That Didn’t Take Long

U.S. troops have been out of Iraq for what, less than a day now?

Iraq issues arrest warrant for vice president Hashemi

Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a senior security official said on Monday, after the government obtained confessions linking him to what the official described as terrorist activities.

Interior Ministry spokesman, Major General Adel Daham, told a news conference that confessions by suspects identified as Hashemi’s bodyguards linked the vice president to suspected killings and attacks.

See also:
Iraq issues arrest warrant for Tareq al-Hashemi
Iraq issues arrest warrant for Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi
Iraq in political turmoil hours after last US troops depart
Iraq: left to the wolves
Arrest warrant for Vice President Hashemi sparks political turmoil in Iraq
VP arrest warrant plunges Iraq into crisis
Iraq faces political crisis as the arrest warrant to Sunni VP al-Hashemi
Sunni, Shi’ite conflict grows in Iraq
Iraq Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi denies charge
Evading arrest, Iraqi VP denies hit squad claim
Iraq Vice-President denies he ran hit squad
Iraq’s Sunni vice President Tareq al-Hashemi warns sectarian divisions reopened
Iraq vice-president declares unity efforts ‘gone’
Iraq slaps travel ban on Sunni vice-president
Iraqi Sunni leaders denounce PM Maliki
U.S. “obviously concerned” about Iraqi Hashemi probe
Fugitive Iraq Sunni V.P. Tariq al-Hashimi Criticizes U.S.

It’s painfully clear what’s going on here. With the U.S. military now out of the way, the Shia led Iraqi government, backed by Iran, is wasting no time flexing its muscle and settling old scores against the Iraqi Sunni minority. Can you say looming civil war?

/and now we’ve pretty much given up our ability to effectively intervene militarily in Iraq, leaving Iran as the only regional military power capable of “riding to the rescue” of the Iraqi government, who just happen to be Iranian puppets anyway

It’s The Jihad, Stupid

Oh look, it’s yet another Muslim spreading Islam’s message of peace and tolerance.

NYC Arrests Terror Suspect Accused of Plotting to Bomb Police Cars

An al-Qaida sympathizer who plotted to bomb NYPD patrol cars and postal facilities and envisioned targeting U.S. soldiers returning home from overseas has been arrested, officials said.

Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced the arrest of Jose Pimentel, 27, Sunday evening at City Hall.

Bloomberg said Pimentel, of Washington Heights, was “inspired by al-Qaida propaganda” but not part of any larger group and was not believed to be working with others. He was also “motivated by his own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Bloomberg said.

. . .

Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, was denied bail and remained in custody.

See also:
Latino al-Qaida Sympathizer Accused of NYC Bomb Plot
Bloomberg: NYPD thwarts al Qaeda-inspired terror plot
The Charges Against Jose Pimentel, and Details from the Investigation
N.Y. Man Charged in Terror Plot After FBI Said to Decline Case
NYC terror suspect was building test bomb
Mayor Bloomberg On Foiled NYC Terror Plot: “Sick People” Want To Take Others’ Freedoms
Jose Pimentel’s Arrest a Timely Reminder That Terror Threat Is Still Very Real
Awlaki killing was trigger for NYC plot suspect
Terror plot shows al-Awlaki’s influence lives on after death
New York City bomb plot suspect a ‘total lone wolf’
Mother of Bomb Plot Suspect Apologizes to NYers
‘I apologise to the city of New York’: Catholic mother says sorry for Muslim convert son ‘who was one hour from finishing DIY bomb’
NYC Bomb Plot
Jose Pimentel: Terror Suspect Arrested

It’s amazing how the authorities keep foiling these jihadi plots and that there hasn’t been a successful mass casualty terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of disgruntled Muslims willing to give it a try.

/are we good or just lucky?

Mooky Rubs The U.S. Nose In The Iranian Victory In Iraq

After almost a decade in Iraq, after losing thousands of soldiers and spending hundreds of billions of dollars, the United States’ request to maintain even a minimal troop presence in Iraq after the end of 2011 was categorically rejected, in the end, effectively vetoed by close Iranian ally and long time U.S. nemesis, with plenty of U.S. blood on his hands, Muqtada al-Sadr. We got kicked out by Mooky, how absolutely humiliating is that?

Iraq’s Sadr calls for full US withdrawal

Head of Iraq’s Sadr movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, has called for the complete withdrawal of all American troops from the country by the end of the year.

Speaking in the holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, the cleric rejected any form of US presence in the country, as Washington and Baghdad are discussing keeping a limited number of US troops as military trainers in Iraq.

Sadr said the presence of US military trainers in Iraq beyond the Dec. 31 deadline is an ”organized occupation”.

He also dismissed any negotiation with the US before the full withdrawal of all foreign soldiers and the payment of compensation to the families of Iraqis killed by US troops.

Washington has been pressing Baghdad to agree to keep thousands of its troops beyond the 2011 deadline. It also wants the remaining troops to be granted immunity from prosecution.

See also:
Sadr rejects presence of US Military trainers in Iraq
Sadr bloc warns over keeping US military
Iraq’s move to revoke immunity for troops adds to US problems
After Nearly Nine Years of War and Occupation, America to Withdraw All Troops From Iraq
The U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq
U.S. role in Iraq comes to unsatisfying end
Timid leadership on US forces by Iraq’s politicians
As U.S.-Iraq troop talks faltered, Obama didn’t pick up the phone
With troops pulling out at year’s end, close U.S. Embassy in Iraq for diplomats’ safety
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
Risk Key US Gen calls Iraq pullout ‘disaster’
Overheard on CNN.com: Iraq not ours to ‘win’
Soldiers, Pundits Debate Whether Iraq War Was Worth It

If anyone tries to tell you that the U.S. pullout from Iraq, without a trace, after begging to stay and being curtly rebuffed, isn’t a huge victory for Iran, they’re either naive, confused, or lying. Iran will dominate Iraq, economically, militarily, politically, and socially after we’re gone. The majority of Iraq’s government is already aligned with Iran.

Does anyone seriously believe that a U.S. embassy, with less than 200 troops, has any chance of checking Iran’s influence in Iraq? Hell, we’ll be lucky if our embassy isn’t overrun. Iraq could very well become another Iranian satellite state, like Lebanon. And hey, you thought taking military action against Iran’s nuclear program was already difficult at best? Try it without any leverage over or military footprint in Iraq.

/Obama’s Iran/Iraq policy, “not with a bang, but a whimper”

Obama War Number Four

Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now Uganda, for someone who’s won the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama sure seems to have an insatiable bloodlust for military adventurism and intervention. I thought he was elected to end U.S. involvement in overseas wars, not double it.

Obama sending American soldiers to Uganda to aid fight against Lord’s Resistance Army

President Obama has deployed a small contingent of elite troops to aid Ugandan government forces battling a murderous insurgent group.

The first troops departed for the Central African nation Wednesday, part of a complement that will total about 100 American soldiers.

They’ll assist in the fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army, Obama wrote in a letter to Congressional leaders.

“Although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense,” Obama said.

See also:
Obama sends 100 US troops to Uganda to fight LRA
Uganda To Receive 100 U.S Military Advisors
US troops arrive to ‘kill or capture’ Kony
White House: US advisers to aid fight against infamous Lord’s Resistance Army
Political payback behind US special forces deployment to Uganda?
Why send US troops against African bush fighters? Political payback for Somalia a possibility
Uganda president: US troops not sent in to fight
Obama risks miring US in an African war: McCain
Uganda welcomes US troops to hunt rebel leaders
Africa deployment draws support, warning
Rights Groups Welcome US Decision to Send Troops to Uganda
U.S. Ventures into Bloody Uganda Conflict
What US manhunt for LRA leaders reveals about Obama’s war strategy
Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army: a primer
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
Lord’s Resistance Army
Joseph Kony
Uganda
Uganda

Did I miss the memo explaining exactly how events in Uganda are a threat to vital U.S. national security interests or is this, like Libya, just another Obama and Samantha Power “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)” military excursion extravaganza? I suspect it’s the latter and if we have a R2P civilians in Uganda, where no vital U.S. national security interests are at stake, why the [expletive deleted] aren’t we intervening in Syria, where thousands of civilians have been killed and the rogue Assad regime clearly has U.S. blood on its hands?

/all I can say is there had better not be any escalation, mission creep, or U.S. lives lost in this potential Obama military misadventure, kill Kony and get the [expletive deleted] out

About Those Libyan “Rebels”

Be careful what you wish for, because it probably won’t turn out the way you’d hoped it would.

Islamic law at heart of new Libyan constitution

The Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) has issued a draft of a new constitution which has Islamic law as its foundation.

According to the document issued by the TNC, Islam will be the state religion and the principal source of legislation will be the sharia (Islamic law).

See also:
Libyan Draft Constitution: Sharia Is ‘Principal Source Of Legislation’…
DOCUMENT: Libya’s Draft Constitutional Charter
Draft Libya Constitution Puts Sharia Front and Center
Libyan Draft Constitution: Sharia is ‘Principal Source of Legislation’
What Will Libya Look Like?
Sharia In Libya
Libya Made Safe for Sharia?
Did NATO help pave the way for Sharia law in Libya?
New Constitution for Libya to Enforce Sharia Law?

Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya, three countries the United States has made safe for the constitutional dominance of Islamic law through force of arms. These are also three countries where Christians are routinely persecuted and killed just for being Christians living under Muslim rule.

And then there’s Egypt, where the U.S. encouraged the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and downplayed the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood gaining power. Well, now Egyptian elections are coming up soon and it looks like the Muslim Brotherhood will, indeed, dominate the next government of Egypt. While Mubarak was in power, Egypt was Israel’s strongest partner in Middle East peace. Now, after Mubarak, the majority of Egyptians are calling for an abrogation of the peace treaty with Israel, weapons are being freely smuggled to Hamas through Egypt, and terrorist attacks are being launched against Israel from Egyptian soil.

/is this the type of “democracy” and “freedom” the United States is looking to spread throughout the Middle East region?

The Return Of Mookie

So, we bust our military ass in Iraq, to the tune of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, just to watch U.S. troop killing freak Moqtada al-Sadr waltz back into Iraq, to a hero’s welcome, after four years of hiding in Iran to avoid an arrest warrant, as part of the Iraqi government? Who won the Iraq war anyway, Iran?

Radical cleric al-Sadr returns to Iraq

A radical anti-American cleric whose supporters once led armed uprisings against U.S. forces in Iraq has returned to the country after spending time in Iran.
The return of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr comes as Iraq’s new government is just getting its footing and at a time when U.S. forces are preparing to withdraw from the country.

. . .

Ryan Crocker, a former ambassador to Iraq and now at Texas A&M University, said al-Sadr would not be in a position to return to violence. Al-Sadr once controlled a militia of thousands that challenged the authority of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki but wound up being beaten down by Iraqi and U.S. forces.

“I assume he is not going back to start standing up militias,” Crocker said. “If he does, he’s not going to last very long.” Crocker said al-Maliki would not allow it.

Al-Sadr received a hero’s welcome in his hometown of Najaf, where he visited the shrine of Imam Ali. It is not clear whether al-Sadr is planning on staying in Iraq. “To say the least, he is a mercurial personality,” Crocker said.

Al-Sadr is returning to Iraq as the Iraqi government will confront some key issues about continued U.S. presence in Iraq. All U.S. forces will have left Iraq by the end of this year under the terms of a security agreement between the two countries.

See also:
Shiite firebrand returns from exile with a victory lap
Anti-US Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Returns to Iraq
Al-Sadr makes low-key return to Iraq
Iraq’s al-Sadr Urges Calm From Supporters
In Iraq, apprehension ahead of speech by Sadr
Model security shows mainstream move of Iraq’s Sadr
Cleric Moqtada Al Sadr returns to Iraq
Return Of Iraq’s Prodigal Son?
Family wants Moqtada Sadr arrested
Scenarios: What’s next for Iraq after Sadr’s comeback?

I’m stunned, everyone’s just going to sit back and let this illiterate, criminal Iranian puppet return to Iraq and join the Iraqi government, after all the people he’s killed? Unbelievable!

/will no one blow this evil [expletive deleted] up or put a bullet in his head?

Happy New Year From Al Qaeda

While most normal people were celebrating the new year, the Islamic murderbots were hard at work doing what they do best, killing innocent people.

Egypt Detains 17 People After Bomb Kills 21 at Church, Al Jazeera Reports

Egyptian police detained 17 suspects after a bomb blast killed 21 people outside a church in Alexandria, Al Jazeera television reported, citing unidentified security officials.

The explosion early yesterday injured more than 90 people, according to the Health Ministry. President Hosni Mubarak blamed the attack on “foreign elements.” The Interior Ministry said it increased security around churches “in light of the escalating threats from al-Qaeda to many countries,” according to a statement on its website.

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq said in November it would attack Christian sites after it claimed Egypt’s Coptic Church was holding two Christian women who had converted to Islam. The church has denied this charge. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

“The technical aspects of the execution, the large number of victims and the threats of al-Qaeda in Iraq all point to al- Qaeda’a fingerprints,” Diaa Rashwan, an expert on Islamist groups at the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, wrote in an editorial in Al Shorouk newspaper.

See also:
Bomb blast in Egypt highlights divisions
21 dead as suicide bomber sets off blast at New Year midnight mass in Egypt
Egyptian President Condemns Deadly Explosion Outside Church in Alexandria
Mubarak vows to ‘cut off the hand of terrorism’
Foreign hands behind church attack: Mubarak
Security tightened after deadly church blast in Egypt
Prostests in Egypt following explosion
Worshippers return to bombed Egyptian church
Mass held at bombed Egyptian church
Thousands gather to mourn victims in Egypt church blast
Massacre of Egyptian Christians

Religion of Peace my ass.

/*sigh*, new year, same as it ever was

Making Iraq Unsafe For Christianity

Mission accomplished. There are now half as many Christians in Iraq as there were under the Saddam Hussein regime and the Christians that remain live in constant fear.

A Major Al-Qaida victory: Christmas is canceled in Iraq

The radical terrorist organization Al-Qaida not only subscribes to the idea that Islam is the only legitimate path to God but that countries with predominantly Moslem populations are sacred and should not include residents who are infidels. In what is clearly a major psychological victory for Ben-Ladan’s band of terrorst-fanatics, the Christian community in Iraq has decided to not publicly celebrate Christmas this year.

On October 31st, 68 Iraqi Christians were murdered during an Al-Qaida terrorist-assault on Our Lady of Salvation (Catholic) Church in Bagdad while mass was being conducted. Eye witness reports stated that the terrorists entered the Church and began shooting randomly at worshipers. Crying children only called attention to themselves and were shown no mercy.

In the days that followed, militants targeted the homes and neighborhoods of Christians throughout the Iraq. Since then, more than a 1,000 Christian Iraqi families have fled to the Kurdish controlled province of Kurdistan in the north. Tens of thousands of Christians have left the country in fear since the start of the war in 2003.

See also:
Christmas canceled in Iraq for fear of violence
Christmas festivities canceled in Iraq after new Al Qaeda threats
Iraqi Christians mark safer Christmas in Kurdistan
For some Iraqi Christians, this may be last Christmas in Baghdad
Iraqi Christians Exercise Caution for Christmas
Iraqi churches cancel Christmas festivities
Iraq Christians cancel Christmas celebrations amid threats
Iraqis defy threats to pack massacre church on Xmas
Iraqi Christians Cancel Christmas
Iraq Christians cancel Christmas festivities
Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace

Remember Colin Powell’s supposed Pottery Barn rule. “you break it, you buy it”. This is happening on our watch. Just something to think about.

/oh, and this just in, Islam is way beyond vile, an evil festering pus sore on the face of the Earth

A WikiLeak Too Far?

Why do I get the feeling that this won’t end well for Julian Assange and his motley crew of information pirates?

WikiLeaks: Is Russia the Next Target?

Say what you will about Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, but his work has shown him to be pretty fearless. After his site published the biggest cache of secret files in U.S. history on Oct. 22, detailing some of the ugly truths about the war in Iraq, he continued to travel around Europe despite U.S. reprimands and warnings. He even told the global media that new leaks will expose more secrets not only about the U.S. military but about other “repressive regimes,” such as Russia and China. The signals coming from Moscow, however, suggest that the Russian reaction will not be as reserved as America’s. So is WikiLeaks really ready to take on the world’s more callous states?

It’s certainly talking the talk. In an interview published on Tuesday in Russia’s leading daily newspaper Kommersant, WikiKeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said that “Russian readers will learn a lot about their country” after one of the site’s upcoming document dumps. “We want to tell people the truth about the actions of their governments.” (See the top 10 leaks in history.)

So far Russia has had no official response. But on Wednesday, an official at the Center for Information Security of the FSB, Russia’s secret police, gave a warning to WikiLeaks that showed none of the tact of the U.S. reply to the Iraq revelations. “It’s essential to remember that given the will and the relevant orders, [WikiLeaks] can be made inaccessible forever,” the anonymous official told the independent Russian news website LifeNews.

See also:
Wikileaks vs. the FSB
WikiLeaks to publish classified documents from Russia, China
WikiLeaks to release secret Russia, China logs – paper
WikiLeaks Has Something to Tell the World About Russia
WikiLeaks to post Russian, Chinese files
WikiLeaks ready to drop a bombshell on Russia. But will Russians get to read about it?
Wikileaks to leak China and Russia’s secret documents
Wikileaks admits it has material on Russia
Has WikiLeaks landed in cyberattack crosshairs?

Unlike the United States, it sounds like Russia isn’t about to let any attempt to leak their classified documents go unpunished.

/R.I.P. Julian Assange, enjoy your self inflicted death wish

Another Day, Another Homegrown Jihadi

Muslim problem, what Muslim problem? What other religion in this country cultivates a steady stream of adherents that regularly plot and attempt to carry out mass casualty attacks against their fellow Americans? We’re just lucky that most of them haven’t been successful.

Alleged would be terrorist thwarted at every turn

Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, according to the FBI, traveled the world in search of jihad. But Pakistan turned him away, and Jordan did too. He tried to get into Somalia, but U.S. authorities placed him on the no-fly list. An American citizen, he visited an army recruiting station in New York’s Times Square hoping to be sent to Iraq; they did not want him either.

So, the FBI said, the 21-year-old born and raised in New York created websites and posted threats of radical Islamic violence, including one from another American expatriate, Anwar al Awlaki. Then Shehadeh flew to Hawaii and allegedly started taking target practice.

FBI agents said he wanted to join a jihadist group to learn “guerilla warfare and bomb-making.” Had he been welcomed into the U.S. army, they said, his plan was to defect in Iraq and turn against his comrades.

Shehadeh’s journeys ended last Friday. He was arrested in Honolulu and accused in a federal criminal complaint, unsealed Monday, of making false statements in an international terrorism case.

See also:
Homegrown Terrorist Offers a Vivid Reminder of the Threat We Face On U.S. Soil
US Man Arrested in Terror Case
Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, wannabe jihadi from Staten Island, was on feds’ radar two years ago
Former City Resident Is Accused of Trying to Join Terrorists
N.Y.-Born Man Arrested in Hawaii in Terror Case
Hawaii man arrested on terrorism-related charge
Isle man held on terrorism charges
Hawaii Man Facing Terror Charges Worshipped in Manoa
Prosecutors: Ex-Staten Island Man Tried to Join Taliban
Feds nab former Staten Island resident Abdel Hameed Shehadeh in failed Taliban bid
Hawaiian held after aborted Pak visit
Feds Nab Suspected Terror Traitor In the Making

What amazes me, is that the FBI catches so many of them, although they don’t catch them all and lately we’ve just gotten lucky on more than one occasion.

/oh, and there’s absolutely no reason to be the least bit nervous about Muslims on airplanes, after all, it’s been almost a whole year now since one of them tried to ignite explosives in his underwear and bring down a passenger aircraft over a major city