and the West to save face while continuing to transfer money, is itself a fraud. Not too long ago, the control of billions of dollars in PA funds was a major news story at the time of the death of Arafat. Of course, enormous funds were transferred to the PA, which still exist, along with massive sources of non-liquid assets that have been extensively documented. This fact, apparently, has been forgotten.

Update:

January 30, 2007: International Aid to Palestinians Up Since Hamas Win
This does not include the enormous sums in cash occasionally intercepted (and then quietly returned) snuck across the border

Jonathan Adiri articulates the charade developing, first described at IRIS:

The inauguration of the new Palestinian parliament signifies the official entrance of the Palestinian political system into the era of Hamastan. Attempts to strengthen Mahmoud Abbas as if there were no Hamas are a hopeless undertaking. The Palestinian political system forces the PA chairman to be aligned with the legislative council. Hamas will be able to forcefully veto any move it disagrees with. Thus any policy of strengthening Abbas ignores the fact that the center of gravity resides with Hamas, and Abbas will be no more than a middleman. Mahmoud Abbas has become Mahmoud Hamas.

The French police arrested late Thursday night most of the members of the gang that abducted, tortured and murdered Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Jew from Paris.

Hundreds of SWAT officers raided apartments in Bagneux and arrested 12 people. Another suspect was arrested in Belgium.

"They acted with indescribable cruelty," the judiciary police chief leading the investigation said. "They kept him naked and tied up for weeks. They cut him and in the end poured flammable liquid on him and set him alight."

While the citizens of France were shocked by the unbridled violence of the gang, Halimi's family claims that the murder was motivated by anti-Semitism.

"We think there is anti-Semitism in this affair," Rafi Halimi, Ilan's uncle, told the press.

"First, because the killers tried to kidnap at least two other Jews, and second, because of what they said on the phone," Rafi Halimi added. "When we said we didn't have 500,000 euros to give them they told us to go to the synagogue and get it," Rafi said. "They also recited verses from the Koran."

But the Paris public prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, told Parisian Jewish radio on Thursday that "no element of the current investigation could link this murder to an anti-Semitic declaration or action."

A third of Muslims in neighboring England believe Jews to be "legitimate targets" for violence. The French Intifada was additionally marked by significant anti-Semitic attacks. French Jews will continue their current trend and eventually flee. The sadistic violence, however, will not end.

Update: Police have released new details linking some of the suspects to Islamist groups. They have also confirmed that the targets were indeed all Jewish.

Hamas' victory in the PA elections has sparked a sharp increase in the number of security warnings, with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on Sunday reporting 76 - compared to around 50 two weeks ago.

A security official said the Hamas takeover of the PA has motivated Islamic Jihad to become the vanguard of the Palestinian struggle by escalating its terror activity.

This is crucial: Jihad victories catalyze jihad (and vice-versa). Islam never gave up on conquering the world. The loss of the Ottoman Empire simply caused jihad to be put on hold.

The Islamists' dispute with "mainstream" Islam is primarily pragmatic, not moral. Islamists are trying to convince Muslims that the West is a paper tiger that is strong on paper, but unwilling to use its military might even against the most outrageous of affronts.

Any Islamist victories or concessions in the face of Islamist aggression will encourage a multiplication of assaults. While it would be comforting to believe that a solution is readily available, Westerners will not be willing to respond forcefully before hundreds of thousands or millions are dead in a WMD attack. Countless numbers could be saved with forceful Western responses before it is too late. If so, the majority of Muslims would continue to believe in jihad as a pillar of faith and fantasize about savage world conquest as a distant dream.

Accused Holocaust Denier Pleads Guilty
No word yet on whether Holocaust denier Abbas (or the majority of the Muslim World for that matter) will receive any negative consequences

Palestinian Mortars Discovered Near Jerusalem
As predicted on IRIS, all of Israel is falling under the threat of rockets

Syrian Linked to Al-Qaeda Describes Plan to Attack Israeli Cruise Ship in Turkey

The New Antisemitism, by Bernard Lewis

America Freezes Funds of Organization Suspected of Hamas Ties

After Hamas' rise to power, Fatah and its "military offshoot," the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, will become the most active Palestinian terror group, senior Brigades leader Abu Nasser said in an interview.

He said Abbas' party supports the Brigades' terror attacks against Israeli civilians and approves of a massive violent offensive he warned will soon be launched against the Jewish state, in part to revolt against Hamas.

He said the Brigades will not respect any cease-fire agreed to by Hamas.

Other terror leaders said terrorism against Israel must be stepped up "to prove we are chasing out the Israelis [from the West Bank], like we did in Gaza."

Abu Oudai, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader responsible for coordinating its rocket network in the West Bank, warned his organization is preparing a rocket war against Israel:

"I don't need to tell you that the aerial distance from Jenin to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and other cities is not great."

Abu Abir, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, boasted his group transported missiles to the West Bank and warned Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will eventually be bombarded by rockets.

Olmert and Kadima have chosen the strategy of strengthening Fatah against Hamas. Fatah has always been a terrorist organization. They were just slightly less explicit. Now there is no question whatsoever.

New Islamist Alliance Alters Mideast Dynamic
A major factor in our complacency has been the deep belief that Islamists would end up fighting each other. The opposite is true

Wahhabi Schools Mushrooming in Bulgaria

Iran Receives Fatwa to Use Nuclear Weapons
Despite repeated insistence they are "against Muslim Law"

Kassams at Ashkelon Pose Grave Threat
"Power plant hit could devastate infrastructure." Folks, rockets are falling on Israel daily. That is all one needs to know, not specifically where they are striking

Fatah-Hamas Power Struggle Looms
More media participation in the developing charade

Top-secret tapes of Saddam Hussein capture him talking with his son-in-law in the 1990s about how well Iraq hid its weapons of mass destruction.

The tapes also reveal Saddam's top deputy telling him how easy it would be to create a biological weapon, "drop it into a water tower and kill 100,000."

The Iraqi dictator is also heard predicting a terrorist attack on the United States with weapons of mass destruction - but says Iraq won't be responsible.

The disclosures, aired by ABC News, come from 12 hours of tape recordings of Saddam and his top aides provided by a former member of a UN inspection team.

In one of the tapes, Hussein Kamel, in charge of Iraq's heavily guarded WMD effort, is heard boasting how he misled UN weapons inspectors about the size of Iraq's biological weapons program.

"We did not reveal all that we have," Kamel said in the 1995 tape.

See also: Strong Evidence There Were WMDs in Iraq

Eight days ago, I pointed out that it appears that a fraud is developing in which Abbas will serve as a figurehead on top of the Hamas regime to provide moral cover to those states who wish to engage in business as usual, including the sending of money. In this story, Kadima leader Livni is now beginning to express those same concerns, which she terms as "acting according to its charter." That means working legally and openly to pursue genocidal terrorism with all of its resources. Of particular interest are weapons of mass destruction, which is quite relevant now given the regular Iranian threats for nuclear genocide while the world does nothing. Hamas is working with Iran.

Unfortunately Livni, like the rest of Kadima, has demonstrated no wisdom. At this moment, the world is shocked. The heirs to the Nazis have returned. Any reasonable Westerner would therefore sympathize with Israel's bold self-defense now against the possibility of some future nuclear genocide. Hamas has made the mistake of speaking honestly about its purely aggressive motives to conquer Israel and the world. Once the Palestinians revert to the familiar public good cop/private bad cop deception, the West will be much less likely to support Israel's survival. Far more lives will likely be lost at that point. The questions are only who reaps the first-mover advantage and when it will happen.