Archive for September, 2008

Terror Attack Destroys Marriott Hotel, Kills At Least 40

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

A gigantic truck bomb has destroyed the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 40 people including one member of the US military.

A massive truck bomb destroyed much of Islamabad’s most popular hotel this evening, killing at least 40 people, wounding at least 100 and leaving a crater more than 25 feet deep. Officials feared the death toll would increase by dozens as rescue teams continue work at the scene.

At approximately 8 p.m. local time, an apparent suicide bomber blew himself up as his vehicle was being checked at the security gate of the luxury Marriott Hotel. The bomb was felt as far as 15 miles away. Within 500 feet of the blast, buildings and trees were shredded by the bomb, which was believed to be the biggest in Islamabad’s history.

In the minutes after the blast, dozens of dead bodies littered what used to be the lobby of the hotel. Between the entrance and the security checkpoint, about 50 feet away, there were mounds of rubble under which more dead are feared to be buried.

At least one member of the U.S. miltary was missing at the scene of the blast and presumed dead. Other U.S. military members eating at the hotel’s restaurant sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

(Hat tip:Chas@LGF)

The Reverend Wright Issue

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

At the Wall Street Journal, Laura Meckler writes that the McCain campaign is getting ready to open a can of Reverend Jeremiah Wright: ‘Attack by Association’ Viewed as Fair Game by McCain Camp.

Don’t be shocked if you see the McCain campaign pull the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright out of mothballs in new attacks against one-time parishioner, Barack Obama.

McCain advisers say that they see “attack by association” as fair game now, arguing that Obama’s campaign has been using that technique to go after McCain. In particular, the Obama campaign has hammered McCain on the stump and in TV ads on the number of one-time lobbyists working for his campaign. (The McCain campaign is also angry about a Spanish-language TV ad that ties McCain to Rush Limbaugh on immigration, without ever saying that McCain took on Limbaugh and others to fight for comprehensive immigration reform.)

“They played it one way, we played it another way,” said one of McCain’s top advisers, Mark Salter. “Now we’re both going to play it the same way.”

If you’re not a fan of Obama, you’re probably thinking, “It’s about time.” It doesn’t take Nostradamus to predict that Obama’s fans will shriek, “Guilt by association!” and claim that Obama’s relationship with Wright was nothing special.

But they’re going to have to explain this speech by Obama from June 5, 2007 at Hampton University, lavishing praise on Rev. Wright in a way that makes it very clear that Obama was a close personal friend.

This close friend of Barack Obama also joined Louis Farrakhan on a trip to Libya and met with Muammar Gaddafi in 1984, right around the time Obama would have first met Rev. Wright. Has anyone ever asked Obama for his opinion about that trip?

(Hat tip:Charles the Obama supporter@LGF)

IPT: Washington Post Puts Target on Prosecutor’s Back

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

The Washington Post, once again, is on the wrong side of the battle to expose jihadis in the United States: Washington Post Reporter Puts Target on Prosecutor’s Back.

Many have chronicled the odd relationship between the Western media and the forces of radical Islam, perhaps the starkest incident being the refusal of almost the entire mainstream media to publish the Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, even as a wake of destruction and series of violent threats were unleashed by religiously motivated mobs as a result.

While fear of threats and reprisals were clearly a motivating factor in that case, there are other instances where the motivation is slightly harder to divine. A recent case in point is Washington Post reporter Jerry Markon. In an article titled “Relentless Terrorism Prosecutor Faces Accusations of His Own,” Markon has carelessly bought in to an Islamist propaganda campaign against one of America’s finest and bravest prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg of the Eastern District of Virginia.

Markon trots out the complaints of a convicted terrorist operative and a coterie of his defense lawyers that Kromberg’s actions are somehow driven by religious bias rather than a desire – and a duty – to hold criminals accountable for their actions. The result of Markon’s “reporting” is to put a target on Kromberg’s back and to scare off government lawyers from taking similar cases targeting criminal radical Islamists – lest reporters from major newspapers accuse them of religious bigotry and stymie future career prospects or higher government appointments.

Success breeds contempt, and Kromberg’s track record, which includes not just locking up Islamic terrorists, but other major criminals like FBI spy Robert Hanssen and United Way CEO William Aramony, speaks for itself. But let’s look at Markon’s vacuous treatment of one of the terrorism prosecutions:

“Kromberg’s highest-profile case since joining the office’s new terrorism unit after Sept. 11 was what prosecutors called the ‘Virginia jihad network,’ 11 Muslim men convicted on such charges as preparing for holy war by, among other things, playing paintball. Justice officials hailed it as a classic post-Sept. 11 case of prevention, but civil libertarians and some Muslims said it targeted Muslim men.”

Markon’s fixation on the paintball aspect is nothing more than an attempt to belittle the significance of what happened. Of the 11 defendants, six pled guilty and three were found guilty of terrorist related charges. Most had, in addition to, yes, training in Northern Virginia with paintball guns, also trained at Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camps in Pakistan for the purpose of joining the Taliban to fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. LeT was designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist group in 2001 after its violent takeover of the Indian parliament.

Read the whole thing…

(Hat tip:Hat tip Nancy@LGF)

Taheri: Obama 101

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Amir Taheri has a piece about his article on the Obama campaign’s discussions with Iraqi leaders: Obama 101.

At a meeting with Senator Hillary Clinton in Washington, I asked what she thought of the Bush administration’s negotiations with the Iraqis concerning security cooperation. She said she would not second-guess the president and would wait for the outcome of the negotiations. In a statesmanlike manner, Senator Clinton reminded me of the golden rule—one that is common to all mature democracies where the opposition is loyal and constitutional.

Today, Senator Obama is the leader of a loyal opposition in the United States, not the chief of an insurrection or a revolutionary uprising. What we are witnessing in the U.S. is an election, not an insurrection or a coronation, even less a regime change.

Obama should not have discussed the government-to-government negotiations with the Iraqis. That he did, surprised the Iraqis no end. Raising the issue with them, especially the way he did, meant that he was telling them that he did not trust his own government. The Iraqis could not be blamed for wondering why they should trust a government that is not trusted by the leader of its own loyal opposition. (There was also no point in raising the matter, because Obama did not know the content of the negotiations.)

An opposition leader’s foreign trips are useful as fact-finding missions. This means that the opposition leader listens to the locals, asks questions, and tries to get the political feel of the place. He is not there to lecture the natives or bad-mouth his own government back home

(Hat tip:Our #1 Contributor Charles)

Obama Campaign: Politicizing Ahmadinejad

Friday, September 19th, 2008

occer Dad has lots of links on the latest disgraceful political maneuvering by the Obama campaign, as Sarah Palin is first invited, then disinvited to a protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Soccer Dad: Diss-inviting palin.

Jennifer Rubin at Contentions has more: Biden’s Refusal to Appear At Iran Protest Caused the Disinvitation of Palin.

And more at Hot Air: Wonderful: Under pressure from the left, organizers disinvite Palin from anti-Iran rally.

(Hat tip:Nancy@LGF)

Qadaffi speaks!

Friday, September 19th, 2008

And he agrees that the Messiah is a Muslim!

gee!

Interesting Messages from the Vatican

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Interesting messages from the Vatican this week, dealing with the interface between science and religion: Evolution fine but no apology to Darwin.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican said on Tuesday the theory of evolution was compatible with the Bible but planned no posthumous apology to Charles Darwin for the cold reception it gave him 150 years ago. …

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture minister, was speaking at the announcement of a Rome conference of scientists, theologians and philosophers to be held next March marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species”. …

Maybe we should abandon the idea of issuing apologies as if history was a court eternally in session,” he said, adding that Darwin’s theories were “never condemned by the Catholic Church nor was his book ever banned”.

(hat tip:Our #1 Contributor Charles)

Tenn. Democratic Representative’s Son Focus of Palin Email Hacking

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

It’s not a good idea to break into a vice presidential candidate’s email account: State rep says son focus of Palin e-mail hacking rumors.

NASHVILLE – State Rep. Mike Kernell said today that he was aware of Internet rumors about his son being the subject of speculation that he accessed the personal e-mail of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Asked whether he or his son, a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, had been contacted by authorities investigating the break-in of Palin’s account, he responded: “Me, no.”

As far as his 20-year-old son, David, he said: “I can’t say. That doesn’t mean he has or hasn’t (been contacted by investigators).”

Kernell, D-Memphis, cited the father-son relationship.

Note: there was really no “hacking” involved here. Just some good guesses combined with publicly available information, used to trick Yahoo’s password reset feature into assigning a new password to the account.

(hat tip:Chas@LGF)

Charles Johnson supports the Catholic Church now because it supports Evolution

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

As a Catholic I’m happy that Charles approves my version of Christianity. He is the one that decides which faith is correct. Thanks Charles!

/Sarc

Vatican Evolution Congress Excludes Creationism, Intelligent Design

The Vatican is sponsoring an international conference on the evolution debate, and “intelligent design” creationists like the Discovery Institute are not invited.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Speakers invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored congress on the evolution debate will not include proponents of creationism and intelligent design, organizers said.

The Pontifical Council for Culture, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana are organizing an international conference in Rome March 3-7 as one of a series of events marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.”

Jesuit Father Marc Leclerc, a philosophy professor at the Gregorian, told Catholic News Service Sept. 16 that organizers “wanted to create a conference that was strictly scientific” and that discussed rational philosophy and theology along with the latest scientific discoveries.

He said arguments “that cannot be critically defined as being science, or philosophy or theology did not seem feasible to include in a dialogue at this level and, therefore, for this reason we did not think to invite” supporters of creationism and intelligent design.

I’m glad to see that the Catholic Church has taken a stand against promoting creationism as science. For more details: The Panda’s Thumb.

Is Charles a sciende nut now?

Ahmadinejad ready to debate US presidential hopefuls

Thursday, September 18th, 2008

The sad part is the American Press loves this man. He has become a hero to the Progressives. Even when he says non Progressive things, they cheer him. No doubt the media will try to force Obama and McCain to accept Ahmadinejad’s debate challenge.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday he was ready to debate the men running for US president when he visits New York for the UN General Assembly,and dismissed Western threats of more sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear drive.

The outspoken president, who caused a storm of controversy during a visit last year, said: “I am ready for a debate with the US presidential candidates over global issues in the presence of the media at the UN headquarters.

“I have no plans in my schedule to meet with US politicians,” he told a press conference.

“Last year, I said I was ready to meet with (President George W.) Bush. But now he is at the end of his term and (a meeting) will not impact our relations and future.”

Read the rest here.