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Cox & Forkum: Dead Ball
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Cox & Forkum: Dead Ball
In our The 800-Pound Guerrilla post I explained why I thought Bush’s latest moves against Iranian influence in Iraq were not enough:
The plan, it appears, is to limit our military to attacks against terrorists and their supply lines within Iraq and refrain from attacking the source of those terrorists and supply lines: Iran. Bush is attempting to cure the symptoms while ignoring the disease. As such, the weapons and terrorists will keep flowing across the border, and the chaos in Iraq, though it may rise and fall, will ultimately continue because Iran needs it to continue. How can we expect our troops to win a war in which we don’t allow them to directly attack the enemy?In World War II, we didn’t stop with engaging enemy soldiers at the front lines; nor did we stop at disrupting their supply lines. We took the fight all the way to the weapons factories and the command centers from which the war emanated.
That point, I thought, deserved it’s own cartoon, especially since the White House is bending over backwards to “reassure” everyone that we’re only engaging Iran within Iraq. For instance, from Newsweek: Tough Talk About Iran: How Far Will It Go?.
In fact, administration officials (anonymous due to diplomatic sensitivities) concede that Bush’s Iran language may have been overly aggressive, raising unwarranted fears about military strikes on Tehran. Instead, they say, Bush was trying to warn Iran to keep its operatives out of Iraq, and to reassure Gulf allies—including Saudi Arabia—that the United States would protect them against Iranian aggression.
And from an article last week:
Asked whether the United States is preparing for a potential military conflict with Iran, President Bush’s national security adviser Stephen Hadley told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “No, the president has said very clearly that the issues we have with Iran should be solved diplomatically.”
And another:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the House Armed Services Committee that U.S. troops are trying to crack down on the spread of Iranian-supplied explosives into Iraq, and the administration is “making it clear that those who are involved in activities that cost the lives of American soldiers are going to be subject to actions on the part of the United States inside Iraq.” [Emphasis added]
And now it is being reported that Iran has shot down an American pilotless spy plane.
Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival — the United States.
The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders “during the last few days,” Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying.
The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that “the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then.”But, the USS John C. Stennis is under sail and will reach the Persian Gulf within the month. There will be two United States Carrier Strike Groups in the region.
Is America going to protect its troops in Iraq and preemptively strike Iran, if need be?
You betcha…….
Tick Tock Tick TockThe “NUCLEAR POINT OF NO RETURN” is imminent……..
Stay tuned…….
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Cox & Forkum: Belly Up
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Cox & Forkum: Belly Up
CNN: Venezuela to nationalize ‘absolutely all’ energy sector.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said on Saturday the country’s entire energy sector had to be nationalized, reinforcing his socialist revolution and possibly giving himself more targets for state take-over.But he said he would permit foreign firms to hold minority stakes in energy deals.
The anti-U.S. leader, in power since 1999, this week announced he would nationalize power utilities and the country’s biggest telecommunications firm, confirming his status as the catalyst of Latin America’s swing to the left.
“We have decided to nationalize the whole Venezuelan energy and electricity sector, all of it, absolutely all,” Chávez said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament, potentially opening up more projects for state acquisition in the No. 4 crude exporter to the United States.
The president was reinaugurated this week for a term that runs through 2013.
Chávez has already pursued oil and gas projects and power utilities but on Saturday left no leeway for a private company to hold a majority in operations anywhere in the energy sphere.
What will be targeted?
It was not immediately clear whether his pronouncement on nationalizing the whole sector was a precursor to moves against specific projects or companies.Venezuela will have to judge how closely private firms must be connected to the country’s oilfields, refineries, pipelines, gasoline stations and coal mines to count as targets for nationalization.
Huge oil service companies such as Halliburton and Schlumberger operate in Venezuela but Chávez gave no indication whether deals involving such businesses were now in his sights.
Hugo Chavez Watch: Iran and Venezuela Plan to Fund Projects – To Thwart United States Domination
AP: Iran and Venezuela plan anti-U.S. fund
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — fiery anti-American leaders whose moves to extend their influence have alarmed Washington — said Saturday they would help finance investment projects in other countries seeking to thwart U.S. domination.
The two countries had previously revealed plans for a joint $2 billion fund to finance investments in Venezuela and Iran, but the leaders said Saturday the money would also be used for projects in friendly countries throughout the developing world.
“It will permit us to underpin investments … above all in those countries whose governments are making efforts to liberate themselves from the (U.S.) imperialist yoke,†Chavez said.“This fund, my brother,†the Venezuelan president said, referring affectionately to Ahmadinejad, “will become a mechanism for liberation.â€
“Death to U.S. imperialism!†Chavez said.
Solution:
USA Energy Independence
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, HugoChavez, Venezuela, Iran
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Iran Watch: United States LINKS Five Iranians Detained in Iraq to al-Qods Force
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Washington Post: U.S. Links Five Iranians Detained in Iraq to Militants
The U.S. military said today that the five Iranian nationals detained on Thursday are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s al-Qods Force, an organization that is active in arming, training, and funding Middle East militant groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The organization is “attempting to destabilize the government of Iraq and attack Coalition forces,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
Iraqi Shiite cleric Abdel Aziz al-Hakim speaks during a conference in the holy city of Najaf. Iran has condemned as “provocative†a raid by US troops on the Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil during which five employees were arrested.
What a SURPRISE – NOT!
The military statement came as administration officials in Washington stressed that they are concerned about meddling by Iran in the Iraq conflict and are determined to end such efforts by Tehran.
Vice President Cheney, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” said, “I think it’s pretty well known that Iran is fishing in troubled waters, if you will, inside Iraq. . . . I think the message that the president sent clearly is that we do not want them doing what they can to try to destabilize the situation inside Iraq. We think it’s very important that they keep their folks at home.”
President Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, was more explicit and said U.S. officials know that Iran is supplying militants who are attacking U.S. and Iraqi government forces.
“We will interdict their operations,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We will disrupt their supply lines. We will disrupt these attacks. And you have seen in the last couple of weeks that Iranians found doing things in Iraq have been picked up by coalition forces. And I think you’re going to see more of that.”
Hell, where has the Bush Administration and the American military been?
If Iran is supplying specialized IED’s and/or other supplies to Iraqis who are killing United States troops, then interdict the supplies and take out the Iranian factories that are making these devices and material. How about a blockade of the Iran-Iraq border?
Flap cannot believe that you need a Presidential pronouncement to go after Iran. Everyone in the world knows they are fomenting violence and killing Americans in Iraq.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini speaks to journalists during a news conference in Tehran October 8, 2006. On Sunday Hosseini demanded the immediate release of the five arrested Iranians, saying that the five were diplomats involved in ‘consulate affairs.’
In Baghdad, the military denied reports that the office where the Iranians were arrested, located in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, “had the diplomatic status of a consulate.” Iraqi officials have described the office as a “liaison office” that was in the process of getting consular authority. Several Kurdish officials said that the office represented the Iranian government and the Kurdish regional government was aware of its presence.
“The Multi-National Force, in keeping with U.S. policy, will continue to disrupt logistical support to extremists that originate from outside Iraq. These initiatives are part of a broader plan including diplomatic efforts designed to support the Iraqi government, protect the Iraqi people, and seek assistance from neighboring nations, according to coalition officials,” the military statement said.
The United States and Iraq governments need to “SWEAT” these guys for information (how do you spell Guantanamo) and intensify efforts to close down the Iraq-Iran border.
Are Black Op missions into Iran too far away?
How about just bombing or lobbing a few cruise missiles into the Iranian IED factories OVERTLY?
Stay tuned…….
A video grab shows the building of the Iranian consulate in Arbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region. Iran has protested that five nationals arrested by US forces in Iraq were merely consular staff doing their job, amid intensifying American warnings over Tehran’s role in its war-torn neighbour.
Previous:
Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Has No Plan to Strike Iran?
Iran Watch: United States Led Forces Detain 6 Iranians in Iraq
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Cox & Forkum: Cut and Run
Cox & forkum: Cut and Run
CNN: Democrats considering ways to block escalation of war.
As President Bush prepares to announce an increase in the number of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, some Democrats say they would consider blocking funding for the escalation.When asked whether Congress would consider cutting off the funds, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “We’re going take a look at it, of course.”
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, said his “office is now investigating what tools are available to us to condition or constrain appropriations” for the surge in troops. But he cautioned he doesn’t want troops already in Iraq to be “shortchanged.”
“So it creates a difficult situation for Democrats,” he said.
Aware of this concern, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters at a Capitol news conference Monday, “Democrats will not cut off funding for our troops.”
But, an aide later explained, the speaker is open to restricting money for the escalation, after hearings on the president’s new plan.
“We will always support the troops who are there,” Pelosi said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday. But, Pelosi added, “If the president wants to expand the mission, that’s a conversation he has to have with the Congress of the United States.
But that’s not … a blank check to him to do whatever he wishes there.”
Bush is scheduled to introduce his new Iraq strategy Wednesday night.
CNN: Soldiers tell Gates more troops needed in Iraq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the rest of the Bush administration may be undecided on whether to send more troops to Iraq. But several soldiers he met with at Camp Victory here on Thursday morning said extra forces would help.
“Sir I think we need to just keep doing what we’re doing,” Spc. Jason T. Green, with the 101st Military Intelligence Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division, told Gates during a breakfast session with about 15 U.S. soldiers.
“I really think we need more troops here. With more presence on the ground, more troops might hold them off long enough to where we can get the Iraqi Army trained up.”
The troops may be somewhat at odds with military commanders, who worry that rushing thousands more Americans to the battlefront could prompt Iraqis to slow their effort to take control of their country.
AP: Democrats to challenge Bush’s Iraq plan
President Bush is telling lawmakers he will send thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq’s two most troubled regions, in a plan that Democrats are resisting as a major escalation of a 31/2-year-old war. On Tuesday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., said he expects Bush to announce that up to 20,000 additional troops will be sent to Iraq, but will not say how long the extra forces will be there.
A day before Bush’s nationally televised speech describing his proposal, Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a longtime critic of Bush and the war, will propose legislation denying him the billions needed to send more troops to war unless Congress agrees first. Though it was unclear whether the bill would ever reach the full Senate, it could at least serve as a rallying point for the most insistent foes of the Iraq conflict.
Democrats seem divided on whether to block funds for troop increases, but many were not ruling it out. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., said Democrats would “look at everything” in their power to curb the war, short of cutting money for troops already in the field.
He said he would only consider an increase in U.S. forces in Iraq if Bush agreed to start withdrawing troops within six months.
The bill by Kennedy, D-Mass., is guaranteed to fuel the debate among lawmakers on how far they should go to try to force the president’s hand on the unpopular war.
Under the Constitution, the president has broad war-making powers, while Congress controls spending. Democratic leaders have swiftly rejected any suggestion of withholding money from troops already in combat zones.
“The Congress has the power of the purse and what we are saying is before the president sends additional American troops into the civil war, the president has to come back to the Congress and get the authority for that deployment,” Kennedy said Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“The American people ought to have a voice and a vote and members of Congress should be held accountable. We ought to take this step and stop the surge,” Kennedy said.
The Democrats are SPLIT. At least Ted Kennedy has the Cojones to propose legislation that the NUTROOTS and LEFT desire.
But, what about the mainstream Democrats?
Why aren’t the Democrats asking for equal time to respond to President Bush’s address to the nation tomorrow night?
No Plan?
What about the Democrats running for President and some who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee?
Hillary?
Barack?
Edwards?
Joe Biden?
Where do you stand on the Kennedy legislation? Do you want to cut off funding so the President will be forced to bring the troops home? Isn’t that what the Democrat Party ran on last November?
Come on, now, speak up………
Anyone?
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, Iraq, IraqWar, GeorgeWBush
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Cox & Forkum: Saber Rattling
Cox & Forkum: Saber Rattling
Fox News: Report: Israel Planning, Training for Low-Level Nuke Strike Against Iran.
Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons, according to a report in the Sunday Times of London.The paper cites several Israeli military sources saying that two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters.â€
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denied the report.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said it would not respond to the story. …
According to the Sunday Times, under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels†into the targets. “Mini-nukes†would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout.
“As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,†said one of the sources.
The plans, disclosed to The Sunday Times last week, have been prompted in part by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad’s assessment that Iran is on the verge of producing enough enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons within two years.
Israeli military commanders believe conventional strikes may no longer be enough to annihilate increasingly well-defended enrichment facilities. Several have been built beneath at least 70 feet of concrete and rock.
However, the nuclear-tipped bunker-busters would be used only if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene, senior sources said.
Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Planning Nuclear Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities?
Has the NUCLEAR “POINT OF NO RETURN†been reached?
Well, there have been signs of preparation and the rhetoric from Iran has certainly been ominous and begging for silencing.
Will the United States aid Israel?
You betcha………
The Sunday Times: Focus: Mission Iran
Israel will not tolerate Iran going nuclear and military sources say it will use tactical strikes unless Iran abandons its programme. Is Israel bluffing or might it really push the button?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ali Larijani – Iran if Threatened Will Obtain NUKES
Iranian top nuclear envoy Ali Larijani said in a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday that Iran is committed to peaceful use of nuclear technology.
“We oppose obtaining nuclear weapons and we will peacefully use nuclear technology under the framework of the Nonproliferation Treaty,†he said. “But,†he warned, “if we are threatened, the situation may change.â€
Israel Denies Claims It’s Preparing Nuke Attack on Iran
Israel’s Foreign Ministry is denying a British newspaper report that claims Jerusalem has drafted plans for a low-level nuclear strike on Iran to wipe out its uranium enrichment facilities using nuclear-tipped “bunker busters.”
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, Israel, Iran, Ahmadinejad, AliLarijani
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Cox & Forkum: Somalian Front
Cox & Forkum: Somalian Front
CNN: Somalia’s prime minister: Major fighting over.
Somalia’s prime minister said Tuesday he does not expect any more major fighting against rival Islamic fighters, and his Ethiopian military backer described the operation as within weeks of being completed.With attention shifting to suspected al Qaeda fighters believed to be sheltered by the hard-line group, a security official in neighboring Kenya said 10 foreigners who had fought with Somalia’s Islamic movement had been captured. They had told interrogators the militia was doomed by internal rifts, the official added.
Somalia Watch: Somalia Offers Islamists Amnesty
A militant Islamist movement fled from rapidly advancing government forces into a rugged, forested corner of Somalia, as the prime minister offered the Islamist rank and file amnesty if they surrendered.
Diplomats from the region were working to arrange the speedy deployment of African peacekeepers to help the interim government establish its authority in the country, which has known only anarchy for 15 years.
As the last remaining stronghold of the Islamic group was overrun by government troops backed by Ethiopian tanks and MiG fighter jets, the net began closing on suspected al-Qaeda fighters believed to be sheltered by the hardline group.
Neighboring Kenya vowed to seal its frontier to prevent any extremists, now wedged against the sea and their border, from escaping the 13-day military offensive.
Sea routes from southern Somalia were also being patrolled by the U.S. navy, hunting three al-Qaeda suspects believed to be among the Islamic group and wanted for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.
CBC News: Kenya arrests as many as 2 men with Canadian passports: reports. (via Little Green Footballs)
As many as two Somali Islamic fighters who claim to be Canadian were among 10 fighters arrested by Kenyan police, according to separate reports Tuesday.The 10 were arrested on Monday at the Liboi border crossing in Kenya as they tried to flee Somalia, the Kenya Daily Nation reported.
Two were reportedly carrying Canadian passports, while the remaining eight were said to have Eritrean passports. According to the newspaper, all 10 militants were being detained in the Kenyan town of Garissa. It is not known whether they have been charged.
Technorati Tags: Somalia, AlQaeda, Islamists, Ethiopia, Kenya
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Cox & Forkum: Old Acquaintance
Cox & Forkum: Old Acquaintance
CNN: Iraqi appeals court upholds Hussein death sentence.
The Iraqi High Tribunal’s appellate chamber on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein’s death sentence in the Dujail massacre case, Judge Aref Shaheen announced.
Shaheen said the court’s decision was the final word in the case.
The toppled Iraqi dictator’s execution must take place before January 27, Shaheen said. Iraqi law requires a death sentence to be carried out within 30 days.
On November 5, Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people in Dujail, a mostly Shiite town north of Baghdad. Hussein’s attorneys appealed, and the appellate chamber began reviewing the case December 5.
Hussein’s chief defense attorney, Khalil al-Dulaimi, said he had heard about the decision, but said it came from “an illegitimate and unconstitutional court.”
“We are not surprised by this crazy ruling,” al-Dulaimi said.
The lawyer, speaking from Amman, Jordan, said three other members of the defense team met with Hussein on Tuesday before the decision was announced and described him as being in high spirits.
Under international law, most governments have the power to stay any executions, but Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said his government would not do so in Hussein’s case.
Since Saddam may be hanged at any time, it may not be in 2007 that the Iraqi people receive justice for Saddam’s atrocities.
Hang Him HIGH…..
Previous:
Iraq War Watch: Saddam Huissein Convicted and Sentenced to Hang For Crimes Against Humanity
Technorati Tags: Iraq, SaddamHussein
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Cox & Forkum: Half-baked
Cox & Forkum: Half-baked
The Washington Times: Holiday pies won’t fly this year by Audrey Hudson.
Airline travelers carrying aboard potential explosives — holiday desserts containing more than 3 ounces of liquid — are being encouraged by Homeland Security officials to find other means of transportation for the goodies.”These items are permitted but may require further inspection. Keep in mind that many holiday foods like cake and pie have characteristics similar to liquids, gels and aerosols,” listed one travel tip released yesterday by the Transportation Security Administration.
“If you are not sure if an item is a liquid, gel or aerosol it is best to pack the item in your checked bag or ship it to your destination in advance,” says the travel guide.
Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the TSA, will discuss the holiday travel checklist with reporters at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport today and demonstrate common holiday travel mistakes.
One air marshal said screening holiday pies is a “half-baked idea.”
“That’s outrageous; people would have gooey pumpkin pie leaking all over their luggage,” said one airport security official.
And what about the Fruit Cake???
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, HomelandSecurity
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Cox & Forkum: Wish List
Cox & Forkum: Wish List
CNN: U.S., North Korea meet one-on-one.
Financial experts from the United States and North Korea met Tuesday to address Washington’s campaign to isolate the North from the international banking system, the key stumbling block blamed for Pyongyang’s 13-month boycott of nuclear talks.The meeting came on the sidelines of six-nation arms talks that entered a second day Tuesday with discussions focused on the implementation of a disarmament pledge signed by the North last year. …
The North staked out a tough position as the six-nation talks opened Monday, demanding a long list of previously stated preconditions for its disarmament such as the lifting of all U.N. sanctions and U.S. financial restrictions.
It repeated its assertion that it be considered a nuclear weapons power and that the talks be transformed into negotiations over mutual arms reductions in which it would be accorded equal footing with the United States. The North said it would increase its nuclear arsenal if its demands are not met.
The North also renewed its demand for a nuclear reactor for electricity.
The latest North Korean nuclear crisis erupted in 2002 after U.S. officials said the North had admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal, leading to the North’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Flap knows the United States will bargain in good faith.
The problem has been the duplicity of Kim Jong-Il.
Trust But Verify
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, NorthKorea, KimJong-Il
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Cox & Forkum: Genocidal Logic
Cox & Forkum: Genocidal Logic
Iran’s Holocaust-denial conference is over.
MEMRI President and Founder Yigal Carmon explained the real purpose of the conference: The Role of Holocaust Denial in the Ideology and Strategy of The Iranian Regime:
In order for Ahmadinejad to bring his plans [of eliminating Israel] to fruition, however, he has to demonize the Jews and the State of Israel. Demonization is a necessary precondition for genocide. As we well know, Hitler first engaged in a major campaign of demonization of the Jews before actually murdering them en masse. Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime are taking the same path, and are conducting a similar virulent, antisemitic campaign of demonization.
To this end, Iranian state-controlled television produces various TV series dedicated to the demonization of Jews. These include classic blood libels, depicting Jews as using the blood of non-Jewish children to bake their Passover matzos, and as kidnapping non-Jewish children to steal their body parts. Jews are reduced to sub-human levels, depicted as pigs and apes. They are accused of persecuting the Prophet Muhammad in voodoo ritualistic scenes, and as tormenting a historic figure reminiscent of Jesus on the Cross. All these TV series exist alongside others that deny the Holocaust.
Again, it should be stressed that all these phenomena are interrelated, and are state-directed at the highest level. It is most indicative that Ahmadinejad’s first public appearance after coming to power was made before television producers.
All this is done in order to achieve the goal of demonization of Jews and Israel, which, as I mentioned earlier, is vital for their elimination. However, it is not possible to demonize a people as long as it is viewed as a victim of the Holocaust. Therefore, as long as the Jews are perceived as victims of the Holocaust, this demonization cannot take root. Holocaust denial is thus vital, in order to wipe out the image of the Jews as victims.
This is the reason why these three elements – Holocaust denial, the elimination of the State of Israel, and demonization of the Jews – are constantly present in statements by Ahmadinejad and other senior Iranian officials.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes: Why they deny the Holocaust: On top of nearly constant anti-Semitic propaganda, much of the Muslim world hasn’t even heard of it. (via Little Green Footballs)
Western leaders today who say they are shocked by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s conference this week denying the Holocaust need to wake up to that reality. For the majority of Muslims in the world, the Holocaust is not a major historical event that they deny. We simply do not know it ever happened because we were never informed of it. …
What’s striking about Ahmadinejad’s conference is the (silent) acquiescence of mainstream Muslims. I cannot help but wonder: Why is there no counter-conference in Riyadh, Cairo, Lahore, Khartoum or Jakarta condemning Ahmadinejad? Why are the 57 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference silent on this?
Could the answer be as simple as it is horrifying: For generations, the leaders of these so-called Muslim countries have been spoon-feeding their populations a constant diet of propaganda similar to the one that generations of Germans (and other Europeans) were fed — that Jews are vermin and should be dealt with as such? In Europe, the logical conclusion was the Holocaust. If Ahmadinejad has his way, he shall not want for compliant Muslims ready to act on his wish.
Yet, Ahmadinejad may have LOST political ground in this week’s Iranian elections to REFORMISTS.
AFP: Ahmadinejad allies fail to sweep Iran vote
Ultra-conservatives close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have failed to sweep twin Iranian elections with embattled moderate forces recording a respectable performance, initial results have showed.
Centrist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani appeared to have sprung a surprise by reaping by far the most votes and beating a hardline rival in the election for the Assembly of Experts, the body that chooses the supreme leader.
In the keenly-watched race for Tehran city council, reformists were on course to take a handful of seats and end total conservative domination of the body which has prevailed since the last local vote in February 2003.
However the authorities were most keen to emphasise an unexpectedly high turnout, which appeared to have topped 60 percent for both votes, far higher than in similar elections in the past.
“The Iranian people have taken a decision to reach the summit of progress. As soon as they see that the enemy wants to stop them doing something, they carried it out,” Ahmadinejad said, hailing the turnout.
However the news for Ahmadinejad’s political allies was less positive, with the man seen as his spiritual mentor, Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, trailing behind Rafsanjani in the Assembly of Experts vote.
Was there a method to the madness of President Bush and the Rice State Department allowing former and liberal ex-president Mohammad Khatami visit the United States?
Possible
Is a reform of the ultra-conservative governance of Ahmadinejad and his cronies underway?
Perhaps the Iranian people are obtaining a glimpse of genocide and Armageddon and are not approving of the view.
Stay tuned…..
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, Iran, MahmoudAhmadinejad, MohammedKhatami, AkbarHashemiRafsanjani