Riots, Diplonuts (& More)

February 26, 2011

A Quick Trip Around the World:

Libya: Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi opens arms depots to his civilian supporters to cut off further dissent, as he tries to remain in control of embattled country. Story here. 

Syria & Iran: Iran and Syria agree on military training cooperation, Iran's official news agency reported on Saturday, after two Iranian warships docked in a Syrian port. Story here.

Russia: Russia to sell anti-ship rockets to Syria, despite Israeli fears the rockets could ultimately land in Hezbollah hands. Story here.

Iraq: Iraq's largest oil refinery, i.e., the Baiji refinery (which was controlled for a long time by al-Qaida militants, who used it to finance the insurgency) shut by bombing. Story here.

Egypt: Egyptian military police beat protesters Saturday to clear them from outside the Cabinet office where they were trying to camp out overnight to press demands for sweeping political reforms. Story here.

Yemen: Five more people have died after being shot during anti-government protests in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Friday, medical sources said on Saturday. Story here.

Bahrain: Tens of thousands of mostly Shiite protesters streamed into central Manama (in Bahrain) Saturday to march on government ministries for the first time since anti-government demonstrations began there 12 days ago. Story here.

Turkey: Turkish PM Erdogan speaks out against UN sanctions on Libya. Story here.

Malta: Americans are finally ferried out of danger, as boatload of exhausted, but relieved Americans and other foreigners finally left Libya and reached Malta yesterday, after days of agonizing delays. Story here.

More Libya: An increasingly gruesome picture began to emerge Saturday of the violent tactics used by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, as Qaddafi forces shot at protesters in Tripoli from ambulances. Story here.

Meanwhile, at Cesspool Central (aka the U.N.):  

Tears Flow at UN Security Council over bloodshed in Libya. Story here.

UN Considers sanctions on Gadhafi, as U.N. Security Council is set for a second day of emergency talks on Libya, with members considering possible sanctions against Moammar Gadhafi's government over its violent crackdown on protesters. Story here.

UN Rights Body Mulls, as U.N. Human Rights Council, the U.N.'s top human rights body, on Friday began an emergency session on Libya to decide whether to condemn and ostracize the North African country for its crackdown on anti-government protesters. Story here.

The Absentee Ambassador (guess who?): The UN Security Council convened an emergency session yesterday to draft sanctions against Libyan mad-dog Moammar Khadafy, but as the UN struggled to put out the fires in the Mideast, America's top UN rep was nowhere to be found. US Ambassador Susan Rice was 8,000 miles away from UN headquarters, taking tea in South Africa with fellow diplonuts. Story here.

And a Voice of Sanity Is Heard:

Former UN Ambassador John Bolton on Crisis in Libya: 

* Part 1 

* Part 2

[Posted by R.S.]

View Comments

My Kinda Hero

February 23, 2011

At a Florida townhall meeting on Monday night, Lt Colonel (ret.] Congressman Allen West was confronted by Nezar Hamze, Executive Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Wielding a Koran, Hamze asked Congressman West to point out where in the Koran does it tell Muslims to attack Americans or America? West quickly pointed out that the Koran was written long before America even existed, and that it does indeed tell believers to kill infidels. West then proceeded to chronicle a lengthy list of historical Muslim acts of aggression. Watch video below.

The only question I have is, how did Florida end up with such an amazing Congressman?!

View Comments

Flip, Followed By Flop, Followed By Flip

February 15, 2011

Check out this EXCELLENT interview with Niall Ferguson yesterday, on MSNBC (see below)

Actually, the interview itself wasn't that great, but the interviewee was, as the Brits would say, bloody brilliant!

[The only thing I would take issue with is his reference to Zbigniew Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger as examples of prominent foreign policy strategists, but I guess it's all relative...]

View Comments

This Just In...

February 11, 2011

This just in from FOX News:

Meanwhile, the CIA has put together a 35-member task force to look at where the uprisings might spread next. The sudden revolt in Egypt took the global community by surprise, and U.S. intelligence officers are looking at several different factors to gauge where and if this movement might spread -- they will look at the role of the Internet and social networking, the allegiance of various militaries, the youth and the unmet expectations of those who live in these countries.

All CIA station chiefs are being immediately tasked with examining these factors, including the strength of opposition movements, in their assigned countries.

Question to the folks in DC: Will our Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper - who testified before Congress yesterday that the Muslim Brotherhood is an organization that is "largely secular, which has eschewed violence [apparently, someone forgot to mention that to Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood...] and has decried Al Qaeda as a perversion of Islam" - be allowed anywhere near this task force??

Oh, and one more question: Kudos on the new "task force", but what in the world have the CIA and its station chiefs been doing until now???

[Posted by R.S.]

View Comments

Spot On!

February 9, 2011

Bravo to Brigitte Gabriel for telling it like it is about the Muslim Brotherhood (see interview clip here). Any questions?! (...except for why does the U.S. Government continue to do business with them?)

Oh, and regarding that statement from "a former member of the CIA", who was quoted in a Washington Post article as saying that if we alienate them [i.e., the Muslim Brotherhood], they will retaliate; if we don't engage them on a certain level we're going to create more anti-Americanism... : Disregard it, for the simple reason that it's astoundingly mindless.

Is that now our new & improved national security policy, i.e., we won't fight those who seek our destruction because by fighting our enemies, we create more enemies?! (Anyone want to hire Osama bin Laden? That'll engage him!)

[Posted by R.S.]

View Comments