Them leftists have put on their tinfoil hats again and are drinking spiked Kommie Kool Aid...

And they accused us of conspiracy theorism when we discussed the proven corruption and criminality of the Librano$...

Leftists never cease to amaze me...

But they're a lot of fun to blog about! Too bad Blogger's down for the second day in a row...

It'd have been better justice, btw, to have put the Zarq through a hamburger maker... live... I'm sure he'd understand, as that's the sort of thing he had going on...

Maybe he'd have had one last moment... of empathy, perhaps...

Even if no-one from inside the AQ provided the stated tip, the announcement that someone inside did in fact betray Z is a brilliant tactic. I'm surmising that at the moment many of those barbarians are looking sideways at each other wondering if the other guy was the one that dropped the dime on Z. And in the event that someone appears overly suspicious, maybe an internal "settling of accounts" could be in the offing. Let's hope, anyway...

"Iraqis celebrated with gunfire"

Always gotta watch out for that kind of "friendly fire".

still celebrating . . . here and in Iraq, if not in parts of T.O. and the Village . . .

Come on Kate, everyone knows that you use Marvin Martian's ACME Disintegrator because the only cure for disintegration is Porky Pig's ACME Re-Integration Gun and you know how Al-Zed does not dig on swine.

How come every time someone gets dusted in the third world, you see endless video of all these uncoordinated, self-conscious guys with machineguns doing fruity little dance steps while shooting straight up in the air? Doesn't anyone over there know anything about physics? How many people die when these bullets return to earth?

Come on Qverty,

Everyone knows that the Acme Re-integration gun belonged to Duck Dodgers!!! of the twenty-fourth and a half century!!!

Nice to find someone who remembers it.

"How come every time someone gets dusted in the third world, you see endless video of all these uncoordinated, self-conscious guys with machineguns doing fruity little dance steps while shooting straight up in the air? Doesn't anyone over there know anything about physics? How many people die when these bullets return to earth? "
neo....not to worry. You know there has to be more innocent deaths or the lefties won't have anything to blame on GWB!!!

Christopher Hitchens pointed to the possibility that there is a bit of "black propaganda" involved:

"The death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is excellent news in its own right and even more excellent if, as U.S. sources in Iraq are claiming, it resulted from information that derived from people who were or had been close to him. (And, if that claim is black propaganda, then it is clever black propaganda, which is also excellent news.)"

http://www.slate.com/id/2143305/nav/tap1/

Okay, here's another one for you.
Bushco had to throw the people a bone(Zarqi) because they were getting extremely antsy about being in Iraq all these years with only Saddam to show for it(he turned out to be a PR dud).

As Bush said, its HARD being President. He has to balance the wants of his benefactors the Big Cap Corps. with the wants and needs of his people. Its a balancing act. Keep the war going because its a cash cow for the Military Industrial Complex of companies while still be seen to doing something to expedite it. It's tough.

The genius of having a neverending war on terror is amazingly simple but astoundingly effective. The hardest part is playing the people's fear. You have to play it just right. Too much and there is panic and paralysis. Too little and people want to end it.
It's tough, real tough.

steve d . . your pinheadism never ceases to make me laugh . . . keep it up & maybe we'll chip in for your very own tinfoil hat & moonbat lollypop.

You have earned them

Man you guys are sooooooo of base

Elvis did it...

In the library..

With the Candlestick..

Get a "Clue"

steve d.:

I'm assuming that you are being facetious in your post, and as such, it's a pretty amusing bit of political satire.

If I'm wrong, and you are in fact serious, you had better get back on those meds really quickly...

The trick with humour is it has to have a kernel of truth in it.

"How many people die when these bullets return to earth?"

Answer, none. A bullet falling is no deadlier than a rock the same wieght falling. There just wouldn't be enough velocity.

As for everyones fave. dead terrorist, I can believe that his face is recognisable after a bomb blast. The shockwave wouldn't do much to bone, but he probably lost a few limbs, and his soft tissue (guts, brain, etc.) will be liquified quite nicely. After the shockwave is done the house would fall on him, protecting the happily departed from the second blast. His face also shows evidence of flash burns and deep bruising, further adding credence to the US story of how he died.

All is as it seems, Moonbats. So off you go back to denying the moonlandings and the plane crashing into the pentagon...

Christ, I hate conspiracy theorists!

I'm just peeved that i didn't buy any military stocks. I could have made a buck or two.

A few weeks from now, people will look back and say "what was the fuss all about", because my fear is that there will have been no change in the daily US or Iraqi casualty rate. Rumsfeld knows this - hence his measured (subdued even) reaction at the NATO meetings.

Zarqawi was probably more of a media creation than anything else. Propaganda or not, this particular event would seem to have no material impact on peace and stability in Iraq in the near future.

However, eliminating terrorists - real or otherwise - is always a good thing.

Well it appears steve d is the only one suggesting Zarqawi's death was completely faked.

Later in the day mercury news fessed up how they bombed the place. IE what munitions were used.
I don't think I doubted the guy was a goner; just the methodology. Why would one doubt he was gone when his own family admits as much.

Seeing how this guy was one of the ringleaders of kill, maim and incinerate Inc.; one would think that they media would have gotten full disclosure as they have been after this character for how many years? The initial article at CNN was pretty sparse and beefed up later in the day.

Interesting how Hamas has now sided with "brother Zarkawi". This will underscore how the Israeli Palestinian conflict will develop. I don't see any softening of relations now that Hamas has embraced this fellow as a 'brother'.

If they got Osama Bin Laden I think they would be giving a prize showing of all the nitty gritty details; to emphasize this guy was really gone and how that objective was achieved.

Lastly, given that the media in Canada behaved like regime apologists during the last election; why shouldn't we hold the media feet to the fire.

The initial story came out and basically said we bagged him. Only later were more details forthcoming, not the least of which the safety of those receiving the $25 million for pointing out Zs whereabouts.

Still you would expect some dermabrasion on the face with TWO 500 pounders laid into the building.

In any case, he is still dead, the methodology in the grand scheme of things, is immaterial to the wider political picture in Zs aftermath.

"The trick with humour is it has to have a kernel of truth in it."

That must be why he fails at it so often:)

"The genius of having a neverending war on Conservatism is amazingly simple but astoundingly effective. The hardest part is playing the people's fear. You have to play it just right. Too much and there is panic and paralysis. Too little and people want to end it."

Steve d, I changed just one word, and made you look like a Chretien-style genius.
Oh, you're welcome.

Interesting speculation in the Slate article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2143305/nav/tap1/

"Most fascinating of all is the suggestion that Zarqawi was all along receiving help from the mullahs in Iran. He certainly seems to have been able to transit their territory (Herat is on the Iranian border with Afghanistan) and to replenish his forces by the same route. If this suggestive connection is proved, as Weaver suggests it will be, then we have the Shiite fundamentalists in Iran directly sponsoring the murderer of their co-religionists in Iraq. This in turn would mean that the Iranian mullahs stood convicted of the most brutish and cynical irresponsibility, in front of their own people, even as they try to distract attention from their covert nuclear ambitions."

dmorris
That's still plagerism. It works well though. I will have to try that.

Shooting guns in the air is extraordinarily stupid.

The terminal velocity of a falling object is determined by its mass, density, and aerodynamic shape. If the bullet is still spinning and not tumbling it will fall that much faster.

Even if it doesn't penetrate the skull, a falling bullet can have enough kinetic energy to cause a fatal closed-head injury if it hits the right spot on your head. Celebratory bullets fired by Iraqis into sky coming down on US troops

According to Col David Hunt Zedman was not blown to smithereens because he was in the basement of the building. He was taken in such a position so that it would be the shortest trip possible for his soul to Hell and a mine shaft wasn't readily avilable.

steve d,

You posted something earlier today with which I agreed- the police would be careful not to say anything which might pollute the jury pool- a la O.J.- by making prejudicial statements.

Unfortunately 1 out of 200 is a very poor average and I see you have again reverted to form. I got only this far into your post before I knew it was you.

"Okay, here's another one for you.
Bushco had to throw the people a bone(Zarqi)..."

I still think you need to take a month off. If you aren't up to reading the Koran read Steyn, VDH and Churchill and give us all a break.

Who cares what conspiracy theories get made up? He'll still be just as dead.

Hans

Well it appears steve d is the only one suggesting Zarqawi's death was completely faked

The way you state that, it makes me think I am in line for a prize or something.(there is a pause here so all the neocons can think of genius words to add at this point).

I have looked at the film of the 2x500 lb. bombs and decided that it won't be hamburger but small fragments of tissue and such. The head is made of rock so it was unaffected. Now that I have figured this out I can sleep like a neocon tonite. Everything is clear. Nothing is to wonder about. They killed him, good riddance, who's next? There's always a next. Binnie? Where's our Binnie? Time for him to go to terror heaven.

Steve go to Iraq and join Al Quaeda. I dare you. Try and join.

"The trick with humour is it has to have a kernel of truth in it."

And I always thought it just had to be funny ... something, Stevie Blunder, you ain't.

steve d.:

Actually I viewed a TV piece tonight which showed the "residence" that was bombed in the elimination of Z. The footage clearly showed that the building was constructed of rebar-reinforced concrete; the pieces of what appeared to be walls looked as though they were in excess of a foot thick..

Accordingly, it's not that surprising that the body of Z showed only symptoms of concussive shock as opposed to catastrophic tissue damage...

Liberalism's support for a guy that hacks off the heads of aid workers and truck drivers is a clear demonstration of their craven disregard for human rights and dignity. All those leftists should be ashamed of themselves.

Just let us all know who cuts the $25 million cheque to who, 'kay?

A "small" anomoly? On the CBC yesterday, on one of their news shows, they showed a head shot of the dead Al-Zarqawi's head, with no trauma, no blood. He could have been sleeping which, of course, is what some lefties are alleging is the case: steve d?

On Anderson Cooper's program last night on CNN, there was a head shot of the dead Al-Zarqawi's head, quite obviously having undergone quite a trauma: swollen and bruised patches, blood in various places.

So what's going on? 'Next thing you know, the lefties will be saying that the first graphic has been doctored. Whatever the explanation *** maybe the CBC doctored their graphic *** something's fishy. SOMEONE'S inserted the wrong photo into their program.

Would the real Al-Zarqawi please stand up.

WAIT A MINUTE!

STAY JUST WHERE YOU ARE.

Arab News Arab News Arab News Arab News

"But Zarqawi was not the only person killed in yesterday’s air raid; others close to him were killed as well."

"We can all rejoice."

Editorial: Turning Point
Arab News ^ | June 9, 2006 | Staff

Posted on 06/09/2006 5:03:26 AM PDT by PrinceOfCups

The outpouring of joy with which Iraqis from all communities have greeted the news of the death of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, says everything. They, Sunnis and Shiites alike, are sick of the endless slaughter of innocents for which Zarqawi was often responsible and for which he, with his infinite capacity for cruelty, became the incarnate symbol. They are sick of the kidnappings, the beheadings, the suicide bombings which he organized or inspired. The removal of this monster, who will go down in history as the most evil person in the Middle East for well over a century give Iraqis a chance to believe in the future once again, to hope that it will be better. They can believe it because they know that while the death of this publicity-seeking thug who clawed his way over the corpses of thousands by an absolute ferocity to the very peaks of depravity and notoriety will not end the violence, it will drain it. This may be the beginning of the end of the so-called Sunni insurgency which Zarqawi spearheaded (a misnomer if ever there was one — the overwhelming majority of Iraqi Sunnis are as revolted by the mass slaughter of Shiites as everyone else).

The dividends from hunting down and removing terrorist leaders have been seen in Saudi Arabia where the militants have been broken. The difference with Iraq of course is the power vacuum there and while that continues the chances of someone stepping into Zarqawi’s boots cannot be ruled out. But Zarqawi was not the only person killed in yesterday’s air raid; others close to him were killed as well. His web of death which extended beyond Iraq — he was linked to the bombings in Amman in November and in Istanbul and Casablanca in 2003 — has been torn apart. His removal will embolden ordinary Iraqis to provide greater information about the militants. More are likely to be captured and killed in the weeks ahead.

Zarqawi’s elimination could therefore prove a psychological turning point for Iraq — the chance to rebuild and reunite, to reconcile Iraqi with Iraqi, to put fear behind them. It is the most significant event in Iraq since the capture of Saddam Hussein. It provides a tremendous boost to the government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki who has made reconciliation his priority — rightly so, for without it, there is no hope of ending the insurrection, no hope of ending the fear and suspicion on which the violence thrives. Happily, by pure chance, Zarqawi’s appointment with death came just a day after the first of 2,500 prisoners, mostly Sunnis, were set free in a reconciliation initiative.

The Iraqis have reason then to hope. They know that the violence will continue but the giant shadow of death stalking the streets of their cities daily has been removed. The worst may be past. And not only for Iraqis. Jordanians, Moroccans, Turks too will rejoice.

We can all rejoice. The death of Zarqawi makes the world a safer place. A notable victory in the global war against terrorism has been achieved.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1646145/posts

Z-Man was thrown out of the game for clapping. Woe is unto Mo and Al.

Imagine if Z-Man underwent a surgical operation. How would you feel?

"Undoubtedly, very bad." (The interviewer is mocking the priest.)

... from LGF

Saudi cleric Nasser bin Sliman Al-Omar explains why watching the World Cup may cause you to be condemned to eternal torment. (Courtesy MEMRI TV.)

Excerpt:
Nasser bin Sliman Al-Omar: With regard to the World Cup... Let me ask you, brother Muhammad... May Allah protect your daughter and sons, but imagine that you are about to undergo a surgical operation, and they tell you the doctor is late because he is watching the game. How would you feel?

Interviewer: Undoubtedly, very bad.

Nasser bin Sliman Al-Omar: OK, imagine that while paying a condolence call, one of the people gets up and turns on the TV to watch the game, and he begins to clap his hands?

Interviewer: No doubt, this is bad.

Nasser bin Sliman Al-Omar: Our brothers are being killed in all corners of the world, yet we sit down to watch the World Cup?

Kate - the only reason that I had a couple of questions bouncing around in my head regarding this story was that I heard it on CBC. I apologize, and promise not to get all inquisitive again.

My guess is that the Libbie Left is wrong. For a change.
Heh.
L. Emersonia is on the right track.The dickhead was even an embarrassment to his own gruesome organization. How best to burn him?
Pphph, a trifle.
Turn him in, guaranteeing his elimination while providing opportunities for revenge killings AND collect 25 million for camping supplies!
Game. Set. Match.

This c/p dedicated to: Bob Rae, Liberal Party of Canada stooge of the Muslim Islamist terrorists, and Sid Ryan, El-Imam (Israel must die) of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE.) +

Withdrawn Democrats
American Spectator ^ | June 9, 2006 | Andrew Cline

Posted on 06/09/2006 6:32:37 AM PDT by conservativecorner

What to do with the news that a terrorist master responsible for the murder of untold numbers of American servicemen and women has been killed? Well, for many Democrats, that was a question that actually required thought before being answered.

No instantaneous rejoicing. No thankfulness that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was sent to his maker courtesy of 1,000 pounds of American-made munitions delivered via F-16. No, the first reaction of many Democrats was either worry or disdain. Worry over how to spin a response so that it brings maximum political advantage, and disdain that the U.S. military had a victory on President Bush's watch. The other reaction was incredulity. Some Democrats believe the whole story was fabricated by the military to distract from the "truth" of Bush's failure as a President.

Consider the following comments made by actual Democrats:

Am I the only one who thinks this is one big scam on America and the world, to make it look like they "killed a main terrorist" and rid the world of an evil person?"

They said they identified the so called body with his fingerprints, where did they get Zarqawi's finger prints? I know he was supposedly jailed in Jordan for a while. Do they keep fingerprints on everyone in the world? This news comes as the marriage amendment failed....again Bush's poll numbers are slipping faster then a speeding nascar. I don't buy it." -- "Wahoo," a poster on Democrats.com
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1646192/posts

I was the one who said a human body after sustaining (2) 500 pounder concussion blasts would be paper thin. Think about it!

I'm a liberal but frankly don't care how Bush spins this, a very evil person is dead 'n' gone and that's the main thing.

I'm thinking the real reason if spin is the case is that they didn't want him turned into a Prophet of Islam and the same goes for bin Laden as well. Judging by how wacked out some Muslims are one has to be careful how to kill these incredibly evil Islamofascists.

Here's another conspiracy theory...

maz2 is actually a group of paid CPCers.

Reasons:

1) 3rd person one-way posting
2) no dialogue or conversation
3) no personality
4) chronic user of plus signs

Other than that the only thing I can think of is that he is a grown adult living in his parent's basement, no life, no friends except for a computer he spends 20 hours a day on.

An interesting article given the alledged Iranian connection to Zarkawi:

http://www.watchingamerica.com/alseyassah000005.shtml

Ayatollah Khomeni's Grandson Calls on Bush to 'Occupy' Iran

One might imagine that the grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Al Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Revolution, would support the Iranian regime. But according to this article from Kuwait's Arabic-language Al-Seyassah, Hossein Khomeini is calling on President George W. Bush to invade and occupy Iran to liberate it from 'religious dictatorship.'

Translated By Nicolas Dagher

June 2, 2006
Kuwait - Al-Seyassah - Original Article (Arabic, PDF Files, Pages 1 and 42)

Ayatollah Hossein Khomeini RealVideo, grandson of Ruhollah Al Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian Republic, has said that his country is living under a religious dictatorship, governed by the mullahs. He also defended his call for President Bush to invade Iran!

During an interview with the news Web site alarabiya.net, Hossein Khomeini called for the liberation of Iran from religious rule and Al-Fakih [rule by the most learned of Islam] and said that the revolution, which was led by his grandfather against the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979, had devoured its children.

[Editor's Note: Al-Faqih is the doctrine of The Guardianship of the Jurists, which means that those most knowledgeable about Islamic law should assume a leading political role in society. RealVideo].

This was a rare interview with Hossein Khomeini, who has avoided the media since touring Iran three years ago and annoying the Iranian government with some of his comments. Khomeini said that he knows that his contacts and movements are under surveillance.

In view of the heated confrontation between his country and the international community over the nuclear issue, Khomeini said that Iran, "would be powerful if freedom and a democratic society were being developed there, rather than weapons and the bomb."

More food for the tinfoil hat brigade: FOX News is reporting that The Big Zed was found alive in the rubble, only to die shortly thereafter.

Have at it, leftie nutbars!

Dr Wayne

You're a liberal who acknowleges the need to kill "incredibly evil Islamofascists"? How are you treating your cognitive dissonance?

David what is your point?
If Kate doesn't mind why should you?
Do you pay the bills around here?
I like maz2's posts. Thanks maz2.

Friday: Promotion in the field.
For relentless and dogged posting from behind enemy lines I would like to recognize his efforts and announce the following increase in rank.

Steve d. is hereby promoted to the rank of Colonel, whoops! Kernel.

And should be respectfully addresses as: Kernel of Truth.

I suspected we didn't get the full story yesterday:

Hat tip to Mississauga Matt

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198850,00.html

"Zarqawi was alive when U.S. forces arrived on the site," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said in a satellite interview from Iraq. "The Iraqi police arrived first, they found him in the rubble, put him on a gurney of some type."

Caldwell, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said Zarqawi tried to roll off the gurney to escape once he became aware of the fact that he was being taken into custody by coalition troops Wednesday night after two 500-pound precision guided bombs blew up his safehouse near Baqouba.

U.S. forces immediately made a visual identification of Zarqawi but were unable to interrogate him because he died of his injuries "shortly after" being pulled from the rubble, Caldwell said.

The pictures clearly show trauma to the head and face which yesterdays photos did not completely reveal.

Dave Brown, don't forget the CIA connection: Maz2 let slip that he knows a CIA operative who did not get promoted as quickly as Val Plame ...

Hans, I think they showed him pictures of the virgins he'd be getting, and he died not of ecstasy, but of sheer terror once he saw what's under the burqa.

Anyone catch Jon Stewart last night. He had a very funny clip on terrorsists in Canada. Couldn't figure out why anyone would hate Canada. Then there was the female doing a question and answer thing on all those virgins recruited for the 7 dead-felt some of them might have to become whores to handle the rush, and thereby dissappoint AlZ.

Wow. I can't believe that we didn't have ALL of the information right off the bat.

Alberta Technophile writes: ""How many people die when these bullets return to earth?"

Answer, none. A bullet falling is no deadlier than a rock the same wieght falling. There just wouldn't be enough velocity."

Er, um, ignoring the fact that simple physics says the bullet is going to approach the Earth at approximately the same velocity it was fired at (conservation of energy and all minus a bit of friction, old chum, you remember that, don't you?), I have spent New Year's Eve in the Philippines on a couple of occasions where the same practice of 'happy gun fire' occurs. Each New Year's Day, the newspapers run stories of people who died as a result of being hit by these returning bullets.

A bullet dropped from the top of the CN Tower (1800 ft) will have a velocity of 240 fps, or about 160 mph, which is about 1/3 of muzzle velocity from a standard revolver. You may wish to stand under it; I don't, thank you very much.

Warped Wingnut (sorry, Mississauga Matt,)

I have no problem believing that Zed is dead, and that he was alive when found.

What I have problems believing is that US Forces played "Apres vous, Alphonse" with Iraqi police in entering a house just wrecked by a specific F16 sortie, and that it took 24 hours to get the facts straight.

Why weaken a perfectly good story with propaganda that primitive?

sgd. Leftie Nutbar.

Terry,

This brings me to the point that conservatives have a warped view of what a liberal's cognitive resonance should be.

You and your ilk have somehow in your own little minds defined what a liberal is. Furthermore it's much like fascism when everything evil is racially or politically profiled.

Open your mind and emancipate your thought process to understand that a liberal can support war and be embarrased by the antics of the previous Liebrano government. We're not all bad the way the extremists on this blog make us out be.

Grow up!

agit, are you suggesting that the US military would actually presume to dictate exactly which elements of this story are suitable for our consumption? Are you some kind of madman?

Dr. Wayne

I didn't call you an extremist and yes I'm aware that slightly more than a handful of liberals were steadfastly in favour of the liberation of Iraq- right up to the moment the first casualty was sustained. (The irony of a liberal telling a conservative to grow up is clearly lost on you.)

I haven't defined liberals. I've watched as your cohorts in the Democratic Party- whose leaders had access to the same intelligence as the administration- voted for the war and then when it became difficult claimed that they were misled.(Grown ups take resposiblity for their behaviour.)

And of course not a day goes by that they and their fellow liberal travellers in the MSM don't give aid and comfort to the enemy- as they did again yesterday. Forced to choose between the intrests oftheir party and their country the vast majority of liberals have childishly chosen their party.

You've defined yourselves- to the point of perfection.

Grasshopper, yep, crazy like a fox - like you.

Er, um, ignoring the fact that simple physics says the bullet is going to approach the Earth at approximately the same velocity it was fired at (conservation of energy and all minus a bit of friction, old chum, you remember that, don't you?), I have spent New Year's Eve in the Philippines on a couple of occasions where the same practice of 'happy gun fire' occurs. Each New Year's Day, the newspapers run stories of people who died as a result of being hit by these returning bullets.

Heres a nice writeup about the "Fatal" falling bullet myth. http://wadcutter.blogspot.com/2006/02/falling-bullets-part-iii.html

Well according to this author there is some doubt as the the interpretation of the 72 virgins:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,631357,00.html

This naturally leads to the most fascinating book ever written on the language of the Koran, and if proved to be correct in its main thesis, probably the most important book ever written on the Koran. Christoph Luxenberg's book, Die Syro-Aramaische Lesart des Koran, available only in German, came out just over a year ago, but has already had an enthusiastic reception, particularly among those scholars with a knowledge of several Semitic languages at Princeton, Yale, Berlin, Potsdam, Erlangen, Aix-en-Provence, and the Oriental Institute in Beirut.

Luxenberg tries to show that many obscurities of the Koran disappear if we read certain words as being Syriac and not Arabic. We cannot go into the technical details of his methodology but it allows Luxenberg, to the probable horror of all Muslim males dreaming of sexual bliss in the Muslim hereafter, to conjure away the wide-eyed houris promised to the faithful in suras XLIV.54; LII.20, LV.72, and LVI.22. Luxenberg 's new analysis, leaning on the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian, yields "white raisins" of "crystal clarity" rather than doe-eyed, and ever willing virgins - the houris. Luxenberg claims that the context makes it clear that it is food and drink that is being offerred, and not unsullied maidens or houris.

In Syriac, the word hur is a feminine plural adjective meaning white, with the word "raisin" understood implicitly. Similarly, the immortal, pearl-like ephebes or youths of suras such as LXXVI.19 are really a misreading of a Syriac expression meaning chilled raisins (or drinks) that the just will have the pleasure of tasting in contrast to the boiling drinks promised the unfaithful and damned.

As Luxenberg's work has only recently been published we must await its scholarly assessment before we can pass any judgements. But if his analysis is correct then suicide bombers, or rather prospective martyrs, would do well to abandon their culture of death, and instead concentrate on getting laid 72 times in this world, unless of course they would really prefer chilled or white raisins, according to their taste, in the next.

Hans I have actually heard about this in the last couple of years, thanks for the update. Is that not ironic though?

My understanding is that raisins are valuable as survival food in harsh situations where food is non-existent, such as deserts at sea, etc.
Watched a survival type program a while ago, and it stated that just one 'soap dish' full of raisins could sustain a person for 12-14 days, with water of course.

Easy to see that they could have been be revered higher than a willing virgin,as this essential light-weight food commodity was needed to travel and do battle in the desert.

Fatal falling bullets is _not_ a myth. A little googling turns up dozens of real cases.

steve d.

Dollars to donuts you felt the same about the Communist threat. Even though they gobbled up most of Europe & to date 100,000,000 deaths at the hands of Socialists. This insidious ideology has never worked & never will!!!

Doubtless until the Kremlin papers where released you though of the Goldberg’s as Pawns of the CIA & McCarthyism?

Alger Hiss was a real Believer in a free society & that he was a mole was slander. Am I right or wrong?

Now your on the delusional path about these monsters who enjoy cutting heads off with steak knives. Shame to you & all the other little snakes who would rather see your own country men under the yoke of me devil fundamentalist Islam.

That the left is Anti-Semitic is a given today. That they hate ANY contradiction to there Utopian dogma is also without Question. Your bunch are just dictators in drag . Steve your time is over. Forty years of deconstruction & policies devoid of any reality.

Based on the false information fed to of Margaret Mead & Kinsley . ALL faked out, or fakes themselves. Add in your social theorists & you have a stew called murder laced & iced in corruption eaten with ignorance born of lies.

This Utopian dope dream is crashing fast & hard on the REAL Planet Earth.

Got to hand it to you, Revnant Dream, you sure produce great stream-of-(un)consciousness posts.

A good source for the danger of 'returning bullets'. Short answer is, bad idea if you are planning on standing under it when it returns.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5350a2.htm

There has been, however, some disagreement on this.

Got no problem how Zarqawi died , just another dead Islamic Terrorist Savage as far as I am concerned.

What's really insulting is we used old F-16's , with what us being up to the F-22 or something like that ?

the F-16 is what Isreal uses.

They want them to get used to getting killed by the same plane. no excuses for not figuring it out.

I think the question which needs to be asked is why bomb Z's hideout when they could have attempted to take him alive. What end does it serve to drop bombs? Given the Americans propensity to 'interrogate' individuals for years, hold them without charge, prevent them from having legal counsel, torture them, etc. why was Z killed?

Hasnt anyone noticed how timely his takedown was?
And if they knew where he was.. why didnt they capture him? a live bad guy is worth a thousand dead ones with regard to Intelligence gathering..

I believe Zarquawi was merely a trumped up insurgent.. labelled as an Al-Quaida No2 by the media.. kept tabs on until the time was right to take him out.. Which was not long after a new puppet Iraqi goverment was installed.. and after the Massacre at Merideth? hit the headlines.. In fact the Iraq police released him previously because they supposedly didnt know who he was! My guess is the time wasnt right.. that the US had other timely plans for him,

For me it was a Politicaly timed PR stunt, and Morale booster.. Tripple whammy!