Auspundits

Lebanon: State of Terror or Consent?

Walid Phares is a man steeped with understanding of the political and military machinations of the Middle East and is originally from Lebanon. Therefore any strategic assessment he provides should be taken seriously.

About a week ago, Dr. Phares wrote a long post on the strategic implications of the completion of Hezb'allah's shadow fibre-optic network in Lebanon.

On The Next War

Thomas P.M. Barnett argues that Bob Gates has begun to shift the Department of Defense's thinking on force structure and the likely form of America's enemies in the coming century. In particular, Gates poo-poos "next-war-itis", the idea that the armed forces should be organised and equipped for the next war with a great power (take your pick: China, Russia &c) saying "it is hard to conceive of any country confronting the United States directly in conventional terms".

The Five Faces Of Darkness

Despite the setbacks that God has inflicted upon us, these painful blows will mark the beginning of the wiping out of America and the infidel West after the passing of tens of years, God willing. - Osama bin Laden, 17 December 2001

Conversion Of Non-Practicing Muslim

By Moose*

Why did the Pope bother to baptise an ex-Muslim this Easter ? Well, lets see:

Iraqi Jihadi Gets Some

Warning: Graphic. A different kind of splodydope.

Please Compare

Israeli's send a handful of their top soldiers deep into enemy territory to target and kill a handful of jihadists in the West Bank:

ISRAELI undercover forces have killed four Palestinian militants, including two high-ranking commanders, in a raid in the West Bank town of Bethlehem...

Compare this precise attack on militants based on intelligence with the flailing attacks of Palestinians/Arabs on Israeli civilians:

Funnily enough, one of the jihadis killed in the Israeli raid has the surname "Shahada" which translates from Arabic to English as "martyr". So now that the evil Jooooos "martyred" him, has he now got his 72 virgins? Or is he acquainting himself with, not the Big or Small, but Real Shaitan? Insha'allah.

Report Blasts Multi-Culti

A week ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested that the imposition of Shari'a law to some extent would be inevitable in Britain. Then a few days later, it was revealed that some European Christian leaders are suggesting that Lent should be rebadged as a "Christian Ramadan". In a response to this I suggested (as did Richard at The Belmont Club) that Nietzsche's Madman was right all along:

Where is God?", he cried. "I'll tell you! We have killed him, you and I, we are all his murders. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us a sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained this earth from the sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns maybe? Are we not perpetually falling backwards, sidewards and in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not more and more night coming on us all the time? Must not light lanterns be lit in the morning?

In a report delivered by the Royal United Services Institute, described as the "work of a panel of senior military commanders, diplomats, politicians and academics", it was argued that:

The United Kingdom presents itself as a target, as a fragmenting, post-Christian society, increasingly divided about interpretations of its history, about its national aims, its values and in its political identity.

Yon Reports: AQI Being Dealt Death Blow

Yon reports from Iraq that Al Qaeda in Iraq is under systematic attack in northern Iraq by Coalition troops in what posterity may consider its death knell:

Major operations against al Qaeda have begun in northern Iraq. Al Qaeda is in serious trouble. These are not ad hoc operations, but are deliberate, systematic, well-planned and working. I’ve been watching this unfold for months but have not reported due to sensitivity, but the real shooting has started and Maliki has announced it. There is every indication that this series of operations could be the death blow for al Qaeda in Iraq.

When The Surge's first dividends were being paid in the form of reduced violence, Yon was very cautious in pronouncing the tide in Iraq was turning. Given his Special Ops background and his circumspect analysis in the past, I would give his commentary high credibility. One front in this "War on Terror" is being clearly won. But poor leadership has blinded the West to the broader battle which is being arguably lost. Hence Guiliani's demise. What's the inversion of the old adage "Every cloud has a silver lining"?

Inflation or Terrorism: Which is Bigger Threat?

Kevin Rudd recently declared inflation public enemy #1 placing higher priority on it than the fight against Islamism. As a result, it should not surprise readers to learn that Kevin Rudd decided to send his razor gang after the air marshals protecting Australia's flying public. This comes just over a year after 24 people were arrested for their part in a plot to blow up several flights from the U.K. to the U.S. And only weeks after a threat to blow up the Eiffel Tower was picked up by Portuguese air traffic controllers. And for the record, I think Rudd's Razor Gang is a great idea in fiscal conservatism, if indeed it is not just a political ploy.

Bad News: U.K. Labor Bans Use of "Jihadist"

Here. And it's no longer the "War on Terror". And an aggressive drive has now commenced clamping down on websites that foment hatred. How's that for Big Government redefining reality?

H/T: Instapundit who thinks this an "interesting approach".