Filed under: War
When considering the status of the War in Iraq and its place in the larger War on Terror (i.e. on Islamic fanatics) we base our opinions on what we are told by journalist from the region. For if it were not for journalist we could not form opinions and make "educated" decisions concerning those which are reported on. However if those journalist present an incomplete or distorted picture of the true events then our ability to make educated decisions is diminished.
With that in mind, please read an op ed from the New York Times entitled, "The News We Kept To Ourselves," by Eason Jordon, Chief News Executive at CNN, published on April 11, 2003. In this article Jordon explains how CNN editors and executives regularly overlooked and did not report acts of torture, intimidation, and corruption within the Iraqi government out of fear for the lives of CNN personal and the status of the Baghdad bureau office. Jordan explains how the secret police would terrorize Iraqi’s who "were courageous enough to try to provide accurate reporting." Methods employed included kidnappings, never to be returned, and torture.
Now that Saddam is out of power, Islamic-facists have entered as the new authority to fear. We have heard countless reports civilians being kidnapped and beheaded to the joyous shouts of "Allahu Akbar." (allah is great)
I now ask, "Is is possible to trust any of the news that is coming out of the Middle East?"
Filed under: War
Christopher Bodeen, an Associated Press Writer, reports that “gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms kidnapped up to 150 staff and visitors in a lightning raid on a government research institute in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday…”
So this is how these guys help the Islamic world move towards progress? Kidnap the intellectuals?
Filed under: Technology
Has anyone discovered TextMate? This text editor is amazing.
Filed under: Observations
The Washington Post has published this story saying that 13 homicides have been reported in Washington DC over the past 14 days.
I wonder if the politicians who are outraged over the amount of time it is taking to secure Iraq are equally outraged by the violence in their own city?
Filed under: Observations
Washington DC is not one of the best cities in the US. If it were not for the fact that I love my job (a non-government private sector job) I would be moving out.
DC is a very liberal city. The Democratic leadership is week on crime (gangs operate in the open just a few blocks from my office) and has outlawed private ownership of guns (by refusing to issue permits), however there are weekly shootouts between the local gangs and police. Homicide case resolution rates in DC are lower than reported because (as a former police officer friend of mine told me) when a gang member is killed, his name is linked as the killer in other crimes and therefore those crimes are labeled as solved.
DC is also a very racist city. My office is in an overwhelmingly black neighborhood. If I had a dollar for every time I was called a racial slur (by a crackhead pissed at me because I wouldn’t give him a dollar or gave him a Wendy’s combo meal instead of the money) I could retire early. A few months ago a former (Irish) manager of mine was in a car accident when he was hit from the side by a black woman who ran a stop sign. When my manager asked witnesses (all of whom were black) to stay around and tell a cop what they saw he was told to "F—- Off". When the police officer did show up, people who were not in the area at the time of the accident told the police office they saw the accident and it was my old managers fault. (like a car could drive sideways and only leave skid marks in the direction away from the initial impact) The office then said the accident was a "no fault" and left without filling out a report. Lucky for my old manager the car was a rental, so he took the cops badge number and the license plate of the woman who hit him and turned it over to the rental company to deal with.
Now breitbart.com reports Nation’s Capital Declares Crime Emergency because of a recent jump in reported robberies and murders.
It is a shame that the Capital city of the United States of America is such a dump.
Filed under: Observations
Yahoo news reports that two people were killed by the local Islamic authority for watching the World Cup. Does not this strike you as a bit insane? I will admit that my knowledge of Islam is limited, but death for watching a Soccer game? This disregard for the value of life is mind blowing.
There truly is evil in the world.
While talking to a co-worker about the War on Terror, he made a statement that is common in the public debate over the war in Iraq. He said, "This is an illegal war."
How does one come to the conclusion that the war in Iraq is illegal?
Article 2, Section 2 of the US Constitution reads:
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States…
Article 1, Section 8, paragraph 11 says that Congress has the power:
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
On October 10th, 2002 the resolution (H.J. Res. 114) granting President Bush the authority to wage war against Iraq was passed by both the US House (296-113) and Senate (77-23). This resolution authorizes President Bush to "use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to (1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq."
By all accounts, this war is very much legal. The Executive and Legislative branches of government have followed US Law and are now executing a war in accordance with US Law.
How then do individuals claim that the US is engaged in an illegal war?
When asked about the Iraq war in September 2004 BBC Interview, UN Secretary General, His Excellency (as he is officially titled), Kofi Annan said, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal." He went on to say that the decision to go to take action in Iraq, "should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally."
So there we have it, the war in Iraq is determined to be illegal, not because it breaks US laws, enacted by individuals elected to office by public elections, but because the Secretary General of the United Nations claims that it was so. I don’t recall the Constitution granting the UN Secretary General any authority in the use of US military power. In fact, as a US citizen, I have more legal authority in US political affairs than Kofi Annan.
Those who claim the war in Iraq is illegal seem to be uneducated in US Constitutional Law. The US is a sovereign nation and is not subject to UN Charters. We may sign chargers and hold ourselves to them, but that is at our discretion.
Filed under: War
The Media Research Center released the results of a study which analyses the Iraq war reporting of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Specifically the study identifies the amount of time the networks spent reporting on the alleged military misconduct in Hadith verses the reporting of heroic soldiers who earned military honors. The breakdown is as follows:
Between May 17th and June 7th, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 99 stories on the alleged military misconduct which totaled three and a half hours of coverage within three weeks. In contrast those networks only gave 52 minutes of coverage to soldiers who earned military honors… in 5 years. Also, 14 of the 20 American soldiers who received the highest recognition for bravery were not mentioned at all.
So what kind of effect does this have on the soldiers in Iraq?
About a year ago, a group of soldiers returning from Iraq released a rap album, entitled "Live From Iraq" they had written while at war. The chorus for the song "Integrity" (something many in the mainstream media do not have) reads as follows:
F— is these people talking bout
Soldiers catchin charges now
Sure we make mistakes
But every soldier heres a target now
Questioning how we get down
Stand em up we lay em down
All that you can see to do
Ask a million questions now
Why’d we shootem why’d he die
Only tried to take our lives
F— is we supposed to do
Come to far to let him ride
Now your trying to say we wrong
Everytime somebody dies
I aint trying to let him live
He’ll only try a second time
Filed under: War
Ok, this news may be a little old, but its still in the news.
A few days ago the New York Times published a front page story that disclosed a classified government program which monitored monetary exchanges between international parties, with the expressed purpose of "following the money" which finances terrorist activities.
WHAT THE HECK WHERE THEY THINKING!!!!
Article 3, section 3 of the Constitution reads:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.
Would not disclosing classified information to the enemy be considered giving them aid? Has the New York Times gone insane?
Of course they have. That is why they are called liberals.
I think I should be more outraged by this development than I am, however I feel I have been desensitized by the constant anti-American junk that comes out of the media. Its all rather depressing.
A few years ago we executed individuals guilty of treason. Apparently treason has become a virtue at the New York Times.
