South Korea: Brawl Over Speaker’s Chair
Democracy in Action
South Korean lawmakers start a brawl over the Speaker’s Chair.
Too bad our own Congressman and Senators don’t engage in this kind of activity every once in a while…
National Intelligence Estimate Reflects Positively on the Bush Administration
National Intelligence Estimate Says Iran Stopped Pursuing Nuclear Weapons in 2003
The President’s critics and the Left are spinning this report as evidence the Bush administration is a neo-con war machine. Yes, the President will likely have to soften his position on Iran or at least use this as an opportunity to gain some “breathing room.” But IMHO, the NIE report reflects positively on the President.
Here’s why:
Instead of keeping the NIE under wraps the President released the report.
In 2003, the President commenced with the invasion of Iraq. It is no coincidence that Iran stopped pursuing WMD at that time. This bolsters the idea that striking in the heart of the middle east was the strategically correct move to make after liberating Afghanistan.
The NIE’s revelations kind of make Hillary Clinton look stupid after telling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in February 2007:
“U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons,” the Democrat told a crowd of Israel supporters. “In dealing with this threat … no option can be taken off the table.”
And calling Iran…
“a danger to the United States and one of Israel's greatest threats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with that nation.”
The NIE shows just how incompetent our intelligence community can be. And therefore puts a damper on the Left’s accusation that the President lied in order to garner support for OIF. Instead he was forced to rely on faulty intelligence supplied by the very same agencies that author the NIE’s.
At the very least it shows the extent to which the intelligence community is willing to go to cover-their-own-butts (“CYA”).
Former NYC Mayor, Ed Koch: Bush Should Deliver Ultimatum to Arab Allies
Ed Koch, Democrat and former mayor of New York City has it about right in his take on recent mid east geopolitics.
From World Tribune:
The Israel-Palestine peace meeting in Annapolis, Maryland was a success in at least one respect. It brought together every Arab state involved, including Saudi Arabia and Syria.
According to many Middle East experts, the coming together of Arab nations at the request of President Bush indicates that Arabs are in such fear of Iran and its efforts to dominate the region that they are willing to cooperate with the United States more than ever before.
And this…
In a New York Times op-ed article, author Michael B. Oren writes: “…participants in the conference were above all motivated by their fear of a radical and relentlessly aggressive Iran.” He went on to point to “the success of the Iranian proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the expansion of Iranian influence westward into the Iraqi vacuum.”
That analysis reinforces my belief that the United States could get these same Arab states to recognize that they must help us in Iraq or suffer the consequences of an ultimate Iranian victory when we leave. “Helping us” means sending troops, spending money and apprehending and deterring terrorists in their countries who are seeking jihad – holy war – against the U.S. in Iraq and elsewhere. The U.S. has refused to make the threat of leaving Iraq dependent on the offers of help from these Arab countries in the region who have more to lose than we do by our withdrawal of military forces from Iraq. This is the moment for President Bush to deliver such an ultimatum to our Arab regional allies.
I agree with this idea so long as a threat to withdraw troops is predicated on the basis of achieving victory in Iraq, not defeat. Which is what the Democrats and their handlers on the Left advocate.
Read the rest: Guess who’s afraid of Iran?
Hugo Chavez: Loses Constitutional Vote
From AP via Breitbart.com:
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Humbled by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez said Monday he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.
“I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense,” he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51 percent to 49 percent.
Another quasi-democracy saved… For now. Oh yeah: Don’t buy gas from this Ass.
Chavez Threatens to Cut Off Oil to U.S.
The absolute arrogance of some of the OPEC member countries; Chavez in particular. At the moment they are awash in cash and seem to be under the illusion that its going to last. I say, go ahead, cut oil sales to the U.S. It’ll hurt Venezuela more than it’ll hurt us. A true free-market society will always outperform and outlive a socialist one.
CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) — President Hugo Chavez on Friday wrapped up his campaign to push through broad constitutional changes with a broadside attack against adversaries at home and abroad — including a threat to cut off oil exports to the United States.
Chavez told a crowd gathered in the center of Caracas that if the referendum was approved and the result was questioned — “if the ‘yes’ vote wins on Sunday and the Venezuelan oligarchy, playing the [U.S.] empire’s game, comes with their little stories of fraud” — then he would order oil shipments to the United States halted Monday.
Chavez spoke after tens of thousands, brought on buses from throughout the country, marched down the capital’s principal boulevard to rally support for Sunday’s referendum, which would free Chavez from term-limit restrictions and move the country toward institutionalized socialism.
Read the rest: Chavez threatens to cut oil if U.S. questions vote.
Fraud, Intimidation and Bribery
This is part of a headline from an article appearing on Guardian’s web site:
Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory
State workers forced to vote in effort to rig result for president.
The Kremlin is planning to rig the results of Russia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday by forcing millions of public sector workers across the country to vote, the Guardian has learned.
Local administration officials have called in thousands of staff on their day off in an attempt to engineer a massive and inflated victory for President Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party. Voters are being pressured to vote for United Russia or risk losing their jobs, their accommodation or bonuses, the Guardian has been told in numerous interviews with byudzhetniki (public sector workers), students and ordinary citizens.
Doctors, teachers, university deans, students and even workers at psychiatric clinics have been warned they have to vote. Failure to do so will entail serious consequences, they have been told.
However, I thought the headline should have read:
Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin Hillary Clinton prepares for victory…
Read more: Fraud, intimidation and bribery as Putin prepares for victory.
Staff Sergeant Fights for Return of Her U.S. Children From Italian Custody
Just posted on FOX NEWS:
A U.S. Air Force staff sergeant stationed in Italy is fighting to regain custody of her two children from Italian authorities after an official removed them from her home while she was on a military training mission.
A judge held off transferring custody of Leighlora Wylie, 7, and Lillian Ann Wylie, 5, from Italian social services to an American foster family earlier this month as authorities in northern Italy investigate their mother, 30-year-old Kris Wylie, on charges of maltreatment and abandonment, and Wylie’s Italian fiance on charges of child abuse.
Under NATO agreement, Italian officials have the primary right of jurisdiction for offenses that take place in Italy. The Italians must follow the best interests of the child under the United National Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Wylie and her Italian lawyer, Francesco Furlan, say the charges are unfounded.
The children were removed from the fiance’s custody last month while Wylie was out of the country on a training mission with the 31st Fighter Wing, which is based in Aviano, Italy. Wylie’s fiance had power of attorney over the girls, and a second family on the base was also given custody rights. Police removed the girls from the couple’s off-base home while letting the fiance’s 7-year-old son from a previous relationship remain there.
“We shouldn’t forget that these two girls have an American passport,” Furlan told FOXNews.com. “They cannot take the girls and take them to a secret location without informing the Embassy in Roma or the base commander in Aviano.”
Officials took custody of the girls in October.
A neighbor called Italian police in mid-August to report that the fiance was beating Wylie’s children. The girls were examined at a local hospital, Italian and American authorities investigated, and Italian police told Wylie and her fiance that they didn’t think there was a problem, Wylie said.
“All the investigations led to nothing,” Furlan said. “We have the official paper from the Aviano Base command saying there is absolutely, absolutely no case of child abuse.”
But on Oct. 13, a police official in Pordenone, Italy, took the girls away while Wylie was on a mission abroad. On Oct. 17, Wylie was formally charged with maltreatment and abandonment, and her fiance was charged with three counts of child abuse.
“She’s on a military mission here in Italy; her status is regulated by the North Atlantic Treaty,” Furlan said. “I would say you know that because the local DA says that she’s not a suitable mother because she abandons the girls quite often. I mean, of course. She’s in the military. She’s sent on missions or training in the States or whatever, they cannot interfere about this.”
Hmmm… I hope the situation is resolved in the best interest of the children and their mother as quickly as possible.
Read more: Air Force Staff Sergeant Fights for Return of Her U.S. Daughters From Italian Custody.
To Arash Kamangir: Apology Accepted
Arash Kamangir apologizes on behalf of ordinary Iranian citizens because of protesters celebrating the 28th anniversary of the takeover of U.S. Embassy in Tehran. (Story on Fox News.)
Apology accepted.
To hell with Ahmadinejad and his fascist regime.
