Chris At Home

Because I am the aggregator man.

• Congressman appologizes for his statements about the Haditha Marines. No, not Murtha.
  

  A Republican congressman apologized yesterday to the Marines under investigation in the killings of two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, last November, saying that statements he made about the case were taken out of context and that he did not mean to imply the Marines were guilty of wrongdoing.
  
  Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) issued the apology as part of an agreement with lawyers for Marine Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who alleged that Kline had damaged Wuterich's reputation.

  
  Murtha doesn't want to apologize for his statements:
  

  Wuterich took the unusual step earlier this month of filing a federal lawsuit against Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), alleging that statements Murtha made about the Haditha deaths were libelous. Murtha said after the lawsuit was filed that he did not mean to prejudge Wuterich, but the representative has not responded to a settlement offer that seeks a similar public apology, according to Wuterich's attorneys, Mark S. Zaid and Neal A. Puckett. The lawyers set last Friday as a deadline for Murtha's response.

  
  
• The Guardian says the information used to break up the UK airliner plot came through torture.
  

  Reports from Pakistan suggest that much of the intelligence that led to the raids came from that country and that some of it may have been obtained in ways entirely unacceptable here...Disturbing reports in Pakistani papers that he had "broken" under interrogation have been echoed by local human rights bodies. The Guardian has quoted one, Asma Jehangir, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, who has no doubt about the meaning of broken. "I don't deduce, I know - torture," she said. "There is simply no doubt about that, no doubt at all." If this is shown to be the case, the prospect of securing convictions in this country on his evidence will be complicated. In 2004 the Court of Appeal ruled - feebly - that evidence obtained using torture would be admissable as long as Britain had not "procured or connived" at it. The law lords rightly dismissed this in December last year, though they disagreed about whether the bar should be the simple "risk" or "probability" of torture.
  
  But none of this stops governments acquiescing in torture to acquire information, rather than secure convictions, as British as well as American practice has shown. It has been outsourced to less squeamish countries and denied through redefinition: but it is still torture and still illegal.

  
  Slippery slope arguments are everywhere. "If it is ok to torture suspects to save 20,000 lives, is it ok to do it for 100 lives? 50 lives?" Pakistan arrested him, then Pakistan tortured him under their own laws and thousands of lives were saved. These people were not sent to Pakistan for torture. End of story. The Left can agonize over their convictions while I celebrate the saving of lives; I am sure that some would prefer all those dead bodies over the torture of a single terrorist. That is a fringe benefit of living in an ivory tower. And we don't know if torture actually occurred; I don't blindly accept the word of human rights organizations.
  
  
• Orin says I told you so regarding airline security and surveillance programs.
  
  
• British Muslim says airline plot was a hoax by the government. Because, you know, Muslims never blow anything up or kill people using airliners.
  

  The severe government-induced crisis in air travel coincided with the call by a large number of MPs for a parliamentary session to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and amid a growing discontent among different circles over the manner in which the Blair-led government had conducted itself during the Israeli war against Lebanon. More importantly, the crisis unfolded as Israel was being dealt the most humiliating defeat since it was created less than 60 years ago. I wonder too whether it is a mere coincidence that only days earlier Tony Blair was criticised widely for once again blaming Islam and the Muslims for the rise in "international terrorism".

  
  Ah, he questions the timing! He must read Kos. Video of his rantings here. LGF has more.
  
  Brit Muslims also demand special holidays and Sharia law to prevent terrorism. Treat them like your masters and they will take pity. That seems to be the message.
  
  
• Saudis: "the spotless history of Islamic civilization." No comment needed, I think.
  
  
• Ceasefire update:
  Iran gives Hezbullah blank check to rearm and rebuild Lebanon. The Iranians know who runs the country; the money isn't going to the Lebanese government.
  Hezbullah offers to compromise: it will keep its weapons, but hide them from observers.
  

  Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
  
  The UN cease-fire resolution specifically demands the demilitarization of the area south of the Litani river. The resolution was approved by the Lebanese cabinet.
  
  In a televised address on Monday night, Nasrallah declared that now was not the time to debate the disarmament of his guerrilla fighters, saying the issue should be done in secret sessions of the government to avoid serving Israeli interests.

  
  Video here.
  
  The Israelis threaten to invade again if they don't disarm.
  

  "The resolution is clear that Hizbullah needs to be removed from the border area, embargoed and dismantled," the official said. "If the resolution is not implemented, we will have to take action to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah. I don't think backtracking will serve any useful purpose. There has to be pressure on Hizbullah to disarm or there will have to be another round."

  
  Kofi says it might take a year to get peacekeepers into Lebanon.
  

  Annan angered Israeli officials when he told Channel 2 on Tuesday that "dismantling Hizbullah is not the direct mandate of the UN," which could only help Lebanon disarm the organization. Annan upset officials further when he said that deploying international forces in Lebanon would take "weeks or months," and not days as expected.
  
  Israeli officials said the IDF would not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon until the international force was deployed - even if it took months - to prevent a vacuum in Lebanon that could endanger Israeli civilians. An official in the Prime Minister's Office accused Annan of having an anti-Israel agenda.

  
  Podhoretz says Hezbullah won.
  

  Olmert did not lose a war in a conventional sense. But then, Hezbollah is not a conventional enemy. Had Olmert said his purpose was to save two kidnapped soldiers and do what was necessary to protect the north of Israel from rockets fired across the border, he could claim a limited victory. Not now.
  
  What remains for Olmert is either disgrace or redemption. But his redemption is - and what a savage irony this is - in Nasrallah's hands. If Hezbollah does anything to violate the cease-fire, Olmert can unleash the dogs of war and clean out southern Lebanon inch by inch. Without that provocation, Olmert will be kicked out of office. A successor will have to fight this war all over again later on.

  
  Excellent analysis at CQ.
  

  Lastly, let's get a little perspective on the supposed Hezbollah victory. Many yesterday continued to bemoan the cease fire, arguing that it gave Hezbollah enhanced prestige in the Arab community. Unfortunately, any war that didn't involve Syria would have delivered that result, because Hezbollah would survive any kind of frontal attack, no matter how prolonged, as long as the Assad regime survives in Damascus...
  
  In this war, they pushed Hezbollah out of the sub-Litani, forced them to fire off a third of their missile and rocket inventory, and destroyed a number of their launchers. This all took place over two kidnapped soldiers, and Hezbollah didn't even get the prisoner swap they wanted. After six years of relative non-action to Hezbollah provocations, Olmert changed the dynamic by launching a massive war after a relatively routine terrorist action by Hezbollah. Israel also forced Lebanon to finally address the conundrum of sovereignty and drove a wedge between Hezbollah and the rest of Lebanon's institutions. Does anyone think that Fuad Siniora would even have discussed disarming Hezbollah before this war?...
  
  The goals for Israel have always been a Hezbollah-free sub-Litani without having to conduct another generational occupation. They got the agreement they wanted that delivers on these goals, and at the same time served notice that the era of non-response to provocations had passed. The key for Israel is to insist on full implementation of 1701 and 1559. They cannot budge on these points. If Lebanon reneges, Israel can go back to their military options until the Lebanese get the message for good.

  
  Thomas Sowell gives the UN some love:
  

  What will this latest cease-fire do? It will give Hezbollah a breather from Israeli retaliation and allow them time to get new shipments of military equipment from Iran, rebuild their military infrastructure and prepare for the next round of attacks on Israel.
  
  Why do these phony cease-fire scenarios keep getting repeated? Because there are too many people, including many in the media, who take the corrupt windbags at the U.N. seriously -- so our political leaders have to act as if they take the U.N. seriously as well.

  
  Condi attempts to defend the ceasefire.
  
  The UN wants another ceasfire as comic as the current one:
  

  “This will teach the Islamic terrorists a lesson,” according to an unnamed State Department source who worked through the night crafting a resolution acceptable to both al Qaeda and its enemies. “If you attack us, kidnap our soldiers, blow up our towns and murder our people, you will pay a price. These cease fires will cause significant delays in the radical Muslims’ plan to rule the world. It’s a major hassle for them that sends a clear signal.”

  
  
• An interesting comparison of 2 views on the Islamist question: a series of regional grievances or a worldwide conspiracy? In partial answer, 1000 Indonesian Jihadis ready to leave for Lebanon.
  
  
• Tim quotes someone shocked at the alliances that make up pro-Hezbullah demonstrations. Hezbullah supporters run the whole gamut: murderous to merely anti-Semitic.
  
  
• Many of the Filipina Celebs are officially bulletproof.
  
  
• Hamas demands prisoner swap for the first kidnapped Israeli soldier. Deja vu? Maybe the IDF can wipe out Hamas on the way home.
  
  
• MEMRI compares and contrasts Arab coverage of Lebanon. Some countries denounce Hezbullah as a Syrian/Iranian puppet, others consider it a battle against the West-supported Israelis.
  
  
• Raped by her father, sent to be killed in Pakistan for sullying the family's honor. For anyone who is wondering, no she isn't Hindu.
  
  
• Italy has a problem. 13,000 targets.
  
  
• More on Middle Eastern intimidation of reporters.
  
  
• Senate candidate promises to cure cancer in 9 years.
  

Update: the ceasefire as pivotal point in history, similar to the Munich agreement in 1938.

"We have passed an awful milestone in our history," Winston Churchill said after the Munich agreement was signed. "Do not suppose this is the end . . . This is only the first sip, the first foretaste, of a bitter cup that will be proffered to us year by year." Despite the failure of appeasement, Churchill still believed the Western democracies would make the "supreme recovery" and take up the banner for freedom again. The United States and the forces of democracy will recover from this debacle - even with a Democratic Congress in 2006 and a Democratic president in 2008. The reason will not be because Bush's opponents have a better strategy, or a clearer vision, or even a Winston Churchill waiting in the wings. It will be because our enemies will give us no choice.

Less than a year after Munich, Nazi panzers rolled into Poland. Instead of fighting a short, limited war over Czechoslovakia, the Western democracies ended up fighting a world war, the most destructive in history. The war with the mullahs of Iran is coming. It is only a question of whether it will be at a time or on a ground of our choosing, or theirs - and whether it is fought within the shadow of a mushroom cloud.

I think I wrote that 2 days ago. Advantage: Chris At Home!

Update: Zombie:


Update: EU may crackdown on terror websites:

Access to websites that provide information on how to make bombs or which advocate violence could be blocked by security forces in an attempt to crack down on terrorists, an emergency meeting of European Union interior ministers in London agreed today.