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RELEASED RUSSIAN GUANTANAMO PRISONERS SEIZED IN MOSCOW:
Two former Guantanamo prisoners, extradited to Russia in 2002, have been detained in Moscow on suspicion of preparing a series of terrorist attacks, the Vremya Novostei newspaper reported Tuesday.
The two Russian citizens, Airat Vakhitov and Rustam Akhmyarov, who were seized in a counter-terrorist operation in Afghanistan and kept at the Guantanamo base in Cuba with other Taliban and terrorist suspects, and then extradited home to Russia, have been detained and are now being held in a Russian detention centre.
Should the allegations prove correct, this appears to be an example of how freeing Gitmo prisoners, can put the lives of many others in danger.
GIULIANI CONSIDERS WHITE HOUSE RUN.
DONALD RUMSFELD TO APPEAR ON 'LETTERMAN'.
"WITH [HAMAS] THERE IS NO PEACE PROCESS.' THERE IS A WAR PROCESS."
The cutthroats of Hamas, like Jack the Ripper in his infamous letter to a London paper, have informed their pursuers that they shan’t quit ripping till they do get buckled. Islamic Jihad took potshots at departing settlers, and even attempted a suicide bombing on the first day of evacuations, which Israel intercepted. But another bomber did make it through on the Sunday after withdrawal, maiming 10 in the city of Be’er Sheva. With these groups there is no “peace process.” There is a war process. Israel must meet the next wave of Palestinian shootings, stabbings, rocket attacks, and suicide bombings with retaliation swift and fierce.
But this time around, after withdrawal, Israel need only concern itself with attacking, not defending, in Gaza. Nor can Palestinian aggressors dupe anyone with claims about “resistance to occupation.” (Or maybe they can.) Masked Palestinian “fighters” parade in the streets as if disengagement was prompted by their labors. Let them turn their guns on Israeli soldiers and see what ensues.
As I've noted, "There is no such thing as terrorism: if your civilians are getting killed, you're in a war."
Hugh Hewitte has suggested, and Instapundit is coordinating "a day of concerted blogging for hurricane relief efforts" for this Thursday. This site will of course be participating. In the meantime, Prof. Reynolds has a list of good charities to which to send hurrican Katrina relief.
POLL: SHEEHAN'S PROTEST BACKFIRED
"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan's Bush-bashing protest has apparently backfired, with a slight plurality of Americans saying her antics have actually made them more likely to support the Iraq war, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday.
One of the stories I've been keeping an eye on is how the Western world is waking up to the dangers of the Islamofascists, and moving to deport and expel them. When I first recommended deporting Islamic extremists, it was considered an unusual proposal. Now, it's official policy in France, England, Italy and Australia.
Daniel Pipes has a great article today on how the Western world is waking up:
Islamists, Get Out
As the full implications of the London terrorist attacks by domestic jihadis sink in, Westerners are speaking out about the problem of radical Islam with new clarity and boldness.
The most profound development is the sudden need of the British and others to define the meaning of their nationality. In the face of the Islamist challenge, historic identities once taken for granted must now be codified.
This can be seen on a diurnal level, where Islamist assertion has provoked a new European willingness in recent months to stand up for tradition – as seen by the banning of burqas in Italy, requiring a German school boy to attend co-ed swimming classes, and making male applicants for Irish citizenship renounce polygamy. When a ranking Belgian politician canceled lunch with an Iranian group after its members demanded that alcohol not be served, his spokesman explained, "You can't force the authorities of Belgium to drink water."
Pipes continues:
...where are the Americans? No major U.S. politician has spoken of making American-based Islamists unwelcome. Who will be the first?
Second, note the consistent focus on the law and legal issues. This correctly picks up on the fact that ultimately, the Islamist project concerns the application of Islamic law, the Sharia.
Read the whole thing.
As discussed here previously, in July President Musharraf moved to ban foreign students from studying in his country's madrassas. We now have news of another, very significant, curb being placed on the madrassas by Pakistan.
Pakistan's Supreme Court has issued a ruling that will, in effect, bar students from many religious schools (madrassas) from holding public office.
It has said that unregistered madrassas do not teach a curriculum suitable to prepare students for mainstream life.
Hundreds of successful candidates backed by religious parties in August's local elections could now face the prospect of disqualification.
More than half of Pakistan's madrassas are currently unregistered.
The court observed that most madrassas were managed by the private sector and were not affiliated with any recognised university or educational board.
And it said that these madrassas had made no efforts to include the subjects of Urdu, English and Pakistan studies in their curricula despite repeated requests by the authorities.
This left the students unfit for mainstream jobs as they could only work as teachers or researchers at the madrassas, the court ruled.
This is a tremendous step forward for Pakistan. And notice that it comes from the Pakistan Supreme Court. It appears that President Musharraf has the support of his country's chief justices in his efforts to curb the madrassas.
The 2005 Liberty Film Festival will be held October 21st - 23rd in West Hollywood, CA at the Pacific Design Center. This site's coverage of last year's festival is here.
In an article today, Pat Buchanan suggests that a call for impeachment be used "to get the attention of this White House" regarding the need to control the borders:
It may be the only way left to get [GWB's] attention, before the border vanishes and our beloved country dissolves into MexAmerica, what T.R. called a "polyglot boarding house for the world."
And in a speech today GWB finally appears to finally be showing some movement on this important issue:
EL MIRAGE, Ariz. -- President Bush said Monday he will work with Gov. Janet Napolitano and other border governors to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, where political leaders have been calling for help to deal with waves of illegal immigrants.
Bush told a crowd in this retirement community that he understands the federal government's obligation to enforce the border.
"It's important for the people of this state to understand, your voices are being heard in Washington, D.C.," he said.
Making reference to Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who introduced Bush here, the president said, "This senator and this Congress are going to work closely with the administration to make sure we have the resources necessary to do our responsibility, which is to enforce this border. And we'll do so."
The Next Pajamas Media Profile is Up - Sissy Willis of Sisu:
What I see is that being part of this aggregate of blogs will give us more opportunity to be seen by more eyeballs. I'd love more money, but I'm interested in it because this project is much bigger than money.
[Note: I'm part of the team working on the launch of Pajamas Media.]
KATRINA VEERS RIGHT -- DIRECT HIT ON NEW ORLEANS IS AVOIDED:
Katrina weakened overnight to a Category 4 storm and made a slight turn to the right before hitting land at 6:10 a.m. CDT near the bayou town of Buras. It passed just to the east of New Orleans as it moved inland, sparing this vulnerable city its full fury.
But National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield warned that New Orleans would be pounded throughout the day and that Katrina's potential 15-foot storm surge, down from a feared 28 feet, was still enough to cause extensive flooding.
Fox News reports that the Iraqi Parliament has completed its work on preparing a draft Constitution. There was no official vote. It will now be sent to the Iraqi people for a referendum in October. The Sunnis are still objecting to it:
The document, which included last-minute changes aimed at easing Sunni concerns, was read to lawmakers but was not put to a vote in the assembly, where the Shiite-Kurdish bloc has an overwhelming majority.
"The constitution is left to our people to approve or reject it," said [President Jalal] Talabani, a Kurd. "I hope that our people will accept it despite some flaws."
Talabani acknowledged that the Sunni Arabs had objections to the draft "but everybody had reservations. This is part of democracy ... If the people do not approve it, we will draft another constitution."
Well said.
The Sunnis are rejecting violence:
[Top Sunni negotiator, Saleh al-Mutlaq] said earlier the Sunni negotiators would not sign off on the final draft because of objections to provisions that allegedly threaten Iraqi unity — particularly federalism — and fail to affirm the country's Arab identity. The draft refers to Iraq as an Islamic — but not Arab — country as the Sunnis demanded.
"I think if this constitution passes as it is, it will worsen everything in the country," he said.
At the same time, al-Mutlaq urged all Iraqis to refrain from violence.
Another top Sunni negotiator, Mohammed Abed-Rabbou, said the Sunni team refused to endorse the draft because "points of disagreement" were not amended, including proposals to transform Iraq into a federated country and references to Saddam's party.
No doubt the reason there was no official vote on the draft by Parliament, was specifically so there would be no vote against it by the Sunnis.
It appears to me that the likelihood is that the Sunni vote will not block passage of the Constitution in October. The rest of the country is on board; and in most circumstances, nobody likes to be a stick-in-the-mud.
For the Sunnis to block the Constitution specifically so as to preserve Saddam's Baathist party, and oppose federalism, would be evidence that the Sunnis want to continue the Baathist party and their previous position as the oppressors of their fellow Iraqis. This would be unacceptable to their fellow Iraqis, and would leave the Sunnis with no way to pursue those goals other than through civil war, which they, being so much in the minority, know they will lose.
Therefore, my guess is the Constitution will pass in October.
The counterargument is that the Sunnis will be self-defeating and will vote against the Constitution out of spite, with no purpose in mind of doing good for themselves or their country.
POLICIES TO EXPEL ISLAMOFASCISTS FROM WESTERN NATIONS CONTINUE TO BE STRENGTHENED.
Britain to Expel for 'Hate' Speech:
LONDON -- Britain outlined tough new rules yesterday under which "preachers of hate," who promote or glorify terrorism, will be thrown out of the country or banned from entering it.
"We have a number of names that we are considering at the moment," and the first deportations could come "very quickly -- in the next few days," Home Secretary Charles Clarke said.
Mr. Clarke itemized a list of "unacceptable behavior" to signal the start of a crackdown that Prime Minister Tony Blair alluded to earlier this month when he said, "Let no one be in any doubt that the rules of the game are changing."
The list announced by Mr. Clarke includes any act or speech that:
- Foments, justifies or glorifies terrorist violence.
- Seeks to provoke others to terrorist acts.
- Foments other serious criminal actions or attempts to provoke others to commit serious crimes.
- Fosters hatred that threatens to lead to ethnic violence.
This is good policy. It rids the country of leading Islamofascists. It also shows the entire community that supports the Islamofascists, that there can be unacceptable consequences, including expulsion, for doing so.
HURRICANE KATRINA IS NOW A CATEGORY 5 STORM. There are 5 categories of hurricanes, and 5 is the worst.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal," [New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin] warned Saturday. "Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas. Do all things you normally do for a hurricane but treat this one differently because it is pointed towards New Orleans."
