Some Bloggers have readers that actually donate, so that they can actually go places. Me? I’m stuck here. It sucks, but it’s reality; and right now, reality bites. 🙁
Meanwhile, I’m sitting, a little bit peeved. I was checking out my AdSense revenue page today and I blurted out, rather loudly, “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!?!?” (Update: Heh… I fixed that… I had my tango’s and my Foxtrot’s backwards…. 🙄 )
Check it out:
You can click on that to make it bigger…
I mean, I do not mean to gripe; but heck, 488 visits today or ad impressions and NOBODY is clicking?!?!?! What the hell? Did I finally chase off my last remaining people who dared to click my ads and give me a little support? To be fair, I did kinda rip on Sarah Palin, a little; because I thought what she did was stupid, I still do. I also think her trying to tell President Obama how to run the Country is stupid too. As it turns out, I am not the only one who feels that way. So, ya’ll can try and starve me out all you want; but it is not going to change the way I feel about Palin. 🙄 😛 😀
Per Google’s rules, I am not allow to give instructions on my ads; they can yank my account for it. So, I will simply say… If you know what I mean and I think you do and If you REALLY know what I mean, and I hope like HELL that you do. 😉 I could really use the help right about now guys….uh, Guys? Guys?!?!?! HELLO?!?!? 😯
So, while ol’ “Bernard Casanova” is in the big squeezey (Easy) I’m sitting here, looking like a hung over Ernest Borgnine, feeling kinda cheesy.
I just wonder, what sort of business was he on? Approving visa’s for terrorists? I mean, they did bust a ring of terrorists out in Colorado. I wonder if he had any connections to them? It is to wonder. But, we’ll never find that out, seeing we have a President who is friendly to these sort of vermin.
I never thought in a million years that I would be absolutely correct! 😯
A Qatari diplomat who caused a bomb scare after sneaking a smoke in an airplane bathroom was traveling for a consular visit to see an imprisoned al-Qaida agent.
A State Department official and another person close to the matter say Mohammed Al-Madadi was going to meet Ali Al-Marri for an official visit. Consular officials frequently visit foreigners held in the United States to make sure they are being treated well.
The two sources spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Officials say the diplomat will be sent home or transferred to another country for touching off the bomb scare.
[…..]
WASHINGTON (AP)—A Qatari diplomat who sparked a bomb scare after sneaking a smoke in an airplane’s bathroom will be sent home or transferred to another country, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The officials said that as a result of his recall, the U.S. government would not take any formal action against the diplomat.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, the officials said they expected Mohammed Al-Madadi to leave the United States later Thursday or Friday in accordance with assurances given to them by the Qatari embassy in Washington and authorities in the Qatari capital of Doha.
So, two for the price of one. First off, he was going to visit a convicted terrorist, which, for what it is worth, is normal protocol. and now he is being expelled out of the Country. Good deal. We don’t need assholes like that in this Country anyhow. Just because he happens to believe terrorism is “Oh so funny! giggle giggle he he he!” does not mean that we do. 🙄
Also this:
Crowley said the U.S. government is satisfied that the Qatari government is taking the matter seriously.
I would imagine this to be very true, as Qatar is one of our biggest Allies on the war on terror, and also in Iraq. As they allowed us to stage aircraft there, during the invasion of Iraq. Something tells me that ol’ giggle-britches here is going to be in some serious hot water when he gets home. 😮
“I support Michael Steele. I am glad he is the leader of the party, administratively,” Palin told Fox News’s Sean Hannity Wednesday. “If those within the party are choosing to go a different direction, his term is up in a number of months and they can vote someone else in. But I think he is doing a great job.”
Oh yeah, he is doing a wonderful bang up job. By doing what exactly? Royally screwing the G.O.P. into the damned ground, all the while playing the race card to whomever criticizes him? Give me a break! This is obvious proof that this feckless bitch and I call her that, because that is what she is; has no damned clue as to what the hell she is even talking about, half of the time.
Please, Sarah, for the sake of your own personal career and personal reputation; that is, if you even have one anymore —- go back to farking Alaska and SHUT THE HELL UP! 😡
I’ve never seen such a stupid woman in my entire life. Bad handlers? — more like bad brain on woman. 🙄
Worst damn thing that John McCain and the G.O.P. ever did was let that backwoods bimbo loose on the American people!
Why people love that woman, I will never, never, in a million years understand. The damned woman is nothing more than Mike Huckabee with a damned skirt. A Democrat with a Bible. Plain and simple, she’s nothing more than a Populist with lipstick. If her and that other dumb bitch Michele Bachmann run for President in 2012, we are doomed beyond measure, and I will possibly leave the Country for Switzerland.
….and don’t even get me started on her so-called ‘Social Conservatism.” Seriously. 🙄
The Qatari diplomat who caused a midair security scare won’t face charges after claiming he was trying to light his shoes on fire when it appears he was simply smoking in the bathroom.
Federal officials said Mohammed al Modadi was on official business when he boarded United Airlines Flight 663 from Washington to Denver, giving him diplomatic immunity. A law firm spokesman told The Associated Press that al Modadi has been released and was headed back to Washington.
More than 160 passengers and crew were onboard when flight attendants noticed smoke coming from the bathroom and notified federal air marshals on the plane, government sources said.
When the marshals demanded to know what he was doing, the man identified himself as a diplomat from Qatar and responded, perhaps sarcastically, “I’m trying to light my shoes on fire.”
It was a comment reminiscent of shoe bomber Richard Reid and also the so-called underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who successfully smuggled explosives onto a Christmas Day flight, but failed to detonate them.
“None of this is going to be taken as anything less than dead seriousness,” ABC News aviation analyst John Nance told “Good Morning America” today. “If you make the wrong comment at the wrong time and you’re going to come off the airplane in chains.”
Al Modadi’s comments Wednesday set off a chain reaction of security and terrorism responses, including F-16 fighter jets that scrambled from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado to accompany the flight during its descent into Denver. The plane was met by the FBI and local law enforcement.
“If this was an overreaction, it was not only an understandable one, it was a good one,” Nance said.
Al Modadi’s shoes were examined once the flight landed, government officials said, but no traces of explosives were found.
But, Oh, it was a big, huge, misunderstanding! 🙄
A statement was posted on the Qatar Embassy’s Web site in response to the incident, defending al Modadi and calling it a mistake.
“We respect the necessity of special security precautions involving air travel, but this diplomat was traveling to Denver on official embassy business on my instructions,” Ambassador Ali Bin Fahad Al-Hajri wrote in the statement, “and he was certainly not engaged in any threatening activity.”
“The facts will reveal that this was a mistake,” the statement continued, “and we urge all concerned parties to avoid reckless judgments or speculation.
The only damned mistake we made, was allow those jerks into our damn Country. If I were running that show; this little turban wearing prick would be on a flight back to Qatar, with a BILL for everything that happened to the Government last night. If it was not paid, I would be telling Qatar to close that embassy and get the hell out of our Country for good! I just wonder, what sort of business was he on? Approving visa’s for terrorists? I mean, they did bust a ring of terrorists out in Colorado. I wonder if he had any connections to them? It is to wonder. But, we’ll never find that out, seeing we have a President who is friendly to these sort of vermin.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 460,000 in the week ended April 3, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a result of 442,000. The four-week average of initial claims — a better gauge of employment trends than the volatile weekly number – rose 2,250 to 450,250. For the week ended March 27, continuing claims fell 131,000 to 4.55 million. The four-week average of these ongoing claims declined 36,000 to 4.65 million, the lowest level since January 2009. In the week ended March 20, about 5.8 million jobless workers, not seasonally adjusted, were receiving extended federal benefits, down 223,000 from the prior week. Altogether, 11.1 million people were collecting some type of unemployment benefits in the week ended March 20, down about 373,000 from the prior week. A Labor Department official said interpretation of the data around this time period is clouded by events such as Easter that make it difficult to properly adjust for seasonal factors
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose last week, a sign that jobs remain scarce even as the economy recovers.
The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims increased by 18,000 in the week ending April 3, to a seasonally adjusted 460,000. That’s worse than economists’ estimates of a drop to 435,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
The report covers the week that includes the Easter holiday, and a Labor Department analyst said seasonal adjustment for Easter can be difficult since the Easter holiday occurs in different weeks each year.
California also closed its state offices for a holiday March 31 honoring Cesar Chavez, the analyst said, which likely held down the claims figures. On an unadjusted basis, claims rose by 6,500 to nearly 415,000.
Economists closely watch unemployment claims, which are seen as a gauge of layoffs and a measure of companies’ willingness to hire new workers.
The four week average, which smooths volatility, rose to 450,250. Two weeks ago, the average fell to its lowest level since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the financial crisis intensified.
Jobless claims peaked during the recession at 651,000 in late March 2009.
Again, this is what happens when you try and employ Keynesian economic policy tactics to “fix” the economy, it fails.
On a side note:
California also closed its state offices for a holiday March 31 honoring Cesar Chavez, the analyst said, which likely held down the claims figures. On an unadjusted basis, claims rose by 6,500 to nearly 415,000.
😯 Says much about that State and the people in it. Think of this, next time you plan your vacation.
The Report from ABC NEWS, The story is yet to break National News or they’re working on it:
Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to “light his shoes on fire” on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Authorities say an explosive team is on the way to the airport, and that while the presence of explosives has not yet been confirmed, they believe it was an attempted “shoe bomb.”
The suspect was identified by authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington, Mohammed al Modadi. The FBI said the man had full diplomat immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice-consul.
Authorities said two jet fighters were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base to accompany United flight 663, a Boeing 757, as it flew the final 40 miles to Denver where it landed safely.
Authorities said the man, identified as from Qatar, was restrained by the air marshals who were on the flight.
The United jet was reportedly being directed to a remote location at the Denver airport.
A spokesman for the FBI in Denver declined to comment.
This is not good at all. This could cause some serious problems for Obama’s strategy on the war on terror.
Update: Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN story alerts up. Update #2: all have stories up now.
MSNBC (ugh!) is now reporting, that this dude was in the bathroom, and was smoking in the can. When someone, not sure whom, asked him what he was doing. He replied, “Well, I was setting my shoes on fire…” Apparently, the douche nozzle was kidding around. Well, the only one laughing was him! 😮 Anyhow, looks like this idiot is going back Qutar. MSNBC is giving the name of the person. I will print it, when it comes up. Update #3: Mohammed al-Modadi is his name. (H/T AP)
ABOVE THE POST UPDATE (11:00): According to CNN, another diplomat is saying that this is a misunderstanding. The story is that the man was smoking in the lavatory and when challenged by an air marshal, he mouthed off sarcastically “I was trying to light my shoe on fire.”
I mean, are we really to believe that this guy took his having diplomatic immunity as free rein to crack a joke about need to light his shoe bomb? I’m curious whether under international law a diplomat can be expelled from a host country simply for being a raging c@#k.
What we may be looking at here is the scariest smoke break in aviation history.
Ha! I wonder if AllahPundit will represent him in Court, if he sues the United States Government for false arrest? If he does, somebody better let Liz Cheney know, after all, we have to know who’s defending terrorists; whether real or wanna-be smart asses. 😉 I mean, that is the McCarthyism way, is it not? 😀
Update #6: Our Assclown of the day can be seen here. He is on the right. (H/T to Wizbang for the find…)
Just what in the hell was this idiot nimrod thinking when he did this? Can anyone tell me? 🙄
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has quietly declared April 2010 Confederate History Month, bringing back a designation in Virginia that his two Democratic predecessors — Mark Warner and Tim Kaine — refused to do.
Republican governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore issued similar proclamations. But in 2002, Warner broke with their action, calling such proclamations, a “lightning rod” that does not help bridge divisions between whites and blacks in Virginia.
This year’s proclamation was requested by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A representative of the group said the group has known since it interviewed McDonnell when he was running for attorney general in 2005 that he was likely to respond differently than Warner or Kaine.
“We’ve known for quite some time we had a good opportunity should he ascend the governorship,” Brandon Dorsey said. “We basically decided to bide our time and wait until we had more favorable politicians in Richmond.”
Dorsey said the governor’s stamp of approval would help the group publicize the month and aide tourism efforts in the state.
While such a move might appeal to those Virginians who are still motivated by pride in their Confederate heritage, it betrays an ignorance about the history of his state. Virginia was primarily concerned with its status as a slave-holding state and its concern that the Lincoln administration and Republicans would work to limit the spread of slavery. If Governor McDonnell doesn’t understand this, he should get a little remedial education. He could read some of the resolutions adopted by the Virginia Secession Convention. For example, consider this resolution and then try to convince an impartial observer that slavery wasn’t at the heart of Virginia’s decision to secede.
[…]
McDonnell might claim that his statement is in anticipation of the 150-year anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War which starts next year. I know that Virginia is devoting a lot of effort on education and tourism for the 150-year anniversary, but that doesn’t mean that they have to ignore the full history. Those tourists who are interested in coming to Virginia to study Civil War history wouldn’t be deterred by an honest gubernatorial proclamation. Let’s face it, no one would care about this proclamation if McDonnell had followed the pattern of both previous Republican and Democratic governors who had issued such proclamations that included a condemnation of slavery. Instead, McDonnell, who conducted a model campaign for governor will now waste time trying to explain away his myopic celebration of Confederate heritage.
My feelings exactly. One of the biggest gripes that I always had and still do with the damned Paleo-Conservatives is this idiotic idea that the Civil War was not about Slavery. Granted, it was not the MAIN issue at hand, I know this. But it ended up being and still is, the BIGGER issue; than just say, the forcing of centralized Government on the south. Hiding behind that empty claim is just damn bogus. It also is a rather lame attempt to cover up the fact that the majority of the Paleo-Conservatives are just monolithic haters of blacks. Which is why I came to decision that I could not support their beliefs. It is one thing to hate identity politics; it is another to just hate black people in general.
Do not misunderstand me here; as much as I know what the losing the war did to south and the hardships it caused, in the end; Lincoln declaring war on the Confederates was the right thing to do. Because had not Lincoln fought that war —- America would have been a much more frightening, dark place. As much as I know that my roots run through the south. My southern forefathers were wrong in their treatment of blacks and for seceding from the union like they did. Because of that, the south experienced more hardships than it really had to. This might anger some of my southern readers, but it is the truth — and that my friends is what I write; the truth.
Well, yesterday Obama — facing no pressure or need to change anything at all — quite recklessly turned over the strategic initiative (operational, too, for that matter) to the other guys.
Little countries can now act, with chemical or biological agents, sure in the knowledge that however we respond, we will respond with less. The other guy now gets to determine how much punishment he is willing to take. Before yesterday, we determined how much punishment we were willing to dish out (plenty).
President Johnson (and to a lesser extent, Nixon) made the same mistake in dealing with North Vietnam. “Escalation,” tit-for-tat, let Hanoi dictate the pace of the war, while simultaneously learning how to deal with, and obviate, our military might. Result: We lost the initiative and eventually the war. Sucky, that.
The Breitbart video very effectively makes the case that Waters is guilty of hypocrisy. Her behavior at the rally is at least as unattractive as her description of the tea partiers’s; conduct. On the other hand, so what? When has a politician ever complained about the other side's incivility without being guilty of hypocrisy?
But a look further back into Waters’s history reveals her hypocrisy to be far worse than is typical. The last time America experienced political mob violence–the Los Angeles riots of 1992–Waters was there offering excuses and justifications.
The L.A. riots began on April 29, 1992, after a jury returned a not-guilty verdict in the trial of four Los Angeles policemen charged in connection with the videotaped beating of Rodney King. By the time the riots wound down, six days later, 53 people had been killed and thousands injured.
Maxine Waters was a freshman representative from California’s 29th Congressional District (now the 35th), which covers areas of southern Los Angeles where the rioting was centered. Her own district office was burned to the ground. She quickly emerged as an advocate on behalf of the rioters.
“I accept the responsibility of asking people not to endanger their lives,” the Associated Press quoted her as saying on April 30. “I’m not asking people not to be angry. . . . I have a right to be angry.”
Looks like Maxine Water‘s past is coming back to haunt her. I guess that will teach her to open her mouth, when in all honesty, she should keep it shut.
But then again, does not that describe liberals in general? I mean, are they not all like that? Want others to conform to a high standard; all the while not living up to it themselves?
They’ve been doing it for years. This proves that.
Jeeez… I would have gotten the guy some hosting for a blog, if all he wanted to do is vent. 🙄
A 63-year-old Yakima County man has been charged with threatening to kill U.S. Sen. Patty Murray over her support of the health-care overhaul.
The FBI and local police arrested Charles Alan Wilson at his Selah home early Tuesday. He later made an initial appearance in federal court in Yakima on one count of threatening a federal official. He was appointed a public defender and ordered to be kept in custody pending a detention hearing Friday.
According to the charges, staffers in Murray’s office in the Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle had become concerned over phone calls by an unknown man in recent months. The calls came from a blocked number and often were made at night or on weekends.
Usually, according to a staffer, the calls were merely vulgar and harassing.
But on March 22, “the caller began to make overt threats to kill and/or injure Senator Murray,” according to the complaint signed by FBI Agent Carolyn Woodbury.
In that call, a man the FBI says it has identified as Wilson stated, “I hope you realize there’s a target on your back now … Kill the [expletive] senator! I’ll donate the lead.”
Again, the old man was most likely upset. But, he did break the law. As I have written on here before, it is one thing to get on a blog like mine, write about politics; it is another to start phoning in death threats. That is, I am afraid, just plain stupid. Hopefully this old man learns his lesson. He might have also been a little disturbed as well. Maybe he needed a little help. Either way, he will get that help or learn his lesson, one way or another.
Again, what the guy did was stupid, 50 years ago, you would have gotten away with something like that. But in this day and age of Caller ID and high tech phones. There’s no getting away with this sort of thing anymore. Besides all that; this woman is just one person. It is not like she was solely responsibility for the passage of the bill.
Again, while I feel for the old guy; what he did was wrong.
I just wanted to post something here to all my readers. I noticed that not too many Bloggers on my side of the political fence have said anything about this.
Well, once again, I will be the one to do it.
Politics is one thing, real life is another.
Losing someone to a tragedy such as this, is unimaginable. Unlike some on the left, I will NOT bring my personal politics into this. But I will say that I personally feel for this people. Mining is in my family too; sort of. My Father is from Middlesboro, Kentucky. Back when he was a young man, he drove a tri-axle dump truck down in his home town. He worked out of a strip mines down in that town. Oh, the stories he would tell, about Hazards of driving those trucks. Some of the stories were side splitting tales, some were quite scary.
Anyhow, my heart goes out to these people during their time of loss. This is where I will also deviate from my normal hard line Conservative stance, and say the following; which most likely will not do anything for my Conservative creds. Not that I quite honestly give a damn about that anyhow.
It would be a crime, if I did not mention the fact that this mine was, in fact, a non-union mine. Because of that, the safety record of this mine, was, in fact, terrible. Unions; for all their short-comings and horrible politics, are the best defense against companies who want to cut corners and allow their employees to work in unsafe conditions. I honestly believe that if the union that my Father was represented by at G.M. had not been there, my Father would have been dead ages ago. For those who are just passing through, my Father is a retired G.M. Worker and is represented by the U.A.W. The Union forces the big business owners to a very high standard of safety and if the companies do not adhere to them, they simply will not allow their employees on the job. Which I feel is a very good thing. Equipment can be replaced —- Human Lives cannot.
There are some possibly of the right, that might say my bringing this up is morbid or something silly like that. Well, too bad. As they say, all politics is local; and this my friends is a local, personal issue for me. One of the nicest things I read, was the fact that even though this mine was non-union, the President of the Union miners was sending a team of people up to the site, to offer their assistance. Because it is the human and responsible thing to do. That is what normal, sane, rational Americans do, when their fellow man is hurting. They put partisan differences aside and come together. I bet some in the world of Political Blogging could learn something from that; on both sides of the aisle.
Again, my and my family’s prayers go out to the people of MONTCOAL, W.Va. tonight.
President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons.
But the president said in an interview that he was carving out an exception for “outliers like Iran and North Korea” that have violated or renounced the main treaty to halt nuclear proliferation.
Discussing his approach to nuclear security the day before formally releasing his new strategy, Mr. Obama described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to create incentives for countries to give up any nuclear ambitions. To set an example, the new strategy renounces the development of any new nuclear weapons, overruling the initial position of his own defense secretary.
Mr. Obama’s strategy is a sharp shift from those of his predecessors and seeks to revamp the nation’s nuclear posture for a new age in which rogue states and terrorist organizations are greater threats than traditional powers like Russia and China.
It eliminates much of the ambiguity that has deliberately existed in American nuclear policy since the opening days of the cold war. For the first time, the United States is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons or launched a crippling cyberattack.
Those threats, Mr. Obama argued, could be deterred with “a series of graded options,” a combination of old and new conventional weapons. “I’m going to preserve all the tools that are necessary in order to make sure that the American people are safe and secure,” he said in the interview in the Oval Office.
As I said above, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the idea of America being stoked to the hilt with Nukes on a hair trigger is not my idea of a good time. On the other hand, the idea of the United States not being able to defend itself is not a very comforting thought. Because I am not a partisan blogger, I will simply say this; I believe Obama is trying to strike a balance and trying to keep all parties happy. Which is not easy, when the people you are trying to make happy are not your biggest fans. Either way, it has to be a tough order.
I am an old Republican. I am religious, yet not a fanatic. I am a free-marketer; yet, I believe in the role of the government as a fair evenhanded referee. I am socially conservative; yet, I believe that my lesbian niece and my gay grandchild should have the full protection of the law and live as free Americans enjoying every aspect of our society with no prejudices and/or restrictions. Nowadays, my political and socio-economic profile would make me a Marxist, not a Republican.
I grew up in an era where William F. Buckley fought the John Birch society and kicked them out of the Republican Party. I grew up with -– in fact voted for the first time for –- Eisenhower. In 1956, he ran a campaign of dignity. A campaign that acknowledged that there are certain projects better suited to be handled by the government. See, business thinks in the short term, as he said. That’s the imperative of the marketplace. I invest and I expect that in a few quarters, I garner the fruits of my investment. Government, on the other hand, has the luxury to wait a few years, maybe decades, for a return on a given investment. As a former businessman, I know that first hand. Am I a Marxist for thinking that?
[….]
I do not recognize myself in the Republican Party anymore. As someone said it before, I did not leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me. I have the same ideological positions on most of the issues that I had when I voted for Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush in 2000. However, I just cannot trust the reins of our government and nation, of this formidably complicated and complex gigantic machine that is the USA, to the amateurish leadership of the Republican Party.
We are living through tough times. We are being challenged like I have never seen America being challenged before. China is a formidable foe, and it is out there competing against us on every field and beating us on several fronts. While our education budgets are being slashed in every state across the nation, China is doubling and tripling theirs. These are the challenges and challengers that we are facing. And we need our best and brightest to lead us, not a half-term governor or radio/TV talking heads.
Maybe I am too old and too cynical, but I think the Republican party is in the last stages of agony. If nothing happens, we might win an election or even two, but in the long run we will lose America.
War correspondents take huge risks to bring news of a war to readers far away. What this shows is just how risky it is to embed with terrorists, especially when their enemy controls the air. War is not the same thing as law enforcement; the US forces had no responsibility for identifying each member of the group and determining their mens rea. Legitimate rescue operations would have included markings on the vehicle and on uniforms to let hostile forces know to hold fire, and in the absence of that, the hostile forces have every reason to consider the second support group as a legitimate target as well. It’s heartbreaking for the families of these journalists, but this isn’t “collateral murder” — it’s war.
Worst case scenario this is a few innocent being accidentally killed in the fog of war.
But the video doesn’t even appear to be worst case scenario. It appears, in fact, that the video shows armed insurgents engaging or about to engage US troops. The Reuters camera men had embedded themselves with the insurgents. This makes them enemy combatants themselves and should have been shot.
Reuters has a long history of its local stringers embedding themsleves with terrorist forces. Perhaps they do this because they are sympathetic, perhaps they do this to get “the story”, but it matters little to those engaging insurgents.
When you embed yourselves with terrorists you know the risk. You are producing propaganda for them. You have become one of them.
Anything less than this understanding is purposeful naivite about “objective journalism”. In war there can be no objective journalism. You’re either with us or the enemy. If you want to stay neutral stay out of the war zone.
As for those who went in to pick up the bodies? Perhaps they were innocents. I’ve no idea.
But you drive your van into an active military engagement? What the hell were you thinking?
You are stupid. Innocent, but stupid. You’re asking to be killed.
And if you brought children into the midsts of an ongoing military engagement that makes you more than stupid: it makes youcriminally negligent.
“It’s their fault for bringing their kids to a battle,” says one of the Americans on the video. Indeed it is.
People, this is war. This happens in war. It can’t be avoided. If you want to end civilian casualties then end war. Start by asking armed Islamists to put down their weapons. But you won’t do that because your real objection isn’t war, it’s America. Which is why anti-war activists around the globe never protest al-Qaeda, only America.
They’re not anti-war, they’re anti-American.
I agree. If you embed yourself with terrorists, you die. Just that simple.
I humbly submit, that these so-called Journalists got just was coming to them.
Update #3: Apparently some liberals, including a gay pedophile stalker blogger, that I will never link to; cannot grasp the idea of sarcasm and are complaining about what I wrote here about Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Well, you know what liberals? I got two words; FUCK YOU. You bastards sat out here in the Blogosphere and mocked and derided Conservatives and the Tea Party protesters, to the point of using a crude sexual phrase to describe them. —– and you are going to bitch about me being a snarky bomb thrower? Please. 🙄 Just like that stupid liberal jack assed twit Maxine Waters, do as I say, not as I do. 🙄
Update: Rusty Talks back to me… (wow! 😯 )
Over at Political Byline:
“I humbly submit, that these so-called Journalists got just was coming to them”
Perhaps. This wouldn’t be the first time Reuters had sent off it’s “crack team” of locals to give the terrorists’ “point of view”.
Now why am I not surprised? 🙄
Update #2: Leave it one of my commentators to point out the obvious, From Gaven in the comments:
First off, watch the full, unedited one, without the political editorializing:
A little background is given in this one that is absent from the edited one. First off, the Apache’s mission was to support that infantry platoon. A few minutes before the video starts, that platoon takes RPG and small arms fire in that vicinity, so the Apache is called up to find the guys doing it. Source: Click here to read – See the 12th paragraph.
Our video starts. They see a large group of people, all adult males, several of whom are armed. You can see 2 AK’s and at least one actual RPG around 3:30-3:45 (Pic) . Next, they see a man peeking around the corner and pointing what looks like an RPG at the infantryman about four blocks away. Armed men? Check. Immediate threat to American lives? Check. They get permission to fire, and as soon as they have a shot, they take it.
(For what it’s worth, the actions of this group of people are very suspicious looking, especially in a combat zone mere minutes after US forces have been fired on. Including having the RPG firer simply poke around the corner and fire while everyone else hangs back to avoid backblast. See here for a slightly humorous example: Click for pic . Obviously one example does not a trend make, but I’m just bringing it to your attention)
Secondly, I have yet to see anyone say that the group of guys with the reporters were NOT insurgents. For extra emphasis, at 30:45 there is more small arms fire. At 31:10 you see guys with AK’s and body armor running away from the area. There was DEFINITELY a battle going on in this area, something that Wikileaks biased editing job carefully omits.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Reuters stringers were hanging out with insurgents for some good pictures. For instance, this picture:
Here, Namir is obviously standing about 10 feet away from insurgents as they commit an act of violence. I’m not passing judgement on him, I actually think it’s good to have reporters as close as possible to the conflict, but I’m merely pointing out that hanging out with insurgents is something that Noor-Eldeen had been doing for a few years prior to his death.
Anyways, back to the video.
At 19:20, someone reports finding an RPG round.
At 32:54, someone asks if it’s been defused yet, and is told “no, it’s still live”
Even if everyone in Iraq has an AK, only the bad guys have RPG rounds. The discovery of an RPG round among the bodies makes me believe that Namir Noor-Eldeen was yet again hanging out with an insurgent group looking for great shots. He and the other photographer were almost certainly innocent of actual wrongdoing, but the armed men they were with were in all likelihood some of the ACTUAL insurgents who fired on US troops before the video started.
As for the van that was attacked, I’ll admit that it’s slightly sketchier, but I’ll clarify that by noting that insurgents often clean up their own wounded, so an black van showing up with three or four adult men who immediately jump out and start aiding wounded insurgents is absolutely suspicious enough to make a case for engaging it. I don’t know that I personally would have engaged that van, but I find in totally understandable that they did. Although, again, there’s no proof that the men in the van weren’t also insurgents, since the video leaves out a lot of context.
Yes, this video is disturbing simply for the sheer violence and immediate destruction. But think about it before mindlessly jumping to conclusions regarding what actually happened that day.
Also, allow me to point something out of the liberals and weak kneed Conservatives who are reading this. Let’s go back in history a bit, shall we? During World War 2, The Korean War and during Vietnam, I do not remember ever hearing of any American or international journalists embedding with the enemy then. So, why were these loons embedded with the Terrorists? Because point blank, these so-called “journalists” and their employer, who is quite obviously liberal; have an editorial position that the United States of America deserved the attacks on 9/11 and that these fighters in Iraq were a legitimate fighting force; that’s why! That is, as far as this writer is concerned, an Anti-American stance. Because of this, these bastards got EXACTLY AND I DO MEAN EXACTLY WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM! Period, end of story.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s comment on “Good Morning America” today that he and President Obama have a slimmer margin of error because of their race was dismissed by the White House as “silly.”
“Well, I think that is a fairly silly comment to make,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today. “I think Michael Steele’s problem isn’t the race card, it’s the credit card.”
The embattled chairman played the race card today when asked if he has a slimmer margin of error because he is African American.
“The honest answer is, ‘yes,'” he said on “Good Morning America” today. “Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do. It’s a different role for me to play and others to play and that’s just the reality of it. But you take that as part of the nature of it.”
“My view on politics is much more grassroots oriented, it’s not old boy network oriented, so I tend to, you know, come at it a little bit stronger, a little bit more street-wise, if you will. That’s rubbed some feathers the wrong way,” Steele told “GMA’s” George Stephanopoulos.
Today’s “GMA” interview is not the first time Steele has asserted that his race plays a role in the criticism he has faced as RNC chairman. During a recent interview with Washingtonian Magazine, which took place before the sex-club controversy, Steele said, “I don’t see stories about internal operations of the DNC that I see about this operation. Why? Is it because Michael Steele is the chairman, or is it because a black man is chairman?”
I have said on this blog a half of a million times, (or so…) that the G.O.P royally screwed up, when they put Michael Steele in as the chairman of the G.O.P. No, not because I am racist bigot. But because of this; it is quite obvious to me and many other people, that Michael Steele is all about identity politics — which is antithetical to what the Republican Party stands for, again, not because the Republican Party is racist, but because the Republican Party believes in “freedom for all, special privileges for none.” At least that is how it is supposed to work.
Of course; if you say a cross word about a Jew to a Republican, you are libeled as a Anti-Semite. Which is quite hypocritical, if you ask me. However, speaking for myself. I do not feel that I owe a Black Man or a Jew anything at all. If anything, I feel the Jews in this Country owe their lives for what this Country did for them during the second World War. Most Jews are grateful for this, but, honestly, there are some, who act like the United States did not do enough or not quickly enough. Which is, in my opinion, bogus.
Yes, I have seen that on a certain so-called “Conservative” blog, who is ran by a Jewish Lawyer from Michigan. I won’t mention any names, least that person file stalking charges against or something stupid like that. Funny how she can claim Anti-Semite nonsense; while all the while bashing Roman Catholic Conservatives. Funny how that works.
Anyhow, about Michael Steele; I think he should resign. It is quite obvious to many people that his skin color is more important than his Conservatism. Otherwise, stuff like this here will continue to happen:
In another serious blow to the Republican National Committee, one of its top fundraisers — and its few remaining connections to the traditional GOP donor base — has resigned a senior, unpaid position.
Former Ambassador Sam Fox, a top supporter of George W. Bush who was one of the co-chairmen of the Republican Regents — the RNC’s top-level fundraising board — has left the post, two Republican sources said.
Fox, a Missouri businessman who was Bush’s ambassador to Belgium, was one of the RNC’s few remaining connections to the deep-pocketed Republican establishment and was viewed as the heaviest hitter among its fundraisers.
Fox didn’t return a call seeking comment.
But Fox was “deeply troubled by the pattern of self-inflicted wounds and missteps,” another major Republican fundraiser told me today, and had “lost confidence” in Steele.
He was also finding it harder and harder to tap fellow wealthy Republicans for the RNC, the source said.
The GOP source predicted a coming wave of high-level finance resignations amid dissatisfaction over the arrival, under an ethical cloud, of a new fundraising staffer.
Michael Steele, Uniting Conservatives everywhere. 🙄
Now, if the G.O.P. wanted to put a REAL Conservative minority in as chairman; they could look at Michelle Malkin. Now that’s a woman that could do something for that Party! 😀 She’s screechy, She’s annoying as hell; but damn it, she’s about as pure as they come. Think about it Republicans. Who do you want representing your party? Megan McCain with black skin? or a Minority who’s truly down with the cause? It is something to think about! 😀
Three explosions, two rocket attacks and subsequent gunfire have been reported in the near vicinity of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5. The attack occurred early afternoon local time when the consulate would have been full of both American and local employees. The death toll is reported at 36 but is expected to rise.
There are no assessments yet of the damage that the consulate building has sustained, but reports indicate that the explosions led to the collapse of other, adjacent buildings. Pakistani soldiers are also reported to be engaging militants in gunfire, indicating that militants are actively engaged in an attack near the area — possibly with the intention of breaching the U.S. Consulate.
[….]
UPDATE:
One attacker was able to blow up in the U.S. Consulate premises, AAJ TV reported April 5. The front side of the U.S. Consulate has been totally destroyed. Reports indicate that seven or eight security personnel in the consulate are dead. The consulate’s communication system is down.
Many people are wondering why this has happened. I think I know why. It could very well be because of this here:
KABUL — President Obama’s visit to Kabul last week, intended in part to forge a closer working relationship with President Hamid Karzai, has helped produce the opposite: an angry Afghan leader now attacking the West for what he perceives as an effort to manipulate him and weaken his rule.
Karzai’s relationship with his U.S. backers in the past week has taken a sharp turn for the worse after his two anti-Western speeches in three days, remarks that some officials see as a rehearsed, intentional move away from the United States.
In remarks to parliament members Saturday, Karzai said that if foreign interference in his government continues, the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance — one that he might even join, according to lawmakers present.
“When I heard Karzai’s remarks, it really shocked me. It scared me,” a senior Afghan official who works closely with Karzai said. “We should not take this lightly. This is a golden opportunity to have the West here; we can’t squander it.”
Karzai’s comments have angered U.S. officials and some of his prominent Afghan colleagues in the government, who fear he is jeopardizing international funding and military support because his pride has been injured.
“That guy’s erratic, he’s unpredictable. I don’t get him,” said a senior U.S. military official in Kabul.
However, if you read a little deeper, you will see this:
But the next day, Karzai told a gathering of lawmakers that foreign interference fuels the insurgency. One lawmaker said Karzai made the point that if he is compelled to obey foreigners, “I’ll join the Taliban.”
“I know he’s cooperating with the U.S., but he just wants to give us a wrong perception. He’s trying to prove himself as a hero, a nationalist,” the lawmaker said.
Some of the presidents’ supporters said that people overreacted to the statements, and that Karzai is well aware of how reliant he is on the United States and other countries fighting in Afghanistan. The United States pours billions of dollars monthly into Afghanistan, and 30,000 new troops are arriving to fight the Taliban.
Speaking at a meeting of about 1,200 tribal leaders and local officials in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai again suggested that U.S. pressure is counterproductive.
“Afghanistan will be fixed when its people trust that their president is independent and not a puppet,” he said. “We have to demonstrate our sovereignty. We have to demonstrate that we are standing up for our values.”
I think this guy needs to make up his mind. Trying to play to his people and be friends with the west is not going to work. The United States of America is NOT interested in owning that Country, no more than it is interested in owning Iraq. We are, or at least we were, there to get rid of Al-Qaeda terrorists who wanted to attack and destroy America. It seems that our focus is shifting and we are now trying to play “Paddy Cake” with Afgan Leaders who want to be friendly with the the U.S. and the Taliban. The President of the United States needs to firm with Karzai, and tell him either choose the Taliban and possibly being killed by the United States in military action or choose true freedom and democracy. You cannot have it both ways, terrorism and democracy cannot co-exist.
Just a personal aside, I had a sinking feeling that this sort of a thing would happen, if we elected a Democrat for a President. For all of his failings, for all of the stuff that I did not like about him; George W. Bush knew exactly how to deal with these sorts of things. He was seen by the Afghan people and the Iraqis as a firm strong leader, who was willing to risk it all to stand against terrorism, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. President Obama just does not have that same stance. President Obama and by default, the Democrats see terrorism as a juvenile criminal behavior; and it is not; it is a war against freedom and democracy in the name of a backward and dangerous religion.
I guess the only hope at this point is that Obama realizes what he is dealing with here and changes his focus. However, I just do not see that happening at all. Needless to say, the next year few years is going to be interesting, when it comes to the war on terror and this entire situation.
Just my observation; Anyone that cannot differentiate between a violent anti-Government or Anti-American terrorist and someone peacefully protesting the misdeeds of the current Government in power, shouldn’t be driving a damn car —- Much less writing an opinion column. Besides all of this, just where the hell where these socialist liberal idiots, when the idiotic people were calling for the death of President George W. Bush? Oh, that’s right! They were providing covering for them and also, supporting them as well. 🙄
Damned hypocrites, every last one of them. 😡 Which is why I will never support the Democratic Party, ever again. I’d rather never work another damned job in my life and be as poor as a Church mouse, and never vote again for that Party again; than to sell my soul to a party of Socialists who reek with the smell of utter hypocrisy.
