Pact lifts threat of border fence from UT-Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE — A federal court agreement reached Thursday with the Department of Homeland Security removes the threat of an 18-foot fence splitting the campus of the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College.

Instead, the federal agency agreed to accept the bolstering of an existing fence along the university perimeter and use the site to test and study technological alternatives to a physical barrier to curb illegal immigration. ....

Lawyers for property owners said there were all sorts of issues to sort out, ranging from having to move water wells on the fence path to recouping lost revenue from white wing dove hunts.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid attorney Robert Doggett said there was still an issue of whether Congress called for a fence "along the border," meaning it couldn't go on places a quarter-mile inland. The actual U.S.-Mexico border is the middle of the Rio Grande. ....

Therapist says Bruce Ivins was planning to kill

WASHINGTON -- Bruce E. Ivins, the chief suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, was a "sociopathic, homicidal killer" who planned to kill his co-workers "because he was about to be indicted on capital murder charges," a Maryland court was warned shortly before Ivins committed suicide last week.

Jean Carol Duley, a psychotherapist who had treated Ivins for six months, told the court July 24 that the microbiologist had purchased a bulletproof vest and gun and boasted of roaming the streets hoping to stab someone.

Ivins claimed during therapy sessions that he had "attempted to murder several people" using poison, as long ago as 2000, Duley said in an audio recording of the hearing.

Case against bin Laden driver goes to jury

The jury in the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II began deliberating Monday at Guantanamo Bay, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Al Qaeda now recruiting, deploying female militants across Europe

European intelligence chiefs have reportedly decided to explore and understand a new strategy by al-Qaeda to recruit and deploy female militants within the European Union. The Daily Times quoted a London Observer report as saying that these female recruits were being used for a wide range of activities, including running logistics and propaganda activities to undertaking suicide bombing missions. ....

This is now of a much greater scale than we have ever seen before. The problem is differentiating who is just fundraising or running websites, who is recruiting and who is a potential bomber," said one French intelligence specialist. ...
"The issue is a very high priority," one EU official said.

In Iraq, United States intelligence officers say that militants are marrying women then allowing them to be raped in the knowledge that the subsequent dishonour and rejection will make them easier to groom as bombers. The officers have also noted a strong incidence of women who have had relatives, civilians or militants, killed in the fighting turning to violence.

According to the source, militants "seek to recruit women with a brother, father or son already with the extremist groups".

Pentagon closes controversial intelligence unit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Monday said it was closing a controversial intelligence office that had raised concerns about domestic spying by the military after the September 11 attacks.

The Defense Department said it had "disestablished" the Counterintelligence Field Activity office, or CIFA, created in February 2002 by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to manage defense and armed service efforts against intelligence threats from foreign powers and groups such as al Qaeda.

Those responsibilities will now be carried out by a new organization called the Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center, overseen by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency. ...

U.S. extends Mexico truck program despite objections

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday extended a test program allowing long-haul trucks from Mexico full access to U.S. highways for up to two years, despite pending legislation in Congress to shut it down.

"We intend this extension to reassure trucking companies that they will have sufficient time to realize a return on their investment, and we anticipate additional participation with this extra time," said John Hill, the Transportation Department's top trucking safety regulator.

Participation has been limited, regulators said, because of political wrangling about the program's future.

Organized labor, highway safety and consumer groups have fiercely opposed the initiative, which was permitted under NAFTA -- the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trucks from Mexico have historically been confined to U.S. border areas where they offload goods to be trucked by American companies.

Last year, regulators approved a one-year pilot program to allow a limited number of Mexican trucks full access to U.S. roads over congressional objections. American trucks were also allowed to operate in Mexico.

Ten U.S. carriers with 55 trucks and 27 Mexican carriers with 107 trucks have participated in the program as of July without incident, U.S. and Mexican officials said.

They also said vehicles participating in the program meet safety requirements. But officials from U.S.-based unions say disputed safety issues remain unresolved. ....

Terrorism Expert: Karen Hughes Gave Money to Bad Guys

By: Kenneth R. Timmerman

A longtime adviser and close confidant of President Bush funneled millions of dollars in U.S. government grants to radical Islamist organizations, many of whose leaders have been convicted or indicted in terrorism cases in the United States, respected terrorism expert Steven Emerson told Congress last week.

“When Ms. [Karen] Hughes was appointed as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, she set the tone to continue a disastrous policy of outreach with Islamist partners,” Emerson told the House International Relations Committee. ....

The North Virginia-based IIHT “is suspected of being a pivotal cog in the Muslim Brotherhood’s high command in America," according to federal law enforcement records newly released to Emerson’s Investigative Project on Terrorism under the Freedom of Information Act.

Many of the State Department grants championed by Hughes were conducted under the Citizen Exchange Program, but went to U.S.-based Islamist groups or their leaders to sponsor overseas speaking tours.

Since 2004, The State Department has provided $340,000 in taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC), co-chaired by Columbia University professor Rashid Khalili, who served as a spokesman for late Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat at a time when the PLO was still considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

The funding to PARC was “disturbing considering the radical, divisive positions of many of its leaders and the unbalanced views espoused by fellows of the organization,” who consistently blame Israel for violence in the Middle East but not once condemned Palestinian terrorism and extremism, Emerson said.

In addition to the grants to known Islamist organizations, Hughes brought Islamist leaders to Washington, D.C., and personally attended conferences held by anti-American organizations, Emerson said.

The outreach policy championed by Hughes “legitimizes Islamism to the world and sends mixed messages to our allies,” while “sending a terrible message to moderate Muslims who are thoroughly disenfranchised by the funding,” said Emerson.

Citing earlier warnings by Emerson and other experts, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on July 10, demanding that she instruct the State Department to cancel all outstanding grants to radical Islamist groups.

When Coburn learned last year that the State Department was funding radical Islamist entities, he requested a meeting with Goli Ameri, who at the time was the nominee to become the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, the bureau that issues and manages the grants.

“During the discussion of her nomination,” the senators wrote, “Ms. Ameri promised Senator Coburn that the State Department would stop funding these entities once she was confirmed.”

And yet, shortly after Ameri was confirmed, one of the groups cited by the senators and by Emerson for its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood announced that it had just received fresh funding from the State Departtment office that was now under Ameri’s control.

The new funding was awarded as a subgrant to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), “a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organization, [which] was an unindicted co-conspirator in last year’s terrorist financing trial against the Holy Land Foundation," Emerson told Congress.

Despite ISNA’s known ties to terrorist-related entities, Hughes attended the group’s 2005 national conference in Chicago, and “held private meetings with organization leaders and delegates, including representatives of the Muslim Students Association,” another “Muslim Brotherhood-linked group,” Emerson said.

A number of groups that the State Department has funded or collaborated with have links to entities such as al-Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah, all of which are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States government, Emerson revealed in his testimony.

“The question is: Why should the State Department spend U.S. taxpayer dollars to work with Islamists who actively oppose the foreign policy goals of the United States and subscribe to a supremacist, oppressive ideology?” Emerson said. ....

"I know there are many in our community so desperate for peace that they want us to sweep under the rug the pro-terrorism positions of some groups,” Sherman said. “There are groups in the Islamic world truly dedicated to peace, but we should not blind ourselves to the fact that some are not."

Did Brits miss chance to trace hostages?

LONDON -- Britain's MI6 intelligence service has been accused by the employers of a British IT consultant and his four-man security detail of failing to follow up on a "vital clue" that could have led to their rescue after they were captured from a meeting at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in Baghdad over a year ago ...

The five men -- who have become known as the "forgotten hostages" -- were grabbed by armed gunmen wearing police uniforms in May 2007 and driven towards the Shia enclave of Sadr City in the Baghdad suburb.

Little has been heard of them since. ...

But it has now emerged that in the weeks following their kidnap, Moore's cell phone still was being used -- the "vital clue" which could have revealed the captives' location, paving the way for an SAS rescue. The SAS has a unit on standby in Baghdad for such missions.

However, during a high level meeting at the Foreign Office doubt was cast as to whether any attempt had been made by MI6 to "pinpoint the mobile phone's location" using the ultra-sophisticated triangulation equipment which MI6 had installed in Iraq after the spate of kidnappings of Western hostages.

The details about the phone -- and the allegation about the failure to locate it -- were made by the employer of Moore's four security men, Garda World.

The company's delegation told David Richmond, the director general for defense and intelligence and the Foreign Office counter-intelligence chief, of their concerns.

The firm said it had examined the cell phone's itemized bill. It highlighted a large number of calls it had discovered, for which it was still paying large bills, charged to Peter Moore's account months after he had been kidnapped.

Some calls appeared to have been made as text messages to numbers Garda World claimed were known to be Shia strongholds in Iraq, while other calls were made to Iran.

GAO: Strengthen African Counter-Terrorism Effort

Federal agencies require better planning for combatting terrorism in Africa

The departments of Defense and State must improve their collaboration in a program designed to combat terrorism in Africa to effectively eliminate terrorist strongholds and to prevent the spread of extremist ideology, according to a report from congressional researchers published Friday.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership (TSCTP), concluding that the agencies involved must develop a comprehensive strategy and priorities for the program, settle disagreements as to when Defense personnel would report to State leaders in support of TSCTP, maintain steady distribution of the program's funds, and measure outcomes of the program based on its goals.

The US government established TSCTP in 2005, spending about $353 million in nine African countries. Almost three-quarters of those funds went to Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. The rest went to Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), an agency of the State Department, has led the investment effort. ...

Biodefense Labs, Bad for Our Health

By Noah Shachtman

Better late than never, I suppose. For the last five years, some of us have argued that the government's biodefense priorities are screwed up, massively. Research into largely theoretical bio threats has sucked up money from tackling real killers, like tuberculosis. In fact, the biggest threat may be from the proliferation of biodefense labs, packed with largely untrained staffs; an accident or a malicious insider was more likely to cause serious damage than nearly any bioterrorist.

In the meantime, we've seen biolab workers infected in Texas and Boston; disease-ridden mice escaped (twice), and a deadly flu strain accidentally shipped all over the country.

Today, The New York Times echoes what we've been saying. All it took was the suicide of Army biodefense scientist Dr. Bruce Ivins, a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks. "Has the unprecedented boom in biodefense research made the country less secure by multiplying the places and people with access to dangerous germs?" the paper of record asks.

More people in more places handling toxic agents create more opportunities for an accident or intentional misuse by an insider ...

There also is insufficient federal oversight of biodefense facilities to make sure the laboratories follow security rules and report accidents that might threaten lab workers or, in an extreme case, lead to a release that might endanger the public ...

In effect the government may be providing the tools that a would-be terrorist could use ...

... Apart from the threat from insiders, some public health experts believe money being used to study obscure pathogens that are not a major disease problem could be better directed to study known killers like influenza or AIDS.

"Partly in response to this criticism, government officials now often talk about how strengthening the systems necessary to respond to a terror attack would also prepare the country for a natural epidemic like avian flu," the paper notes. About time.

UPDATE: "Several years ago I would have pooh-poohed the idea that highly trained and vetted scientists would present such a risk," biochem blogger Bugs n Gas Gal says. "But for at least the last couple of years I’ve felt that the expansion of biodefense labs is related not to research need but to homeland defense money. If you build it they will come, and a couple of them might be frakking nuts. Do we not now have enough investment in the study of the most dangerous, but least likely threats?"

Under Attack: Fox News Cameraman Helps Rescue Marine Injured by IED

Video -- the FoxNews Cameraman -- "I went, grabbed the sergeant out of the shotgun seat, pulled him out."

POSITION PAPER: A path to citizenship

How the candidates view immigration reform, with analysis by the AJC editorial board

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/04/08

John McCain says

> "Border security" is his highest priority, and he supports more guards and high-tech surveillance.

He voted for the 2006 measure that adds 700 more miles of fence line between the U.S. and Mexico.

> Wants a path toward legalization for the estimated 12 million immigrants now in the country unlawfully. His plan, like Obama's, would require those applying for legal status to pay fines, clear criminal background checks and pay back taxes owed to federal and state authorities. It must also include a provision encouraging immigrants to learn English.

> Supports a greatly expanded guest worker program.

> Co-sponsored the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act of 2007, which would allow states to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students for public colleges and universities.

QUOTE: "What do you do with the 11 million people who are already here? Make them earn citizenship because they have broken our laws. My friends, that's not amnesty. Amnesty is forgiveness. We're not forgiving anything."

Barack Obama says

> Require those applying for legal status to pay fines, clear criminal background and medical checks and pay any back taxes. Would include a provision for learning English.

> Toughen penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

> Create a mandatory new system for verifying employment eligibility.

> Create a new guest worker program but require that immigrant workers be less dependent on employers to stay in the country.

> Grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

> Voted yes on a 2006 border security measure that adds 700 more miles of fence line between the U.S. and Mexico.

> Co-sponsored the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act of 2007, which would allow states to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students at public colleges.

QUOTE: "We've got 12 million undocumented workers who are

already here, many of them living their lives alongside other Americans. Their kids are going to school. . . . It's absolutely vital that we bring those families out of the shadows."

The Journal-Constitution says

> Both candidates offer sound, comprehensive approaches to dealing with illegal immigration. Their positions vary only in degrees of emphasis and essentially encompass the provisions of the failed Senate effort in 2007 to enact major changes in the nation's immigration policies.

> McCain, who had been one of the most reasoned voices in the Senate for years on the issue, has been pushed to the right by Republican hardliners in the House who were hypercritical of his efforts. In the race for the GOP nomination, his opponents also hammered him for his position on immigration. The result is that now he is more likely to emphasize the need for border security than to raise the issue of providing a path toward citizenship for those illegal immigrants already here. To his credit, he has not backed off on that basic requirement of comprehensive reform.

> Obama has not played a major role in immigration reform efforts in recent years, letting other Democrats, such as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), take the lead on the subject. But his votes have consistently been in support of comprehensive reform measures.

> The 2006 measure calling for building 700 miles of new fences between the U.S.-Mexico border that both Obama and McCain supported was political theater after House Republicans blocked more comprehensive reform. About half the illegal immigrants coming into the country cross the border legally with valid paperwork that eventually expires. The money spent on building new fences would be more effectively used tracking down these illegal immigrants quickly once their documents expire.

> The nation needs an expanded guest worker program, but Obama is correct in his concerns about linking such an expansion directly to employer sponsorship. The risk is that employers can exploit guest workers with lower wages than what they might pay native-born workers for the same job, or that it would create a permanent underclass of temporary workers.

> The DREAM Act, providing in-state tuition for illegal immigrant students who graduate from American high schools, rewards assimilation and hard work and ought to be enacted. The more education these students can get, the better off economically they and their families will be.

> Obama's wrong about granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. A license to drive is not a right, it is a privilege extended by the states. The 9/11 Commission, after in-depth study of the issue, recommended that states stop issuing driver's licenses to those in the country illegally. Plus, granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants complicates the identity-verification process.

POSITION PAPER: An occasional series on the issues driving the 2008 presidential campaign

(Female) Suicide Bombers

Last week four more Iraqi suicide bombers struck, leaving the mainstream media dumbfounded. Anchors from Atlanta to New York asked pundits: "What do you make of this?" "What could the motivation be?" "Who put them up to it?"

After five years of a war filled with attacks of this nature, you wouldn't expect the media to be so shocked and awed, but there was one critical factor that had the anchors stumbling: all four suicide bombers were female. ...

Al-Qaeda MIT scientist in custody in Afghanistan!

Think for a minute about the fact that someone linked to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad and other high-level jihadists was an MIT-trained neuroscientist. What is being done now to make sure that this sort of thing will not happen again? What can be done? Plenty -- but no one of influence is even discussing the issue.

"Pakistani scientist alive, in custody: FBI linked her to Al Qaeda in Hub," by Farah Stockman for the Boston Globe, August 3 (thanks to Miss Kelly):

WASHINGTON - Five years after her disappearance, an MIT-trained Pakistani neuroscientist accused of belonging to an Al Qaeda cell based in Boston, is alive and in custody in Afghanistan, her family's attorney said yesterday.

"It has been confirmed by the FBI that Aafia Siddiqui is alive," said Elaine Whitfield Sharp, a lawyer for Siddiqui's family, who said she spoke to an FBI official on Thursday. "She is injured but alive, and she is in Afghanistan."

The news sheds some light on one of the most intriguing local mysteries in the war on terrorism. ...

Fatah Terrorist Guided by Dolphin in Murder of Gail Rubin

Fatah Terrorists Who Participated in a 1978 Attack Commanded by Dalal Al-Maghrabi Claim They Were Guided by a Dolphin and Describe the Murder of US Journalist Gail Rubin

Gunmen flee violent siege dressed as women

AFFA, Israel – Hamas terrorists were in for a surprise yesterday when Palestinian gunmen from a rival group tried to escape a Hamas siege by dressing as women.

"The next war may well bury Western civilization forever"

He didn't envision the form it would take, but Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn knew what the stakes would be. And he said:

Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.

Think about that in the context of the Organization of the Islamic Conference's attempts to compel the UN to outlaw all criticism of Islam, and the international riots against the Muhammad cartoons that led up to these attempts. ...

MESSAGE MACHINE; Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand

...A few expressed regret for participating in what they regarded as an effort to dupe the American public with propaganda dressed as independent military analysis.

''It was them saying, 'We need to stick our hands up your back and move your mouth for you,' '' Robert S. Bevelacqua, a retired Green Beret and former Fox News analyst, said.

Kenneth Allard, a former NBC military analyst who has taught information warfare at the National Defense University, said the campaign amounted to a sophisticated information operation. ''This was a coherent, active policy,'' he said.

As conditions in Iraq deteriorated, Mr. Allard recalled, he saw a yawning gap between what analysts were told in private briefings and what subsequent inquiries and books later revealed.

''Night and day,'' Mr. Allard said, ''I felt we'd been hosed.''

The Pentagon defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information about the war. ''The intent and purpose of this is nothing other than an earnest attempt to inform the American people,'' Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

It was, Mr. Whitman added, ''a bit incredible'' to think retired military officers could be ''wound up'' and turned into ''puppets of the Defense Department.'' ...

Palestinians donate $29,500 to Obama

JERUSALEM – Palestinian brothers inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are listed in government election filings as having donated $29,521.54 to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign. The donations would violate election laws, including prohibitions on receiving donations from foreigners and guidelines against accepting more than $2,300 from one individual during a single election, Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission, ...

Spanish police discover al-Qaeda internet handbook

Madrid - Spanish police have discovered an internet handbook for al-Qaeda's European cells on the use of remote-controlled bombs against international troops in Lebanon and Afghanistan, the radio station Cadena Ser reported Monday.

The eight-page handbook dating from early July contained detailed instructions on how to stage non-suicide bombings using auto-piloted light aircraft and cars.

The instructions included three different ways to set off aircraft bombs by remote control.

It was the first time that police detected such detailed instructions for al-Qaeda cells, including advice on how to avoid being detected, Cadena Ser reported.

The methods were believed not to have been used in attacks so far.

Obama plans to grab oil company profits

Sen. Barack Obama announced today an "emergency economic plan" he wants enacted by this fall that would use oil profits to give every "middle-class" American family $1,000.

The full text of the plan is highlighted with subheads that read, "Take a Portion of the Windfall Profits from Big Oil and Put $1,000 in the Pockets of Working Families" and "Forcing big oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record breaking windfall profits and use it to help struggling families with direct relief."...

University researchers firebombed, animal rights activists blamed

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Firebombs were intentionally set on a porch and in a car belonging to two UC Santa Cruz researchers in separate incidents early Saturday in what police have classified as acts of domestic terrorism. ...

Professors and researchers at the University of California campuses at Berkeley and UCLA have also been targeted recently, including firebombs in Los Angeles. More recently in Berkeley, nine hooded protesters showed up in front of a toxicology professor's off-campus home, scrawling "killer" in chalk on the doorstep and shattering the window of the home, and a window in a neighbor's home who scattered the protesters with a garden hose. ...

Police prepare terror attack warning for restaurants and cinemas

Restaurants, cinemas and theatres will get police warnings to prepare for terrorist bombings amid fears of "mass casualty" attacks in British town centres.

OMB: Agencies Would Lie About IT Project Risk

Government Executive has three stories (here, here and here) regarding the congressionally described “Dismal State of Information Technology Planning in the Federal Government.” ...

Gitmo interrogators shift focus to prison activity

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — Interrogators at Guantanamo Bay are asking detainees primarily about activity inside the U.S. military prison, the mission commander said, revealing a shift in focus from the wider fight against terrorism.

The information gleaned from detainees is most important to preventing them from hurting themselves or attacking guards, said Navy Rear Adm. David Thomas, the top officer at the detention and interrogation center. ...

Qinetiq in talks to buy US intelligence adviser

Qinetiq, the UK defence technology group, is in talks to buy a privately held company that provides top-level advice to US intelligence services, in a move that will give it access to the heart of the lucrative US defence market.

The company is expected to confirm early this week that it is buying Dominion Technology Resources (DTRI) for about $100m. DTRI provides a range of consulting services and technology expertise to a number of government intelligence services and other classified customers.

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Unmanned aircraft deal signed - Jul-15

Investor test on Qinetiq stake sale - Jun-29

Qinetiq’s bomb disposal robot stars - May-28

Qinetiq begins to realise promise - May-28

Qinetiq purchases Australian groups - Jan-02

MPs berate team in Qinetiq deal - Dec-04

Under the proposal, DTRI’s founders are expected to remain with Qinetiq in an advisory role, enabling the British company to capitalise on their contacts among the US intelligence community. The American market is typically difficult to enter for foreign contractors. ...

Uncle Jay Explains ...

Helping small minds understand big news!

Click here to understand congressional recess -- pay particular attention to the red "X"s as they appear on the calendar. You will soon begin to understand ...

Click here for a fundamental understanding of how our government "works."

Some of our government "leaders" are talking about yet another economic stimulus, so you will want to click here to understand the fundamentals.


Everyone needs a break now and then from this really scary stuff.

Jihad One On One?

More on the grisly bus murder in Canada, where Vince Weiguang Li, a Chinese Muslim, stabbed Tim McLean 50 times and then cut his head off with a huge knife.

Li case could turn out to be much worse

* More grisly details emerge in Canadian bus murder

Canuckistan:

Western intelligence services have been warning us that terrorists may engage in individual terror acts (”personal jihad“) because due to increased anti-terror measures, the opportunities for pulling off another 9/11 or 7/7 in the West have become extremely limited. Their “leaders” therefore urge them to commit acts even at the “micro level”, i.e., even if it means killing a single individual only – provided the act instils and spreads fear and terror.

* Sheik yer’mami reported: Jihad in the strangest places: Aussies stabbed in Banff, Canuckistan Rocky Mountain Jihad: Bail denied in Banff stabbing

Well, according to a Chinese newspaper, it is reported, Vince Weiguang Li is, in fact, a Muslim (also see here). Some sources also report that Li was overheard screaming, “There can be only one.” This, however, has not been confirmed by any reliable sites or media yet.

Who knows what’s going on? A recent stabbing in Banff, Alberta, in which an Australian was attacked by Muslims, also showed all the signs of a “micro leveljihad“. Then, there was that one Muslim who recently tried to take a gun and ammunition on board a plane at Calgary airport, and the various IEDs found alongside the light-rail tracks in downtown Calgary.

All this thanks to Canada’s dysfunctional immigration system. No wonder the Americans are beginning to hate our guts more and more.

Have Our Leaders Lost Their Minds?

(Compiler's note: You'll want to read this entire article.)

I have two grandchildren, ages 5 and 7. If you're a parent or grandparent yourself, I challenge you not to think about a child you love when you read what I'm about to tell you.

I challenge you not to share my disgust with the barbarians who use the blood of innocents to further their political agendas.

And I challenge you not to share my contempt for the bureaucrats who think they can appease them.

For the governments that think their actions don't have consequences. ...

S.F. fund aids teen felons who are illegals

As San Francisco's juvenile justice system shielded young illegal immigrant felons from possible deportation, Mayor Gavin Newsom's office gave grants totaling more than $650,000 to nonprofit agencies to provide the underage offenders with free services - everything from immigration attorneys to housing assistance to "arts and cultural affirmation activities," city records show. ...

Foreign investor sharks circle U.S

"American companies are on sale," reporter Ben Steverman announced in Business Week last week. "Foreign buyers are circling, taking advantage of a weak U.S. dollar and a depressed stock market to snap up U.S. companies at discounted prices."

Steverman cited three recent high-visibility deals to prove his point:

• On July 13, Belgian brewer InBev acquired Anheuser-Bush, the owner of Budweiser and other well-known U.S. beers, for $52 billion. The deal prompted the Drudge Report to boast a headline proclaiming, "This Bud's for EU!"

• On July 21, Swiss biotech company Roche Holdings announced it would acquire the remaining shares of San Francisco-based biotech leader Genentech for $43.7 billion.

• On July 23, Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings revealed plans to buy U.S. insurer Philadelphia Consolidated Holdings for $4.39 billion.
  

Last week, Red Alert announced GE and Mubadala Development Corporation, an investment arm of the government of the oil-exporting nation Abu Dhabi, had reached an agreement in which the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund would become one of GE's "top ten institutional investors," through a strategy of buying shares on the open market.

As WND reported, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, with estimated assets of $500 billion, last year invested $7.5 billion for a 4.9 percent equity stake in Citibank.

A different investment group, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, announced earlier this month that it would buy a 90 percent in New York's historic Chrysler Building.

WND has reported a decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Affairs to quit publishing data on the amount of foreign investment in the United States.

This follows a decision in March 2006 by the Federal Reserve to stop publishing M3 data, a money-supply measure closely watched by economists.

The decision to quit publishing M3 data set the stage for the Federal Reserve to pump, without reporting as M3 data, some $500 billion into troubled banks and investment firms so far in 2008. It did this largely by holding rates low at a wide-open discount window and by a series of highly unusual multi-million dollar money auctions.

With the Commerce Department's decision to stop releasing data on foreign investment in the United States, many experts are concerned the Bush administration is setting the stage for an unprecedented amount of foreign investment to acquire U.S. corporate interests, high-visibility real estate and key infrastructure projects at discount prices, all without explicit summary data being reported in an easy-to-track manner.

Is the United States quietly being sold to foreign investors? Read more on Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by a best-selling author, WND staff writer and columnist.

WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE

Source: A friend

Barbara Walters of Television’s 20/20 did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.

From Miss Walter’s vantagepoint, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands, and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Miss Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, ‘Why do you mow seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?’ The woman looked Miss Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitations said, ‘ Land Mines.”

Moral of the story is… (no matter where you go) … behind every man, there's a smart woman!

Taliban-trained Muslims infiltrating Britain

In preparation for the jihad against Dar al-Harb. "UK faces threat from British Muslims returning from Afghan" from the Economic Times, August 3:

LONDON: The UK faces serious security threat from British Muslim extremists returning from Afghanistan after fighting alongside Taliban, a top British commander has said.
"There is a link between Kandahar and urban conurbations in the UK," said Brig. Ed Butler, who spent six months commanding British forces in Afghanistan.

"There are British passport holders, who live in the UK, being found in places like Kandahar," Brig Butler was quoted as saying by a daily newspaper.

The British commander said he had seen evidence that terror groups based in southern Afghanistan were plotting with Muslim extremists in Britain to carry out attacks in the UK. ....

Warning on al-Qaeda's new female recruits

European intelligence chiefs have launched a major investigation into the threat posed by female Islamic militants within the EU, whose involvement runs from logistics or propaganda activity to suicide bombing, they say.

'This phenomenon has not been really taken into account yet and we need to explore and understand it,' said one diplomatic official connected with the probe. 'It is a new strategy by al-Qaeda.'

The moves follow a spate of attacks in the Middle East conducted by women bombers and increasing concerns among European security services about increased radicalisation of female militants. The officials specifically cite the UK and North Africa as problem areas. ...

New Premises in Iraq

By Henry A. Kissinger

...Any appearance that radical Islamic forces were responsible for a U.S. defeat would have enormous destabilizing consequences far beyond the region. How and when to leave Iraq will therefore emerge as a principal decision for the new president.

...A strategic reserve can now be created by the United States out of some of the forces currently in Iraq, with some moving to other threatened areas and others returning to the United States. American deployment is transformed from abdication into part of a geopolitical design.

...Establishing a deadline is the surest way to undermine the hopeful prospects. It will encourage largely defeated internal groups to go underground until a world more congenial to their survival arises with the departure of American forces. Al-Qaeda will have a deadline against which to plan a full-scale resumption of operations. And it will give Iran an incentive to strengthen its supporters in the Shiite community for the period after the American withdrawal. Establishing a fixed deadline would also dissipate assets needed for the diplomatic endgame.

...The inherent contradictions of the proposed withdrawal schedule compound the difficulties. Under the fixed withdrawal scheme, combat troops are to be withdrawn, but sufficient forces would remain to protect the U.S. Embassy, fight a resumption of al-Qaeda and contribute to defense against outside intervention. But such tasks require combat, not support, forces, and the foreseeable controversy about the elusive distinction will distract from the overall diplomatic goal. Nor is withdrawal from Iraq necessary to free forces for operations in Afghanistan.

...In a positive gesture, leading advocates of a fixed deadline, including Sen. Barack Obama, have recently put forward the idea that both withdrawal and the residual force will be condition-based. But if that is the case, why establish a deadline at all? It would suggest shifting the debate to the conditions for withdrawal rather than its timing. These considerations explain Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's conduct on the occasion of Obama's visit to Iraq.

...The American presence in Iraq should not be presented as open-ended; this would not be supported by either Iraqi or American domestic opinion. But neither should it be put forward in terms of rigid deadlines. Striking this balance is a way for our country to come together as a constructive outcome emerges. Thirty years ago, Congress cut off aid to Vietnam and Cambodia two years after American troops had been withdrawn and local forces were still desperate to resist. Domestic divisions had overcome all other considerations. We must not repeat the tragedy that followed.

The next president has a great opportunity to stabilize Iraq and lay the basis for a decisive turn in the war against jihadist radicalism and for a more peaceful Middle East. Surely he will want to assess the situation on the ground before setting a strategy for his term. He should not be limited by rigid prescriptions to vindicate maxims of the past, no matter how plausible they once seemed. Withdrawal is a means; the end is a more peaceful and hopeful world.

The writer was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977.

Afghanistan: 5 year olds being recruited for jihad and "martyrdom"

Just when one thought al-Qaeda's jihadi recruiting prerequisites were set at age 15, now comes this. Wonder if suicidal bunnies, bees, or rats were used to recruit these children for the "great jihad"? "Child soldiers trained by the Taliban to kill British soldiers," by Nick Owens, for the Mirror, August 2:

CLUTCHING AK-47 rifles and marching to war... these chilling images (see the video player) show child soldiers on their way to fight British troops in Afghanistan.

The pictures come from a video filmed at an al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, where Taliban warlords are turning boys as young as FIVE into trained killers. Recorded only weeks ago, it captures a dozen nervous-looking boys in camouflage uniforms with headbands which say: There is no God but Allah. ...

Fast Forward for New Killer Drone?

BAE Systems' new Mantis killer drone may be on a fast track from technology demo straight to the battlefield. Even though the Predator-rival has yet to fly, it could be sent to Afghanistan in 2009, according to Flight International: ...

Muslim Woman Sues Oregon City For Private Swim Times

Lul Abdulle escaped from Somalia—she fled the country's civil war—and lived in Texas for 10 years before landing in the Northwest in 2003. Coming from a community of politically active Somalis in Texas.

Muslim Lul Abdulle is suing Portland for not providing private women-only swim times.
CBN News and Religion of Peace reported:

It's a growing conflict between Western society and Islamic culture in America. ...

Iraq: hundreds of al-Qaeda suspects arrested in recent raid

If accurate -- and, considering other reports indicate that jihadists have been fleeing Iraq for Afghanistan -- this may bode well for Iraq. "Iraq Nabs Hundreds of Al-Qaeda Suspects," from Alalam, August: 2

BAQUBA, Iraq, Aug 2--Iraq military backed by US forces arrested on Saturday hundreds of suspects during an offensive aimed at stamping out Al-Qaeda in a restive central province, officials said. ...

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Pakistan Intelligence Playing Both Sides

When Pakistan’s ISI operatives at lower levels weigh their loyalties, it will almost always be on the side of the Jihadists…

Paris, Britney, Obama: Where's the beef?

by Pat Boone

.... I'm wondering (the three network news anchors who trailed along in his retinue failed to report) whether the presumptive and self-announced Citizen of the World repeated to Gen. Petraeus what he promised here in no uncertain terms: "On the day I take office [obviously already predetermined in the heavens], I'll call together my military commanders and issue my orders to get all our troops out of Iraq in 16 months or less, starting with two battalions a month immediately. And then, of course, I'll listen to their recommendations on how they propose to carry out my orders."

Do you suppose this lean, slick orator gave the general who engineered the "surge" – credited by all with turning the war in Iraq around from apparent defeat to undeniable victory – a useful preview of what he was in for? That he would soon be taking direct orders from a kid who never wore a uniform or carried a gun?

...Dr. Jerome Corsi has done us all the service (glaringly neglected by the usually suspicious media) of doing extensive research into the young formative days and influences and mentors of this Pied Piper of Change. His just published book, "The Obama Nation," is just hitting the stores and will confirm what so many Americans have been feeling in their gut: Whatever this man's latent talents, he is terribly inexperienced, he is deeply steeped in ultra-liberal – yes, socialistic – political views, and he hasn't done anything like the giant, world-shaping things he so articulately promises he will do!

And another book, surprisingly ignored by media and book reviewers, is a must-read for future voters. Gen. Georges Sada, former air vice marshal to Saddam Hussein, has chronicled in minute detail the existence of the weapons of mass destruction, the labs, the gas, the nuclear supplies and plans – and how he helped Saddam airlift all the damning evidence and substance into northern Syria just as the allied troops were advancing on Baghdad. ...

Both books show, in footnoted and documented factual detail, all we really need to know about why this country must ignore all the manufactured, rehearsed and scripted blather and hype from a political and media mouthpiece – and elect a proven, experienced leader and patriot.

Hey, if we want to elect a president who's been nowhere and done nothing, why not Paris Hilton? She's prettier! rca

A German’s Point of View on Islam

A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.'Very few people were true Nazis 'he said,' but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.

'We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the 'peaceful majority', the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilian s; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghan is, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life. Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems of expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.

Emanuel Tanay,
M.D.Ann Arbor, MI

rca

Soldiers recount deadly attack on Afghanistan outpost

Project Hero: 9 funerals for 9 warriors

I’m sure you heard about 9 soldiers being killed in Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago. As AP reported it, it was a "setback", the "newly established base" there was ’abandoned’ by the Americans. That, of course, was the extent of their coverage.

Steve Mraz of Stars and Stripes and Jeff Emanuel tell the rest of the story. Emanuel, who went out and dug into the story sets the enemy force at 500 while AP sets it at 200. Frankly I'm much more inclined to believe Emanuel than AP.

July 13, 2008 was the date, and Jeff Emanuel, an independent combat reporter sets the scene:

Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d Airborne [Brigade Combat Team], accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly taken advantage of.

A combined force of up to 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters quickly moved into the nearby village of Wanat and prepared for their assault by evicting unallied residents and according to an anonymous senior Afghan defense ministry official, "us[ing] their houses to attack us."

Tribesmen in the town stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during the fight," the provincial police chief, told The Associated Press. Dug-in mortar firing positions were created, and with that indirect fire, as well as heavy machine gun and RPG fire from fixed positions, Taliban and al Qaeda fighters rushed the COP from three sides.

As Emanuel notes, the odds were set. 500 vs. 70. Even so, Emanuel entitled his article, "An Alamo With a Different Ending." The 500 terrorists apparently didn't realize they were attacking US Army paratroopers.

The unit in question was 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, led by 1LT Jonathan Brostrom.

The first RPG and machine gun fire came at dawn, strategically striking the forward operating base's mortar pit. The insurgents next sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking it out. That was around 4:30 a.m.

This was not a haphazard attack. The reportedly 500 insurgents fought from several positions. They aimed to overrun the new base. The U.S. soldiers knew it and fought like hell. They knew their lives were on the line.

The next target was the FOB's observation post, where nine soldiers were positioned on a tiny hill about 50 to 75 meters from the base. Of those nine, five died, and at least three others -- Spc. Tyler Stafford among them -- were wounded.

When the attack began, Stafford grabbed his M-240 machine gun off a north-facing sandbag wall and moved it to an east-facing sandbag wall. Moments later, RPGs struck the north-facing wall, knocking Stafford out of the fighting position and wounding another soldier.

Stafford thought he was on fire so he rolled around, regaining his senses. Nearby, Cpl. Gunnar Zwilling, who later died in the fight, had a stunned look on his face.

Immediately, a grenade exploded by Stafford, blowing him down to a lower terrace at the observation post and knocking his helmet off. Stafford put his helmet back on and noticed how badly he was bleeding.
Cpl. Matthew Phillips was close by, so Stafford called to him for help. Phillips was preparing to throw a grenade and shot a look at Stafford that said, "Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first."

This was only about 30 to 60 seconds into the attack.

Kneeling behind a sandbag wall, Phillips pulled the grenade pin, but just after he threw it an RPG exploded at his position. The tail of the RPG smacked Stafford's helmet. The dust cleared. Phillips was slumped over, his chest on his knees and his hands by his side. Stafford called out to his buddy three or four times, but Phillips never answered or moved.

"When I saw Phillips die, I looked down and was bleeding pretty good, that's probably the most scared I was at any point," Stafford said. "Then I kinda had to calm myself down and be like, 'All right, I gotta go try to do my job.' "

The soldier from Parker, Colo., loaded his 9 mm handgun, crawled up to their fighting position, stuck the pistol over the sandbags and fired.

Stafford saw Zwilling's M-4 rifle nearby so he loaded it, put it on top of the sandbag and fired. Another couple RPGs struck the sandbag wall Stafford used as cover. Shrapnel pierced his hands.

Stafford low-crawled to another fighting position where Cpl. Jason Bogar, Sgt. Matthew Gobble and Sgt. Ryan Pitts were located. Stafford told Pitts that the insurgents were within grenade-tossing range. That got Pitts' attention.

With blood running down his face, Pitts threw a grenade and then crawled to the position from where Stafford had just come. Pitts started chucking more grenades.

The firefight intensified. Bullets cut down tree limbs that fell on the soldiers. RPGs constantly exploded.

Back at Stafford's position, so many bullets were coming in that the soldiers could not poke their heads over their sandbag wall. Bogar stuck an M-249 machine gun above the wall and squeezed off rounds to keep fire on the insurgents. In about five minutes, Bogar fired about 600 rounds, causing the M-249 to seize up from heat.

At another spot on the observation post, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers laid down continuous fire from an M-240 machine gun, despite drawing small-arms and RPG fire from the enemy. Ayers kept firing until he was shot and killed. Cpl. Pruitt Rainey radioed the FOB with a casualty report, calling for help. Of the nine soldiers at the observation post, Ayers and Phillips were dead, Zwilling was unaccounted for, and three were wounded. Additionally, several of the soldiers' machine guns couldn't fire because of damage. And they needed more ammo.

Rainey, Bogar and another soldier jumped out of their fighting position with the third soldier of the group launching a shoulder-fired missile.

All this happened within the first 20 minutes of the fight.

Platoon leader 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom and Cpl. Jason Hovater arrived at the observation post to reinforce the soldiers. By that time, the insurgents had breached the perimeter of the observation post. Gunfire rang out, and Rainey shouted, "He's right behind the sandbag." Brostrom could be heard shouting about the insurgent as well.

More gunfire and grenade explosions ensued. Back in the fighting position, Gobble fired a few quick rounds. Gobble then looked to where the soldiers were fighting and told Stafford the soldiers were dead. Of the nine soldiers who died in the battle, at least seven fell in fighting at the observation post.

The insurgents then started chucking rocks at Gobble and Stafford's fighting position, hoping that the soldiers might think the rocks were grenades, causing them to jump from the safety of their fighting hole. One rock hit a tree behind Stafford and landed directly between his legs. He braced himself for an explosion. He then realized it was a rock.

Stafford didn't have a weapon, and Gobble was low on ammo.

Gobble told Stafford they had to get back to the FOB. They didn't realize that Pitts was still alive in another fighting position at the observation post. Gobble and Stafford crawled out of their fighting hole.. Gobble looked again to where the soldiers had been fighting and reconfirmed to Stafford that Brostrom, Rainey, Bogar and others were dead.

Gobble and Stafford low-crawled and ran back to the FOB. Coming into the FOB, Stafford was asked by a sergeant what was going on at the observation post. Stafford told him all the soldiers there were dead. Stafford lay against a wall, and his fellow soldiers put a tourniquet on him.

From the OP, Pitts got on the radio and told his comrades he was alone. Volunteers were asked for to go to the OP.

SSG Jesse Queck sums up the reaction to the call: "When you ask for volunteers to run across an open field to a reinforced OP that almost everybody is injured at, and everybody volunteers, it feels good. There were a lot of guys that made me proud, putting themselves and their lives on the line so their buddies could have a chance."

At least three soldiers went to the OP to rescue Pitts, but they suffered wounds after encountering RPG and small-arms fire, but Pitts survived the battle.

At that time, air support arrived in the form of Apache helicopters, A-10s and F-16s, performing bombing and strafing runs.

The whole FOB was covered in dust and smoke, looking like something out of an old Western movie.

"I've never seen the enemy do anything like that," said Sgt. Jacob Walker, who was medically evacuated off the FOB in one of the first helicopters to arrive. "It's usually three RPGs, some sporadic fire and then they're gone ... I don't where they got all those RPGs. That was crazy."

Two hours after the first shots were fired, Stafford made his way -- with help -- to the medevac helicopter that arrived.

"It was some of the bravest stuff I've ever seen in my life, and I will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then paused "Normal humans wouldn't do that. You're not supposed to do that -- getting up and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in over your head ... It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ' em off."

Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard.

"Just hardcoreness I guess," he said. "Just guys kicking ass, basically. Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don't want to come in and try to get us."

Jeff Emanuel summed the fight up very well:

"Perhaps the most important takeaway from that encounter, though, is the one that the mainstream media couldn't be bothered to pay attention long enough to learn: that, not for the first time, a contingent of American soldiers that was outnumbered by up to a twenty-to-one ratio soundly and completely repulsed a complex, pre-planned assault by those dedicated enough to their cause to kill themselves in its pursuit.

That kind of heroism and against-all-odds success is and has been a hallmark of America's fighting men and women, and it is one that is worthy of all attention we can possibly give it."

Of the original 45 paratroopers, 15 were wounded and The Sky Soldiers lost 9 killed in action in the attack. They were:

1LT Jonathan Brostrom of Aiea, Hawaii

SGT Israel Garcia of Long Beach, California

SPC Matthew Phillips of Jasper, Georgia

SPC Pruitt Rainey of Haw River, North Carolina

SPC Jonathan Ayers of Snellville, Georgia

SPC Jason Bogar of Seattle, Washington

SPC Sergio Abad of Morganfield, Kentucky

SPC Jason Hovater of Clinton, Tennessee

SPC Gunnar Zwilling of Florissant, Missouri

Of the 9 that were lost, Sgt Walker says:

"I just hope these guys' wives and their children understand how courageous their husbands and dads were. They fought like warriors."

They fought like warriors.

Last week, there were 9 funerals in the United States. 9 warriors were laid to rest. 9 warriors who had given their all for their country All proud members of a brotherhood that will carry on in their name. They fought and died in what most would consider impossible circumstances, and yet they succeeded. A nameless fight in a distant war which, until you understand the facts, could be spun as a defeat. It wasn't. And it is because of the pride, courage and fighting spirit of this small unit that it was, in fact, a victory against overwhelming odds. And there's little doubt, given that pride and given that fighting spirit, that they'll be back to reestablish the base, this time with quite a few more soldiers just like the ones who "kicked ass" the last time there.

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Christians, Jews praying on Temple Mount 'seek religious war'

Muslim authorities say even right to talk to God on holy site exclusively theirs

... In an interview with Israel Today, Azzam Khatib, director of the Islamic Trust (or Waqf) that safeguards the mosques that sit atop the Temple Mount, said that Jews and Christians who try to pray at the ancient holy site are effectively declaring war.

Any non-Muslim "who seeks such an approach is really seeking a religious war," said Khatib, who insisted that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Muslim site and that Jews and Christians should not even want to pray there.

Khatib even took issue with the use of the term "Temple Mount," angrily demanding the site be called al-Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary.

Khatib refused to consider the possibility that the site was once home to the First and Second Jewish Temples, calling such claims unsubstantiated myths. When presented with a citation from a 1929 tourist guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council that acknowledged the Temple Mount as the site of Solomon's Temple, Khatib rejected the idea that such a book was ever published by a Muslim authority. ...

Iran Heads Toward Nuclear `Breakthrough,' Israel Says (Update2)

Iran is on a path toward a ``major breakthrough'' in its nuclear program that is ``unacceptable,'' Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told a Washington audience today.

``It is an existential threat,'' Mofaz said at a forum on Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ``We have to make sure we are prepared for every option.'' ...

American people responsible for 'blood of Muslims'

A top commander for al-Qaida says American people are as responsible for the U.S. military's ability to "wage war and spill the blood of Muslims" as is the American government.

"Islam does not distinguish between the American people and the American government, since both are in a state of war with Islam," Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid said in a recent interview.

The comments came in a report from Pakistan's independent television network Geo News, which was monitored and translated the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The MEMRI report said al-Yazid is considered al-Qaida's No. 3 man and "top commander in Afghanistan." The interview was in Arabic and broadcast with a voiceover in Urdu, and later was posted on Islamic websites.

Joseph R. McCarthy: Time for Truth

In early 1950 Senator McCarthy made a speech in which he probably said that there were 57 Communists in the State Department. It was sometimes erroneously reported as 205 Communists; it probably should have been 56. Whatever he said, the truth as we now know it with access to Soviet and FBI files from the period is that substantially more than 57 Communist spies, Party members, and propagandists taking orders from the Soviet Union were working for the State Department, for international organizations after working for the State Department, or elsewhere in the government after working for the State Department.

State Department Risks
The espionage problem in the State Department was fairly severe. The FBI had put together a good espionage case (Amerasia), but the Truman administration through Tommy "The Cork" Cocoran had fixed the U.S. Attorney's office to prevent a successful prosecution.

The Democrats, who knew that the loyalty/security situation was far worse than reported, feared that a public discussion would lead to an electoral disaster for them. The administration feared that exposure of the extent of Communist influence in the China section of the State Department would jeopardize the pre-Korean War, Acheson-Truman Cold War strategy of setting up our Asian defenses much further East than Eisenhower eventually did.

For these reasons and probably because of personal grudges, Democrats talked about things like expelling McCarthy. However, it turned out that he had more than 50 detailed files on Communists in the State Department. The Democrats had to back off for the moment. We now know that the FBI and the Truman White House had fierce battles over loyalty/security issues that were not made public at the time.

The loyalty/security problem had much more to do with dedicated Communist spies and propagandists than with people who were simply sympathizers. At that time, discipline within the Communist Party was extremely rigid. There were more than enough idiots around who thought it was fine to lend confidential, secret, and topsecret documents to their Communist friends or relatives. ...

Congressman wants Guantanamo moved, to Supreme Court

FORT WORTH, Texas -- An East Texas congressman wants Gitmo moved to Supreme Court grounds You can practically see the sarcasm dripping off the wording in this bill U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert of Tyler filed last week proposing a new location for Guantanamo Bay.

In light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling that Gitmo detainees are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s habeas corpus protections, Gohmert wants to move the controversial jail to the Supreme Court grounds, "confined by adequate fencing."

"There can be no better way for the United States Supreme Court to exercise its new self-appointed war powers than to house the prisoners whom it has taken a greater role in overseeing," Gohmert writes.

It's impossible to miss Gohmert's feelings toward the justices when he offers, "Should the detainees need the use of restroom facilities, they shall use the facilities inside the United States Supreme Court building."

The bill also allows the justices to take over guard duty whenever they want and threatens to cut the court's budget in half if they don't follow the bill's guidelines.

British Fighters Helping The Taliban

British Muslims are actively helping the Taliban and al Qaida to attack coalition forces, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan has said.

Suspicions that Brits were fighting for the Taliban were raised earlier this year after that RAF experts overheard secret transmissions spoken in broad Midlands and Yorkshire accents.

Now Brigadier Ed Butler has also said militant Islamic groups in Helmand Province are suspected of assisting terrorist plots in the UK.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Brig Butler, who led British troops in Helmand Province for six months, said: "There are British passport holders who live in the UK who are being found in places like Kandahar.

"There is a link between Kandahar and urban conurbations in the UK. This is something the military understands, but the British public does not." ...

Exclusive: Al Qaeda No. 2 Injured?

(CBS) Ayman al-Zawahiri - the second most powerful leader in al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden's No. 2 - may be critically wounded and possibly dead, CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports exclusively.

CBS News has obtained a copy of an intercepted letter from sources in Pakistan, which urgently requests a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. He's believed to be somewhere in Pakistan's remote tribal areas of Pakistan.

The letter refers to Sheikh Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri by name - and says that he is in "severe pain" and his "injuries are infected."

It is reportedly written by local Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, whose signature and seal are visible on the letter.

The Taliban logo and the Mehsud's seal have been confirmed by experts as legitimate.

The letter is dated July 29 - one day after a U.S. air strike that killed al Qaeda weapons expert Abu Khabab al-Masri, and five other Arabs in South Waziristan....

Captive accused of 'dirty bomb' plot

WASHINGTON --

Five days after the fact, the Pentagon disclosed Tuesday that it had sworn out war crimes charges against a former British resident now held at Guantánamo, alleging he discussed staging a radioactive ''dirty bomb'' attack to free captives at the remote U.S. Navy base in Cuba.

Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 29, faces a maximum life in prison, if convicted of the terror charges. The charges were sworn out by the Pentagon case prosecutor on May 28 but posted for the first time on the Defense Department Web site on Tuesday.

The eight-page charge sheets allege that Mohamed convertedto Islam, trained as an al Qaeda bomb-maker in Afghanistan and then moved on to Pakistan, where in April 2002 he allegedly plotted a ''dirty bomb attack'' with the Brooklyn-born, former gang member José Padilla. ...

Japan warned of possible nuclear leak from US sub

TOKYO -

The U.S. Navy said that one of its nuclear-powered submarines had leaked minimally radioactive water earlier this year, threatening to cause a stir in Japan where both the U.S. military presence and its nuclear vessels are controversial.

The Navy said Friday it discovered the leak July 17 when a gallon of water spilled from a valve while the submarine was in dry dock for routine maintenance at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. An investigation showed water may have been slowly leaking from the valve since March as the Los Angeles-class submarine traveled around the Pacific.

The total amount of radioactivity released into the environment from the USS Houston at each stop was less than one half a microcurie, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Capt. Scott Gureck said. ...

Tyson Foods drops Labor Day for Muslim holiday

(Compiler's note:

If this outrages you, contact the CEO, Richard (Dick) L. Bond:

Tyson Foods Inc.
2210 West Oaklawn Drive
Springdale, AR 72765 )

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. -- Some workers at a local plant will no longer to be able to take their Labor Day holiday because of religious reasons.

Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.According to a news release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a new five-year contract at the plant included the change to accommodate Muslim workers at the plant.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SHELBYVILLE — Workers at the Tyson Foods poultry processing plant in Shelbyville will no longer have a paid day off on Labor Day but will instead be granted the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

According to a news release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, a new 5-year contract at the plant included the change to accommodate Muslim workers at the plant.

Tyson’s director of media relations Gary Mickelson said the contract includes eight paid holidays — the same number as the old contract.

Eid al-Fitr — which falls on Oct. 1 this year — marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

Union leaders say implementing the holiday was important for the nearly 700 Muslims, many of them Somalis, who work at the plant that employs a total of 1,200 people.