“The entire COIN strategy [the COunterINsurgency strategy engineered by Petraeus and McCrystal et.al.] is a fraud perpetuated on the American people,” says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counterinsurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. “The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense.” –The Runaway General, Stanley McChrystal By Michael Hastings, Rolling Stone, Jun 22, 2010 10:00 AM EDT
Category: Islam
WHICH ‘safe haven,’ Mr. Obama?
If things run on schedule, Mr. Obama will announce tomorrow that he and his organization will be sending approximately 34,000 more U.S. troops to harass and sometimes kill men, women and children (as “collateral damage”) in Afghanistan. And then he has to sell his unpopular decision. If previous statements are any guide, his main excuse will be “We have to deny al’Qaeda ‘safe haven’.”
Question: “If you believe the official mythology,
1. “In what country did the 911 al’Qaeda pilots get ‘safe haven‘ to train?
2. “In what country did the Madrid train bombers get ‘safe haven‘ to prepare?
3. “In what country did the London bombers get ‘safe haven‘?”
HINT: It’s NOT Afghanistan.
The answers to the three questions are:
1. U.S.A.
2. Spain
3. England
How many troops will Mr. Obama send to THESE terrorist states to deny al’Qaeda ‘safe haven?’
By way of context, there are approximately 193 countries in the world, each of which can supply al’Qaeda with equivalent ‘safe haven.’
According to CIA and military intelligence sources, currently there aren’t 100 al’Qaeda operatives in all of Afghanistan. So, Mr. Obama, what are your other excuses?
Minarets: Ban Them, or Bomb Them?
Well, the Swiss – or, more accurately, a majority of voters in democratic Switzerland – have gone and done something wrong and dumb, approving a referendum that bans the construction of minarets. Libertarian demerits are certainly in order. But one very wrong, very dumb thing the Swiss have not done is launch any wars of aggression against Muslim peoples, or anyone else, for that matter.
Which makes it all the more cringe-worthy to read this libel on Andrew Sullivan’s blog:
Good God. Why not synagogues? Or did a neighboring country try that already?
Wow. Straight to the Nazi jab, huh? Never let it be said that Harvard doesn’t make ’em like they used to.
For the record, this is the same Andrew Sullivan who penned this epochal gem eight years ago:
[B]in Laden proves that the best form of persuasion in that part of the world is not rhetorical but military. Pummel them and they will respect you. Talk to them nicely and you’ll end up like Robert Fisk. Best of all, pummel them and then talk. The most persuasive piece of rhetoric yet unleashed in this conflict has been the daisy cutter bomb. It’s the only argument that much of this clearly depraved culture actually respects.
Expect more Swiss-bashing from some of the very people who have cheered on the most egregious abuses of Muslims. They’re extremely alert to the dangers of isolationism, you know.
UPDATE: This is too rich. Jeffrey Goldberg, Sullivan’s colleague at The Atlantic, gets in on the anti-Swiss sanctimony. Hah! If the United States or Israel were to attack Tehran tomorrow – which just might halt the construction of a minaret or two – Goldberg would leap to his keyboard to defend the decision as regrettable but justifiable. Again, I’m not a fan of bans or bombs, but the former have the distinct advantage of being reversible.
‘Pro-Islam’ Talking Doll Too Silly Not to Mention
I know this doesn’t really have to do with much of anything we cover, its just way too funny not to mention. Several local Fox affiliates are running a short (slightly over 1 minute long) news broadcast about Fisher Price’s Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo dolls. While no one seems to have problems with the cuddling, the report sees some serious problems with the cooing.
Putting aside for a minute that Islam is at least as anti-Satan as Christianity (and the very garbled speech that they’re concluding even said that) what really stands out to me is that although they claim to have a mass marketed doll in the United States proclaiming “Satan is the King!” they’re focusing on its ostensible statements with respect to Islam. Indeed, if you go to the comments section of one of the more widely viewed Youtube versions most of the people seem a lot more worked up about the Islam aspect than the Satan aspect.
I don’t know how this story could possibly be any more ridiculous, unless of course we were somehow able to tie it in with this. That’s probably asking for too much though, right?