Oscar Jr. Was Here

Friday VDH

NRO has another great Victor Davis Hanson essay up today, Myth or Reality. Excerpt:

The Palestinians will, in fact, get their de facto state, though one that may be now cut off entirely from Israeli commerce and cultural intercourse. This is an apparently terrifying thought: Palestinian men can no longer blow up Jews on Monday, seek dialysis from them on Tuesday, get an Israeli paycheck on Wednesday, demonstrate to CNN cameras about the injustice of it all on Thursday — and then go back to tunneling under Gaza and three-hour, all-male, conspiracy-mongering sessions in coffee-houses on Friday. Beware of getting what you bomb for.

Good advice, too.

Iraq News

On NRO, W. Thomas Smith Jr. reports on our troops on the ground there in A Winning Situation. Excerpt:

"We will win the hearts and minds of Fallujah by ridding the city of insurgents," he says. "We're doing that by patrolling the streets and killing the enemy."

It's a simple Marine maxim: Locate, close with, and destroy the enemy. But Marines in Iraq are doing much more.

On April 6 — the same day 11 Marines and one Navy medical corpsman were killed in Ramadi — a group of artillerymen with 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines played soccer with Iraqis in the town of Nukhayb. Few if any newspapers reported the game. It didn't bleed, so it didn't lead. But it's all part of building a new Iraq.

"It's fun having the Americans here, because it's all about building friendships," said Ali Tayish, 19, a local resident. "We're all brothers. We'd play soccer with them everyday if we could."

In other regions of the country, Marines and soldiers are delivering much needed food and medical supplies to openly grateful Iraqis. That's not all: School supplies, carpentry tools, sporting goods, even Frisbees — two tons of them — from the Los Angeles-based "Spirit of America" organization are finding their way into Iraqi hands. The Frisbees are emblazoned with the word "friendship" in both English and Arabic.

Also on NRO, Robert Alt reports that Iraqis like us. Excerpt:

But perhaps the biggest influx of Western culture is in the area of fashion. Young women are increasingly abandoning traditional Iraqi garb in favor of more form-fitting clothes. And while the middle-aged woman across from the palace in Adhamiya may scream "Whores!" as the girls pass by in their more revealing Western garb, she does so only as a break from indulging in her own Western pursuit: hocking Pepsi on the street corner. Men are also quickly snatching up clothes emblazoned with English words, only to ask passing Americans to tell them what their clothes say. (Imagine their chagrin when they learn that their shirts' logo is not really English, but rather a Greek word for victory.)

There is also a particular fascination not only with things American, but with Americans themselves. If you tell someone from Baghdad that you are from America, you are likely to be met with excitement and the common exclamation: "I love America." They will want to know where you are from in America, and what you think of Iraq. Without prompting, they will tell you what their lives were like under Saddam, and how they have changed. And their children are likely to be drawn to the American soldiers — waving, smiling, and running to meet them. For those whose impression of Iraqi sentiment has been shaped by the nightly news, the Iraqi response to Americans may be the biggest surprise to come from a trip to Baghdad.

Finally, on Iraq the Model, it's Mohammed's birthday today, but the gift is this post from him:

I think I’ll have to skip celebrating my birthday this year, but that will not make me less determined than before, and I know that even if other countries pull out of Iraq, we will always have the strongest and greatest nation on our side, the wonderful people of the USA, together with the UK, Italy, Japan and the rest of the coalition forces. We owe you a lot and I pray, and I’m sure, that one day we will be able to return some of your favors and I’m talking about the people not the politicians although I don’t deny those the credit they deserve for doing their job as good as they can. When that day finally comes, you will know for sure that the great efforts and sacrifices you’ve made were not in vain.

I think you'll want to read the whole thing.

December 11, 1997

Osama: Omar, why does that infidel Saddam not return my calls on a quiet Thursday night?

Saddam: Qusay, why does that islamist freak bin Laden not answer my calls? I'm bored.

In unison: Oh, right. Because we would never work together!

O'Neill vs. Republic of Iraq, et al

Read the complaint in the litigation between the Estate of John Patrick O'Neill, "The Man Who Knew," and Iraq, bin Laden, al Jazeera, their many intermediaries (more here), et al. It contains a useful compilation of information on terrorism since 1989 and asserts many links between Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda and weapons of mass destruction. Excerpts:

99. Between April 25 and May 1, 1998, two of Bin Laden’s senior military commanders, Muhammad Abu-Islam and Abdullah Qassim visited Baghdad for discussions with Saddam Hussein’s son – Qasay Hussein – the “czar” of Iraqi Intelligence.

100. The late Qusay Hussein’s participation in those meetings highlights the importance of the talks in both symbolic and practical terms. Upon information and belief, as a direct result of those meetings, Iraq again made commitments to provide training, intelligence, clandestine Saudi border crossings, financial support and weapons and explosives to Al Qaeda.

101. Iraqi Intelligence officials met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan several more times. A second group of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives from Saudi Arabia were then trained by Iraqi Intelligence in Iraq to smuggle weapons and explosives into Saudi Arabia and other countries, which they later accomplished in an effort to carry out future terrorist acts of violence. A third group of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda operatives received a month of sophisticated guerilla operations training from Iraqi Intelligence officials later in the Summer of 1998.

102. Despite philosophical and religious differences with Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden continually sought to strengthen and reinforce the support he and Al Qaeda received from Iraq.

103. Upon information and belief, documents recently found in the bombed headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Iraq’s intelligence service, reveal that an Al Qaeda envoy was invited clandestinely to Baghdad in March 1998. The documents reveal that the purpose of the meeting was to establish a relationship between Baghdad and Al Qaeda based on their mutual hatred of America and Saudi Arabia. The meeting apparently went so well that it ended with arrangements being discussed for Bin Laden to visit Baghdad.

104. In March 1998, Bin Laden had reportedly visited Baghdad for consultations. According to Giovanni DeStafant, an international lawyer visiting Baghdad on business, he encountered Bin Laden in the lobby of the five-star Al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad. They engaged in light conversation.

105. In mid-July, 1998, Bin Laden sent Dr. Ayaman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian co-founder of Al Qaeda, to Iraq to meet with senior Iraqi officials, including the Iraqi vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan. Upon information and belief, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss and plan a joint strategy for a terrorist campaign in the United States. Five months later, the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed.

106. Upon information and belief, Iraqi Intelligence officials pledged Iraq’s full support and cooperation in exchange for a promise that Bin Laden and Al Qaeda not to incite the Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood inside Iraq to oppose, undermine or attack the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

107. During the July 1998 visit, Zawahiri toured a potential site for a new headquarters for Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and went to an Iraqi military base and nuclear and chemical weapons facility near al-Fallujah in Iraq. Upon information and belief, Dr. Zawahiri observed training by Iraqi Intelligence officials of Al Qaeda operatives at the al-Nasiyirah military and chemical weapons facility in Iraq. In recognition of Bin Laden’s and Al Qaeda’s leadership role in the terrorist war against the United States, Iraqi officials allowed Zawahiri to assume formal command over the al-Nasiyirah training camp in the name of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda.

117. By mid-November, 1998, Saddam Hussein reportedly came to the conclusion (with the advice and prompting of his son and intelligence chief , the late Qusay Hussein), that a campaign of terrorist attacks against the United States, under the banner of Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, was the most effective means of deflecting U.S. attempts to topple his regime.

118. Shortly thereafter, Iraqi intelligence officials reportedly met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, and Iraq reportedly agreed to join efforts in a detailed, coordinated plan for a protracted terrorist war against the United States. Iraq also reportedly agreed to provide Bin Laden and Al Qaeda with the assistance of an expert in chemical weapons, and Bin Laden reportedly agreed to hunt down Iraqi opposition leaders who cooperated with the United states against Hussein. In furtherance of this agreement, Bin Laden reportedly dispatched four hundred of Al Qaeda’s “Afghan” Arabs to Iraq to fight Kurdish dissidents.

119. In December 1998, after a standoff between the U.N. and Iraq and a discovery of weapons violations in Iraq, the United States with U.N. approval, led coalition of allies in a four-day air strike on Iraq. Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammed
Madhi Salah then stated that he expected terrorist activities against the United States to increase as a result of the bombing of Iraq. The Arabic language daily newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabic cited the cooperation between Iraq, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in a late December 1998 editorial which predicted that President Saddam Hussein, whose country was subjected to a four day air strike, will look for support in taking revenge on the United States and Britain by cooperating with Saudi oppositionist Osama Bin Laden, whom the United States considers to be the most wanted person in the world.

120. The editorial noted that this type of cooperation was already taking place, considering that “Bin Laden was planning on moving to Iraq before the recent strike.”

142. Iraq knew in advance that Al Qaeda was planning to attack U.S. landmarks and civilians in September 2001 in Washington and New York and supported the planned attacks.

143. Upon information and belief, Iraqi news columnist Naeem Abd Mulhalhal has been connected with Iraqi intelligence since the early 1980s. As such, he has commented on matters of Iraqi political interest for the Al Nasiriyah newspaper, a weekly paper published in the provincial capital city of Al Nasiriyah. On September 1, 2001, he was honored for his “documentation of important events and heroic deeds that proud Iraqis have accomplished” and praised by Saddam Hussein. In addition, Al Nasiriyah contains a military base that is believed to house a chemical weapons storage facility. Iraq had previously denied access to this base to U.N. weapons inspectors. It was visited by Zawahiri as early as 1998 and Al Qaeda terrorists trained there for several years.

144. On July 21, approximately six weeks before the September 11th attacks, Iraqi columnist Mulhalhal reported that Bin Laden was making plans to “demolish the Pentagon after he destroys the White House.”

145. Mulhalhal’s July 21 article further informed that Bin Laden would strike America “on the arm that is already hurting.” Upon information and belief, this references a second Iraqi sponsored attack on the World Trade Center. This interpretation is further bolstered by another reference to New York as “[Bin Laden] will curse the memory of Frank Sinatra every time he hears his songs.” (e.g. “New York, New York”) identifying New York, New York as a target.

146. Mulhalhal further indicated “The wings of a dove and the bullet are all but one in the same in the heart of a believer.” (Emphasis supplied). This appears to be a reference to the use of commercial aircraft as a weapon. The information was reported in an Iraqi newspaper whose editor-in-chief served as secretary to the late Uday Hussein’s Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists. The article expressed Iraqi admiration and support for Bin Laden’s plans and its appearance in the newspaper would clearly have to be endorsed by Saddam Hussein himself.

Fascinating stuff, and well worth reading in full.

(I last posted on this topic here.)

Since These Books Are Nearby

One is instructed:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

The Confusion by Neal Stephenson:

Finally another well-lubricated man in leather underpants performed the same series of movements and ended up standing next to Yevgeny in the same pose: this was a very dark-skinned Negro, not as tall as Yevgeny, but heavier.

Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey:

A month after the onset of his Hogan's Heroes phase, Serge went around to everyone in the dayroom and informed them the tunnel was finished; this was the day of the Great Escape.

Bush Country by John Podhoretz:

Okay, say some Bush-loathers.

and Things Worth Fighting For, the collected writings of Michael Kelly:

Berlet's work, published in a monograph and several articles, has portrayed a complex and growing network of alliances between right-wing and left-wing activists and groups, who border on respectability and attract media attention.

Fun!

(via Zombyboy, via McGehee, via....)

Shopping News

Here are the most recent additions to the reading list:

The Confusion by Neal Stephenson.
Cadillac Beach by Tim Dorsey.
Bush Country by John Podhoretz.
and
Things Worth Fighting For, the collected writings of Michael Kelly.

Just FYI.

Did You Miss Us?

Five...stitches;
Four...50 hour work weeks;
Three...out of town visitors;
Two...infirmities for Oscar; and
One...trip to the emergency room.

BLAST OFF!

A couple of finger injuries and a crazy schedule make me a pretty pathetic co-blogger.

Oscar Jr. interposes: Irregular posting has now resumed.

Clarke vs. Naik

I'm not sure what to make of this, but it amuses me:

Richard Clarke:

Clarke harshly criticizes President Bush for not going to battle stations when the CIA warned him of a comparable threat in the months before Sept. 11: "He never thought it was important enough for him to hold a meeting on the subject, or for him to order his National Security Adviser to hold a Cabinet-level meeting on the subject."

Finally, says Clarke, "The cabinet meeting I asked for right after the inauguration took place-- one week prior to 9/11."

In that meeting, Clarke proposed a plan to bomb al Qaeda's sanctuary in Afghanistan, and to kill bin Laden.

Former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik:

Niaz Naik, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was told by senior American officials in mid-July [2001] that military action against Afghanistan would go ahead by the middle of October.

Mr Naik said US officials told him of the plan at a UN-sponsored international contact group on Afghanistan which took place in Berlin.

Mr Naik told the BBC that at the meeting the US representatives told him that unless Bin Laden was handed over swiftly America would take military action to kill or capture both Bin Laden and the Taleban leader, Mullah Omar.

(via a comment on Tim Blair's site)

Dick Cheney:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, he wasn't -- he wasn't in the loop, frankly, on a lot of this stuff. And I saw part of his interview last night, and he wasn't --

Q He was demoted.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It was as though he clearly missed a lot of what was going on. For example, just three weeks after the -- after we got here, there was communication, for example, with the President of Pakistan, laying out our concerns about Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and the importance of going after the Taliban and getting them to end their support for the al Qaeda. This was, say, within three weeks of our arrival here.

Hmm.