Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I am getting really tried of reading this story, over and over and over again:
France and Germany have called for more cooperation from Iraq with UN weapons inspectors. French President Jacques Chirac said Baghdad should do more but he emphasised that U.N. arms inspections were “still the way to go”, Chirac said during a trip to Algiers.
Blah, blah, blah…
FWIW, I still don’t see why it is such a big deal to recite “Under God” when you announce the pledge of allegiance. If you don’t believe God (whatever God that is or isn’t), just don’t say it. Likewise, if you do believe in God, and the phrase is not included, just say it- civil disobedience. Don’t the courts have better things to do?
At any rate, at least this gives the left a new way to be patriotic- now they can avoid saying the pledge of allegiance, and remember, dissent is patriotic!
The fall-out from the Turkish vote to not allow American troops base there for any war with Iraq included a substantial hit to the Turkish market.
Does anyone have any decent information on the Turkish economy?
Is it Just me, or does the terrorist mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed look eerily familiar?
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Ron Jeremy
*** Update ***
Apparently, a bunch of people thought the same thing at the same time- Check out Richard Bennet’s post, which he put up at 10:12 Pm West Coast time. Amusing.
*** Update #2 ***
Jeebus. Oliver tracked down a bunch more of us pervs who made the connection.
The ragtag collectioon of nitwits that deployed themselves to Iraq to act as human shields seem to be coming to their senses:
A dozen peace activists who went to Iraq to serve as human shields in the event of war returned home amid fears for their safety, a spokesman said Sunday.
One wonders if they ever looked up the word shield– the whole point of them going was for them to take the blow- not to stop anyone from attacking military targets. It was such a stupid concept that it was widely ridiculed, because there was absolutely no point to it, and in the end, all they were doing was aiding and abetting a tyrant.
This about sums it up:
The eccentric, eclectic group, none of whom fitted the “peacenik” stereotype, may have been drawn from all ages, backgrounds and experience, but they all shared one trait: naivety. Beset by problems on the road, lack of sufficient funds or a clear, universally-shared agenda, most had been tested beyond their limits before they even arrived in Iraq.
Their entire mission was to soak up bombs and bullets, so I am not sure how they did not have a ‘universally shared agenda.’
Bruce, a 24-year-old Canadian wearing a T-shirt saying “I don’t want to die”, was one of a group of tanned young men who were drafted into protect a grain store. Initially, he, like others, had concerns about the sites, which included an oil refinery, a water purification plant and electricity stations. He was won over when the Iraqis provided televisions, VCRs, telephones and a Play Station.
“Dr Hashimi has explained that we help the population more by staying in the ‘strategic sites’,” he explained. His friend added: “We play football in the afternoons and the Iraqis bring us cartons of cigarettes. It’s just like summer camp.”
My head hurts. If there are any more of these nitwits in Baghdad when we finally attack, I am going to suggest targeting them. They have earned it.
Nothing discredits the extreme anti-war left like, well, the extreme anti-war left.
All right libs, using your most condescending voice, one last time, in unison:
“What about the War on Terror?”
“Where is Osama?”
“We can’t handle Iraq while Osama is still out there.”
“Iraq is distracting us from the perpetrators of 9/11.”
Got it out of your system? Yeah, yeah, yeah, protesting is patriotic, blah, blah, blah (Why is obnoxious dissent the only patriotic act the fringe left enjoys engaging in?). Howard Dean, you obnoxious suckhole, what is your message going to be now?
Go read this and shut up for an hour, at least:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, was arrested Saturday in Pakistan, a senior Pakistan government source told The Associated Press.
Mohammed, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list, was among three people arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the official said.
U.S. officials regard Mohammed as a key al-Qaida lieutenant and organizer of the terror mission that sent hijacked passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field, killing more than 3,000 people.
Mohammed, 37, has not been charged in the Sept. 11 attacks, but he has been charged in a 1995 terror plot. He is one of the FBI’s most-wanted terror suspects, and the U.S. government is offering up to $25 million for information leading to his capture.
I guess we aren’t distracted now, are we.
*** Update ***
How is the loony left going to react? They simply won’t mention Mohammed’s arrest. Not one peep from Atrios– you know we can’t say anything good about this administration now, don’t you…
From Maxspeak:
Declarations of war should require some kind of super-majority in Congress. At the least, the nation’s leaders should appreciate the need for deep public support for any sort of drastic action. Deep divisions combined with the new dangers to national security that will result from the war are an especially bad mixture, from the standpoint of preserving basic rights. In their wisdom, the Founders gave us a Constitution that stipulates that Congress must vote to declare war.
Congress did vote on this issue, as Daschle affirmed again just the other day in an interview. The record of the vote was 296-133 in the House, and 77-23 in the Senate. A super-majority is defined, at least when I got my political science degree, as 2/3 of the chamber. I will let you go ahead and do the math, since Max apparently can’t.