More good news that the mainstream media deems unfit to print. Aussie blogger Arthur Chrenkoff in the WSJ Opinion Journal;

For all the fashionable talk about Iraq distracting the Bush Administration from the war on terror, it’s largely been the media that have ignored Afghanistan except for the occasional story about another skirmish with the Taliban remnants or the explosion in opium cultivation.
CBS’s veteran journalist Tom Fenton recently had this to say about the work of his media colleagues: “You know the old saying: No news is good news. But in the news business, it is just the opposite: Good news is no news–which is why you have been hearing so little from Afghanistan recently.”

Some of that good news: the status of women has improved dramatically, with 2.1 million now registered to vote. Afghan refugees continue to return. Polls indicate that the US is favoured over the Taliban by a margin of six to one. Two thirds of the population believe the country is moving in the right direction, and the interim government enjoys solid support. 81% intend to vote in the elections in October.

“And for the first time, female athletes will represent Afghanistan at the Olympic Games in Athens. Robina Muqimyar will run in the 100 meters, and Friba Rezihi will compete in judo. “

The full article is worth a read.
While they Afghans will continue to be dogged by setbacks, and certainly face the prospect of opposition attacks as they near their elections. it is hard to believe that this much progress has been achieved in only two years time – and at such a low cost in human life.
No word yet of a rebuttal from Noam Chomsky.
hat tip – the excellent Pejmanesque

Bill Graham has been out combing the world to repatriate stranded Canadian terrorists citizens. National Post –

A Foreign Affairs official and an immigration officer visited the MEK’s massive complex on May 31 and June 1. Thirteen of the detainees said they were Canadian citizens, while 24 said they were permanent residents and 44 said they had relatives in Canada.
Some of the landed immigrants may no longer be eligible to return to Canada since they have been out of the country for so long. Those with status in Canada are free to return, an official said.
“They have been told that they are totally at liberty to come back to Canada if it is their wish,” said Reynald Doiron, a Foreign Affairs spokesman.

The MEK is designated a terrorist organization by both the US and Britain, though the Liberals haven’t been as judgemental. (Marxism x Islamism, how can you lose?)
The Iranians are none too happy.
Tehran Times – Canada on the Wrong Track

Recent reports indicate that two Canadian officials met with members of the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq from May 31 to June 1.
The Canadian daily the National Post recently confirmed the news in an official report.
Over the past year, the Canadian government, which enjoyed an appropriate relationship with Iran during the years after the Islamic Revolution due to its reasonable and balanced policies, was influenced by the media propaganda about the death of Zahra Kazemi. Canada immediately abandoned its logical and realistic approach in favor of impulsive reactions.
It seems that Canada’s diplomacy toward Iran is currently moving swiftly downhill and has also influenced the country’s internal affairs and has caused certain changes in the cabinet. This has led the Canadian government to choose the wrong course of action, namely playing with dead pieces like the MKO. Due to the two countries’ good relationship in the past, the Canadian government should take the following issues into consideration:

Perhaps now that Iran is crying foul, they’ll review the MEK status…

Continue reading →

Well, this explains that tingly feeling.

NY Post

American officials believe that millions of dollars Saddam Hussein skimmed from the scandal-plagued U.N. oil-for-food program are now being used to help fund the bloody rebel campaign against U.S. forces and the new Iraqi government, The Post has learned.
U.S. intelligence officials and congressional investigators said last night that the “oil-for-insurgency link” has been recently unearthed in the numerous probes now under way into the giant U.N. humanitarian program, in which Saddam is believed to have pocketed $10.1 billion through oil smuggling and kickbacks from suppliers.
[…]
Investigators have traced some of these accounts to banks in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Belarus, where money was either laundered or converted into gold and routed back to Iraq or into other accounts.
The network of bankers, front companies, couriers and money-launderers involved in handling Saddam’s oil-for-food kickback schemes still appears to be active, investigators say.
U.S. intelligence officials believe a portion of the funds in these hidden accounts � possibly millions� is now being used to fund the Ba’athist guerrillas responsible for much of the postwar violence against coalition troops, sources said.

Yet another justification to charge Kofi Annan with war crimes.
hat tip – James Joyner

Via the NZ blog, Silent Running;

New Zealand has an unexpected friend in Hamas, a militant Islamic group feared in the Western world, which has thanked this country for its diplomatic slap to Israel over the spy passport scandal.
Word of Hamas’ endorsement will spread quickly throughout the Islamic world and will bolster the safety of Kiwi troops working in Iraq, according to Victoria University religious terrorism expert Jim Veitch.
Citing a statement from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza, the Islamic resistance movement’s website says Hamas “has highly appreciated the daring position of the New Zealand Government against the Zionist entity”.
Professor Veitch said: “To do something like that almost offers (Kiwi troops) protection. Groups inside Iraq are really picking off the partners the United States has… Maybe New Zealand has offered itself some sort of protection.”

Yeow.
Perhaps NZ prime minister Helen Clark is hoping for a few more Jewish grave desecrations to strengthen this fledgling relationship. Apparently, official condemnation from her office has been a little slow in coming.

I wonder what the actuarial tables say about Palestinian terror leaders?

The head of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin was killed Tuesday afternoon by undercover IDF troops, Israel Radio reported.
Na’aman Ta’aimeh, was killed near the city’s Jordanian hospital when the IDF force, disguised as Palestinians and driving a Palestinian taxi, tried to stop two cars laden with Palestinian fugitives wanted by Israeli security services, al-Jazeera reported.
One other Palestinian was wounded. Three Palestinian fugitives were arrested, Israel Radio reported.
Ta’aimeh has been on Israel’s wanted list since the first intifada for masterminding numerous terrorist attacks.

This report from Strategy Page;

July 12, 2004: Al Qaeda operations in Iraq have encountered unexpected problems. Iraqis have become increasingly hostile to al Qaeda’s suicide bombing campaign. Religious leaders, which al Qaeda expects to get support from, have been openly denouncing these bombings. Iraqis, aware that they are more likely, than American soldiers, to be victims of these attacks, are providing more information on where the al Qaeda members are hiding out. Most of the al Qaeda in Iraq are foreigners, and easy for Iraqis to detect. As a result of this, many of the al Qaeda men have moved back to Fallujah, which has become a terrorist sanctuary. The interim government is trying to convince the tribal and religious leaders of Fallujah to back a military operation in the city to clear out the various al Qaeda, criminal and Baath Party gangs. But the gangs of Fallujah are quick to threaten any local leader that shows signs of supporting the government. While the Fallujah leadership is intimidated, many residents of Fallujah are not, and are providing information to the coalition, which has led to attacks, with smart bombs or coalition and Iraqi troops, on buildings used by al Qaeda, or other gangs, as headquarters.�
Al Qaeda has found the atmosphere even more hostile elsewhere in Iraq, and many of the terrorists have returned home. This is especially true of those who came from Saudi Arabia (and other Gulf nations, particularly Yemen) and Syria. Few, if any, al Qaeda came from Iran, which is Shia Moslem. Al Qaeda is dominated by Sunni Moslems who are often violently anti-Shia. While the hundreds of returning al Qaeda veterans are still determined to achieve al Qaeda’s goals of world domination, they are also more realistic. Fanaticism was not sufficient to chase the foreigners from Iraq, and the Arab media’s sensational, and largely false, reporting of the impact of al Qaeda’s attacks contributed to the disillusionment.�

Via James Joyner

True.
Or, Joe Wilson is a liar.

And all this time, we were worrying about anthrax?

Though the technology has been available for years, the experiment marked the first time an artificial infectious virus has been created. The researchers said they carried out the experiment to show how easy it would be for terrorists to create deadly germs for biological weapons.

Make-your-own home polio kit

“It is absolutely essential for the U.S. Senate to turn its attention to what we can do to make America safe,” Daschle said.
Of particular concern are the nation’s borders and ports, Daschle said, and there are security issues unresolved as the homeland security appropriations are “hung up” in the Senate.
Asked if the timing of the terror concerns might be aimed at stealing political thunder from the announcement of John Edwards as the democratic vice presidential candidate, Daschle replied, “The report is so sobering and so serious that I cannot bring myself to believe anyone in this administration would use this for political purposes.”
Daschle said the most recent terror briefing was the second this week and contained information that there is a higher threat than there has been at any time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

I spy with my little eye….
Something that is yellow.
Cake.
In.
Niger.

Weapons of mass destruction are like test tube babies.
Nobody cares about the second one.

I haven’t watched any of these because I hate them enough for one lifetime already. And think long and hard before you do.
The murder video of South Korean Kim Sun-il is now available. And, not widely reported – the body was boobytrapped.
And via Stephen Green a documentary of Iraq, under Saddam. You know – before the days of BushHitler and the horrors of Abu Ghraib.
I sent “movie reviewer” Rex Reed the link by email. Subject line: Farenheit 9/11 Out Takes

Via Stephen Den Beste, this piece that effectively capsulizes the problems in the Middle East and the nature of the threat the west faces. The source can’t be confirmed. Exerpts;

Yes, there is a 100 year-old Israeli-Arab conflict, but it is not where the main show is.
– The millions who died in the Iran-Iraq war had nothing to do with Israel.
– The mass murder happening right now in Sudan, where the Arab Moslem regime is massacring its black Christian citizens, has nothing to do with Israel.
– The frequent reports from Algeria about the murders of hundreds of civilian in one village or another by other Algerians have nothing to do with Israel.
– Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait, endangered Saudi Arabia and butchered his own people because of Israel.
– Egypt did not use poison gas against Yemen in the 60’s because of Israel.
– Assad the Father did not kill tens of thousands of his own citizens in one week in El Hamma in Syria because of Israel.
– The Taliban control of Afghanistan and the civil war there had nothing to do with Israel.
– The Libyan blowing up of the Pan-Am flight had nothing to do with Israel

…

– The 22 member countries of the Arab league, from Mauritania to the Gulf States, have a total population of 300 millions, larger than the US and almost as large as the EU before its expansion.
– They have a land area larger than either the US or all of Europe.
– These 22 countries, with all their oil and natural resources, have a combined GDP smaller than that of Netherlands plus Belgiumand equal to half of the GDP of California alone.

…

There is a new game in town: The actual murderer is called “the military wing”, the one who pays him, equips him and sends him is now called “the political wing” and the head of the operation is called the “spiritual leader”. There are numerous other examples of such Orwellian nomenclature, used every day not only by terror chiefs but also by Western media. These words are much more dangerous than many people realize. They provide an emotional infrastructure for atrocities. It was Joseph Goebels who said that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He is now being outperformed by his successors.

Required reading.

Jihad spokesman says Canadians were mean to Khadrs”

According to a translation of an article written by Abu Ayman al-Hilali, a senior al-Qaeda leader and ideologist, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and Australia are “enemies” and attacks against their civilians are justified. Since Western governments are engaged in a war against Islam, he argued, the civilian voters who elect those governments cannot be considered non-combatants and are legitimate targets for terrorists.
In an interview in Islamabad yesterday, Mr. Khawaja, who fought with bin Laden in Afghanistan and openly admits he supports jihad activities, provided a rare explanation of why terrorists wish to bring violence to Canada.
Suicide bombers are simply fighting back against the Western assault on their faith and Canadians should just learn to “take it,” he said.
“Today you have the power in your hand. The other day the suicide bomber also has power. So you use your cruise missiles and atom bombs and all that, so he uses his power. So why do you cry at that time? When you say we are fighting a war against you, so better take it then.
“They are also fighting a war against you. They are fighting their way, you are fighting your way. So let’s be happy. But only thing is, your faces are pulled down, you are scared, sitting in America and Canada. You are scared of a man sitting in the cave.”
“We are not scared of you.”

Indeed. With a military that has been emasculated through decades of neglect, a populace polluted with moral relativism, political correctness and anti-Americanism, a government that just defeated an opposition motion to deny Islamic hate monger Sheikh Al-Sudayyis entry into the country to spew his anti-semitic rhetoric, why should they be?
Hell, he’s probably in Martin’s appointment calendar under “photo-op”.

(Update) Yesterday, Canada’s latest victim of terrorism Islamic fascism died. Tom Washburn was shot in the neck in an attack in Saudi Arabia 2 weeks ago, where he was working for an oil company. He was 40.

More at the Shotgun

As reported by Hezbollah’s European Bureau :
Hizbollah Slams Beheading of American as Un-Islamic

“Hizbollah condemns this horrible act that has done very great harm to Islam and Muslims by this group that claims affiliation to the religion of mercy, compassion and humane principles,” the Shi’ite Muslim group said in a statement.
…
“The timing of this act that overshadowed the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in occupation forces prisons is suspect timing that aims to serve the American administration
and occupation forces in Iraq and present excuses and pretexts for their inhumane practices against Iraqi detainees.”
The Syrian-backed group which the United States deems “terrorist” said the executors’ behavior was closer to “the Pentagon school — the school of killing and occupation and crimes and torture and immoral practices that were exposed by the great scandal in occupation prisons.”

Those headline jokers at Reuters – had you going for a second, didn’t they?

Last week George Bush apologized for what had been done at Abu Ghairb in the name of the United States Of America. Donald Rumsfeld apologized for what had been done in the name of the US military.
Today, as we witness the double standard of our major media in all its blazing glory, endlessly repeating the photographs from Abu Ghairb while “protecting” us from the “upsetting” scenes of a screaming Nick Berg having his head sawed off… we wait.
We wait for the clamour in the press.
We wait for the outraged editorials.
We wait for prominant politicians’ and pundits’ calls for resignations.
We wait for the pledge to help hunt down the perpetrators and set right past wrongs.
But most of all, we wait for the apology.
From the leaders of Islam, the religion of peace.
For what has been done in their name.

Victor Davis Hanson;

Imagine a different Nov. 4, 1979, in Tehran. Shortly after Iranian terrorists storm the American Embassy and take some 90 American hostages, President Carter announces that Islamic fundamentalism is not a legitimate response to the excess of the shah but a new and dangerous fascism that threatens all that liberal society holds dear. And then he issues an ultimatum to Tehran’s leaders: Release the captives or face a devastating military response.
When that demand is not met, instead of freezing Iran’s assets, stopping the importation of its oil, or seeking support at the U.N., Mr. Carter orders an immediate blockade of the country, followed by promises to bomb, first, all of its major military assets, and then its main government buildings and residences of its ruling mullocracy. The Ayatollah Khomeini might well have called his bluff; we may well have tragically lost the hostages (151 fewer American lives than the Iranian-backed Hezbollah would take four years later in a single day in Lebanon). And there might well have been the sort of chaos in Tehran that we now witness in Baghdad. But we would have seen it all in 1979- -and not in 2001, after almost a quarter-century of continuous Middle East terrorism, culminating in the mass murder of 3,000 Americans and the leveling of the World Trade Center.

Required reading.

Sandi Rinaldo on a CTV National News promo just now, in reference to the bombing in Grozny;

“Political assassination in a war with no end in sight.”

Stop.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
Stop talking about this war as though the primary objective is to “end” it. We can end it today – through surrender, withdrawel, appeasement.
The ultimate goal is the defeat of Islamic fascism and the terrorism it spawns around the world. The only objective must be to defeat ideologies and regimes that oppress and suppress freedom and plurality and equality of peoples.
It’s a mistake to hope for an end just yet. There is too much to do, there are too many tentacles to cut. This is a cancer that has grown over decades and it will not be cured in a year or two. As difficult as it is to face the truth, as much as we wish it were otherwise, we must stop hoping for it to “end”, or we will fail.
First, victory – however long it takes.
Then, the end will come on its own.

While the media has moved into full-bore news recycling [note to editors – new pictures of the same scandal does not a “broadening” story make];
Chechen president assassinated

The Kremlin-backed president of Chechnya was killed Sunday when an explosion ripped through a packed stadium during Victory Day observances in Grozny.
The head of Chechnya’s state council, the region’s finance minister and a journalist working for the Reuters news agency were also among the dead.
Several dignitaries were in the crowd for ceremonies to mark the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The top Russian commander in the region, Col.-Gen. Valery Baranov, was badly wounded. It’s reported he lost one of his legs in the explosion.

Kadyrov had been part of the separatist war against Russia in the 1990’s before recognizing his cause was being taken over by Islamists. He was being credited for helping erode public support for the movement.
While the abuses at Abu Ghraib are a public relations win for Islamism, this is a strategic and military one.
I predict it will be treated like any of the other news “blips” out there this morning. A day or two will pass, and we’ll hear nothing more until another blast goes off in another remote part of somewhere we know nothing about. A body count, some background history and then, back to analysis of naked detainee photos.