We Have Won! Sort Of...

by Findalis

It hasn't been a week since the IDF stopped Operation Cast Lead and already Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al is claiming victory.

Following are excerpts from a public address delivered by Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al, which aired on Al-Quds TV on January 21, 2009:

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"This Is The First War That Our People Has Won On Its Land... Therefore, The Gaza War is a Turning Point in the Struggle With The Zionist Enemy"

Khaled Mash'al: "Yes, Gaza emerged victorious. Yes, the enemy has failed, and the resistance has emerged victorious, and with it, our people and our nation have emerged victorious. Allah be praised, our victory in Gaza was greater and clearer than the false claims of the aggressors, and than the doubts cast by the collaborators, and by those who have forsaken us. Does it not suffice that the goals of the enemy have not been accomplished? It has failed on the ground, just as it has failed politically. Ultimately, after three weeks, it was forced to declare a unilateral cease-fire and withdrawal, without any agreement or terms that bind or limit the resistance.
[...]

"This is the first war that our people has won on its land - the first
real large-scale war. Therefore, the Gaza war is a turning point in the struggle with the Zionist enemy. With its significance, its accomplishments, its timing, and its greatness, it serves as a cornerstone for an effective and serious strategy for liberation, which begins in Palestine, and will continue everywhere, with the support of the nation." [...]

"Compensation For Your Blood And Souls You Will Get From Allah... In Paradise"

"We will bear our responsibility vis-à-vis the displaced. Allah willing, we will give you
all shelter. We will compensate you with what we can, but compensation for your blood and souls you will get from Allah, in the World to Come, in Paradise.

"Your brothers in the Hamas movement, and in the government of my brother Haniya, as well as all the honorable national and Islamic leaders, have already begun working to accomplish this project – the project of rebuilding, housing, compensating, and treating the wounded. We have contacted several countries, some of which we even visited. Everybody is working like in a beehive for your sake.

"There are two tracks with regard to our role in this plan. In the urgent track – to the families of the martyrs and the wounded, and to the displaced families who have lost their homes, we will give specific sums of money, the details of which I leave to the government of my brother Haniya.
We will also treat the wounded. This is the urgent track. The subsequent track will include a reconstruction plan, with which we will compensate you for all that has happened, and rebuild what was destroyed." [...]

"I Say to [The Arab Countries], Regarding the Money [Donated]...: Scrutinize Carefully Into Whose Hands You Place It"

"I say to [the Arab countries], regarding the money [donated] on behalf of your countries and good peoples: Scrutinize carefully into whose hands you place it. Do not place it in the hands of the corrupt people. There are two options: Either give it to the legitimate government of my brother Ismail Haniya in Gaza – an honest government with proven experience in serving the people – and they will lead the reconstruction
under your supervision, or carry it out yourselves, through companies from your own countries, funds and institutions from your own countries, or any method you
choose. You yourselves take over the reconstruction plans. But today, no Palestinian – and I believe that no none among your own peoples – will accept that this money be placed in the hands of the corrupt people. You know the truth. You have vast experience in that." [...]

"Some Say: What Kind Of Victory Is This, With All The Destruction... To Them, We Say: Was There Ever A People That Was Liberated Without Casualties?"

"Some say: What kind of victory is this, with all the destruction? Some people have emerged from the holes in which they hid during the war. They were afraid of the war, so they lowered their voices, fearing the rage of the Arab, Islamic, and Palestinian masses. Today, they have begun croaking like ravens, saying: Hamas should see what has befallen our land.

"To them, we say: Was there ever a people that was liberated without casualties? Take a look at history. This is important, and should reach the whole world. Large cities in the world were destroyed and rebuilt. These cities suffered great destruction. What happened to London in World War II? What happened to Paris? What happened in Hanoi, in Leningrad, and in Stalingrad? What happened to you, my brothers from the factions that have a history in Lebanon? What happened to Beirut? Beirut was not your land. You were guests there. Nevertheless, you fought for 88 days. So why do you pin your opposition to the steadfastness in Gaza on the destruction, the killings, and the massacres, even though you allowed yourselves to go on for all those days in Beirut in 1982?" [...]


"Who Does the British People Respect More – Churchill, Who Fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, Who Appeased Hitler?"

"Who does the British people respect more – Churchill, who fought the Nazis, or Chamberlain, who appeased Hitler? Does the French people respect De Gaulle, who from London continued his resistance to the Nazis in France, or General Pétain, the leader of the Vichy government, which resembles more than anything the [Palestinian] 'Autonomy' Authority. Only the honorable are recorded in history in letters of light.

"To those who appease [the enemy], under the pretext of avoiding casualties, we say that victory can only be achieved through blood. In 1940, Churchill, who is not considered a terrorist by today's criteria, because he had European blood in his veins, said to British people as soon as he took power in 1940: I can only promise you sweat, blood, tears, and toil. This is what leaders should be like. Leaders should not be like beggars on the negotiations track.

"In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were 600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people. This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation."

"We Want a Palestinian Reconciliation – But After the Lesson of Gaza, What Will Be The Basis For The Reconciliation?"

"My beloved [brothers] in the West Bank – your day has come. I know that you waged an Intifada in the past, but the oppression has prevented you from waging a great Intifada, as you did in the past. However, we cannot place the entire national burden on Gaza.

[...]

"We want a Palestinian reconciliation. But after the lesson of Gaza, what will be the basis for the reconciliation? We want it to be based on the resistance, and on adherence to our national rights, and not on these futile negotiations, or on concessions regarding Jerusalem, the Right of Return, or the land.

[...]

"Yes, we support internal Palestinian dialogue, but in order for it to be a serious and successful dialogue, it must be preceded by certain steps. The detainees must be released, and the security cooperation with the enemy must be stopped."[...]

"The International Community... the Quartet, and... Obama's New Administration... Should Stop Israel... The Time Has Come For You to Deal With Hamas"

"This was a lesson to the reasonable people in the international community, to the Quartet, and to Obama's new administration and his allies in Europe. They should stop Israel, and they should know that Israel is incapable of defending itself, and that the occupation and aggression have no future. The second lesson that needs to be learned is that three years of attempting to rule out Hamas are enough.
[...]

"The time has come for you to deal with Hamas, which has gained legitimacy from its struggle, from the ballot boxes, from its incorruptibility, from its service to its people, and now it has gained legitimacy from its victory over the strongest power in the region. The time has come for you to deal with Hamas properly – not because we have something to gain from this. By no means. This is a national demand. We do not force ourselves on anybody."

For some reason I don't quite understand, how can you call something a victory when your leadership is either dead or hiding in tunnels like rats. When your population is subjected to bombings and shootings, and your troops threw down their weapons and ran. Your crack troops, the one's trained by your masters in Iran, were slaughtered to a man. It didn't even take the IDF an hour to defeat them.

How strange it is to see him quote Sir Winston Churchill. But here is a better quote from Sir Winston. One that shows exactly how he felt and would feel about Hamas and its leadership today.

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."

~~ Sir Winston Churchill

Not very supportive of Hamas, Islam and Palestinians is it? But that shouldn't stop him. After all he was on a roll. And a big mistake, a fubar, he gave away. One had to listen carefully to it and know the news to understand this one:

"In Stalingrad... In Leningrad, there were 600 casualties... Sorry, there were
600,000 casualties in Leningrad, and there were one million displaced people.
This rule applies to us, just as it applies to any other nation."

Doesn't seem like much of a mistake until you read this report from the Jerusalem Post:

Maximum 600 Palestinians died in Gaza

The number of Palestinians killed in Operation Cast Lead did not exceed five or six hundred, Lorenzo Cremonesi, a correspondent for Italy's Corriere della sera reported on Thursday.

Cremonesi based his report on tours of hospitals in the Gaza Strip and on interviews with families of casualties. He also assessed the number of wounded to be far lower than 5,000, the number quoted by Hamas and repeated by the UN and the Red Cross in Gaza.

"It is sufficient to visit several hospitals [in the Gaza Strip] to understand that the numbers don't add up," he wrote.

In the European hospital in Rafah, one of the facilities which would presumably be filled with wounded from the "war of the tunnels," many beds were empty, according to Cremonesi. A similar situation was noted in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, and in the privately-run Amal Hospital Cremonesi reported that only five out 150 beds were occupied.

Cremonesi interviewed Gazans who echoed Israel's insistence of how Hamas gunmen used civilians as human shields. One Gazan recalled civilians in Gaza shouting at Hamas and Islamic Jihad men, "Go away, go away from here! Do you want the Israelis to kill us all? Do you want our children to die under their bombs? Take your guns and missiles with you."

"Traitors, collaborators with Israel, spies of Fatah, cowards! The soldiers of the holy war will punish you. And in any case you will all die, like us. Fighting the Zionist Jews we are all destined for paradise. Do you not wish to die with us?" the religious fanatics of Hamas reportedly responded.

Other Palestinians told Cremonesi of Hamas operatives donning paramedic uniforms and commandeering ambulances. A woman identified as Um Abdullah, 48, spoke of Hamas using UN buildings as launch pads for rockets.

Cremonesi reported that he had difficultly gathering evidence as the local population was terrified of Hamas.

Civilians scared of their government. Terror coming not from Israel, but from Hamas. And a big slip of the tongue from Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al all adds up to one thing:

Hamas if fighting for its existence and is vulnerable.

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B*N*S*N 1 - 4

There are actually 5 great news stories today from the B*N*S*N files.

Go to Assoluta Tranquillita here to read the news you will not find in the msm. Oh, and while you are there? Check out a new series: "Who'd a thunk it?"

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Obamination: Hypocrisy & Deceit

I commenced my dissection of President Obama's Inaugural Address with his message to Muslims. In this episode, I return to excerpts
From the President's Prepared Remarks, as published by the Miami Herald.

Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

• Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

That sentence does not fit in with those which follow it. He fails to elaborate, without naming the enemy, without specifying the theaters of war or evaluating the status of the war effort. Why did he raise the issue of war so briefly only to drop it to hint at his Socialist agenda? The objective clause is problematic because it exemplifies an effort to distract us and divert our attention from the identity & nature of the enemy.

Islam is the enemy. Islam's canon of scripture expresses and its Imams inculcate hatred of all who do not submit to Allah's writ exactly as they do. We are described as the "worst of living creatures", will abide in Hell, the "worst of creatures". Allah curses us and commands Muslims to make war on us. President Obama perpetuates the lie spewed by his predecessors: the claim that our enemy consists of a tiny minority of radicalized extremists who belong to Al-Qaeda and similar organizations spawned by Al-Ikhwan Al-Islamiyya. His assertion is far removed from objective factual reality. Islam's permanent war is sanctified by Allah's Qur'an and codified in Sharia. 8:39 & 9:29 contain the eternal commands to fight. 9:123 reinforces them. They are codified in Book O, Chapter 9, Paragraphs 8&9 of Reliance of the Traveller. [Search for O9.8.] Muslims are commanded to conquer the entire world for Allah and they have been engaged in that conquest since 623. Muslims who seek to live in peace without joining Jihad are not good Muslims; they are hypocrites whom Moe cursed and assigned to Hell. Allah commanded Muslims to fight the hypocrites along with us.

• On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

The ceremony at which he spoke was not ad-hoc, it is a traditional part of our system of peaceful turnover of power by elected officials.

• On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

Here we have a prime example of a narcissistic, arrogant demagogue so confident of his ability to hypnotize his victims that he tells them in plain language what he has done to them. His was a campaign of petty grievances and false promises; the worn out dogmas of Socialism.

• We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.

Childish things like sense of dependency & a sense of entitlement? Those are part of his campaign pitch, how can he abandon them now?

• Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

The statement is ambiguous and dangerously broad. What is he talking about? Is he calling for a new Constitutional Convention to undo the Bill of Rights? Does he intend to increase the powers and thereby the dangers inherent in government?

• We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

That indicates physical infrastructure. Building roads and bridges requires vast sums of money and years to plan and execute. It involves lawyers and engineers, skilled equipment operators, machinery and trucks, asphalt and cement production. How many years does it take to turn out an engineer, and what will he do with his degree when the roads & bridges are finished? A massive make work project will result in shortages & inflation, not in new jobs. It will balloon the national debt beyond control.

Electric grids & digital communications are private industries, not government monopolies. Does President Obama intend to nationalize them or to subsidize electric utility & telecommunications companies? Or does he intend to burden them with new, higher cost structures so as to drive them out of business or inflate the rates we must pay?

What is the "rightful place" of science? Who displaced it, when and how? The technological wonders that improved health care are extremely expensive and increased the fixed cost structure of the industry, pushing up the cost of health care. How do you lower cost by more of the same? Who gets screwed in this process?

Sunlight and wind power can not replace hydrocarbon fuels for land transportation. Solar cells are too expensive and not sufficiently efficient. Issues of scope, scale, efficiency and cost are always overlooked by dreamers & schemers peddling snake oil.

Everybody promises to wave a magic wand to transform the educational system; nobody fulfills the promises. In Chicago, President Obama's buddy ran the school system into the ground instead of improving it. There are problems involving money, and there are problems involving people, both administrators and unions. None of those problems are easily soluble. The most important factor is beyond the President's control: the abilities and attitudes of the students. So long as the students are focused on video games, movies, the idiot box, beer, sex and drugs, you can throw all your money at the schools without improving the outcome.

• The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

Take a long, cold look at the Constitution; where does it assign those tasks to the federal government? This is part of the culture of dependency & unreasonable expectations which got us into the present mess. President Obama seeks to expand the role and power of government, the result will be less liberty, less prosperity, increased poverty and reduced security.

• As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

Rights are only enjoyed by those who seize, hold and zealously enforce them. It would be right for all men to be free & prosperous, without slavery, repression & discrimination. Unfortunately, the world does not work that way. Many parts of the world are ruled by tyrants, the people living there do not share our freedoms. They can't until they seize them as our forefathers seized them from King George. The idea that murdering Muslims have a right to maim and kill our servicemen and contest their capture & detention in our courts of civil law is the absolute peak of suicidal idiocy. There is no right to make war on us and get off Scott free. They have neither signed nor complied with the Geneva Conventions. The idea that terrorists should enjoy privacy in their communications just because one party to the conversation is in America exposes the suicidal insanity of its holders. The President is erecting and knocking down a straw man.

• And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

Future of peace and dignity? Its ok if they seek war and rapine here and now, but we're their friend and benefactor if they seek peace in the future? Yeah, wrong! War is the condition while any part of the world is in Kuffar control. Peace will obtain after Islam completes total world conquest. What was sturdy about our temporary alliance with Stalin? Without power, we have no protection. If we have power but are unwilling to use it, we have no protection. Old Harry had the power and the will to use it, so WW2 came to and end with victory over Japan.

This last quoted paragraph exemplifies President Obama's hypocrisy. He was going to put away petty grievances and false promises. He expects us to forget that and accept his old campaign shibboleths. When an enemy declares genocidal intent and attacks you, there is no role for restraint. Humility has no place in this debate. Our ideals are superior, our rights are superior and our force is superior. We have a right to defend ourselves and our way of life. Those who made war upon us must pay its penalties.

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Its Shari'ah, Stupid #18

Eighteenth in a series on offensive Jihad in Fiqh.

al-Majlisi, d. 1698, shia-jurist. ”The Treatise Lightning Bolts Against the Jews”, övers. V.B. Moreen, Die Welt des Islams (32:1992), s. 187-93.

That is, fight against those who do not believe in God and in the Day of Resurrection, who do not prohibit the things that have been prohibited by God and His Prophet, such as wine and pork, and do not believe in the religion of truth, from among those who had been given the Book, until they pay the jizyah, with their own hands, while they are in a low and abased state.

In this case, the jurist was paraphrasing & explaining an infamous ayat, do you recognize it? What does it command Muslims to do; to whom? What are the essential elements of the compound terminal condition?Does this vary significantly from the Sunni Fiqh?

Got a clue yet? Its 9:29.

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Dear President Obama

I think you all know how I love to share what our boots on the ground have to say. Today, some helpful insights from one of our best in Afghanistan. Writing on Afghanistan Shrugged, he says:

Dear, President Obama

I know that you just took office about 48 hours ago and you’ve got a lot on your plate; but I thought I’d provide you with a small letter for SA, situational awareness. I’m sure that GEN Petraus will provide one for you also; but mine comes from the trenches of the War On Terror. My team is out here every day making sure that the policies you set forth get carried out; so we see the impact, successes and failures first hand.

First, let me describe the current situation from my fighting position. It’s not great. Currently we’re chasing the wrong thing, that being enemy forces. They can always recruit more people, we need to attack the motivations to join the enemy. Eliminate the supply.

Predators, ROVER and other implements that we’ve paid billions for are most often used to second guess the guys on the ground and tell them that they’re not seeing what they’re seeing. If this seems convoluted it is! It boils down to this, you’re getting shot at and some dude a long way off is telling you you’re not and that by the way you better not shoot back at the enemy.

Logistics suck! No if, and or buts about it. This is day 26 for this team without mail. This is a lot different then you’ll see at the big FOBs where there’s ubiquitous ice cream, coffee and hot chow, and totally different than Iraq. They throw away more than we eat. I haven’t seen a PX in three months and I just ran out of deodorant and soap today, my wife mailed some to me in the middle of December but haven’t seen it yet. As they say, “Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics”.

There are some great American Warriors here doing their darn best to win the war, but the higher ups are too afraid; so they won’t let them off the FOB to do the work that needs to be done. They track things like how many rounds we expended and what patch you’re wearing on your ACUs instead of issues like how many feet of road or the number of schools built.

So now that I’ve painted a little picture of what it looks like, let me indulge myself and highlight a couple of things I think we could do to close the deal.

Roads, we need more of them. A lot more! This is the cornerstone to building Afghanistan and the government. The Romans were successful not because of military technology, it helped, but because they built an extensive road network. Many of which still exist today and are in better shape than roads in Afghanistan.

Without roads the Afghans don’t really need a centralized government. That’s a broad statement but I’ll qualify it here in a minute. The tribe pretty much provides what they need. The tribe protects them, settles disputes and enforces laws. They’re more than capable of doing this and have been for the last several centuries. They fulfill the basic governmental requirements common defense, law and order.

The tribes though can’t build and maintain roads. Now, you need a centralized government to construct, maintain and protect the roads. You get an influx of money as people work on the roads and they quit getting paid to blow us up and it stimulates a demand for goods and services.

With the road comes inter-province commerce for which you need regulation by a central government; a function a tribe can’t accomplish. Sounds kind of like a little situation we had around 1776. The road brings money, communication and progress. You cut the link between Pakistan and the tribal regions because it’s now easier to travel to the interior of Afghanistan to get medical treatment, goods, services the whole lot.

So with a simple road we’ve now created an environment friendly to the support of the Afghan central government. That doesn’t exist now. It’s a lot easier to explain to the Afghans that the Army and police protect the roads and regulate commerce. Additionally taking the, “this is a war on Islam” factor out of the situation. ...

Be SURE and go read the rest here. If we spread this one far enough, maybe President Obama will actually get to read it. And then he may "get" it...


*cross-posted from Assoluta Tranquillita*

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