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January 07, 2005



Globalization, PM-CSL-Jolly Roger, China, Oil, Pipeline, Sinopec-Husky, Rigzone News, Outsourcing

Today, there are several compilations both on News Junkie Canada and on Frost Hits the Rhubarb. I believe much of this information is important. It would behoove people to read carefully.





Jolly Roger better flag for Canada Steamship Lines

Formerly, CSL was owned by Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin; it is now owned his sons. A "must read" article.


Jolly Roger better flag for Canada Steamship Lines Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com, Jan. 5, 05

On land, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has proven himself to be an artful dodger whenever the $100 million in government kickbacks to Liberal-friendly communication agencies is on the discussion table.

At sea, Martin, through the company he founded, has been something of a latter day pirate.

Canada Steamship Lines may have been turned over to Martin’s sons last year, but . . . .





Not ready for primetime -- China on the world stage -- "Significant response quickly loses luster"

Not ready for primetime -- "Significant response quickly loses luster" Jan. 4, 05, Jim Yardley, NY Times

BEIJING China's new and growing influence in Asia, which some analysts say has come at the expense of the United States, is showing its limits as the aspiring superpower plays an active but secondary role in responding to the tsunami disaster. [. . . . ]

The Chinese response is significant by even the recent standards of its inward-looking history. But it is also a reminder that the world's most populous country is far from being the dominant power in Asia.

Last weekend, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced that China would donate more than $62 million, one of its largest ever pledges of international relief aid. But that figure was quickly eclipsed when the United States increased its pledge to $350 million and Japan followed with a $500 million donation.

[. . . . ] Meanwhile, China has increased its donations to nations like Vietnam, Indonesia and Burma as part of its effort to raise its profile in the region. China is also believed to donate tens of millions of dollars in annual aid to help prop up its ally and neighbor, North Korea. [. . . . ]



Perhaps China has other uses for its surplus cash? Follow the money and the global networks.

Who Forgot China? or the original article Tom Donnelly, Dec. 30, 04

Beijing Bear Hug -- the way things are shaping up -- a "must read" or or the original article Peter Brooks, a Heritage Foundation senior fellow, Jan. 3, 04.

There is more information on Korea which is of crucial import, if it is true. Check later or look up IAEA reports out of Vienna on nuclear news.





YUKOS to supply oil to China in January

YUKOS to supply oil to China in January Dec. 23, 04

YUKOS has announced its intention to supply 280,000 tons oil to China in January, Russian Railways Vice President Salman Babayev told journalists. According to him, LUKoil plans to supply 240,000 tons to the region. Sibneft will transport 30,000 tons more.

As for the transportation of Russian oil to China in 2005, Russian Railways President Gennady Fadeyev announced that about 10m tons of oil would be supplied, as the Chinese railway infrastructure cannot make the transportation of larger amount of oil possible. Therefore, oil supplies to China will be boosted to 30m tons by 2007-08.

Industry watchers say that China is interested in stable oil supplies from Russia. China has always been acquiring Russian oil assets. Chinese companies wanted to take part in the auction of Slavneft, but they abandoned this idea later. Some experts say that they were granted guarantees of the stability of railroad oil supplies and the construction of a pipeline linking Russia to China instead.

Vice President of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Zhou Jiping met Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller on December 7, 2004, to discuss Russia’s oil supplies on the Chinese market and Gazprom’s market expansion.
[. . . . ]






BP pressures Ottawa to take action on pipeline

BP pressures Ottawa to take action on pipeline Kate MacNamara, Financial Post, January 5, 2005

CALGARY - Proponents of the Alaska Highway Pipeline Project are stepping up pressure on Ottawa to strip Calgary-based pipeline builder, TransCanada Corp., of its claimed right to construct the bulk of the US$20-billion natural gas line.

[. . . . ] BP Canada spearheads the Canadian lobbying effort for Alaska gas producers planning the massive project: BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips Co.


Working together with a second pipe builder, Enbridge Inc., BP is trying to convince Ottawa to lay out a new regulatory process for assessing the portion of the line (two-thirds of the total) that would pass through Canada.

[. . . . ] An act of Parliament, dating back to the 1970s, gives TransCanada the right to build the Canadian portion of the proposed gas line, and already lays out a regulatory process to follow.

"If Ottawa were to set out a new regulatory process, it would basically be saying, 'We aren't going to recognize TransCanada's rights as they exist under the [Northern Pipeline Act],' " said another source close to matter.
[. . . . ]


Check the networks associated with each group and you will know the answer -- IMHO.





Sinopec in Talks to Buy Controlling Husky Stake

Sinopec in Talks to Buy Controlling Husky Stake Rigzone.com, Nov. 30, 04


China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec, the biggest oil refiner in China, is in talks with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK) and its controlling shareholder Li Ka-shing to buy all or part of their controlling stake in Canada's Husky Energy Inc. (HSE.T), reports the South China Morning Post, quoting a Sinopec source.

An acquisition wouldn't only give Sinopec access to Husky's oil and natural gas reserves, but could provide the access that Sinopec has been seeking into Alberta province's massive Athabasca oil sands. [. . . . ]






China bids for Canadian oil giant from tycoon Li Ka-Shing

China bids for Canadian oil giant from tycoon Li Nov. 27, 04

[. . . . ] The Globe and Mail newspaper said in a front page report that Beijing wants to buy the Calgary-based firm through one of its state-owned energy companies PetroChina, as it tries to fuel its booming economy.

[. . . . ] Husky is Canada's fourth largest oil and gas concern, and is the operator of the new White Rose offshore exploitation project off the coast of eastern Newfoundland.


Note: Newfoundland is mentioned. There are articles by Licia Corbella on Newfoundland and oil, Paul Martin and the flag flap in the Calgary Sun. Eventually, I'll post the links.

[. . . . ] A delegation of Chinese experts visited the western province of Alberta, the epicentre, of the Canadian oil and gas industry earlier this year to visit firms, including Husky, involved in extracting bitumen which can be used in asphalt and other compounds.

China's foreign minister Li Zhaoxing earlier this year encouraged Chinese state firms to seek investments in Canada, especially in the resources and exploratory sectors. [. . . . ]






Rigzone: Singapore Management University -- "SMU launches new school of Information Systems Management" -- "SMU receives S$19.5 million from Li Ka Shing"

Note that this was reported in Rigzone, news of the oil/gas rig zone.


SMU launches new school of Information Systems Management -- and SMU receives S$19.5 million from Li Ka Shing

Singapore Management University (SMU) in November announced the formation of its fourth school, the School of Information Systems Management (SISM). The new school will specialise in information technology (IT) as well as business management, and will be the first in Singapore to offer a bachelor degree in these combined disciplines. The school has been set up in response to the changing needs of the region’s digital economy.

[. . . . ] The industry and government Focus Groups advising SMU on the SISM curriculum have indicated that these changing human resource requirements will demand diverse IT-business management and thinking skills. They clearly identified a need for increased problem solving ability, integration skills, regional and global knowledge, self-reliance and innovation. [. . . . ]




SMU receives S$19.5 million from Li Ka Shing

Record donation . . . . Dr Li Ka Shing . . . . has donated a significant $19.5 million to SMU. The donation, made through the Li Ka Shing Foundation and his Hutchison Whampoa Group, . . . marks an unprecedented move of collaboration between SMU and Hong Kong & Mainland China.

[. . . . ] The other S$4.5 million will support up to eight endowed scholarships a year
for undergraduates from the Asian region, particularly from Hong Kong and mainland China . . .

[. . . . SMU] serving as the gateway to a vast resource of information, whilst the scholarships will foster intellectual excellence and attract the finest students to SMU as students prepare for success in the global business environment through a better understanding of their neighbours and building of partnerships with regional and international players. [. . . . ]


Do you suppose there was more afoot than a "gift" from Li Ka-Shing? What else is planned with China? China has long term plans and so does Li Ka-Shing.

Think of the outsourcing of North American companies, of China involved in buying in North American industries through various avenues, who benefits? Who will get the jobs? Why have so many Chinese come to Canada to university, particularly to the computer science faculties/departments and to "learn English"? Why do you suppose there has been such a push to bring Chinese immigrants to Canada that even Frank McKenna, soon to be Ambassador to the US, has suggested the Maritimes need more Chinese immigration. Why would he suggest this? What are his networks? Who would benefit?

Is China going to pay the salaries and provide similar benefits to workers in China or in Southeast Asia as are provided in the West? It is not and won't be for a long time.

And you will lose your jobs to outsourcing to China and your resources and resource industries will be taken over by an authoritarian regime and its middlemen. Canada's Prime Minister, other MPs and Ministers, et cetera will facilitate this and your jobs moving abroad.

Who benefits?





Outsourcing: Time Magazine -- another perspective

Outsourcing: Time Magazine -- another perspective Time, Jyoti Thottam, (With reporting by Barbara Kiviat/New York, Sara Rajan/New Delhi, Cathy Booth Thomas/Dallas and Karen Tumulty/Washington ) Feb. 23, 04

As the debate about exporting work from America dominates the presidential campaign, voters need to separate myth from reality. A TIME guide to how we got here—and why short-term pain might translate into long-term gain.

[. . . . ] Sharma's Indian-American team, tethered by a broadband connection, gets his product in front of customers faster and cheaper. "As a business, you have to stay competitive," he says. "If we don't do it, our competitors will, and they're going to blow us away."

But Sharma's sharp analysis loses its edge when he thinks about what decisions like his will mean someday for his children, a 2-year-old daughter and another on the way.
"As a father, my reaction is different than my reaction as a CEO," he says.
[. . . . ]
[. . . . ]

Subheadings:

* FROM MEXICO TO INDIA: HOW DID WE GET THERE? . . . .
* WHY SO FAST? . . . .
* GETTING LEFT BEHIND . . . .
* WHOM WILL OUTSOURCING AFFECT NEXT? . . . .
* CAN AMERICANS LEARN TO LOVE OUTSOURCING? . . . .
* SHOULD OUTSOURCING BE CONTROLLED? . . . .


It may make economic sense--for those who make money for it and maybe even long term--but I still don't care. I care about family, neighbours, community, country and I know of a lot of "short term" pain which has not resulted in "long term" gain -- but then, I do not have the perspective of a businessman nor of those politicians and their hangers on of whom I have written for the last while. I would rather take less if the result would be that almost all Canadians could work and earn enough to support families and a decent life. Now, you know why I am not in business.

Does anyone have any solutions that do not result in the degree of unemployment, underemployment and despondency we see around us? Are we insufficiently entrepreneurial? Have we become unable to help ourselves? Has government done us a great disservice by acting as though all must be done through government? My assessment of that last one is that it helps only those who travel on the governing party's coattails--after the favoured few get all they can handle.




PicoSearch


Al Jazeera's Whodunit, Aid Tsunami-The West-The Gulf States, Charity Racket, Body Snatchers

Al-Jazeera's tsunami conspiracy theories

Al-Jazeera a news channel? Please, be serious. Some people petitioned the CRTC as a channel to bring this ***** to Canada -- and the CRTC did not bar it.


Al-Jazeera's tsunami conspiracy theories -- Arab news service reports chatter about plots, India-Israel nuke test implicated

Everyone knows a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered the massive tsunamis that have killed more than 150,000 in South Asia, right?

Wrong, reports Al-Jazeera, the popular Arab news service.


Some think the U.S. and Indian militaries deliberately caused the tsunamis with electromagnetic pulse technology. [. . . . ]


You have to read it. I think I have mentioned before that memorizing the Koran and regurgitating it is not exactly a broad education; yet, that is what passes for education in too many schools in the Muslim world. What is most worrying is that this "education" results in people so ignorant they believe this kind of thing.

Attempting to implicate Israel and India? Ridiculous!




Bud Talkinghorn: The UN badmouths US aid for tsunami victims

Here is an organization that did practially nothing while 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in a few weeks. Their response in Darfur will also go down in the annals of imfamy. And this is with an African at the heln of the organization. Now they feel free to criticize America's response. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. When it is all over the U.S. as a country and individuals will have given more than all the thug nations combined. Algeria is "promising" some miniscule amount to their Muslim brethern in Indonesia. There should be a debt collection agency to hound these nations, as they rarely actually come through with the money promised. But they are very active when it comes to disparaging the Western nations that actually pony up. I'm sure that the Middle Eastern countries have developed a theory that the Israelis caused the tsunami to kill Muslims in Indonesia. With the help of their American puppets no doubt. In reality, only countries like Australia and America would aid a country that passively condones atrocities against them -- the Bali and Jakarta bombings. Indonesia has turned a blind eye also against the continuing persecution of its Christian citizens. I find it ironic that the West has propped up one Indonesian regime after another, yet finds itself the target. How can America 'prove' that they are not anti-Muslim is the demand. It seems to me that this question should be reversed. Considering that almost all the piracy in the Straits of Malacca originated from the Banda Aceh region, I'm certain that the world's marine fleet doesn't want that area's fleet up and running anytime soon. I know that sounds incredably insensitive, but frankly I don't give a d***. It is time to properly reassess a few things.

© Bud Talkinghorn





When the world dials 911 -- leading the way -- again

When the world dials 911 January 4th, 2005, Russ Vaughn, Poet Laureate of The American Thinker

Disaster strikes a world away
We get the call, what do we say?
We move at once, to ease their plight,
To aid them through their darkest night.
But come shrill cries from carping press,
"That’s not enough to fix this mess."
We know that, fools, but give us room,
To counter Mother Nature’s doom. [. . . . ]





America's first, again -- Whenever and wherever disaster strikes on the globe, the U.S. responds immediately with relief and medical supplies as they have in Asia, writes Peter Worthington -- giving credit where credit is due

A world without the U.S. would be a sorrier world indeed, especially when leadership in humanitarian causes is needed.


America's first, again Jan. 4, 05, Toronto Sun, Peter Worthington

Thank goodness for the Americans. What would this world would be like without the U.S.?

Especially in times of natural disasters like the Boxing Day tsunami that killed so many and shocked the world into unprecedented humanitarian generosity.

Such generosity often seems muted. Not this time. The world's people have responded more ardently than their governments, and in case after case governments have taken a cue from their citizens, and increased their initial aid response.

Canada is just one example, but typical of the world. Prime Minister Paul Martin started by pledging $1 million, then $4 million, then $40 million and now $80 million -- not because our government now realizes as it didn't before that the catastrophe was so severe, but because Canadians from every strata of society have opened their hearts and wallets. [. . . . ]





Gulf states providing only a tiny fraction of worldwide aid to tsunami victims

Gulf states providing only a tiny fraction of worldwide aid to tsunami victims The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 4, 05

[. . . . ] But as the worldwide aid total reached US$2-billion, the Saudi contribution was still only US$10-million. Kuwait has raised its contribution from US$2-million to US$10-million, Qatar has given US$25-million, and the United Arab Emirates is to give US$20-million. Libya's contribution still stands at US$2-million.


Perhaps, if they were not so occupied with funding terrorists/jihadis, they could help their fellow Muslims, particularly, in Indonesia.

The Americans went into Kuwait to help them fight Saddam Hussein's forces trying to take over their country--the first Gulf War. Now, I understand that there have been Kuwaitis discovered helping to kill Americans in Iraq. Gratitude!

When are Americans going to wake up one day and say, help yourselves, folks. We're not doing any more. The US can't do anything right in the eyes of the world -- and in the eyes of the leftists at home and in Canada.





'Stingy' Americans & the charity racket

'Stingy' Americans & the charity racket Pat Buchanan, Jan. 3, 05

[. . . . ] FDR warned that welfare was "a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit." Just as it bred dependency, resentment and ingratitude among recipients in America, and moral arrogance in its smug dispensers, the same holds true in the international realm.

As we see the moral superiority of Egeland on parade, so we annually witness the rage and resentment of Third World regimes against America – that we are responsible for their poverty, that we do not give enough to them – in the General Assembly and at U.N. conferences. Recall the one in Durban, South Africa, three years ago, where reparations for slavery were demanded, but only of the West.

One day, Americans will grow weary of this, as they did of welfare, and abolish foreign aid, tell the Third World kakistocrats that the gravy train doesn't stop here anymore and provide aid directly to people, not governments. For the present, President Bush might solve Ian Egeland's moral problem by being more generous with the suffering people of South Asia, and taking the money, dollar for dollar, out of this year's contribution to the United Nations. [. . . . ]





The aid tsunami -- Terence Corcoran

The aid tsunami Terence Corcoran, Financial Post, Jan. 4, 05

Just before the New Year, the Ayn Rand Institute issued a commentary saying that the United States should not help tsunami victims. "Private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own. The Unites States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government's to give."

[. . . . ] If there's an emerging lesson in the aftermath of the tsunami, it is this: Beware of aid efforts that must be trumpeted in press releases and hyped at news conferences. The bulk of world relief to tsunami victims, soaring to hundreds of millions of dollars, had been registered by private agencies collecting donations from individuals who sought no public recognition, issued no media release and made no effort to get their names into the papers. It was only after it became obvious thousands, if not millions, of individuals wanted to help that the world's governments -- in Ottawa and Washington and elsewhere -- suddenly saw an opportunity. Absurdly, Ottawa announced it would "match" the private donations of individual Canadians -- as if Ottawa got the money from some magic fountain behind Parliament Hill rather that from taxes on the same individuals who had already volunteered. [. . . . ]





Chrenkoff

Tuesday tsunami update -- Your friendly Agence France Presse reporting: What else did you expect? January 04, 2005



Body snatchers invade-Gangs pillage tsunami villages, stealing corpses & selling orphans

Body snatchers invade-Gangs pillage tsunami villages, stealing corpses & selling orphans Jan. 4, 05, Corky Siemaszko via Liberty Forum

In Sri Lanka, a 17-year-old girl whose parents drowned was gang-raped by six men just hours after she safely washed ashore. Human rights groups there reported that gangs of rapists were roaming shelters in the capital, Colombo, and attacking young girls.

Young boys in Sri Lanka and Thailand, both notorious playlands for pedophiles, also were in danger.

"We believe two children were sold to traffickers from Colombo," said Tahirih Ayn, a child protection officer with the Save the Children Fund in Sri Lanka. "We fear they will be passed on to pedophiles or sold for some other form of exploitation." [. . . . ]


And Western men will still fly to those countries on sex tours; I understand women have starting to do the same. How could they? They are beneath contempt.




PicoSearch


Bud: Sharia, CAIR_CAN Sued, Mosul Massacre-Saudis-Terror, US-Secret Islamic Terror Network, Left Supports Terrorists

For once, I have to agree with Sheila Copps

A while ago, Copps published an article (National Post) on Sharia law being used in Canada to settle domestic disputes. She saw this as being a tragedy for Muslim women. Her reasoning was that, in general, Muslim women have no real power in Islamic societies. One has only to look at how Sharia is applied in their home countries to see the horrible ramifications of allowing it here. The female voice can disappear in a Muslim household.

I know of one woman home schooled by a mother who hardly spoke English because interaction with Canadian students would be too polluting. The only way she could deal with this oppressive atmosphere was to flee, to cut all ties with her family. You read of honour killings, female circumcisions, and forced marriages occurring throughout Western countries. What choice does an individual Muslim female have when confronted with this mentality? Even the older female members will side with unjust decisions; they have been indoctrinated to submit to male opinion. One of the true joys of being a Muslim woman in this society is that those fetters have been loosened to some degree. If I'm not mistaken, a Muslim woman's rape charge has no validity, unless it is backed up by male witnesses. Do we want that mindset to rule behind closed doors here? As for the argument that Christian and Jewish communities have these dispute tribunals, the affected women go along with the decisions because they expect fair treatment in the judgments. The protests from educated, independent Muslim women here occur because they know implicitedly that the deck will be stacked against them in similar Muslim arbitrations using Sharia.

© Bud Talkinghorn



CAIR_CAN sued by family of FBI agent

The family of a former FBI agent killed in the Sept 11 attack is suing this Canadian Muslim lobby group because they believe it a funnel for terrorist aid. It accuses the organization of frivolous litigation against the police and false accusations of slander against media outlets that report on Muslim terrorism. The lawsuit claims that CAIR_CAN is part of "the intellectual 'shock troops' of Islamic terrorism. . . . . . The role played by this entity is an absolutely essential part of the mix of forces arrayed against the United States as they help soften-up targeted countries so as to facilitate and enhance the likelihood of a successful attack." One of the things that came out of the US Report on the September 11th attacks was the extensive help the hijackers received from supposedly "duped" Muslims throughout the States, as well as the money that was funnelled to them by Islamic 'charities'. Instead of congratulating the authorities on closing down these terrorist funding organizations, CAIR-CAN has accused the authorities of being anti-Muslim. This tactic gains them the backing of the intellectually-blinded left-wing, who seem to want the West to falter. I say "intellectually-blind", because these lefties, with their morally abhorrent views, would be the first to be hung or stoned to death by an Islamic regime.

Talk about "just not getting it"!

© Bud Talkinghorn



The Mosul Massacre, Courtesy of the Saudis -- "our alleged ally in the War on Terror"

The Mosul Massacre, Courtesy of the Saudis Stephen Schwartz, NY Post, Jan. 6, 05

[. . . . ] On Monday, the Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al-Awsat identified the butcher responsible: 20-year old Ahmad Sayyid Ahmad al-Ghamdi, a Saudi medical student.

The bomber acted as a member of Ansar al-Sunnah (Volunteers of Sunni Islam), one of the most violent terror groups in Iraq, and an al Qaeda ally.

The name "al-Ghamdi" should ring bells; the family is large, and three of its members were involved in the 9/11 assault.

The Saudi daily, and Western media, identified the Mosul bomber, and even said they had spoken with his father. But no one has mentioned who the father is: Sayyid al-Ghamdi, former head of the Saudi diplomatic mission in Sudan, a country ruled by an Islamist regime that once played host to Osama bin Laden himself.
[. . . . ]






Saudi Arabia's Terror Conference: Part I -- "The Saudi war on terror has exclusively focused on fighting only the wing of al-Qaeda within Saudi Arabia. As Saudi writers, TV commentators, professors, clerics, and members of the royal family often explain, Jihad is acceptable as long as it is not within or against the Kingdom."

Saudi Arabia's Terror Conference: Part I Steve Stalinsky, FrontPageMag.com, Jan6, 05

[. . . . ] Saudi support of jihad outside the Kingdom and against U.S. troops was recently the subject of a fatwa by 26 leading Saudi religious scholars from the most prominent universities in the Kingdom. According to the fatwa, released in November, killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq is allowed. The fatwa, which came one month before the suicide attack by a Saudi bomber on an American mess hall in Mosul that killed 14 U.S. soldiers, stated: “Fighting the occupiers is a religious duty…It is a jihad to push back the assailants…Resistance is a legitimate right."

The Saudi embassy in Washington, D.C., tried to distance itself from the fatwa. However, according to Saudi law, the government is the only body that can lawfully issue such a fatwa. The unauthorized religious authorities who sanctioned the killing of U.S. troops have yet to be punished. [. . . . ]

Since 9/11, the Saudi royal family has spent millions of dollars to improve its image worldwide. [. . . . ] despite the Saudi PR efforts, which claim that the report completely vindicates Saudi Arabia, it in fact states that Saudi Arabia is "a problematic ally in combating Islamic extremism" and that "significant problems remained" regarding its role in the war against terror. [. . . . ]





Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamic Terror Network in the United States

Book: Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamic Terror Network in the United States Harvey W Kushner, Bart Davis

Review

[. . . . ] Harvey Kushner, a respected adviser to the FBI, the FAA, the INS, and other government agencies, offers frightening new evidence of a unified Islamic terrorist network that is operating inside the United States and planning new opportunities to strike.

Kushner identifies and assesses the violent plans of these Islamic organizations and individuals who take advantage of our reluctance to engage in ethnic profiling. He supports his claims with never-before-seen documents from top-level government sources, exposing a secret network of Arab intelligence agencies, terrorists, university professors, corrupt imams and other religious leaders, and violent criminals. [. . . . ]





An open letter to opponents of the War in Iraq

An open letter to opponents of the War in Iraq January 4th, 2005. Herbert E. Meyer served during the Reagan Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence and Vice Chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council. His DVD, The Siege of Western Civilization is available here.(www.siegeofwesternciv.com).

I am not writing to quarrel with your judgment about the war in Iraq. Rather, I am writing to protest your attitude toward the war. And the point I want to make is this: sometimes, you have to choose between proving yourself to have been right, or helping make a project succeed despite your opposition to it.

Since all our tempers are running hot, it might be best to illustrate my point with a non-political example: . . . .

Simply put, Iraq has become the focal point of the entire war on terrorism. That’s because President Bush’s strategy for winning the war, in addition to fighting al Qaeda terrorists wherever we can find them, is to spread democracy itself throughout the Middle East. More precisely, his strategy is to create conditions in that part of the world that will trigger an Islamic revolution whose objective is to jolt Islam itself from the Seventh Century into the Twenty-first Century. In other words, we want Islam to do what Judaism and Christianity did centuries ago: namely, to reconcile with the modern world. If this actually happens in Iraq, the President believes, it will crack political ice throughout the region and trigger a chain reaction that will spread to other countries. [. . . . ]





Unholy Alliance: How the Left Supports the Terrorists at Home

Unholy Alliance: How the Left Supports the Terrorists at Home, Part 2 David Horowitz, FrontPageMag, Sept. 24, 04 and Part 1 David Horowitz, FrontPageMag, Sept. 24, 04

The rule erecting a barrier between intelligence and criminal investigations had been put in place by Attorney General Janet Reno in July 1995.[42] Referred to as “the wall,” it caused a breakdown in the collaboration between investigators that national security officials had long realized was a danger to public safety. In the words of Mary Jo White, a Clinton-appointed U.S. Attorney who was the most seasoned al Qaeda prosecutor before 9/11: “The walls are the single greatest danger we have blocking our ability to obtain and act on [terrorist] information.”[43] One of the important innovations of the Patriot Act was to eliminate these walls. This made possible the collaboration between intelligence agencies and the FBI and led directly to the arrest of Sami al-Arian and his associates.

Another post-9/11 security reform was removing the so-called “Levi” guidelines implemented by the Ford Administration, which barred the FBI from surveilling radical organizations unless they could be shown to have committed (or be planning to commit) specific criminal acts.
Under these guidelines, a terrorist organization—such as Abudallah Azzam’s Alkhifa or Sami al-Arian’s Islamic Crusade for Palestine—could recruit soldiers and funds for a holy war against the United States and be insulated from FBI scrutiny unless they could be tied to an actual criminal act. In the new age of terror, this could mean an act as destructive as 9/11 itself.

Yet it was precisely these provisions of the Patriot Act to which the left objected and against which it mounted a ferocious national campaign. For more than half a century the left had defended revolutionaries and agents of revolutionary states who had broken American laws. Radical legal organizations like the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights, as well as Sami al-Arian’s National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, had been created for the express purpose of doing so. They supplied the lead counsels for violent radicals and terrorist suspects both before and after 9/11 and were themselves vocal antagonists of America’s wars and its national security defenses.[. . . . ]

It was the idea of terrorism itself that radicals found problematic. . . .


Well-documented and lengthy. Worth reading.



PicoSearch


Frost Hits the Rhubarb: New Posts

Updates to this list added:

Terrorists, 'Big Surprise' for US, Theft-Vancouver Airport, Security, Borders, Immigration Enforcement, Drugs, A Failed European Policy

* Iraqi insurgents threaten attack inside United States -- 'Big surprise' planned: 'We will give Americans a taste of what civilians in our country go through'
* Airlines note theft by baggage handlers at Vancouver airport -- after Canada's Auditor-General's report -- nothing on the security front. The talk of $7.7 billion? It's more smoke and mirrors.
* How to be an illegal -- Mexico government publishes guide to assist border crossers
* Get serious about immigration enforcement (Canada should do this, as well.)
* Drug prohibition is a terrorist's best friend
* Radical Islam in The Netherlands: A Case Study of a Failed European Policy



Flag Flap-Jolly Roger for PM & For Nfld? Why Fish Gone, Taking Liberties

* Taking liberties -- "Mr Monderman’s thesis feels right to me — that by creating the illusion of security you relieve the citizen of the need to make his own judgments."
* Risky tiff -- Newfoundland's rage makes centrists quake
* Jolly Roger better flag for Canada Steamship Lines
* Where Have the Fish Gone? -- A Fresh Look at the Ocean



The Trudeau Legacy: Bilingualism, Natives-Status, Bud: Looming Aboriginal Disaster

* Nurses at Montreal English hospital fail French test, lose licences
* Canada still pays for Trudeau blunders -- Even questioning the bilingualism program--promotion of French--is akin to treason
* Ottawa, First Nations seek to redefine Indian status -- Current law will result in 'legislated extinction,' warns Phil Fontaine
* Shat on a turtle -- and -- Indian Time
* Bud Talkinghorn: The looming Aboriginal Disaster



Defend What is Best for Children; Defend Marriage


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