France Raises Terror Alert for D-Day

The terror alert was raised to the red level as France prepares for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, reported Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency.

Just out of curiosity, why are we getting news about a move by the French government from the Chinese state-run media?

In Iraq, apparently no news is good news. Two months ago everyone was talking about Fallujah. Four American citizens had been brutally murdered, and then a raging mob dragged their bodies through the streets and strung them up from a bridge. Every mosque in the city was calling for jihad, while the local police and fire departments ceased to exist. Then two days into offensive operations, the Marines suddenly seemed to halt their advance. Fallujah quickly became a metaphor for everything that was going wrong in Iraq.
Today, however, the city of 200,000 is relatively quiet, and there's little reporting on why. To find out how the Marines were able to pacify a city in the heart of the Sunni Triangle--despite accusations that they were shrinking from a fight for political reasons--I spoke with Col. John Coleman, who is in Fallujah and is chief of staff for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, which is in charge of about one-third of the land mass of Iraq. What he said revealed a continuing battle in Iraq that appears neither hopeless nor without progress. In speaking with Col. Coleman it quickly became clear that many of the images of the war that trickle back through the media and reports of "cutting deals" with insurgents are often out of context. This is a sentiment Navy Secretary Gordon England also sounded last week in a speech over lunch at the National Press Club. Before taking over in Fallujah, the Marines identified 28 individuals who were leading the insurgency in and around Fallujah. To date the Marines have killed or captured 27 of them, he said. The coalition is clearly winning.

Can't tell you wher I got this?

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and All her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and Courage to stay the Course to Victory Amen

Cause remember that the French just did war games with the French??

China to Taiwan: War Games a Message
Jon E. Dougherty, NewsMax.com
Thursday, June 3, 2004
Chinese leaders consider Taiwan a breakaway province and they have repeatedly stated in official venues they would never tolerate a declaration of independence by the island democracy.
And, in new war games scheduled later this month, Beijing is putting muscle behind its threats.
The exercises are part of China's annual military maneuvers. They will involve large numbers of troops, ships, aircraft and missile forces. But, the Washington Times reported Wednesday, there is an underlying message in this year's exercises.
The Final Frontier
The Pentagon assessment also said Beijing is making great strides in improving its space-based warfare capabilities.
Indeed, the Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence say, in the report, that China is developing on perfecting space warfare methods against American space-based military assets.
The Chinese are considering ways of "blinding" U.S. surveillance in space before launching any attack against Taiwan.
Those aspects of the report coincide with warnings published by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., in findings by a congressional commission in 1999 that said China was developing space-based weapons.
Among them:
• Small anti-satellite weapons capable of disabling or destroying U.S. military satellites, which now provide real-time battlefield information to ground commanders as well as guide warplanes and munitions to their intended targets • Infrared cameras that conduct photographic spying, launched under the auspices of China's fledgling manned space program • China's own military intelligence-gathering satellites • Lasers capable of blinding or destroying U.S. satellites
"Until late [2002], Beijing believed a confrontation with the U.S. could be delayed and China could concentrate almost exclusively on economic development," he said.
"China is preparing for a number of possible military scenarios that it may have to confront in the coming five to 20 years," says Richard Fisher, a China expert for the Jamestown Foundation. "These would definitely include, first and foremost, a possible conflict with the United States."

Now can we a afford a Kerry who wants the French to protect America??

Army Scientists, Engineers develop Liquid Body Armor
By Tonya Johnson
Army News Service
April 21, 2004
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Liquid armor for Kevlar vests is one of the newest technologies being developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to save Soldiers' lives.

This type of body armor is light and flexible, which allows soldiers to be more mobile and won't hinder an individual from running or aiming his or her weapon.

The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a material with unusual properties.

The Saddam-look-alike former general who turned up to help coalition forces in Fallujah notwithstanding, that last group offered the best opportunity. It turns out there are a lot of former military personnel in Fallujah. These are mostly Sunni men who were professional soldiers and are patriotic and proud of their military service. Many sat out the invasion last year believing the coalition's promise that if they abandoned Saddam, they would have a future in the new Iraq. But since the fall of the regime, the coalition hadn't provided them with any opportunity for meaningful work. As a consequence, many were joining the insurgency.
That's when a former Iraqi general stepped forward and promised the Marines that within 24 hours he could assemble 300 Iraqis ready to battle the insurgents. The next day he met his promise and within a few days the ranks of the brigade swelled to 900 men. Col. Coleman tells me there are so many former Iraq soldiers willing to fight insurgents that the "Fallujah Brigade" could easily grow to several thousand if the Marines would let it.
Among other things, this brigade became a liaison between the coalition and the local imams, sheiks and Fallujah city fathers. One by one these groups were peeled away from the insurgents. Now none of the mosques in Fallujah are calling for jihad, local politicians are coordinating with coalition forces in rebuilding city infrastructure--the Marines have approximately $500 million to spend in Iraq--and the Fallujah Brigade is patrolling the streets. Ninety percent of the intelligence the Marines get on insurgents comes from Iraqi sources.
The secret was to make "good hearted" Iraqis into stakeholders in a peaceful Fallujah. The unreported story in Iraq is that this insurgency would continue uninterrupted even if coalition forces withdrew tomorrow. It's not an anticoalition insurgency as much as it is a war against the establishment of a peaceful, stable society in Iraq.
The Fallujah Brigade, however, doesn't have free rein. The Marines constantly test it to make sure it is fulfilling the coalition's goals. These tests include submitting to civilian rule, taking large-caliber weapons off the streets, ensuring the rule of law is prevailing in the city, working with and positively influencing city fathers, and adhering to all the Geneva Conventions and rules of war that the Marines themselves must follow. So far the brigade is passing these tests. But one area in which it must do better is helping to investigate, capture and prosecute those responsible for killing and then mutilating the four Americans in March. If the brigade ever fails to meet these tests, Col. Coleman says it will be disbanded. And if it is to live on past the June 30 handover, it must also be sanctioned by the interim government.

The Saddam-look-alike former general who turned up to help coalition forces in Fallujah notwithstanding, that last group offered the best opportunity. It turns out there are a lot of former military personnel in Fallujah. These are mostly Sunni men who were professional soldiers and are patriotic and proud of their military service. Many sat out the invasion last year believing the coalition's promise that if they abandoned Saddam, they would have a future in the new Iraq. But since the fall of the regime, the coalition hadn't provided them with any opportunity for meaningful work. As a consequence, many were joining the insurgency.
That's when a former Iraqi general stepped forward and promised the Marines that within 24 hours he could assemble 300 Iraqis ready to battle the insurgents. The next day he met his promise and within a few days the ranks of the brigade swelled to 900 men. Col. Coleman tells me there are so many former Iraq soldiers willing to fight insurgents that the "Fallujah Brigade" could easily grow to several thousand if the Marines would let it.
Among other things, this brigade became a liaison between the coalition and the local imams, sheiks and Fallujah city fathers. One by one these groups were peeled away from the insurgents. Now none of the mosques in Fallujah are calling for jihad, local politicians are coordinating with coalition forces in rebuilding city infrastructure--the Marines have approximately $500 million to spend in Iraq--and the Fallujah Brigade is patrolling the streets. Ninety percent of the intelligence the Marines get on insurgents comes from Iraqi sources.
The secret was to make "good hearted" Iraqis into stakeholders in a peaceful Fallujah. The unreported story in Iraq is that this insurgency would continue uninterrupted even if coalition forces withdrew tomorrow. It's not an anticoalition insurgency as much as it is a war against the establishment of a peaceful, stable society in Iraq.
The Fallujah Brigade, however, doesn't have free rein. The Marines constantly test it to make sure it is fulfilling the coalition's goals. These tests include submitting to civilian rule, taking large-caliber weapons off the streets, ensuring the rule of law is prevailing in the city, working with and positively influencing city fathers, and adhering to all the Geneva Conventions and rules of war that the Marines themselves must follow. So far the brigade is passing these tests. But one area in which it must do better is helping to investigate, capture and prosecute those responsible for killing and then mutilating the four Americans in March. If the brigade ever fails to meet these tests, Col. Coleman says it will be disbanded. And if it is to live on past the June 30 handover, it must also be sanctioned by the interim government.

After seeing American citizens dragged through the streets a few months ago, many likely expected to see the Marines drop the sledgehammer in Fallujah. But the truth is that all branches of the U.S. military are able to employ more surgical strikes when the situation calls for it. "The military is a pretty educated force," Col. Coleman told me. "What you may be witnessing is that our toolkit is fairly broad these days." Col. Coleman admits using the Fallujah Brigade wasn't necessarily the Marines' first preference and he's not yet convinced that it will ultimately prove to be a model worth replicating around the country. But, he said, coalition forces learn from their operations and if the coalition is to build a stable country, "everything we do here should endeavor to put an Iraqi lead up front."
Mr. Miniter is assistant editor of OpinionJournal.com. His column appears Tuesdays

Part of the American Tribe

Part of the American Trice

God Bless the the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and courage to stay the Course to Victory Amen

Hopefully this upcoming weekend will be a Big reminder to the French just what we, the British, and America did for them.

Will it bring about a change of heart amongst them?

I shan't hold my breath.

K.C. - I doubt that the French want to remember what America did for them as they thorougly resent us. It was humiliating for them to have been saved by an upstart no account, culture-less boors and brutes. And, we didn't do it for them. Our effort has been called self-serving. Demonizing Americans THE official French passtime.

By-the-way, we did it for freedom. Everyone could benefit, even the French.

Keith!
Uhhhh... welcome back?

KC as you know. The French have no love loss for the English. I guess several hundred years of beating the poupon out of them and humiliating them has not been forgotten, they care for the Americans even less. I am willing to bet you will actually see protest from some french in regards to the coming events.

Keithjoy,

That you would call Catherine such a disgusting name is completely uncalled for. I am just going to let you know now. I have tolerated you up until now. But I am going to do my best to get you removed from posting on this site any longer.

Truth be told, the French hate us, they utterly and deeply hate us. And that hate has risen the past 4 years with Bush in office, they didn't like the first Bush, and they sure as hell don't like his son. They truthfully won't like us no matter what we do. I don't even waste my time worrying about the French, if they don't want to get involved in what happens around the world then no one should worry about them. They only care if something happens to them, or thier country. But that is not to say that all French are like that, just like not all Iraqi's want to kill and slaughter American Forces.

wildhare
Not to worry keithjoy aready said he had my 6 if the sh-t hits the fan I think i will keep him in the front though! Not to worry names don't hurt it is the bullets and bombs to worry about!

Suspicious Trailers

Suspicious semi-tractor trailers found in Iraq after the American invasion were initially thought by the CIA to be mobile biological weapons factories. In May 2003, the agency produced a white paper that made the case.

And as recently as January, Cheney referenced the trailers, saying if they were what they were suspected to be, he "would deem that conclusive evidence" that Saddam had developed WMD programs.

One additional note: An artillery shell containing sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, recently exploded near a U.S. military convoy. Soldiers transporting the shell for inspection suffered symptoms consistent with low-level chemical exposure, which is what led to the discovery, a U.S. official told Fox News.

But the administration and the CIA, save for Cheney, have since backed away from the suspicious trailer theory. They were based primarily on an INC defector to Germany known as "Curveball," senior intelligence officials say, however now most intelligence analysts believe the trailers were used to produce hydrogen for weather balloons used in artillery practice.

And, one of the four sources cited by the CIA initially as suppliers of the Iraqi WMD information had been labeled a fabricator in May 2002 by the Defense Intelligence Agency—information Powell was never given before making his plea to the U.N. New max

What was the CIA up to they were willing to sell America down the River we Know that they have been leaking all kinds of stuff to hurt Bush Making Powell look like a Traitor?

Keithjoy you are part of the Tribe if you will fight for America to defeat her enemys!! If that is you sobeit

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and Courage to stay the Course to Victory Amen

um... a little of topic don't you think?

Hat's off to Catherine on shrugging off the insults...again, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

that said, I hereby promise not to call arxole, arxole anymore...and no more rude personal questions from me to muslim-zombie-virgins. I promise.

We should have handled the french and the germans better...and they could show a little gratitude...maybe Bush will surprise us and reel them back in. We could use some help.

Kirk

They will never trust us. And yes it would be a very big help if they were to have a change of heart. But at this point the chances aren't looking too good.

Keithjoy

I am beginning to think you are as phoney as your ideas. You bring up the Marine Corps when it suits your needs and then you attack a woman with foul language. My family has a long history in the marines and I know they didn't teach you that there. I am half tempted to send my uncle (decorated Vietnam Vet and drill sargeant) your post. Even in his advanced years he could physically remind you of how you are suppose to act. Just because I am defending her doesn't mean I always agree with her, but a little common decency is what everyone deserves. Although, I am sure Catherine is laughing off you adolescent behavior.

Speaking of your adolescent behavior, I see you had to poke fun at God. Just because you may not always like his rules you pretend he doesn't exist. Recently my parents shared a similar experience with me. When I was 3, I would put my hands over my eyes and would loudly exclaim that no one could see me. It seemed logical at the time but like your ideas that God doesn't exist it will seem quite embarrasing when you are confronted with all the evidence you ignored in your life.

In the meantime, I would suggest you remember the values the Marine Corps taught you, do something about the anger issues you appearently are having a hard time controlling and pick up the book, "God Is" by Alan Hayward. I think you will like yourself much better after following these steps.

Chem Bomb Plot Flashback: Kay Warned Iraq's WMDs in Syria
Just two months before al-Qaida terrorists were caught by Jordanian police transporting chemical bombs across the Jordanian-Syrian border, U.S. weapons inspector David Kay identified Syria as a likely hiding place for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
"We know from some of the interrogations of former Iraqi officials that a lot of material went to Syria before the war, including some components of Saddam's WMD programs," Kay told the London Telegraph.
On Saturday, Jordanian officials revealed that the vehicles used by al-Qaida plotters to transport 17.5 tons of explosives into Jordan also contained chemical weapons and poison gas. Targets were said to include the headquarters of Jordan's security service and the U.S. Embassy in Amman.
Had the plot succeeded, the death toll could have reached 20,000, the officials said.
Three weeks before Kay's comments to the London paper, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published a report from Syrian journalist Nizar Nayuf claiming that the transfer of Iraqi WMD to Syria was organized by commanders of Saddam Hussein's Special Republican Guard.
The report included a letter to Nayuf from an Iraqi source detailing the WMD transfers.
The Iraqi source claimed:
"We received confirmations that the Iraqi weapons, which were moved to Syria by the help of General Zoul-Himla Chalich are now hidden in three places inside Syria:
"First place: a tunnel dug in the mountain close to the Al-Baïdah village, which is roughly two kilometers from Misyaf village. This place is under the 489 Safety cipher Documents' office control.
"Second place: the factory of the Air Armed Forces in the village of Tal Sinan, between the town of Hama and Salamiyyah. This factory is under the Air Force control.
"Third place: the location of Shinsar, 40 kilometers south of Homs, two kilometers east of the Homs - Damascus road.
"There are underground tunnels there, controlled by Brigade 661 of the armed air Forces. It is a Brigade of air Patrol. The tunnels are several tens of meters deep. The weapons were transported in large wooden cases and barrels, under the supervision of the General Zoul-Himla Chalich and the son of his brother Assef, who works at Al-Bachaer company.
"The company is owned by the Assad family and has offices in Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad. This company also undertook the illegal Iraqi oil importation in Syria, and supplied weapons to Saddam."
In an interview last week, Jordan's King Abdullah said the al-Qaida chem bomb plot would have been devastating had it succeeded.
"It was a major, major operation. It would have decapitated the government," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Casualties would have been in the thousands. It couldn't have been more sinister."
Abdullah said, however, that he was "completely confident" that Syrian president Bashir Assad knew nothing about the WMD bomb plot. Syria has denied hiding Iraq's WMDs.
The Jordanian king is in the U.S. on a previously scheduled trip to help restart the Mideast peace process, but the al-Qaida WMD plot will likely be topic No. 1 when Abdullah meets with President Bush in Washington on Wednesday.
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Monday, April 19, 2004 1:38 p.m. EDT

Clinton: My Bin Laden Confession Was 'Inappropriate'
In a closed-door meeting with the 9/11 Commission on April 8, ex-President Bill Clinton said that his admission to a Long Island business group two years ago that he turned down Sudan's offer to arrest Osama bin Laden was "inappropriate," according to 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey.
"What the president said, he just didn't understand the facts of the question," Kerrey told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" on Monday. "He answered inappropriately."
Commissioner Kerrey told Alan Colmes that he'd been asked to "try to do some follow-up" on Clinton's bin Laden comments to the Long Island Association on Feb. 15, 2002.
"I haven't seen the full transcript of what he said or anything like that," Kerrey insisted, though the LIA supplied the 9/11 Commission with a videotape of Clinton's speech five weeks ago.
Rep. Peter King, R-NY, who attended the event in question, said Sunday that Clinton's bin Laden admission was spontaneous rather than a response to any direct question.
"I was actually there that day," King told WABC Radio's Steve Malzberg. "[Clinton] brought it up - it wasn't even in response to a question. He was sort of ruminating and talking about what went right and what went wrong and then he brought up this whole story on his own about how he turned down taking bin Laden." [See transcript, below]
Last week, Commissioner Kerrey told North Dakota radio host Scott Hennen that when Clinton's bin Laden quote was read back to him during the 9/11 interrogation, the ex-president called it "a misquote."
When Hennen told Kerrey that Clinton's comments were on audiotape, the Nebraska Democrat asked for a copy - apparently unaware that the 9/11 Commission already has them on videotape.
During his interview with the 9/11 Commission, Clinton was accompanied by longtime aide and former White House counsel Bruce "the consigliere" Lindsey, along with former national security advisor Sandy Berger, who insisted in sworn testimony before Congress in Sept. 2002 that there was never any offer from Sudanese officials to turn over bin Laden to the U.S.
TRANSCRIPT:
Ex-President Clinton's Remarks on Osama bin Laden
Delivered to the Long Island Association's Annual Luncheon
Crest Hollow Country Club, Woodbury, NY
Feb. 15, 2002
Question from LIA President Matthew Crosson:
CROSSON: In hindsight, would you have handled the issue of terrorism, and al-Qaeda specifically, in a different way during your administration?
CLINTON: Well, it's interesting now, you know, that I would be asked that question because, at the time, a lot of people thought I was too obsessed with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
And when I bombed his training camp and tried to kill him and his high command in 1998 after the African embassy bombings, some people criticized me for doing it. We just barely missed him by a couple of hours.
I think whoever told us he was going to be there told somebody who told him that our missiles might be there. I think we were ratted out.
We also bombed a chemical facility in Sudan where we were criticized, even in this country, for overreaching. But in the trial in New York City of the al-Qaeda people who bombed the African embassy, they testified in the trial that the Sudanese facility was, in fact, a part of their attempt to stockpile chemical weapons.
So we tried to be quite aggressive with them. We got - uh - well, Mr. bin Laden used to live in Sudan. He was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1991, then he went to Sudan.
And we'd been hearing that the Sudanese wanted America to start dealing with them again.
They released him. At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America.
So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato and they didn't and that's how he wound up in Afghanistan.
We then put a lot of sanctions on the Afghan government and - but they inter-married, Mullah Omar and bin Laden. So that essentially the Taliban didn't care what we did to them.
Now, if you look back - in the hindsight of history, everybody's got 20/20 vision - the real issue is should we have attacked the al-Qaeda network in 1999 or in 2000 in Afghanistan.
Here's the problem. Before September 11 we would have had no support for it - no allied support and no basing rights. So we actually trained to do this. I actually trained people to do this. We trained people.
But in order to do it, we would have had to take them in on attack helicopters 900 miles from the nearest boat - maybe illegally violating the airspace of people if they wouldn't give us approval. And we would have had to do a refueling stop.
And we would have had to make the decision in advance that's the reverse of what President Bush made - and I agreed with what he did. They basically decided - this may be frustrating to you now that we don't have bin Laden. But the president had to decide after Sept. 11, which am I going to do first? Just go after bin Laden or get rid of the Taliban?
He decided to get rid of the Taliban. I personally agree with that decision, even though it may or may not have delayed the capture of bin Laden. Why?
Because, first of all the Taliban was the most reactionary government on earth and there was an inherent value in getting rid of them.
Secondly, they supported terrorism and we'd send a good signal to governments that if you support terrorism and they attack us in America, we will hold you responsible.
Thirdly, it enabled our soldiers and Marines and others to operate more safely in-country as they look for bin Laden and the other senior leadership, because if we'd have had to have gone in there to just sort of clean out one area, try to establish a base camp and operate.
So for all those reasons the military recommended against it. There was a high probability that it wouldn't succeed.
Now I had one other option. I could have bombed or sent more missiles in. As far as we knew he never went back to his training camp. So the only place bin Laden ever went that we knew was occasionally he went to Khandahar where he always spent the night in a compound that had 200 women and children.
So I could have, on any given night, ordered an attack that I knew would kill 200 women and children that had less than a 50 percent chance of getting him.
Now, after he murdered 3,100 of our people and others who came to our country seeking their livelihood you may say, "Well, Mr. President, you should have killed those 200 women and children."
But at the time we didn't think he had the capacity to do that. And no one thought that I should do that. Although I take full responsibility for it. You need to know that those are the two options I had. And there was less than a 50/50 chance that the intelligence was right that on this particular night he was in Afghanistan.
Now, we did do a lot of things. We tried to get the Pakistanis to go get him. They could have done it and they wouldn't. They changed governments at the time from Mr. Sharif to President Musharraf. And we tried to get others to do it. We had a standing contract between the CIA and some groups in Afghanistan authorizing them and paying them if they should be successful in arresting and/or killing him.
So I tried hard to - I always thought this guy was a big problem. And apparently the options I had were the options that the President and Vice President Cheney and Secretary Powell and all the people that were involved in the Gulf War thought that they had, too, during the first eight months that they were there - until Sept. 11 changed everything.
But I did the best I could with it and I do not believe, based on what options were available to me, that I could have done much more than I did. Obviously, I wish I'd been successful. I tried a lot of different ways to get bin Laden 'cause I always thought he was a very dangerous man. He's smart, he's bold and committed.
But I think it's very important that the Bush administration do what they're doing to keep the soldiers over there to keep chasing him. But I know - like I said - I know it might be frustrating to you. But it's still better for bin Laden to worry every day more about whether he's going to see the sun come up in the morning than whether he's going to drop a bomb, another bomb somewhere in the U.S. or in Europe or on some other innocent civilians. (END OF TRANSCRIPT)

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her Give them Strength and Courage to stay the Course to Victory Amen

yet again, a little off topic?

Despite the resemblance of official Paris to some maison close on rue Chabanais, one should be consoled by the fact that French students of Islam (not the Olivier Roy/Gilles Kepel school, but the real thing) are among the least foolable. some of the best commentators on Islam, however, were, and are, French. Andre Servier's book from the 1920s, "The Psychology of the Mussulman" is not quite as understated as Raphael Patai's "The Arab Mind" or Sania Hamady's similar effort, but it is instructive. Jean-Paul Charnay's "Principes de strategie arabe" (which has a picture of Khomeini among the Arabs on the cover, so despite the title, the book is not limited to "arab" strategy but is really about Muslim strategy), the studies of Armand Abel on the nature of "jizya," of G.-H. Bousquet, of E. Levi-Provencal on Spain, Henri Lammens (whom Ibn Warraq refers to so often), and many more, would be most useful to the French, and other Infidels, today -- if anybody bothered to read them. Why don't they? Is a study of Islam published in 1925 out of date? Did something happen to change the nature of Islam?

Some of the commentators on Islam and related matters in Figaro are good (unlike those in Le Monde, who are consistently silly). Anne-Marie Delcambre ("L'Islam des interdits"), Alexandre del Valle, Claude Larieux, Maurice Druon (see his article, in yesterday's Figaro, on the U.N.'s take-it-or-leave-it offer to the Greeks of Cyprus, and Druon's "what [the hell] does Kofi Annan know about Cyprus" and a others whose names have not exactly escaped me, but I haven't been able to lasso them in time for this posting. If there are any French readers out there, please spread the word about these historians, scholars, commentators.

Jen-

If the French and Germans think they can make some money, and they can make us look bad somehow by helping...or could take credit for success...no one will benefit from a failure at this point, except bin laden and co...so who knows.

But they may wait and try to feel out the election, because I do think they hate Bush, and would not want to do anything to help himget re-elected.

Kirk

And Kerry said yesterday in Fla. He wanted to stop the bunker busters?

Well I can see their use can't You!

What about all the Digging the Iranis and china is doing???

Again I can see a use for such a weapon!!!

Saturday, 20 November, 1999, 01:40 GMT
Violence greets Clinton visit

Protesters set dozens of shops ablaze

Thousands of left-wing protesters chanting anti-American slogans have clashed with police and set dozens of shops ablaze at the start of a delayed state visit by US President Bill Clinton to Athens.

Riot police used teargas against thousands of left-wing protesters who had gathered in the central Syndagma Square outside the parliament in Athens, after a small group threatened to storm the building.

As the crowd fled through surrounding streets, fires were started in rubbish bins and some shop windows smashed.

Members of the media were injured in the violence
At least three people were reported to have blood on their heads.

The trouble, which the authorities blamed on anarchists, broke out almost exactly as Mr Clinton touched down at Athens airport.

His visit was originally scheduled for last weekend, but was delayed and shortened from three days to one following a series of anti-American protests.

Greek dislike of the US is based partly on Washington's perceived backing of Greece's traditional enemy Turkey. It was fuelled more recently by Nato's offensive against Yugoslavia.

The Greek Public Order Ministry has staged an unprecedented security operation to protect Mr Clinton, deploying some 7,000 police, backed by 400 FBI agents, across the city.

It has closed 12 miles of central Athens' usually-congested streets for the entire day, with bus routes altered for two days.

It banned protesters from rallying near the airport, anywhere along the seaside boulevard linking the airport to central Athens, and a triangular area housing the US embassy and other official buildings.

The security arrangements seemed to anger protesters further.

The Greek Communist Party and two other small left-wing opposition parties urged demonstrators to test police barriers and march to the US Embassy.

Rallies were also planned in other Greek cities, and more than 2,000 protesters burned American flags outside the US Consulate on the northern port of Thessaloniki.

Clinton 'a friend'

Speaking as he disembarked form Air Force One, Mr Clinton said he came to Greece as a "friend" of the country.

"I have come here as a 'philhellene' - a friend of Greece - and I look forward to experiencing that wonderful quality of Greek hospitality known to all the world," he said.

"We look to ancient Greece for inspiration, but we look to modern Greece for leadership and partnership."

Earlier, Mr Clinton had said people should be able to show their feelings.

"Greece is the world's oldest democracy. If people want to protest, they ought to have a chance to do it," he said at a press conference in Turkey.

He also reminded journalists that he had been trying to generate a peace initiative between Greece and Turkey, over the divided island of Cyprus.

"The Greek people and the government should be quite encouraged by this new Cyprus initiative, and by the fact that I found a receptive ear [in Turkey] on three separate occasions when I spoke ... about the necessity of the Turkish people and the Greeks being reconciled," he said.

Because of his new programme, President Clinton's experience of Athens will largely be confined to a high-rise hotel near the airport.

He, his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea were due to meet Greek leaders behind a cordon of riot police, before travelling on to Florence

Good thing I am So cute Keithjoy loves to hate me!!

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and Courage to stay the Course to Victory Amen

What jen no responce?

Found 2 tanker trucks in TX today?

La Pinn almost beat Charck. and Shroder was beaten if the greenies would not joined with his party to give him the votes he needed? so don't be so sure that they represent their people?

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and Courage to stay the course to Victory Amen

Actually, the French terror alert levels are:

1. Collaborate
2. Run
3. Hide
4. Surrender

lol, I was watching Passions. But yes, off topic yet again.

KC,
EPG is right, they don't want to remember what we did for them.

If memory serves me correctly, wasn't it about a year ago that some of the American gravesites there were destroyed and the French attitude was more or less, we don't care if this happens ?

New Iraq Chief: Evidence Linking Saddam to 9/11 Is 'Genuine'

The man tapped to head Iraq's new interim government has vouched for the authenticity of evidence that links Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks.

Though the notion that Iraq played a role in 9/11 is considered heresy in U.S. intelligence circles, newly appointed Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said in December that a document purported to be from Saddam's intelligence service that places lead 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta in Baghdad two months before the attacks was indeed "genuine."

"We are uncovering evidence all the time of Saddam's involvement with al-Qaeda," Allawi told the London Telegraph at the time. "But this is the most compelling piece of evidence that we have found so far. It shows that not only did Saddam have contacts with al-Qaeda, he had contact with those responsible for the September 11 attacks."

As reported by the Telegraph at the time, the document - a handwritten memo dated July 1, 2001 - provides a short resume of a three-day "work program" Atta had undertaken at Abu Nidal's terrorist training camp in Baghdad.

Nidal was executed by Saddam's secret police in August 2002 in what some suspect was a bid to keep him from telling what he knew about 9/11.
Wednesday, June 2, 2004 10:41 p.m. EDT
News Max

L.A. Mulsums are targeting cops?

Part of the American Tribe
God Bless the USA and her Fighting Forces and All who Fight with her give them Strength and Courage to stay the course to Victory Amen

In some ways American liberals of the current era are a lot like the French of the summer of 1939. They share an anger at authority, and yet have a soft spot for what they believe are the disposed. Before the Nazis started the blitzkrieg, France was still trying to come to grips with the upheavel and carnage of World War I. They (especially the French elite)turned to the carefree life on the Left Bank. They celebrated the rebellious artists and poets, many of them American expatriots. Fast forward and we have Michael Moore the darling of the American left, celebrated for his anti-establishment views, trying to peddle the ridiculous notion he's a blue collar guy from a working class midwest town. Coming from a working class, midwest town I can honestly say Michael Moore would be run out of all the bars in the town I am from.

What these two groups and eras share are a total disconnect from who they claim to represent. I have do doubt that life in the Left Bank and Greenwich Village (where Michael Moore hangs out now) are not reflective of mainstream France or America. What seperates them is the French by and large bought into that way of life later in the century while America went through a great period of introspection in the 1940's and 1950's, following WWII.Although one might argue the 1950's was the fun decade of Elvis, Chuck Berry and the Doo Wop groups, Americans were attending church and giving to charitable causes in record numbers. In addition it was the decade of Merton's Seven Story Mountain. Th great testimony of faith gained by an Atheist who was a genuis yet totally ignorant of the obvious world around him. Seminaries were full of students who as one priest told me were trying to figure out the horrors of the war they just witnessed through the lens of faith.

Today both peoples are tryin to better their ways of life. However, I see Americans trying (although not very successfully, but trying) to discern their answers to problems through faith, while the French concentrate on reason and empathy. Yet underneath the French seethe that they had to be rescued by the Americans and British in 1944. The Muslim radicals from the Ayatollah Khomeini through the present Bin Laden sympathizers aren't very appreciative of all that French empathy towards their immigration. Like their 7th century forebearers these radicals will only be happy when France is under the flag of radical Islam. The French, like their Summer of 1939 brethern, don't seem too concerned about any threats. Yet, to paraphrase Jesus the thief is in the house and they aren't even aware. Their rationality has turned them into blithering idiots (as the nun that was my 8th grade teacher would say.) I don't know if we can or would want to save them again.

I love this site. So many opinions, none of them wrong. And MOST of you don't insult anyone. Everyone here is entitled to thier own view/ opinions, just don't let anyone tell you that you are wrong for believing in them.

are you done crying yet?

So..why isn't anyone talking?

Catherine:
The interesting stories and facts that you provide us on this site are very nice but it might be better if you would just link us to the actual story instead of copy and pasting it in your comment.

heres how
type your link name here

whoa my bad i made a link out of my example.

First type "a href" inbetween a less then and equal sign. Then type what your URL is inbetween quotation marks. After the last quotation mark put a greater then sign.
Last type what your link name is and put "/a" between a less then and greater then sign.

I have seen the massed rows of graves from both World Wars on French and Belgium soil. It is a sight which few people can see and remain unmoved, our group was excluded from seeing one memorial on one of the beach landing sites, it appeared that some french youths had defaced it with the words "English go home you defile our soil" , (a rough translation), while this is in no way indicative of all French people it does uncover a particularly anti-anglo attitude which pervades french discourse and culture.

I would be interested to know if any of the worthy correspondents here have ever heard of the Anglosphere and could enlighten me a little more. If the Anglosphere is what i think it is then perhaps our countries are the last bastions or bulwark of freedom and once more we, or our children, will be called upon to save a decaying Europe. Will our decendents visit rows of graves in the future with our childrens names on,i hope not that is why we must get it right in out time here. I will never bend my knee to any form of Muslimization of my country but the influence from the EU is choking our right to self expression, it seems the only form of racism allowed in Britain and Europe now is anti-English and to that end i think we could learn a few lessons from our American friends about how to stand up and fight for your freedom before it is just a memory.

Jen~ Just keep watching All the threads. It moves around quite a bit.

The poetess
sees a vision,
a dream of the future,
as all that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream.

. . . and the Camp of Saints
captures the intellectual, the elite,
the effete, the envious, and the angry,
and, in a heroic feat, the bourgeoise,
rises too late to change
the fate of france.

They will find humility
when they loose their liberty.. .

Wes au hal,

Upon the question you asked about Anglosphere. I will try and answer to the best my limited knowledge on the subject allows.

Anglosphere is a theory that states, Western English speaking societies (America, England, Ireland, ETC..) are becoming a culture onto them selfs. This culture has bloomed through the fundamentals of the society. Holding things to be self evident, such as common law & free thinking, the path of these countries has shifted away from those of the likes of the EU. This has caused many EU countries to disconnect with the Anglosphere.

That is a quick synopses of the theory behind Anglosphere. If you have any direct questions I may be able to help more.

I'm not surprised that Islam has no respect for the dead that fought for the freedom terrorists have to go to France and murder innocent humans.
A Muslim leader within the Muslim Canadian Congress had the nerve to state on TV that Christians were responsible for the death of
100 million people in the last century.
Muslim TV runs video's connecting Hitler to
Christianity,the "white-skinned" devil was
part of the global plot to oppress Muslims.

Yeah,right,and Islam will save the world from
injustice and poverty. Just look at how well Islamic states are caring for its citizens.
Allah created Muhammed and he had sex with a
child,either pedophilia is OK or Muhammed has
a false God.

Catherine brought up an interesting point, slightly off topic regarding the "bunker buster bombs" and the "digging in China, etc." I thought of this when hearing about the world-wide shortage of cement that we are now experiencing. It seems to me that someone is building a whole lot of bunkers, perhaps under the foundations of the "new Chinese cities."

Hmmm. Interesting.

About the same time there was a news spot on the newest modular fallout shelter for individual homes that look nothing like the crude shelters we built during the 1950s. However, you need deep pockets to buy them, and if you're going to get one, do it soon!

Jen:

Get used to the OT progression - on this site we are frequently more "off-topic" than "on", but there is an interesting progression of the threads that ensues.

Griffith:

"Actually, the French terror alert levels are:

1. Collaborate
2. Run
3. Hide
4. Surrender

Posted by: Griffith at June 3, 2004 03:00 PM"

LOVED THAT!!!

Everyone:

The reasons the French don't like the U.S. are the same reasons that the Muslims don't - limitless envy and an undeniable, inescapable sense of inferiority.

First of all, Wild Hare, I didn't realize that you were so SENSITIVE. You must be onathem lib'ruls, huh? You may not have noticed, but anyone can post here, anytime. My name could be blocked, but it is so easy to make a new one.

I see more lies and blather against me anytime I insult the insulters. Okay, I see your "logic." If Catherine calls me a drug addict, that's fine, but if I DARE to call her a name, I'm the bad one? I see. It's kind of like the objective, relativistic morality you guys always display.

You fools make this site, which is SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT STOPPING THE JIHAD, into your own little personal soapbox from which to attack Kerry, Clinton, the French, liberals, etc. And Catherine is the worst of you all. She can't even spell, calls herself part of some ridiculous "American Tribe", and ends all of her rants with a mini-sermon about something she calls "God".

DJH: Marines are supposed to believe in God? Spare me. If you think that the Corps is composed of grown-up boy scouts, you are about of your pigf*cking mind. I don't care how many people any of you have known that served, I was there, for four years, and I know for a fact that the chapel on base was practically deserted on Sunday, because I went a couple of times when I was still a “believer.” My father was a Marine, his father was a Marine, and my father-in-law was a Marine. So don't lecture me about the US Marine Corps. Someone’s Uncle was in Vietnam, and a DI (or actually as you say, a Drill "Sargeant." A real Drill Instructor slaps you down if you call him a Drill Sargeant; Drill Sargeants are in the ARMY, dipshit! But how could you know that? I think YOU are the phony.) Well that's all well and good. Send him my letter if you want; I could give a damn. What’s he going to do, write back and make me run in place for an hour? Send me to the 'Mote Pit? (You probably have no idea what that is; ask your Uncle.) I don’t remember any DI telling us about God.

Kids like me (like most liberal cowards, I joined at 17) that serve in the US Marines ARE the reason that none of you disgusting little Bush-loving armchair warriors are speaking Russian. WE are the reason you can even go to your pathetic little church. It is true that Marines will hold the door for a lady, help a little old lady cross the street, stand up proud during a parade when the flag passes, etc.

BUT.... if you want to see another side of the US Marines, go to Tijuana, Mexico on ANY Friday or Saturday night after payday.

Conservative bible thumpers like you are the ones that outlawed pornography on military bases, and raised the drinking age on base to 21.... so, the 18, 19, or 20 year old Marine, Sailor, etc. can be sent to Iraq to die so W can look strong, but he can't buy pornography or drink a beer on base? REEEEEAL pro-military of you.

You con-rep bible thumpers are always piping off about how pro-military you are, how you are so goddam moral and religimous.... guess what: you are full of it. You are like that Christian, conservative, Southern gentleman Strom Thurmond. He made his career out of preaching the "moral high ground" and whining about the "inferiour negroes" and "morally corrupt lib'ruls." Went to church every week, and “GOD” loved him so much that He let him live to be 100 years old.

YET, after Strom died, it was revealed that he was a race-mixer, and a rapist. A rapist of an underaged girl, to boot. And WHY did his illegitimate daughter wait until after he died to reveal this? Because she's a liberal democrat, a SCHOOL TEACHER from Queer-afornia, and didn't want to hurt her father's FEEEEELings.

These crybaby touchy-feely liberals are the ones that really get my goat. I stand up for myself, and my beliefs. You con-reps are damn lucky that my party is the party of scared bunnies. But I'm not like that, and this letter should serve as proof.

Now, you can wail and gnash your teeth and rend your garments all you like, but anytime anyone anywhere insults me, I'm going to fight back. (Goddam, maybe I'm not so liberal after all.)

You con-rep bible thumpers can moan and groan til the cows come home... if you would not start crap like this I wouldn't have to finish it.

I am a US Marine, a gun lover, and a jihadi hater. If that's not good enough for you, tough titty. IF the soulless con-reps would use this forum as a place to talk about the red-eyed jihadis, and not whine about lib'ruls, I wouldn't have to respond like this.

Love,

KJ

PS... if the shit DOES hit the fan, I WILL be in front, with an American flag and a yellow triangle tattooed on my chest, a gun in each hand, protecting the rights of the weaker citizens of America, so that they can be free... to call me an America-hating cowardly heathen, because I don't think like they think.

Now go take on the day!

Amen.

~(:^D)

Have any of you France bashers ever heard of a little organization called the "Foreign Legion"?

I know all you little sissies think that you're tough and all, because you can TALK tough, or because you have been white-water rafting or whatever, but if you want to know about being tough, you should read up on the Foreign Legion.

Somehow, it's anti-military to be anti-pornography. (Wonder what George Washington or General Lee would have said to that?) Such a silly proposition can only be articulated in a vaccumm of personal knowledge of history.

Keith also needs a bit of understanding of statistics. One personal example of a deserted chapel does not mean *all* are that way.

Again, to compare Strom Thurmond to all Christians is another case of overgeneralization. Keith also seems to think that Strom always preached against race-mixing, yet I don't recall hearing any sentiments of such since the 70's. I guess in Keith's mind, once wrong, always wrong? Yet he doesn't apply that rule to himself. You could compare Christians to Billy Graham, or C.S. Lewis, or Pascal, or Constantine, or my grandmother, etc, etc. One example does not a case make. Learn it well.

And, the typical overinflated egotism characteristic of liberals who think that they alone are Americans: "Kids like me (like most liberal cowards, I joined at 17) that serve in the US Marines ARE the reason that none of you disgusting little Bush-loving armchair warriors are speaking Russian." The real reason none of us are speaking Russian, was because of the conservative backbone of this country who elected Reagan in 1980 and again in 88, after Carter's disasterous candidacy. And if it came to invasion, it would be because of individual Americans fighting to the last house. Don't get me wrong. The military is important, but never as important as the citizen. That's why we have civilian control of the military and rely upon a volunteer army. So if you take that perspective, we're all potentially in the military.

You and your whole party of liberal traitors (don't even get me started on how the Dems have undermined national security and continually apologize and befriend jihadi regimes) and get on the next ship to China. We can all live without the self-important self-congratulatory prove-you-all-wrong suicidal high-school attitude.

KeithJoy

You are whacked my friend. What gives you the idea that I am some sort of Bible-thumping fundamentalist? Just because I mention God. You have some serious issues, one being lumping people together. I gave you the benefit of the doubt until you attacked a woman and then I exposed you for what you are, an angry person trying to make people believe you have a cause. You need to get your house in order my friend.

By the way I have been to plenty of bases and chapels and I never found them empty. In addition, those that go to Tijuana are usually right out of Paris Island not many sargeants make it down there. They've got more important things to do. By the way, as I told you before I have been a Democrat all my life and plan on being that way till the day I die. Maybe we need to sit down over a beer and talk this out. Take care!

I'm scared to admit it, but I really enjoy Keithjoy's posts. I do think he got into the expresso again this morning, however...

keithjoy:

You'll probably never come back to read this, but when Spencer bans you, he uses your IP address, not your screen name. Changing screen names from the same IP address will not allow you to post here.

Keithjoy;

Correct me if I'm wrong (and I might be - thats not meant as a sarcastic comment) but aren't the Foreign Legion made up of....foreigners?

Look Keithjoy, the Brits and the French have a long history of war between us. there is no love lost on either side. Infact, having spent time in France I feel I can quite confidently say the side with the most hatred is the French.

Most of my 'quips' about the French are just that, 'Quips' with no real depth to them.
My above comment however, was serious.
My fathers generation sacrificed their blood for the French, and they only seem to respond with insult.
Some are grateful, yes no doubt. But it doesn't seem the majority are.

Thanks for hearing me out,

kc

I hope there is some of the worst terrorism we've ever seen in france durning this so we can blame bush and get him out of office.

Çheck out this telling article: "Jour J" France's War With America Began on D-Day.

http://nationalreview.com/europress/boyles200406041140.asp

Funtime

I resemble that remark! I is a very ...uh.. good presinent. Uh... I'll deport you to the worst place in the world if you ever defy me again. Texas!

Americans are all simply scared of us Sunni muslim lions! We will drive you out of our lands, and then destroy Israel!
Your soldiers are cowards.
Allahu Akbar!