StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Anyone who has spent time reading my ramblings already knows that I have maintained a dismal outlook for Afghanistan’s future.  The Afghanistan Study Group’s Report paints a bleak picture of the downward slope.  Afghanistan risks sliding into a failed state and becoming the “forgotten war” because of deteriorating international support and a growing violent insurgency. The assessment, co-chaired by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones and former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, serves as a warning to the Bush administration at a time military and congressional officials are debating how best to juggle stretched warfighting resources.

The Study Group proposes to establish an Eminent Persons Group to develop a long-term, coherent international strategy for Afghanistan and a strategic communications plan to garner strong public support for that strategy.

Within the U.S., the Study Group calls for decoupling Iraq and Afghanistan…Decoupling these two conflicts likely will improve the overall U.S. approach to fighting global terrorism…tying together Afghanistan and Iraq also creates the false impression that they consist of the same mission, while in reality the challenges in these countries differ significantly from one another…

Others, including people involved in writing the report, and those in the State Department and at the “expert” websites will analyze and parse this report.  Rather than spend time spent better elsewhere (and given the extreme workload that I face), I leave you all with the following observations and reflections.  If you don’t spend the time to review and read, then arguing over one candidate or another is meaningless…the World around us will not change just because one candidate wins in November.  We’d all better hope and pray that whoever leads this Nation in the next decade realizes how precipitously it is perched on the edge…not just the U.S., but its interests…and especially, its most important priority, in my opinion of course, the Global War on Terrorism, and defeating the enemy that President Bush refused to name just the other night in his State of the Union Address.

As I wrote in my post on 2008 Predictions:

I believe that “we” have miserably missed the mark in understanding the cultural backdrop in which our military now fights this War on Terrorism. This is shown in the way in which Pakistan and Afganistan have devolved as the Taliban/al Qaeda have become reinvigorated. The Bhutto assassintation and the recently announced delays in the January elections all lead to continuing and potentially broadening unrest and violence. The possibility of al Qaeda or the Taliban (or some other clone of the Islamic Fundamentalist movement) gaining control in Pakistan, and its nuclear stores, offers enough of a nightmare scenario for anyone…our next President will be dealing with this one for years.  Further, despite “patriotic” arguments to the contrary, I do not believe that we can superimpose democratic ideals upon an unwilling populace or on a society in which the very concepts of freedom (as defined by Western culture) are foreign, without great stress and a high degree of risk.

In Afghanistan, I still see Karzai losing control (if not his life) as the warlords re-exert their influence. Karzai’s willingness to appease the Taliban (as did Musharraf) can only lead to problems for the U.S.  Added January 6 - If you want an example of where Karzai’s future is dimming, its important to place the recent announcement that Afghan Clerics Warn Karzai Against Missionaries as an indicator.

Afghanistan’s Islamic council has told President Hamid Karzai to stop foreign aid groups from converting local people to Christianity and has demanded the reintroduction of public executions…The council said it was concerned about the activities of some “missionary and atheistic” groups, saying that the actions were “against Islamic Shariah, the Constitution, and political stability,” according to a copy of the statement. “If not prevented, God forbid, catastrophe will emerge, which will not only destabilize the country, but the region and the world.”

I see the pressures mounting on Karzai from a number of different directions.
If you choose to go further:

White House - “Limited Progress” in Deteriorating Afghan War

Posted by StormWarning on 25 Nov 2007 at 07:57 am

Losing Afghanistan - Redux

Posted by StormWarning on 23 Nov 2007

Oct 5 2007: Looking at Six Years in Afghanistan

Jan 27, 2007: Facing Reality in Afghanistan

Dec 15, 2006: Afghanistan & the Taliban: The “Rule Book” (Layeha)

Dec 4, 2006: Afghanistan - Counterpoints 

Nov 29, 2006: Losing Afghanistan - The Taliban’s Re-Emergence 

Mar 3, 2006: Afghanistan - Unraveling? 

Other posts:

Afghanistan - Winning and Losing
Post Taliban Afghanistan – The New Parliament
Afghanistan: CENTCOM, NATO and Narcotics
Terrorist Resurrection
Tribal Unrest in Pashtunistan Poppies and Afghanistan
Post Taliban Afghanistan – The New Parliament
Afghanistan - Winning and Losing

I apologize for being repetitive. But frankly its a bit tedious to continue analyzing a situation like this, and yet to fail on so many levels.  Does it sound like I am frustrated?  Sure thing!

Vote once and vote often…seems like its the “thing” to do.

Department of State, Karzai, Winning and Losing

3 Comments »

Attention people with cardiac risk factors.  Watching the Super Bowl can be hazardous to your health.

● New research suggests that when serious sports fans are watching their team play in a big game, they face more than twice the risk of suffering a heart attack. While the study focused on the 2006 World Cup soccer matches in Germany, American football fans would be wise to take note of the findings.

● Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist at New York University Medical Center, said fans just need to remember it’s only a game. “It’s a game and it’s great to be involved and excited, it just needs to be toned down. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you,” he advised…”It appears you have to be vested in some way in the outcome,” explained Siegel. “I would definitely expect there to be an increase in heart attacks in New York and New England this weekend if it’s a close game.”

Go Giants! Subdued, of course.

cardiac risk, Super Bowl

2 Comments »

It’s Rudy’s dizzying free fall. So few listened to this former New Yorker when I wrote that Rudy Giuliani simply wasn’t everything that some others believed he was. Perhaps he was living an illusion all along. “Giuliani’s momentum-proof national polling lead, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny all walk into a bar…You’re right. None of them exist.” And he’s going to endorse Senator McCain.

I’m nothing if I’m not consistent.

Positioning for the VEEP Nomination
Bernie’s Indictment Could Unravel Rudy
“Boomerang Bernie” - Rudy’s Albatross
The Unmasking of Rudy Giuliani by the FDNY
The Multi (and confusing) Sides of Rudy Giuliani
Ominous Clouds on Horizon for Rudy
The Contradiction of Support for Giuliani, The “Great Sinner”
Kerik on Giuliani (and other tidbits - including Oxycontin)
Contradictions, Flip-flops and Presidential Politics
Deconstructing the Rudy Myth
The Rudy and Judi Show - A Question of Judgment and Bioterrorism
Rudy, Rudy, Rudy! What are you saying?
Bernard Kerik, Former DHS Secretary Nominee “Comes Clean”

An original member of Republicans Against Giuliani.

Rudy Giuliani

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One would hope that as the end of his Administration nears, President Bush would not soften his stance that the enemy was radical Islamic fundamentalism.  Yes, as aptly pointed out recently by another blog, the War on Terrorism is not solely against Islamic fundamentalists. But with all of the fluff about the SOTU, noticeable by their absence were those words.  Debate all you wish about the merits of his speech, IMO, he failed to explain the very mission of what his Presidency has been from the moment he stood atop the rubble pile at the crumbled World Trade Center.

This is pointed out by Andy Cochran of the Counterterrorism Blog…referring to President Bush and his 2008 speech:

He never used the words “Islamic” or “Islamist” to describe the most dangerous forms of terrorism and extremism which the U.S. and the West face in the Middle East and around the world. Contrast that to his 2007 SOTU speech (emphases mine):

Yes, we are engaged in a Long War. Most of the experts (both the inner circle and the closer in concentric rings) have agreed that this is a generational war against an enemy dedicated to a religious agenda. Debate all you wish as to whether terrorism is state-sponsored or not…debate all you wish that al Qaeda has been weakened or not by the events in Iraq. Never forget, while many Americans remain confused, that Iraq is but one battleground of this Long War against the Islamic Fundamentalist jihad. Our enemy has the resolve to fight for decades…do not be deluded by body counts and kills rates of al Qaeda or Taliban fighters in one battle or another. You do that at the risk of forgetting the identity of the enemy…

It appears that for some reason, President Bush shied away from naming that enemy last night in his last State of the Union Address. What influences led him to ignore the obvious in defining the War on Terrorism, and providing for the next President, the lines to follow?

On Sunday (Jan. 27th), another expert from the CTB, Walid Phares delineated what he hoped would be the contents of the road ahead.

* Define the enemy, clearly and strategically. For the changes in definitions over the past seven years have left the public in quest for a definitive knowledge about who are we fighting and why. The last year of the Presidency must help the next White House to engage in successful a war of ideas instead of a continuous search for the identity of the enemy.

* A vision as to the future of US role in Iraq and the strategies to follow.

* A vision as to the future of US role in Afghanistan and the campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban including the measures to be taken regarding Pakistan’s crisis.

* A plan regarding the treats developed by the Iranian and Syrian regimes and guidelines regarding Lebanon and Hezbollah.

* A platform regarding the Homeland Security strategy for the future and the threat of domestic Jihadism.

For what purpose, in his last SOTU, did President Bush avoid the obvious?  Ask how we as a Nation can maintain the focus and resolve to defeat the most difficult, elusive and resilient enemy we have ever faced, if in his keystone address, President George W. Bush didn’t “call like it is?”

Islamic Fundamentalism, State of the Union Address

2 Comments »

For some reason, roadkill opportunities seem to follow me around.

January 14, 2008
Driving through my neighborhood from the entrance (just past a stand of trees and a stream), I saw in my lights the reflection of the eyes of a rat (I thought that I lived in a “nice” area, but then again, its been dry here and maybe it was looking for water). No, I didn’t even try to stop (you can imagine the rest).

October 2007
Driving through my neighborhood from the entrance and out of the corner of my eye, sort of at 10 o’clock, I saw a foolish brown squirrel, at first, it seemed that he was deciding whether or not to cross the road in front of me…and then, for no apparent reason at all, he darted in front of my car. I heard a “thump-thump” (like he had bounced), and in the rear-view mirror, I saw it turning over. When I got home, I told my wife, who immediately got into her car and went to where I told her it had happened. Wouldn’t ya know it! That damn squirrel had gotten up and run off. So the “thump-thump” didn’t kill him (either that, or one of the neighborhood turkey vultures had swooped in quickly to take his snackfood).

November 8, 2004
Also yesterday, on my way to an appointment, I was driving on a main highway (3 lanes, with traffic lights) where the “normal” driving speed is between 50 and 60 mph. I was driving in the left lane, approaching an “S” curve, when suddenly appeared a seagull that landed directly in front of me, probably only 10 yards ahead. He had been attracted by someone’s throw-away McDonalds french fries (I guess). He looked up at me (I could see his eyes), and he must have thought to himself, “oh 5*1*!!!” and attempted to fly away. But he was weighed down by the food in his beak, and couldn’t get out of the way. I couldn’t swerve because of my speed and the fact that there were cars all around me…Feathers flew as the bird bounced off my left headlight.

July 27, 2002
It happened right in front of me! I’d made a quick run back up to my office (’cause I forgot some stuff for a meeting I have on Monday morning at 8), and I was on my way home. Driving on a two-lane parkway at approx. 60-65mph, I suddenly saw an SUV skid, smoke pluming from its brakes and tires…it slid across to the adjacent lane, hit another car and forced it off the road, and was slammed from behind by another SUV (that was following to closely, but thats another story), which was hit from behind by another car. Net, net…a four car pile-up because the first SUV had slammed on its brakes to avoid hitting a Canadian Snow Goose that was (for some reason) walking across the road…and the goose died on the side of the road anyway.

So, with all of the stress and anxiety shown recently over animal cruelty, I was wondering…[this was a poll taken on Motley Fool - obviously not scientific]

 14% (3 Votes)
Goose feathers! It deserved to die. The SUV should’ve pulverized it.

 14% (3 Votes)
I’d avoid hitting the goose (or any other animal) even w/an accident

 55% (12 Votes)
Kill the goose, but if it was a deer, I’d avoid it.

 18% (4 Votes)
There are too many Canadian Snow Geese

Sometime in 1996 (I don’t remember the exact date)
Traveling on the same stretch of road as I did in November 2004 (but just a little further down the road), in fact, driving the same car (yeah! I drove that car into the ground - over 180,000 miles before it died), a “damn cat” crossed in front on the car…I was going too fast to stop or swerve around it. It was the first time I ever actually saw fur fly (in the rear view mirror).

There is a lesson in all of this. I know that there is. There must be one.

OK!  I’ll admit it.  Since the last roadkill incident (the first one listed), I’ve had this recurring fear everytime I open my garage door, I’m going to be attacked by a hoard of revenge seeking rodents.

road kill

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Pending the Super Tuesday results, there is a very real possibility that both parties could nominate candidates whose religions have already been an issue.  Aside from my belief that the “social conservative” wing of the Republican party needs to wake up and realize that the so-called “conservative agenda” is not shared by all Republicans, imagine a Presidential race between Obama and Romney.

I think that religious bigots on both sides of the aisle will either have a field day, or have their heads explode.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Article after article, I’ve heard that Mitt Romney’s Mormonism is a problem (or bad), and would somehow be bad for America (isn’t that what I’ve read?)…frankly, I don’t get it.  And then, of course, there’s Barack Obama who is an avowed Christian (except, of course, a whole load of people run their mouths off that he’s some kind of closet Muslim)…and then, his church, Trinity United Church of Christ, is problematic for a number of “social conservative” Republicans [see ... here].  What’s the problem here?  Apparently, if its not your religion, its not the “right” religion.  Quite a double standard perhaps?

Something else to think about from the U.S. State Department.

Am I not consistent enough for you?  Debate, Discussion and Spitball Politics.  The other day, I was counselled by a commenter that the Republican party needed the social conservatives.  Well, I disagree.

REPEATING: It may be the time for the “social conservative” wing of the Republican party to wake up and realize that the so-called “conservative agenda” (with all of that “values” stuff) is not shared by all Republicans, and does not represent the mainstream of the Republican electorate. And that those who do not share your views of the “conservative agenda” or your image of the Republican party are not “rhinos” but actually people who believe in principles of small(er) government, strong national and homeland defense, elimination of the inheritance tax, encouragement of entrepreneurship and innovation and other “radical ideas”…but simply do not share those religious views that have so overtly been foisted upon the rest of us?  MORE?  I believe that Republicans have to exist without the Christian conservative social agenda. In the marketing world, we would call that a segmented marketplace (too small for any real traction).  Right now, they’re just screaming loudly.  They might quiet down eventually…or maybe not.

Obama, romney

5 Comments »

Version two purportedly corrects poorly designed and breakable elements of V1.  And it was announced on the Al-Ekhlaas forum, hosted at a Web site based in Tampa, Fla.  It is time for the general public, and not just a few select counterterrorism “wonks” to pay attention.  These are not camel jockeys.

“The original Mujahideen Secrets used a weak methodology, it was not properly designed and it was breakable,” asserts Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism at Secure Computing. Henry notes that the first version of Mujahideen Secrets makes use of the RSA-based public-key cryptography.

The levels of sophistication of today’s cyber-jihadists is striking, and widely “misunderestimated” (see malaprop) by the uninitiated multitudes of global blogosphere commentators.

Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has also identified NOC4Hosts as the Web site provider for Al-Ekhlaas, noting that on Jan. 13 the Islamist forum “announced the imminent release of a new version of the ‘Mujahideen Secrets’ software.”
[:]
MEMRI stated that the first version of the Mujahideen Secrets encryption software released a year ago was described as “the first Islamic computer program for the secure exchange [of information] on the Internet,” providing users with “the five best encryption algorithms, and with symmetrical encryption keys (256 bit), asymmetrical encryption keys (2048 bit) and data compression [tools].”
[:]
…there’s cause to be concerned that Al-Qaeda may be bulking up its technologies.

The full story of the MEMRI analysis of this is found here, From MEMRI’S Islamist Website Monitor Project: Islamist Forums Take New Security Measures.  A partial list of web hosts harboring al Qaeda and jihadist websites, all providing access to Majahadeen Secrets Version 2 are show here, in Headline: Islamofacist Outreach Comes to the Net-In ENGLISH !

The following are some prominent Islamist forums and blogs in English, along with their URLs and ISPs:

The Al-Hesbah forum
http://www.alhesbah.net/v/forumdisplay.php?f=48
ISP: NOC4Hosts Inc.; Tampa, FL, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Shumoukh Al-Islam forum
http://shmo5alislam.net/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=53
ISP: TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD; Malaysia (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Al-Ekhlaas forum
http://ekhlaas.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=109
ISP: NOC4Hosts Inc.; Tampa, FL, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Jund Al-Rahman forum
http://jondurrahmaan.com/vb/?styleid=30
ISP: Layered Technologies, Inc.; Plano, TX, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Shabkat Al-Akhbar forum
http://w-w-n.ws/forumdisplay.php?f=10
ISP: TIMETELEKOM; Malaysia (Data verified 11/20/07)
At-Tibyan Publications website [2]
http://tibyan.wordpress.com/tag/articles
ISP: Layered Technologies, Inc., Plano, TX, USA (Data verified 11/29/07)
The Sawt Al-Jihad blog
http://www.sawtaljihad.org/
ISP: New Dream Network LLC; Brea, CA, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Ignored Puzzle Pieces of Knowledge blog
http://inshallahshaheed.muslimpad.com/
ISP: ThePlanet.com Internet Services, Inc, Dallas, TX, USA (Data verified 11/29/07)
The Crusader Watcher blog
http://www.crusaderwatcher.blogspot.com/
ISP: Google Inc.; Mountain View, CA, USA (Data verified 11/20/07)
The Press Release blog
http://www.press-release.blogspot.com/
ISP: Google Inc.; Mountain View, CA, USA (Data verified 11/21/07)

Further, you have this excerpt: On December 17, 2007, the English section of the Islamist Al-Ekhlaas forum (www.ek-ls.org), hosted by NOC4Hosts Inc., Tampa, FL, USA, posted a message revealing further security measures being taken by Islamist forums in light of the intensifying campaign in the West against Islamist websites.

The message indicates that Islamists have created exclusive, invitation-only forums because of the fear of infiltration by non-Muslim Western agencies and organizations.

So what do the experts say about this?  People like Doug Farah and Evan Kohlmann are among those who follow this area closely.  I’m pretty much an interested third party as it relates to some of the work that I do, and the emerging tactics in this War on Terrorism continues to fascinate me.  On the Counterterrorism Blog, Farah writes in his post, The Jihadist Encryption Campaign

Dubbed Mujahadeen Secrets 2, the Ekhlaas website said the newer iteration is a “special edition of the software was developed and issued by … Ekhlaas in order to support the mujahideen in general and the (al Qaeda-linked group) Islamic State in Iraq in particular.”

This shows three things: that the outside world has grown increasingly better at monitoring their unencrypted communications; that the jihadists have the technological wherewithal to take their communications to the next level; and that they still apparently like to operate out of the United States.

Farah expands on his thoughts more in his own blog, Jihadists Move to Encryption on Internet Sights, his final observation warrants special attention:

The flat world of technology spread cuts many ways. This is one of the inevitable but costly ways our open systems can be exploited to make our lives more dangerous.

Just a bit less than a year ago, I among few others wrote a post, New Encryption Tool to Aid Terrorism.  Suprisingly few (or not) people recognized it back then, and in fact I know factually that even cyber-terrorism specialists at a specific 3-letter agency were not familiar with it back then.  Perhaps their awareness has risen since then.

For a “geeks” view of the released version 2, you can look at Mujahideen Secrets 2 Encryption Tool Released.

Those who somehow think that the Global War on Terrorism is coming to some sort of end, wake the hell up! As time passes, jihadist tactics are becoming more sophisticated. These are educated and intelligent people, motivated to destroy us through whatever means are at their disposal.

Al Ekhlaas forum, MEMRI, Mujahadeen Secrets 2

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The University of North Carolina newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel has an article, The business of research - Bio-Defense facility would be a boon for Butner which is bound to raise ire, especially because the editors write: “we’re here to remind you that this lab is not the latest sign of the apocalypse, but an asset to the Triangle community.”

● this unique chance for area research firms and universities to participate in joint research with the center offers an invaluable opportunity to the community.
● expected that $1.7 billion will be pumped into the local economy over the next 20 years and that 300 new jobs will be created because of the lab

But while their concerns are certainly legitimate, a closer look at the lab can ease a few of those fears. Level-4 labs are designed to house the deadliest and most infamous of pathogens safely, and with a brand new building being erected to house the facility, all the advancements in safeguarding technology can be built in during construction of the lab.

Level-4 labs also have much higher security standards than the preceding levels; while the pathogens are more dangerous, they’re also less likely to get out. Plus, North Carolina already has several level-3 facilities and has had no apparent problems

Separating fact from fiction (at least one scientist’s point of view):
Forum: Facts, not fiction, should drive NBAF discussion

There is plenty of misinformation and speculation circulating in Athens about the NBAF - what it will do, whether it’s safe, and whether it should be located here. NBAF, an awkward acronym, stands for National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility, and will be a replacement for the aging facility at Plum Island, N.Y., where I worked for 10 years.

As a scientist and Athens citizen, I say it’s time to separate the fact from the fiction regarding NBAF.

Fiction: NBAF will be a bio-weapons facility.

Fact: NBAF will be an agro-defense facility, as is Plum Island. There’s a big difference. The mission of NBAF is similar to that of Plum Island, which is to protect us from, and prepare us for, introduction of foreign animal diseases that can threaten the public’s health, our agriculture and economy.

…NBAF would help us be prepared for the outbreaks of diseases that devastate animals and people in other parts of the world. It’s not a matter of if, but when, these diseases arrive in the United States…

Fiction: Research on infectious disease pathogens is done on an island for a reason - these dangerous viruses and microbes can escape into the community.

Fact: Plum Island, located off the coast of Long Island, was constructed 55 years ago in a remote and isolated area, using the biological containment technology of the time: barriers between the harmful agents and the outside of the laboratory. More barriers equaled higher containment. And the laboratory itself had to be in a remote area, away from any of the susceptible species, such as livestock. In addition, just in case all of those simple barriers didn’t work, the facility had to be surrounded by a moat, which is why the Plum Island facility was built on an island.

…Fact: Accidents are always possible, but the redundant safety systems in high-level biosafety facilities make the accidental release of pathogens into the community very unlikely…

Yes, I have selectively chosen certain passages from the entire article to conform with the DMCA.

And yes, the Sunshine Project is out there doing its “watch dogging.”

Butner, NBAF, North Carolina, Sunshine Project

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I rarely if ever engage in the language of partisan political rhetoric.  Frankly, my opinion is that it throws mud on everyone and diminishes the process, but again, since I have scant time, I can’t help but expose this obviously and brilliantly photoshopped expression of political opinion…[and BTW, this was sent to me by my friend Coyote, and did not contain attribution).

Some people just have too much free time (alot more than I have, for sure). Of course, as funny as this might be, I still hope that Senator Clinton remains as Senator from New York State. And here, I repeat my recent political commentary:

It may be the time for the “social conservative” wing of the Republican party to wake up and realize that the so-called “conservative agenda” (with all of that “values” stuff) is not shared by all Republicans, and does not represent the mainstream of the Republican electorate. And that those who do not share your views of the “conservative agenda” or your image of the Republican party are not “rhinos” but actually people who believe in principles of small(er) government, strong national and homeland defense, elimination of the inheritance tax, encouragement of entrepreneurship and innovation and other “radical ideas”…but simply do not share those religious views that have so overtly been foisted upon the rest of us?

CLinton, photoshop

2 Comments »

Foxx Muldar said, “the truth is out there.”  Its just that you cannot always discern it.  That applies as much to scientific reality as it does to political reality.  So, for no other reason than I’m still celebrating (and actually too busy to do serious writing here), I present you with the following doses of reality.

And just like life might exist on Mars, it is not out of the question that a Yetti (if you’d like, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti) does exist…or might.

And now for the Political Commentary: Has it occured to all of you out there (especially the “conservatives”) who have all but been baying at the Moon now that your favorite non-candidate for the Republican nomination for President of “these here United States,” former Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race, that the so-called “conservative agenda” is not shared by all Republicans, and that those who do not share your views of the “conservative agenda” or the image of the Republican party are not “rhinos” but actually people who believe in principles of small(er) government, strong national and homeland defense, elimination of the inheritance tax, encouragement of entrepreneurship and innovation and other “radical ideas”…but simply do not share those religious views that have so overtly been foisted upon the rest of us?

To blend the sublime and the ridiculous, then.  Here is the alternative candidate…

Hey!  He’s better than Fred or Rudy (in my opinion of course).

Bigfoot, Foxx Muldar, Fred Thompson, life on Mars, mars, Marvin the Martian, politics, Sasquatch, Yeti, Yetti

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Unbelievable.  I can’t express how amazing it is to see my NY Giants go to the Super Bowl!  Now, we see if they have any chance to stop the NE Patriots’ drive for an undefeated season.  By the way, the comments are worth reading, so please take the time to do so.

New York Giants, Super Bowl

9 Comments »

If you think that terrorism is only perpetrated by Muslims, think again.  There are plenty of wacko “redblooded” Americans who do stupid things.  Like Michael S. Gorbey who was arrested near the Capitol Bldg carrying a shotgun and in car reportedly rigged with a propane tanks and wires according to U.S. Capitol Police. He also carried a shotgun and a backpack containing a samurai sword.

Gorbey apparently has a criminal record.

He was spotted about a block away from the U.S. Capitol, near the Russell and Dirksen Senate office buildings at approximately 1:00 p.m. Capitol police drew their weapons after spotting the man and forced him to surrender.  Gorbey reportedly gave himself up without resistance.

[:]

Following his arrest, Gorbey reportedly told authorities that he was going to the U.S. Supreme Court building where he had an appointment with Chief Justice John Roberts at 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon.  That appointment, however, was not officially corroborated.  A witness, though, also told authorities that the suspect asked for directions to the Supreme Court Building — which is less than a block from the Capitol.

Now, I know ths area quite well since it a straight shot from Union Station down 1st St. to the Dicksen, Russell and Hart Senate Office Buildings. Later in the day, the car was found to have no actual explosives in it. This guy is clearly a wackjob who has both a crimiinal record and was questioned by police in 1994 suspected of flying over retricted airspace near Camp David.

Police said Gorbey was spotted in Lower Senate Park around 1 p.m. Friday and was tackled by Capitol Police officers. The park, near the three Senate office buildings, is located near Union Station, a busy train and subway station near the Capitol.

[:]

Capitol Police arrested the man about 1 p.m., just after he was spotted walking with the shotgun at First and D streets NE, authorities said. No shots were fired.

Wack jobs abound in “these here” United States. This is a reminder that the threat is not just from Islamists.  Terrorists don’t all wear turbins.  They don’t all drive camels.  Some smoke Camels and drive pick-up trucks.  Terrorists don’t all come from Arab countries, because some come from right here…even Utah (please draw no implications from the reported home state of Gorbey - that is not my intent at all)!  But there are plenty of people out there like Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols and Eric Rudolph who are somehow bent on hurting Americans and executing a terrorist act.

Capitol Police, Michael S. Gorbey, Washington Post

2 Comments »

At least for now, the speculation over who killed Benazir Bhutto is over.  According to CIA Chief Michael Hayden, members of al-Qaeda and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for last month’s assassination.  And the CIA agrees with the Pakistani government too!  As unsettling as this is, I can’t possibly be surprised.  Feel better now?

The same alliance between local and international terrorists poses a grave risk to the government of President Pervez Musharraf, a close U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism, Hayden said in 45-minute interview with The Washington Post. “What you see is, I think, a change in the character of what’s going on there,” he said. “You’ve got this nexus now that probably was always there in latency but is now active: a nexus between al-Qaeda and various extremist and separatist groups.”

Although many Pakistanis believe that the Musharraf government was behind the political “snuff,” Hayden refuses to acknowledge that possibility, and does not reveal the CIA intelligence that leads to this conclusion.

What is not suprising, at least to this author, is that this Washington Post article once again raises the spectre that the Taliban has been rebuilding its terrorist network and base working within the mountainous tribal region of Pakistan (or is that Afghanistan), and speaks of the sharing of resources between al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“We’ve always viewed that to be an ultimate danger to the United States,” Hayden said, “but now it appears that it is a serious base of danger to the current well-being of Pakistan.”

[:]

“The Afghan-Pakistan border region has been an area of focus for this agency since about 11 o’clock in the morning of September 11, [2001], and I really mean this,” Hayden said. “We haven’t done a whole lot of retooling there in the last one week, one month, three months, six months and so on. This has been up there among our very highest priorities.”

For those who have been reading here for any amount of time, the last point should be obvious. Following on the heals of SecDef Gates’ blasting, and then pulling back, from the remarks he made in the last few days of his assessment that NATO forces were incapable of dealing with the insurgency and growing terrorism in southern Afghanistan (”suggested NATO troops were botching the counter-insurgency battle in Afghanistan”).

We’ve yet to figure out that “Its the Tribes Stupid!” is factual.  For those who want to try to count bodies of dead Taliban or dead terrorists and ignore the basic fact that, at least in my opinion, we are fighting a different war than our opponents…until we recognize that, they will continue to win the war of attrition in the mountains bridging the Durand line.

For more than 230 years, Americans have assumed that because we have had a happy experience with democracy, so will the rest of the world. But the American military has had a radically contrary experience in Iraq. And Iraq may be but prologue for what our troops may encounter in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

There is no amount of flag waving and blind pseudo-analysis that will counter the realities that the tribes, the cultures, and the loyalties within the “countries” (created and gerrymandered by the British) in this region are local and not central(ized). Its obvious sociology…but not to all.  But if this isn’t enough proof of the sunsettled nature of the Durand Region, then recognize that Al-Qaeda leaders call for new Jihad against armed forces is a very real threat.

Two al-Qaeda leaders in the north of Pakistan have called on their supporters to wage a new Jihad against security forces and seize control of Islamabad.

In a graphic video sent to Adnkronos International (AKI), Takfiri militants Qadri Tahir Yaldeshiv (Photo) and Abdul Khaliq Haqqani called for urgent action against the armed forces to avenge the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in 2007.

The video was sent from Tahir Yaldeshiv’s camp in North Waziristan which borders Afghanistan.

“Jihad is compulsory in Pakistan as it is compulsory in Afghanistan,” Tahir said in the video message.

You might wish to also re-read my previous posts referring to Bhutto, here as well as The Seven Pillars and the Cultural Divide in Iraq. 

And now you may return to the multi-voting shindig at RCP where [expletive deleted] and character assassination of political candidates reigns supreme (and a limited number of authors - “the usual suspects“ - seem to be able to consistently offer the “best” content - What a freakin’ joke).  But if you wish, you can vote for this post, if you can find it, at RCP.

Thanks.

CIA Places Blame for Bhutto Assassination, Durand Line, Hayden Cites Al Qaeda, Pakistani Fighters, tribes, Washington Post

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This is a short post to which additional information may be added during the day.

It seems that what might normally be a controversial program, the location of the new National Bio and Agro Defense Lab in a community has become even more controversial because of the actions of those opposed to locating the lab at the proposed North Carolina site in Butner.   Apparently alot of misinformation has been spread, and there has been some reported “dirty tricks” being played on at least one of the other locations.

Contrary to misleading statement, proposed bio lab in Butner would be safe (Barrett D. Slenning, D.V.M.)

The physicians’ statement submitted by Dr. Joseph Melamed and published on this page Jan. 5 under the headline “Proposed lab could unleash dangerous microbes” was inaccurate and misleading. Here are a few of the most egregious errors. [:]

The earlier letter: Proposed lab could unleash dangerous microbes

The following is a statement submitted by Dr. Joseph Melamed of Oxford on behalf of 40 physicians who live and work in North Carolina. It concerns their opposition to the proposed federal disease-research lab in Butner. Several North Carolina universities and groups favor bringing the 520,000-square-foot lab to the site. Locations in Georgia, Mississippi, Kansas and Texas are also being considered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.We strongly oppose siting the National Bio and Agro Defense Facility (NBAF) in Butner. The work done at this facility will not and is not intended to improve the health of any people or animals in the United States. The only purpose of the NBAF is the study of diseases that may be used as biological weapons.Not one of these deadly, exotic viruses currently exists in North Carolina or has ever infected any human or animal here. [:]

Of course, the truth is alot closer to the rebuttal letter submitted by Dr. Slenning. But if one thing is clear, the people of Butner and the surrounding communities don’t want the NBAF situated there. No matter how many people are in favor of it, the outcries, even by what might be a minority, should speak volumes to the Department of Homeland Security. Emotions certainly run high in North Carolina. It makes “one” wonder why NC was selected as one of the finalists. DHS should simply drop North Carolina from consideration now.

Check out other Google links here.

Butner, National Bio and Agro Defense Lab

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IT WAS FUNNIER WHEN THE TITLE WAS WRITTEN ”GOES DOWN” INSTEAD OF “COMES DOWN” BUT IT WAS AN INADVERTANT “SLIP OF THE TONGUE” AND TO SOME, IT MAY HAVE BEEN OFFENSIVE, SO I CHANGED IT.

When it comes to shaping and molding the opinions of the pseudo-patriotic, conservative minions, Limbaugh seems to hold sway.  On yesterday’s show (my news radio choices are severely limited in this town, so I usually listen to the station he’s on earlier in the morning for “news”), my suspicions were confirmed…yesterday’s conservative is no longer conservative enough.  But when Newt isn’t “right enough” for Limbaugh, it proves the shift of U.S. politics.

The website cautions that links eventually die, but here is what Limbaugh quoted Gingrich as saying in a segment titled, The Era of Reagan is Not Over:

I think there’s nothing unhealthy about the Republican Party having a serious discussion.  We are at the end of the George W. Bush era.  We are at the end of the Reagan era. We’re at a point in time when we’re about to start redefining — as a number of people started talking about, starting to redefine — the nature of the Republican Party, in response to what the country needs.

I don’t see anything, on the surface, at least wrong with what Newt said.  But while emphasizing that he’s known and admired Newt for a long time (since the early 80’s Limbaugh claims), Rushbo eventually gets around to first making the assertion that Gingrich is a closet Huckabee supporter, and therefore said what he said about the Reagan era being over.  Now, examine this for one second.  Back in the early 80’s and then into the 90’s, I couldn’t stand Newt Gingrich.  Now, after the passage of time, not only do I like Gingrich, but he’s apparently become not conservative enough for Limbaugh.  McCain isn’t good enough for people like Limbaugh.  Huckabee isn’t good enough for people like Limbaugh…these people, though, are in fact, ditto-heads (people who blindly follow someone else’s opinions, as in “ditto”).

Limbaugh’s rant then proceeds to emit that the Republican Party (oops! I should say, the conservative arm of the Republican Party) already knows what America needs.  Who the hell is Rush Limbaugh to tell America that the conservatives already know what America needs?  Then the final (and probably expected) slam, when Limbaugh claims that the McCain’s and the Huckabee’s and the like are trying to appeal to Democrats and Independents (Limbaugh calls them the “Jell-os.”). 

Well, conservatism isn’t dead because it cannot be dead.  Conservatism is not manmade.  Conservatism is a philosophy.  It’s not a scheme.  It’s not a plan to figure out what the American people need and want, and then give it to them.  That’s populism!  Conservatism is a philosophy based on God-given natural rights.  The Declaration of Independence, is that dead?  Of course not!  What’s dead is leadership on the Republican side, and because there is a lack of leadership of someone who the substantive understanding of liberty and the political skills to advance it, we get all this cockamamie nonsense about the death of our principles.  Our principles are not dead! Our principles cannot die.

Clearly, El Rusho doesn’t like the way the primary season is going for his selected candidate (I think Thompson, but not sure)…that’s what is wrong with politics today. It has turned into the Internet live…politics has tuned into a real life, live blogosphere…politics has turned into character assassination and personality clashes instead of dealing with the real issues. Frankly, when “people” like Rush Limbaugh have the power to sway public opinion of the people who haven’t got a mind of their own, this country is going down the drain.

The “Great Unwashed of Middle America.” Damn! People don’t think for themselves! They have people like Limbaugh, and “you’re a great American” Hannity think for them…and then, from ignorance spurts Limbaughisms or Hannityisms…and people adopt positions that they heard on the radio! My wife was chastised for being a “liberal” in her place of business by a group of “back-to-work-housewives” (not that there is anything wrong with women who work out of the home) who just happen to be Christian conservatives (I suspect largely because they repeat positions that they hear in Church or on programs like Limbaugh’s.

Recently, on another blog, there was discussion about the concept of “Knowledge is power” (Sir Francis Bacon).  One of my comments on the subject then, and I maintain that position now, was that there are alot of dimly lit bulbs out there. I have a hard time concluding otherwise.

Whatever happened to the issues?
Top 10 Overseas Security Trends for the U.S. Private Sector in 2007

Also read the Right Truth’s What do the candidates have to say about that?

For a dfferent point of view, please see, Invasion of the Partysnatchers.

Knowledge is power, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Reagan era

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