tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post116838822966460430..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Observanda: Islam - The Intolerant TruthDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168420489056884172007-01-10T04:14:00.001-05:002007-01-10T04:14:00.001-05:00I don’t know that anyone was thinking that we migh...I don’t know that anyone was thinking that we might have to watch Muslim-on-Muslim violence play out in our own home towns, as <A HREF="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070109/NEWS01/701090400/1003/NEWS01" REL="nofollow">this story in Detroit</A> indicates.<BR/><BR/>Late Saturday night, 12 Muslim businesses and mosques were vandalized, with 11 of the 12 belonging to members of the Detroit Shi’a population. None of the targeted buildings were owned by Irai-American Christians or members of the Lebanese community. It is suspected that the atacks were in retaliation to the celebrations seen in the streets at the news of Saddam Hussein’s execution. <BR/><BR/>While so far there have been no Shi’a reprisal attacks on Sunni businesses and mosques, it is a realistic fear among Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The potential for more deadly attacks certainly exists if such tension escalates.<BR/><A HREF="http://rapidrecon.threatswatch.org/2007/01/main-street-fallujah/" REL="nofollow">main-street-fallujah/</A>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168420464326058792007-01-10T04:14:00.000-05:002007-01-10T04:14:00.000-05:00Charles Linked this Video at BC ...but the corrupt...<A HREF="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4094926727128068265&q=roy+beck&hl=en" REL="nofollow"> Charles Linked this Video at BC </A><BR/>...but the corrupt politicians in DC are followed by the ignorant/compliant sheep.<BR/>---<BR/><A HREF="http://www.numbersusa.org/" REL="nofollow"> Numbers USA </A>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168417771071075042007-01-10T03:29:00.000-05:002007-01-10T03:29:00.000-05:00>elijahwesthawk's article a few days ago:Any crude...<B>>elijah</B><BR/><BR/><B>westhawk</B>'s article a few days ago:<BR/><BR/><I>Any crude oil price multiplied by zero exports still equals zero. A low price would inflict financial pain on Iran sooner, but the end result will be the same in either case. But a high price will reduce U.S. dependence on foreign imports, improving U.S. strategic flexibility.</I><BR/><BR/>The price of oil matters not; what does matter is that Iran's economy is going to hell and they can't do anything about it (except maybe speed it up).<BR/><BR/>Iraq was once the counterweight to Iranian hegemony; once the former was removed, the latter's threat became more visible. I wonder, does anyone see the Iranians as a countervailing force against the Saudis and their Wahhabist ideology? If Iran's nuclear capabilities are neutralised (and they so clearly should), does anyone here believe that we will witness the unprecedented exporting of Wahhabism throughout the Middle East?<BR/><BR/>Just a cursory glance at Pakistan and you'll see what I mean when I state that the Saudis could be doing a whole lot more to make life more sufferable in the Middle East.Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17688001023588334672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168406419085797452007-01-10T00:20:00.000-05:002007-01-10T00:20:00.000-05:00Destabilization of Iran and cheap gas on the horiz...Destabilization of Iran and cheap gas on the horizon? Two separate but connected articles? <BR/><BR/>Financial times:<BR/>Yet for all the political furor, oil markets on Tuesday shrugged off the latest geopolitical threat to supply, focusing instead on the warm US winter and strong inventories. At one point the price of oil hit an 18-month low point, dipping below $54 in New York, although it later recovered most of its losses.<BR/><BR/>The political row in Belarus – and Venezuela’s announcement of plans to take state control of its heavy oil projects – did little to deflect the downward trend in the price. The price of oil has fallen by more than 10 per cent since the start of the year and yesterday Mustafa Mohatarem, chief economist of General Motors, forecast it would fall below $50 this year. West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in February fell to an intra-day low of $53.88 a barrel before recovering. Brent crude fell to an intra-day low of $53.64 a barrel before climbing back.<BR/><BR/>David Kirsch, manager of the markets intelligence service for PFC Energy, said the weak trend was likely to continue, with oil prices likely to test $50 a barrel. “I don’t see any positive news in the next week or so that is likely to lift prices,” he said.<BR/><BR/>The Business:<BR/>As the Saudis look to Pakistan for nuclear insurance against Iran, so they are also contemplating deploying the oil weapon against their regional rival. Obaid claimed that Saudi Arabia could afford to cut the price of oil in half, a move that would bankrupt Iran. In 2005 the Saudis initiated a $50bn scheme designed to increase their oil production by 1.5m barrels per day and give Riyadh more leverage over prices. Iran has nothing like the same clout: its oil industry has weakened considerably. Iran is currently producing 5% less than its OPEC quota because of technical difficulties; the oil minister has warned that without substantial investment, production will collapse by 13% a year. Yet, because of the difficulties of attracting foreign investment and expertise to Iran, it is hard to see where the money would come from, especially since Tehran has little cash in its own coffers.<BR/><BR/>All this accentuates the strategic logic of Saudi Arabia purchasing the bomb. At a stroke, the Saudis would have undercut the nationalist and religious appeal of Iran’s bomb. They would also be challenging Tehran to an arms race in which it could not afford to compete. But a Middle East with a nuclear Iran and Saudi Arabia vying for supremacy would be an intolerably dangerous and unstable place, especially when the Israeli dimension is added. The old cold-war nuclear certainties of deterrence and mutually-assured destruction are less than reassuring in a region where ancient hatreds and religious fervour are so strong. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad, let us note, prayed openly for the apocalypse at the UN General Assembly. <BR/><BR/>Just my view...any thoughts?<BR/> Recent proclamations by Israel about nuclear attacks on Iranian sites deters Chinese, Indian, and Russian investment in Iran. This is already occuring. Iranian oil and gasoline infrastructure would be the initial target of attacks. Counterattack by Iran would then be followed by attacks on their nuclear sites.Elijahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09180395617090150228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168399560891899532007-01-09T22:26:00.000-05:002007-01-09T22:26:00.000-05:00", perhaps the reason it appears that we may have ...", perhaps the reason it appears that we may have "graduated from the Michael Ledeen School of Middle East Diplomacy" is because we - like Dr. Ledeen - recognize that since the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran's leadership has been at war with the United States (among others). There's neither much diplomacy in their constant offensive in all its forms, nor much diplomacy in the solution that will bring it to an end. This is not to be confused with a call for a ground invasion.<BR/><BR/>But rather, imagine if the United States put the full weight of its economic might behind the opposition groups within Iran and their dissidents scattered throughout Europe and North America.<BR/><BR/>How different would the face of this epic conflict be if the mullah regime were overthrown from within and the jihadiyun's chief state sponsor of their terrorist activities no longer in the business of exporting arms, expert trainers, operatives and cash?<BR/><BR/>All analysis - be it of Iraq, Somalia or nearly any other theater - finds paths back to the mullahcracy in Tehran, the epicenter of terrorism."<BR/>Steve Schippert - Threatswatch.orgDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-1168397819589917892007-01-09T21:56:00.000-05:002007-01-09T21:56:00.000-05:00Bravest Advice: BEFORE President Bush had tomorrow...<A HREF="http://www.nypost.com/seven/01092007/news/columnists/bravest_advice_columnists_steve_dunleavy.htm" REL="nofollow"> <STRONG>Bravest Advice</STRONG>: </A><BR/>BEFORE President Bush had tomorrow night's speech about Iraq crafted, it might have helped a bunch to listen to Danny Swift.<BR/>Danny is no politician - just a New York City firefighter who had the living daylights blown out of him before losing two comrades, including Chris Engledrum, and saving two others outside Baghdad on Nov 29, 2004.<BR/><BR/>"I hope there is a change in strategy, a big, big change in strategy," said Danny, who has been back at Ladder 43's firehouse for 10 months after recovering from shrapnel wounds.<BR/>"For a start, let's forget cut and run - but also let's have the best military in the world allowed to perform like the best military in the world," he told me yesterday.<BR/><BR/>"Twenty-thousand ex- tra troops won't make a dent under the disheveled and disorganized practice of the rules of engagement, which are a joke. There are seven different levels you have to think through before you can fire your weapon - and that's under battlefield conditions.<BR/><BR/>"Our military can't fire their weapons on the enemy. We virtually can only return fire when we see someone shooting at us, and that may be too late. That's not how you fight a war."<BR/><BR/>Danny was in a Humvee in Taji that day with fellow firefighter Engledrum when one of those dreaded roadside bombs blew his contingent sky high.<BR/>When Swift regained consciousness, blinded in one eye, he went to Engledrum's side.<BR/>"Sadly, Chris was gone and so was rifleman Willie Urbina," Danny recalled.<BR/>But Danny, an Army medic, was credited with saving the lives of Felix Vargas and Ritchie Cornier.<BR/><BR/>"Change of strategy? <BR/>People have to realize that the Iraqis, on any side after thousands of years of violence, only respect the guy with the biggest gun," Danny was saying.<BR/>"Wouldn't it be nice if we really went into Sadr City and cleaned it out. Then those guys in there would be saying to themselves, 'These guys mean business.'<BR/><BR/>"Trouble is a lot of our guys can't really give it everything they got even though they want to because they're worried about ending up in Leavenworth.<BR/>"You have to let the military do their job."<BR/><BR/>Are you listening, President Bush?<BR/>steve.dunleavy@nypost.comDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.com