When I was young I remember my grandfather (when he was alive) and my grandmother telling me stories of how everyone in the United States sacrificed for the war effort during WW II– enduring regular and scheduled blackouts, saving tin, and making do with what had been rationed. They felt it important to sacrifice for […]
David Brody has the video and transcript of President Obama addressing those in attendance at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast so you can watch and read the whole thing there. Some thoughts.
After giving a background of the history of the breakfast… which I wonder why they do that like those in attendance don’t know. […]
National Review Online editor and political commentator Jonah Goldberg recently explored the apparent contrast between Senator Barack Obama, the now-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and Senator John McCain, the still-presumptive Republican presidential nominee that will pit not only philosophical but experiential differences between these two parties as well as between these two men. His conclusion: […]
The implications of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto will be far-reaching with no way to know how things will progress in Pakistan and in the rest of the world. With her death, we are reminded that there are those in this world who will resort to whatever is necessary to get […]
It has been pointed out by more than a few thinkers, that those on the left and the right share many of the same philosophical presuppositions. I know this is a comment that partisans on both sides find insulting, but it is nevertheless the case. In particular we see the same presumptions on human nature, […]
On his show last evening, Chris Matthews talked about the averted terrorist bombing near London’s Piccadilly Circus. At least three times Matthews issued a “Thank God” that the attack was avoided.
Was he right to say that?
Did God prevent the bombings from happening in London? (And now did God hamper the success of the apparent attempt […]
Here’s a review of D’Souza’s book that begins as follows:
Osama bin Laden and the American left have forged a tacit agreement to secure the defeat of the United States in Iraq. That’s premise number one in Dinesh D’Souza’s book, The Enemy at Home. A second premise is that the global war against Islamic radicalism is […]
In poll after poll, the American people view the current President of Iran as one of the most worrisome figures currently on the world stage. This is understandable given his vitriolic rhetoric concerning the State of Israel, the denial of the Holocaust, and his comments on the United States. As long as he is in […]
We now recognize that terrorism is being used by our adversaries as a modern tool of warfare. It is no aberration. We can expect more terrorism directed at our strategic interests around the world in the years ahead. To combat it, we must be willing to use military force.
…
The public must understand before the fact […]
Do you know what the Qods Force is?
From Iranian Qods Force Agents Detained in Irbil Raid, at The Fourth Rail,
Qods Force [or Jerusalem Force] is a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and is responsible for planning and conducting foreign operations, intelligence gathering and terrorist activities. The unit works extensively with Hezbollah. Qods Force […]
Here is Christopher Hitchens’ review of Mark Steyn’s book America Alone. Steyn has been making some interesting claims about the future of western societies based on demographics, and Hitchens is (in my mind) one of the smartest and articulate liberals on the planet and one of the only secular leftists that I actually enjoy reading. Both […]
September 11, 2001: The United States is attacked. The World Trade Center crumbles to the ground.
November, 2008: Rudy Giuliani is elected President of the United States.
Is this some strange “if, then” statement from The Twilight Zone?
Prior to September 11th, Rudy Giuliani was, simply, mayor of the city of New York. To be sure, such an […]
I don’t watch “24″.
I watched a few episodes from the first (or second?) season and found that, while it is very well produced, it was too over the top for me.
However, it does seem to be the rage, these days. And, surprisingly enough, fodder for liberal criticism.
Evidently, in this season’s series opener, a […]
Andrew Jackson links to an article which states that terrorists have been using satellite imagery from Google Maps to pinpoint attacks on UK troops. From the article,
Documents seized during raids on the homes of insurgents last week uncovered print-outs from photographs taken from Google.
The satellite photographs show in detail the buildings inside the bases […]
In 1945, upon formal surrender by Germany and, consequently, by Japan, there were exuberant celebrations across Europe and the U.S. And why not? Two evil and direct threats to the existence of free societies had been defeated. The rampant jubilance was expressed in many ways, as evidenced in the following photo.
Thirty years later, though, we […]
Picking up on the theme of what to do in the Middle East, I just read an article by Diane West in the Washington Times. This is provocative, to say the least:
Funny thing about the recent op-ed by Nawaf Obaid in The Washington Post outlining likely Saudi actions if the United States withdraws from Iraq: […]
Since everyone is throwing out ridiculous recommendations for Iraq, I might as well toss my passing tongue-in-cheek thought into the ring. If Iraq was better off under Saddam, and we fear Shiite Iran is going to take over when we leave, then why not just release Saddam, give him back the whole mess, and support him in […]
The recent story of a terrorist plot to set off grenades in a mall in Rockford, Chicago, illustrates the diligence of those whose concern is our security. While the mainstream news media is loathe to have to report such good news, since they never met bad news they didn’t like, I want to take the opportunity […]
Two things set Mark Steyn apart from dystopian naysayers like Paul Ehrlich and Al Gore. First, Steyn is an irrepressible bon vivant—an odd trait in a journalist touting “the end of the world as we know it.” Linguistically, no turn of phrase is too banal, risqué, or obscure to be included in Steyn’s repertoire of […]
Sobering words from the head of MI5, Britain’s version of the Department of Homeland Security. Says MI5 Director General, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller:
• “[I wish] to give the most frank account I can of the Al-Qaida threat to the UK. That threat is serious, is growing and will, I believe, be with us for a […]
From The Democratic Party, regarding the 2006 election results,
Today the American people sent a clear message for a new direction.
Also, regarding the war in Iraq,
As the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq reaches 103 for the month of October, the Los Angeles Times today reports that a growing number of American military officials now believe […]
When I predicted last night that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would be gone within a few weeks, I had no idea how soon he would be going.
But the writing was on the wall. When Senator John Warner, the GOP’s grey eminence on military matters in the Senate, came back from Iraq declaring that a […]
Regular readers of my blog know that I’ve not taken a public position on the war in Iraq.
As a pastor, I don’t want to take the risk of being seen as saying, “This is what God thinks about the war.” Because so many Christians I respect and admire have dramatically different positions on the war, […]
Here are a few recent articles on Islamic extremism, one from the right and one from the left. First is this piece by Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. Krauthammer argues that many Muslims make fierce calls for tolerance of their own religion, but do not extend the same courtesy to other religions. But worse than […]
This is one of the best analysis of the Pope’s speech I have read.
It’s notable, I think, that religion — not so long ago pronounced irrelevant by most everyone in proper society — now dominates the global debate. Read the whole thing.
Trite though it is, when I read about the bloodless coup that yesterday removed Thailand’s pime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, from power, I wondered if his second name was Thai for Sinatra. If so, the billionaire has probably belatedly realized that, in politics, you can’t always do things your way.
By some accounts, Thaksin, a former police […]
When I lived in England I developed a strong respect for Carey, he would always tell it like he see’s it. He is apparently also fearless.
THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton has issued
his own challenge to “violent” Islam in a lecture in which he defends
the Pope’s “extraordinarily effective and lucid” speech.
Lord Carey […]
Joseph Stalin famously discounted the power of the pope by asking how many troops he had. The Soviet dictator shared the belief of his soul-mate, Mao Zedong, that power comes from the barrel of a gun. The final leaders of the Soviet Empire were less sanguine about the uselessness of spiritual weapons. Witness the conspiracy […]
Anne Applebaum writes of Pope Benedict’s lecture in Germany and the violent reactions to it by some Muslims:
[We don’t all] need to rush to defend or to analyze this particular sermon; I leave that to experts on Byzantine theology. But we can all unite in our support for freedom of speech — surely the pope […]
Richard John Neuhaus writes:
Herewith a potpourri of reflections on the Regensburg lecture by Pope Benedict and reactions to it, intermixed with a bit of my own commentary. As many commentators, Muslim and other, do not know because they manifestly have not read the lecture, it was not chiefly about Islam. It was a considered reflection […]
When I read reports like this I’d like to have an hour behind the woodshed with the editors and authors of such inflammatory reporting, which only aggrandizes the enemy of Western Civilization.
The FoxNews headline-editor ought to be fired for adding fuel to an already inflamed and ignorant response to this situation; the FoxNews.Com headline reads […]
I appreciate Blue Christian Deborah White, she is usually a good thinker and writer at About’s Liberal Politics. I truly appreciate her voice as a RedBlueChristian blogger. However, her critique of ABC’s “The Path to 9/11″ reveals why the Democratic boat always sinks when addressing today’s global Jihadist War.
Instead of crying for censorship […]
This news shocked me. Apparently, President Bush personally signed off on a visa allowing former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to visit the United States because he wanted hear his views.
As others are pointing out, the censorship strategy of prominent Democratics like Schumer will push millions of more people to watch “The Path to 9/11.” However, I think this is much more than a strategic political blunder, I believe it really reveals the fact that Democrats have no coherent “terrorist policy.” And so, instead of trying to keep people stupid, […]
I was very impressed by a recent interview of Lawrence Wright. Hugh Hewitt is also singing his praise:
I picked up Wright’s new book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, at the Dallas airport this morning, and could not put it down for the three hour flight home, and will certainly keep reading at […]
Does ABC/Disney Movie Include Bush Allowing Osama Bin Laden to Escape from Tora Bora?
Could this be the dumbest question asked about ABC/Disney’s docudrama so far? Mark Coffey at Decision ‘08 thinks so!
Coffey correctly reminds us the movie ends with the morning of 11 September 2001; the Tora Bora kerfuffle had not yet occurred!
Is this an […]
The 2006 $@&%&%#^*^# Stockholm Conference!
Rachel Neuwirth writes for American Daily …
After a month of military action in Lebanon pitting Israel against Hezbollah, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701. A cessation of hostilities was reached in mid-August, 2006, and two weeks later a conference was held in Stockholm to specifically raise funds for the reconstruction […]
Beslan 9/1/2004
From Barna: This is sad but not surprising. People have a tendency to seek God in times of trouble, when that crisis ends so does their searching. It will be interesting to know if this return to the status quo is indicative of furthering resistence to the gospel, or simply apathy.
___
As the United States nears […]
Stephen Swartz, a Muslim, has an good article explaining what he means by the term Islamofascism.
Islamofascism refers to use of the faith of Islam as a cover for totalitarian ideology. This radical phenomenon is embodied among Sunni Muslims today by such fundamentalists as the Saudi-financed Wahhabis, the Pakistani jihadists known as Jama’atis, and the Egyptian […]
Get ready folks, this world is headed for another world war … call it WW III or WW IV or GWOT or WOT or whatever, but we are now beyond the cusp of entry!
There is a point of no return, we’ve not reached it yet but will soon. In order to avoid passing it by, […]
Military historian Victor Davis Hanson presents and explains quite insightfully his list of new rules of war in light of the global war of Islamic terrorism.
1. Any death - enemy or friendly, accidental or deliberate, civilian or soldier - favors the terrorists.
2. All media coverage of fighting in the Middle East is ultimately hostile.
3. The […]
“Sophie’s World” author’s comments create storm of controversy in Norway
An article in a leading Norwegian newspaper last weekend lambasted Israel and Judaism and said Israel has lost its right to exist in its present form.
Entitled “God’s chosen people,” the article by author Jostein Gaarder in Aftenposten is raising a storm in Norway. Gaarder, […]
My friend Mark Coffey, at Decision ‘08, reports on a column by Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post. The Monday cease fire is labled an ‘unmitigated disaster’.
Mark quotes extensively from her column.
Donald Sensing, at One Hand Clapping, says Ehud Olmert’s days are numbered … .
The slapdash, haphazard and wholly indecisive way he has handled […]
Finally, President Bush called a spade a spade and called Al Qaeda and Radical Theocratic Islam what it really is - Islamic Fascism.
Fascism is the belief in a thoroughly authoritarian state that runs every aspect of life. Fascism is an extreme version of Statism. It purports that the path to the good society is allegiance to the […]
At some award’s ceremonies, for kid’s organized sports, you sometimes see every kid getting a certificate of some sort. This is done, presumably, in the interest of fairness and in the hopes of building self esteem in every child. Never mind that in just about any team, there are some members who excel and some […]
From the Daily Mail, Terrorists planned to strike within 48 hours.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson told reporters at New Scotland Yard that the plot was designed to cause “untold death and destruction”.
He added: “This was intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”
Imagine that. (HT: Townhall)
In Malkin peacenik style, the following…
Imagine […]
Jim Wallis defines terrorism as the following in his book God’s Politics:
“When you know your actions will kill innocent noncombatants that’s terrorism. And it must be clearly named as unacceptable — no matter who does it (individuals, groups or states), whatever the weapons, the expressed intentions, or political justifications. Deliberately taking the lives of innocent […]
The other day, while reading Bernard Lewis’ The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, I ran across a very interesting passage. Lewis credits Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), an Egyptian, as being a key figure in the development of radical Islamic attitudes. According to Lewis, he “became a leading idealogue of Muslim fundamentalism and an active […]
Two days ago at WashingtonPost.com, readers were asked, “Would Iraq be better off if it dissolved into three ethnic enclaves?” The responses are interesting, some quite well-informed. You might want to read the entries there.
A separate Kurdish entity would be easily established. In fact, with its recently-inaugurated advertising campaign for foreign investments, Iraqi Kurds already […]
