This is the headline of an article featuring the interview, by David Horovitz of the Jerusalem Post, with IAF’s Major-General Eliezer Shkedy. It seems the Israelis understand the concept of keeping their islamofascist enemies in the dark about just exactly how they protect Israeli citizens.
This stands in stark contrast to how the editors at the New York Times and the L.A. Times behaved when they brazenly decided to reveal details of an effective and ongoing counter-terrorism operation.
“I’d love to tell Israelis how we protect them, but then the enemy would adapt”
A long-scheduled interview with Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Eliezer Shkedy, timed for the IAF’s annual “Air Force Day,” happened to coincide with this week’s “Operation Summer Rains” offensive in Gaza, launched after the killing of two soldiers and the capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit near Kerem Shalom.
Seated behind a completely clear desk in his office in the “Kiriya” military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Shkedy, who was appointed to his position two years ago, radiates a palpable sense of calm and reassurance, even when discussing the most acute challenges facing the IAF. During the more than an hour he spent with The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, the Gaza offensive was developing, and his pilots had hours earlier targeted bridges and power installations in the Strip. Yet he was entirely unruffled throughout, and at no point interrupted our conversation to hear an update of external events.
It’s a long article, you can read it here.
Posted on:
June 30, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Counter Terrorism, Israel - Palestine, Media Bias . •
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The current political climate surrounding the war in Iraq can be summed up in one striking cartoon from Cox & Forkum:
Posted on:
June 23, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Bill Keller, Editor, New York Times
Today the New York Times once again blew the lid off a classified intelligence program designed to protect the lives of my family, friends and Americans across the country. Another arrogant decision by the Times editor, Bill Keller, to put the safety of the nation at risk in order to sell more newspapers.
He says his decision was motivated by the public interest.
I’d like to think that the public interest is more important in terms of knowing the government is doing everything it can to protect its citizens, rather than how a self-righteous newspaper editor views the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism programs. This is simply outrageous!
Bank Data Secretly Reviewed by U.S. to Fight Terror
WASHINGTON, June 22 - Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.
Here’s a clue, from the NSA wiretapping playbook, of things to come:
The program, however, is a significant departure from typical practice in how the government acquires Americans’ financial records. Treasury officials did not seek individual court-approved warrants or subpoenas to examine specific transactions, instead relying on broad administrative subpoenas for millions of records from the cooperative, known as Swift.
And yet, another example of the Clintonite war against the Bush administration:
Nearly 20 current and former government officials and industry executives discussed aspects of the Swift operation with The New York Times on condition of anonymity because the program remains classified. Some of those officials expressed reservations about the program, saying that what they viewed as an urgent, temporary measure had become permanent nearly five years later without specific Congressional approval or formal authorization.
Like the NSA wiretap program, the Swift program is effective:
Among the successes was the capture of a Qaeda operative, Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, believed to be the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of a Bali resort, several officials said. The Swift data identified a previously unknown figure in Southeast Asia who had financial dealings with a person suspected of being a member of Al Qaeda; that link helped locate Hambali in Thailand in 2003, they said.
In the United States, the program has provided financial data in investigations into possible domestic terrorist cells as well as inquiries of Islamic charities with suspected of having links to extremists, the officials said.
The data also helped identify a Brooklyn man who was convicted on terrorism-related charges last year, the officials said. The man, Uzair Paracha, who worked at a New York import business, aided a Qaeda operative in Pakistan by agreeing to launder $200,000 through a Karachi bank, prosecutors said.
Quasi-Round-Up:
Powerline Blog is has some good commentary on the story.
Hugh Hewitt is trying to arrange an interview with Bill Keller.
Dennis over at Counterterrorism Blog has more:
U.S. Government Terrorist Financing Initiative Involving SWIFT.
LGF thinks The Media Are the Enemy (and they’re right.)
Hot Air has posted the video of Tony Snow on NYT’s bank-surveillance expose.
Michelle Malkin:
NY Times Blabbermouth’s Strike Again.
Pajamas Media has a well-rounded, Round Up.
Posted on:
June 23, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Counter Terrorism, Media Bias . •
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Frontpage Magazine has a good article, by Peter Collier and David Horowitz, outlining what they percieve as the Democrats' position on Iraq and the greater war on terror:
As the fall elections approach, the Democrats have formally unveiled their platform for the war in Iraq: snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
At the very moment that documents captured from the Zarqawi death site indicate that Al Qaeda feels it is losing its war against the Iraqi future and has become so desperate that its only hope to prevail is by embroiling the U.S. in war with Iran; at the very moment Iraq’s democratically elected government is establishing itself as a functioning regime, and its increasingly capable military becomes more successfully engaged against the insurgents —at this critical moment for the future of Iraq and the Middle East, more than three quarters of the House Democrats have voted against a resolution to “complete the mission.”
For the first time in American history, a major political party wants America to run from a war we are winning.
Read the whole story: The Party of Retreat and Defeat.
Posted on:
June 19, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Time Magazine's, Andrew Sullivan, published the story, on his blog a few days ago, of a U.S. Marine allegedly singing a song about the killing of two young Iraqi girls. His story fed into the firestorm against the Marine, Cpl. Joshua Belile. The problem was Sullivan had grossly misinterpreted the song lyrics.
From Sullivan's blog:
This is another case where the media quickly moves to condemn the men and women fighting in Iraq without properly vetting facts, and without providing proper context of the story to the public.
Michelle Malkin has a good roundup as always.
Posted on:
June 18, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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From Telegraph (UK):
The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the inspiration of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has broken a three-year silence to back the United States military to overthrow the country's clerical regime.
Hossein Khomeini's call is all the more startling as he made it from Qom, the spiritual home of Iran's Shia strand of Islam, during an interview to mark the 17th anniversary of the ayatollah's death.
"My grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course," he told Al-Arabiya, an Arabic-language television station. "I lived through the revolution and it called for freedom and democracy - but it has persecuted its leaders."
He also made clear his opposition to Teheran's alleged development of a secret nuclear weapons programme. "Iran will gain real power if freedom and democracy develop there," he said. "Strength will not be obtained through weapons and the bomb."
Very interesting article indeed. Read it enitrely.
Posted on:
June 18, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Another move straight out of the Vietnam playbook…
In this AP article its author, Carolyn Thompson, writes about Canada’s open door policy toward AWOL U.S. soldiers who are referred to as “war resistors”. However, Thompson casually touches on the fact that the Canadian government is denying political asylum to U.S. soldiers seeking it.
A group of American military deserters publicly embraced their new lives in Canada on Saturday with the support of “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan, who said she wished the son she lost in Iraq was among them.
“I begged him not to go to Iraq,” the anti-war activist said through tears at a rally in support of the former soldiers, who wore black T- shirts emblazoned with “AWOL.” “And I wish he was standing up here with these people because he didn’t want to go.”
There’s a hint of sarcasm in the title of this post because I’m certain that not all Canadians support the idea of deserting U.S. troops clamoring [sarcasm again] into the country.
Posted on:
June 18, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
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In an article by the Journal Gazette, Congressman John Murtha is quoted as saying:
“We’ve become the enemy. We’ve given a microphone to people like Zarqawi,” said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. “We support the troops. It’s the policy we don’t support.”
Congressman Murtha, is absolutely correct. Him, his party and its media allies have become the enemy. America is fighting two wars, one against a world-wide Jihad. This war is not some neo conservative fantasy as many of your colleagues insist it is. It’s real and it started shortly after America’s flight from Somalia in the early 90’s. Remember that?
The second war is being waged by the Democratic party and its willing media stooges against American resolve and morale. Your party’s formula for winning back control of the House and Senate is: military defeat in Iraq (or Afghanistan) equals Democratic party victory in both upcoming elections. To many American’s like me your party’s attempts to politicize this war are blatant and obvious.
The fact is, by and large, the troops in Iraq are doing an outstanding job and every success means one less chance of your party gaining back the House and Senate this November.
I’m going to summarize the highlights of the Democratic party’s war on America below. I just need time to sort through the hundreds of precious quotes made by members of our very own domestic enemy, the Democratic party. And pick the best ones.
If anyone wants to contribute, leave a comment and a link to your blog. I’ll gladly add it here.
Posted on:
June 17, 2006 , by
newyank • Trackback
Filed in:
Domestic Politics, Iraqi Freedom . •
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