Fighting Terrorism, Appeasement Style

For all of their bluster about appeasement, the only appeasing being done these days is by the Bush administration, and the regime they are appeasing is the Saudi royal family.

Is Wael Julaidan, founder of al Qaeda and one of only two Saudis ever designated as terrorist financiers by the Saudi regime and supposedly out of circulation, back in the public spotlight? It would seem so.

According to the English language Saudi paper, the the Arab News Julaidan was a featured speaker at a recent conference hosted by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). The article was first noted and commented on by the Global MB Report (registration required).

There are no other known leaders of Julaidan’s stature that my most knowledgeable sources say share that name, or would be noted with such prominence, so the likelihood that it is the same Julaidan that is designated by the UN, the US and Saudi Arabia, is very high.

This would mean, in essence, that one of the very few actions the Saudis claimed to have taken against the financiers and sympathizers of al Qaeda, was a bogus as almost every other step the Kingdom has claimed to have taken.

Appeasement is, more accurately explained, letting a country you're not at war with yet have concession after concession in the hopes that they won't attack you. We have been "appeasing" the Saudis for as long as anyone can remember, and the lion's share of the blame for the entirety of why we have a war on terror right now can be laid at the feet of the Saudi officials who obviously don't respect or fear the United States. Who can blame them? They own the Bush Administration and they can do whatever they want without fear of being held accountable. For other examples of this, see Colombia, Pakistan and Mexico.

--WS

Holy Joe Loses It In Public

Senator Joe Lieberman can't figure out what bothers him more--what's on television, what's going on with Bill Clinton's sex life, who's critisizing John McCain or what's on YouTube:

Searches on YouTube return dozens of videos branded with an icon or logo identifying the videos as the work of one of these Islamist terrorist organizations. A great majority of these videos document horrific attacks on American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan. Others provide weapons training, speeches by al-Qaeda leadership, and general material intended to radicalize potential recruits.

In other words, Islamist terrorist organizations use YouTube to disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers, and provide weapons training – activities that are all essential to terrorist activity. According to testimony received by our Committee, the online content produced by al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations can play a significant role in the process of radicalization, the end point of which is the planning and execution of a terrorist attack. YouTube also, unwittingly, permits Islamist terrorist groups to maintain an active, pervasive, and amplified voice, despite military setbacks or successful operations by the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

Google told Lieberman to stuff it:

Last week, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) contacted us to voice his concerns about seeing videos from several Islamic terrorist organizations on YouTube. We appreciated our dialogue with Senator Lieberman and his staff and wanted to explain to the YouTube community how we responded to his concerns.

First, some background: hundreds of thousands of videos are uploaded to YouTube every day. Because it is not possible to pre-screen this much content, we have developed an innovative and reliable community policing system that involves our users in helping us enforce YouTube's standards. Millions of users report potential violations of our Community Guidelines by selecting the "Flag" link while watching videos.

Senator Lieberman's staff identified numerous videos that they believed violated YouTube's Community Guidelines. In response to his concerns, we examined and ended up removing a number of videos from the site, primarily because they depicted gratuitous violence, advocated violence, or used hate speech. Most of the videos, which did not contain violent or hate speech content, were not removed because they do not violate our Community Guidelines.

Senator Lieberman stated his belief, in a letter sent today, that all videos mentioning or featuring these groups should be removed from YouTube -- even legal nonviolent or non-hate speech videos. While we respect and understand his views, YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. We believe that YouTube is a richer and more relevant platform for users precisely because it hosts a diverse range of views, and rather than stifle debate we allow our users to view all acceptable content and make up their own minds. Of course, users are always free to express their disagreement with a particular video on the site, by leaving comments or their own response video. That debate is healthy.

We appreciate Senator Lieberman alerting us to videos that violated our policies -- and encourage our users to continue to do the same through the flagging tool. And while we disagree with him about the details of our policies, we respect his views and thank him for giving us the chance to respond to his concerns.

Senator Lieberman doesn't have to go on the Internet to find this kind of thing--he just needs to go next door, to Fairfax County, Virginia and attend a few classes at the Islamic Saudi Academy:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent, bipartisan federal agency with a mandate to recommend policies that promote religious freedom in U.S. foreign policy, has recommended that the Secretary of State open diplomatic talks with the Saudi government in order to obtain official Saudi textbooks used at the government-run Islamic Saudi Academy outside Washington. The Academy should be closed until the official Saudi textbooks used at the school are made available for comprehensive public examination and are found to be consistent with Saudi government commitments to revise them to remove intolerant and violent references.

[SNIP]

Significant concerns remain about whether what is being taught at the ISA promotes religious intolerance and may adversely affect the interests of the United States. In December 2003, a former Saudi judge and Saudi journalist presented a study on the state religious curricula in boy's schools in Saudi Arabia at the second National Dialogue forum on religious extremism and moderation. The study found that the approach used in the texts "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the ‘other'." They cited examples found in the textbooks, such as "the blood and property of the polytheists are permitted" and "there is no prohibition on spilling their [polytheists] blood." Furthermore, one scholar who examined "revised" state religious textbooks concluded that "there are passages in the various Tawhid editions stating that the blood and property of polytheists may be taken by Muslims, and these passages have been contextualized but not removed...What remains then, is a principle of behavior sanctioning the murder of those with whom one disagrees."

Moreover, a 2006 report analyzing some Saudi textbooks from the 2005-2006 school year found that "a ninth grade Saudi textbook on Hadith teaches teenagers in apocalyptic terms that violence towards Jews, Christians and other unbelievers is sanctioned by God." For example, the textbook reads, "the hour [of judgment] will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them." Another example taken from a twelfth grade textbook reads, "Jihad in the path of God - which consists of battling [Arabic, qital] against unbelief, oppression, injustice, and those who perpetrate it - is the summit of Islam." The study concludes that "while, as the text explains, one of the meanings of jihad is self-perfection or ‘wrestling with the spirit', it acknowledges a more militant meaning as well." This state-driven disregard for freedom of religion not only violates international human rights standards, but also serves to embolden radical Islamists who seek to perpetuate acts of terrorism and other violence on Americans and others around the world.

I can find no record of Senator Joe Lieberman commenting on the initial finding in October, 2007, nor can I find any instance where he called a hearing to investigate whether or not the State Department was doing anything about this issue. Time and time again, Republicans and their enablers with links to the Bush Administration talk tough about terrorism--as in, making scurrilous comparisons to the Nazis and using terms like appeasement--but when confronted with the fact that Saudi Arabia is responsible for perpetrating anti-Semitism and anti-American rhetoric, they fall silent. They do nothing.

I can't find any criticism from him of the fact that this same school has been used to train US troops to speak Arabic:

Twenty two soldiers from Fort Belvoir now have a working knowledge of the Arabic language as well as a better understanding of Middle Eastern culture. And, they have the certificates to prove it.

On April 16 they became the second contingent of Fort Belvoir military personnel to graduate from the Islamic Saudi Academy's "Arabic as a Second Language." For the past 10 Saturday mornings they have been voluntarily enrolled in the course taught by Dr. Ibrahim Sakaji, chairperson of the school's Arabic as a Second Language Department.

Nor can I find a single instance where he spoke out in favor of this resolution, in the House, or attempted to sponsor the resolution in the Senate:

At least one congressman hopes to force the State Department to get moving. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., said he will introduce legislation to require the State Department to begin within 90 days of the law's enactment the process of getting the documents and reporting back findings to Congress another 90 days later.

It was not clear Thursday if there would be any specific consequences in the bill should the State Department fail to meet the requirements.

The legislation may be unnecessary, said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., suggesting that despite his concerns over Saudi efforts to spread the Wahabbi brand of Islam, which Wolf and a number of critics call "extremist," he thinks the U.S.-Saudi relationship will prevail.

"My sense is that reasonable people will get to the bottom of this," said Wolf, a co-author of the bill that started the commission during the Clinton administration.

Wolf said that if the ISA does have textbooks that promote hate against Jews, Christians or Muslims, "it is unacceptable."

We made that easy for Senator Lieberman--we went to Fox News to get that story. We're not the only ones who want to find out what is really going on at that school. We do not advocate censorship or closing the school--we want to know what they are teaching and whether that is consistent with committing a hate crime that wouldn't be tolerated anywhere, under any circumstances, regardless of whether or not the school has ties to a US ally that won't help us in our time of need. Obviously, someone on his staff must have seen it. It's ironic that he wants to censor YouTube for showing videos, but he is, apparently, clueless to the fact that a school funded by the government of Saudi Arabia is operating in Fairfax County, Virginia, and is essentially teaching what is in those videos.

The people who talk the toughest are usually just all talk--and weak on defending America.

Say Hello To a $5 Gallon of Gas

MSNBC.COM - BREAKING NEWS: White House says Saudi Arabia does not see a reason to increase oil production

Translation: The President has no powers of persuasion, nor does he have any influence with a country that has been aligned with his family for decades.

You're Kidding, Right?

It's like we're all on acid...everything is distorted and messed up...nothing makes any sense...and the neocons keep telling everyone how things really aren't:

`Enormous Credibility'
``He's got enormous credibility there, and is able to say to them in words of one syllable that they need to get their act together,'' John Bolton, the former UN ambassador, said.

Cheney plans to travel throughout the country. Among the topics on his agenda are pushing Iraqi leaders to pass an oil law that would help encourage international energy companies to invest in production, said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the trip.

The U.S. is in the process of pulling five of 20 combat brigades out of Iraq, totaling about 20,000 soldiers. Petraeus has said he wants to take time to assess security after the withdrawal ends in mid-July.

At least 3,978 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq and another 29,395 have been wounded, according to Department of Defense figures.

A majority of the U.S. public, 53 percent, said a victory in Iraq isn't possible, according to a Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll conducted March 7-10. Fifty-two percent said most troops should be withdrawn by 2009.

Enormous credibility? Conduct diplomacy with one-syllable words?

Fuck if I can't figure out what's going on. You'd have to be on acid to believe this shit.

Speaking of being on acid:

CNN’s Kyra Phillips speaks to some Iraqi soldiers about the U.S. presidential election and democracy in Iraq. While they spoke enthusiastically about the American soldiers teaching them discipline and how to effectively combat their enemies in Iraq, the soldiers were less effusive in their praise for those managing the war and their plans for bringing about democracy. Phillips tried in vain to locate any McCain supporters among the group.

“Just to be perfectly clear here, I did ask them are you following any of the republican candidates?…Do you want to talk about John McCain? Within that whole group, not one wanted a republican in the US presidential seat. They were all for a democrat. They were all for that type of change because they said they were living a republican war.”

Wow! CNN found a whole bunch of "fake troops" who hate America! Sarcasm intended.

Another Reason to Despise the Useless Media

First of all, I'd like to point out that there are two things that an American President should never do while standing in Saudi Arabia, the holy land of the Islamic faith:

1. Use medieval terms like "crusade"
2. Wave around medieval weapons like "swords"

---------------------------------------------

This little piece is a classic example of a member of the media making their own experiences larger than the story they are covering and humiliating themselves, unknowingly, of course, in the process:

By MARTHA RADDATZ
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 14, 2008

The Bush administration announced Monday that it intended to sell 900 Joint Direct Attack Munitions -- or JDAMs those big, precise GPS-controlled bombs -- to Saudi Arabia, a country that won't even let me go to the hotel gym because I am a woman.

The announcement that the JDAMS would be added to a $20 billion weapons package for the region came at almost the precise time I walked into the Marriott hotel gym in Riyadh, to inquire how late it would be open.

A hotel, by the way, that is an American-owned Marriott.

"Sorry, ma'am, but ladies are not allowed in here," the man at the reception desk told me.

Her experience was so important--sooooo important--she put it in the lede! Granted, this is from the ABC "Reporters Notebook" section and is NOT an actual news story per se. It is an item you can find on their website. It is an item about the experiences of Raddatz covering Bush's trip overseas. And you better believe that she is more important than those pesky JDAMs.

As you might imagine, this did not sit well with me.

I'm in Saudi Arabia covering the president's trip across the Middle East. After eight brutal days on the road, hopping from country to country, you need to grab a workout whenever you can.

So I offered what I thought was a reasonable compromise. Let the men work out for a few hours, then let the ladies work out.

"Let me check," the man at reception offered.

I knew it wouldn't happen, but I had to try. After a few minutes, I received the answer I expected. "Sorry, ma'am, but that is not possible."

Now, don't get me wrong.

I respect other cultures and am a seasoned traveler in the Mideast. I know in some places they separate women and men, hence my attempt at offering the compromise.

But this is the first time in decades I was made to feel like a second-class citizen, and it is not a pleasant feeling.

Being denied access to an exclusive gym in an expensive hotel makes YOU feel like a second class citizen? Wow. Here's what makes ME feel like a second class citizen: knowing there is no Habeus Corpus, knowing my government won't protect my city from standing water, knowing this is a war in Iraq without end and we're not being given candidates for the Presidency that the media likes who will end the war, knowing the right to privacy is now gone and the Director of National Intelligence insists on being able to read this blog post as I publish it and send it to Blogger, knowing there is no legitimate right to strike in this country because unions and union organization is a thing of the past, knowing this country can't stop spending money like it's going out of style, knowing there is no competence left in government and knowing my grandchildren are going to be paying for this bullshit for most of their natural lives.

Raddatz has to quantify her delusional ranting about gym access--the horror of it all!--and bring up a topic that she pretends to care about:

Of course, my experience of being turned away at the hotel gym pales in comparison to the suffering of many Saudi women. The country has an abysmal record when it comes to women's rights.

Recently, a woman who was gang raped was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes by the Saudi legal system.

That's a great story, Martha. How many Saudi officials have you spoken to about this topic? Did you ask the man standing next to Bush and holding his hand about it? Did you ask Bush to take the comical sword off his shoulder and speak to the issue? Or were you sidetracked by complaining about not being able to futz about on the elliptical machine?

Here's the kicker:

But I wondered how President Bush, a self-avowed exercise fanatic, would feel if he were turned away from a gym.

That's right--because you're just as important as the President of the United States of America, aren't you? You're still living under the illusion that the working press serves as some sort of "check and balance" on the Executive Branch of government, aren't you? It must have been exciting that first day at Journalism School, knowing that you were going into an honored profession that included the likes of Murrow, Brinkley, Woodward, Bernstein and Cronkite. And you must have harbored that feeling that, one day, you'd uncover and unravel a huge story and make a politician resign and change things for the better. What happened? Did someone forget to send you an invite to a cocktail party somewhere down the line and now you just want to complain about things that don't matter? Oh, I get it. The call of the village was too great. You decided to conform rather than stick out. How could you turn on "your own kind" and report the news that would make people "uncomfortable?" After all, you're just as important as the President of the United States of America, right? Because you and he are the same high class of people, aren't you?

And we wonder why bloggers are so unhinged these days. I know, I know--more pictures of bears fighting!

[Special Bonus Action Underwater Polar Bear Happy Fight!]

With friends like these...

When over half of the foreign insurgents in Iraq are imported from Sunni countries that the Bush administration considers allies, there is only one thing to do...Blame Shiite Iran for all your troubles!
In the early morning hours of September 11, American forces surrounded an encampment in the desert near Sinjar, on the Syrian border.

The raid provided a trove of intelligence data, and highlighted just how far off the American intelligence estimates had been. For instance - military intelligence had estimated that 20% of the foreign fighters had come from Syria and Lebanon. The information seized in the Sinjar raid revealed no Lebanese and only 8% were Syrian. Conversely, prior to the Sinjar raid estimates had pegged the number of foreign insurgents from North Africa at around 10%. Information obtained in the raid revealed that over 30% of foreign Sunni jihadis are north Africans.

Of greatest significance was the number of Saudi's (41%) and Libyans (18%). Both Saudi Arabia and Libya are considered to be "allies" in the "GWOT™" and as such, are on the receiving end of American benevolence and aid.

And still - diplomats and military officials treat the Saudis with kid-gloves, taking great pains to absolve the House of Saud and the Saudi government. They draw bright lines of distinction that cast the blame onto charities and "bad imams" and other individuals.

Compare the asskissing of the Saudis to the way Iran - which supplies no combatants - is handled: A branch of the Iranian military is branded a terrorist organization.

A senior American official, speaking on condition of anonymity said he believed that Saudi citizens provide the vast majority of financing for the group calling itself al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. “They don’t want to see the Shias come to dominate in Iraq.”

Snubbed!!!

Happier times, strolling hand in hand through the garden.

Now the King has rebuffed the president and backed out of a state dinner that was to be held next month.

But that is the least of the strains tugging at U.S. Saudi relations. King Abdullah on Wednesday, at a meeting of the Arab League in Riyadh said that “In the beloved Iraq, the bloodshed is continuing under an illegal foreign occupation and detestable sectarianism.”

He added: “The blame should fall on us, the leaders of the Arab nation, with our ongoing differences, our refusal to walk the path of unity. All that has made the nation lose its confidence in us.”

This strong rhetoric represents a sharp departure from previous statements about U.S. Involvement in Iraq. It also indicates that the relationship might not be as hunky-dory as the administration has been projecting. Instead, the Saudis are speaking out against the chaos raging next door.

In recent months, the Saudi's have conducted talks with Hamas and Hesbollah, two terrorist organizations in the view of the United States.

Saudi Arabia has also in recent months shown some willingness to reach out to Iran - much to the chagrin of the Bush administration, which want the Iranians shunned. Instead, King Abdullah has invited Iranian President Ahmidenajad to the capital for talks.

So - snub the American president and ask the president that represents one of the infamous "Axis of Evil" countries to c'mon over and dish.

aWol just got bitch slapped.

Bust out the BWAHAHAHA's! There's a certain element of schadenfreude that sets in when this vile little piece of human scat gets slapped up side the head, and I am not above enjoying his misery. Fuckin' sue me.