This morning I got in a cab and told the driver to take me to Ground Zero. The trip from midtown to downtown took perhaps twenty minutes, and then we were on a familiar street, yet unfamiliar at the same time because there was nothing in front of us but sky and a metal fence where there should have been–
The driver, an Arab, said nothing as he pulled up to the curb before the fence. The fare was ten something, I was so mesmerized by what I saw — or more accurately what I didn’t see, the entire area looked suddenly alien to me and I actually felt momentary fear for some reason I can’t fathom, I handed the cabbie a twenty, got out of the taxi and walked slowly to the fence, to that great cavity beyond that simply didn’t belong anyplace in my memories, didn’t belong in New York and I gazed out upon it, my emotions a mess so that I actually wanted to cry — but didn’t, I just looked and looked, and walked, and looked, and felt… I don’t know, tragic. It was so difficult to picture the two awesome towers that had stood there when I had last been here in New York.
There was a sense of loss within me that was as profound as those when I lost my grandparents and my mother, an uncle and numerous friends in years gone by, some of whom had died in my presence. But there was something different here, something really terrible and unearthly, like I was coming home to a mountain that had become a valley in my absence, all its residents gone, dead.

Dead.

Murdered in the name of God. Someone else’s god, a god of destruction and murder, not the God I believe in. Not my God, not the God I worship as a Jew, not the God worshipped by Christians. I knew some people who worked there, friends who on the 11th of September, 2001, ceased to exist. In the name of Allah, the Muslim god, the god presiding over the so-called Religion of Peace.

Sure, I had been through the same uncomprehending to shocked to sad to angry succession most Americans had undergone on that morning in September, 2001, but it had been an emotional reaction from 3,000 miles away, the outrage viewed on television.

Here I was, standing on very familiar ground that had been the site of commodity exchanges I had been to often in the course of a former line of work, the offices occupied by friends and acquaintances, now gazing at an alien landscape that was in reality a kind of graveyard peopled by both innocent human beings and heroes who had attempted to save them and died en masse in the process.

I felt numb when I finally walked away, then, walking aimlessly along Trinity Place, I felt a rage building up inside me and I murmured thanks to President George W. Bush for being the American leader he is and mobilizing the wrathful might of our military in a war on the terrorist scum who had done this to us, overthrowing two dictatorships that had owned some of the responsibility for the mass murder in New York and elsewhere, either by harboring, helping finance, providing training facilities for or by sponsorship of other preparations for what those bastards did to us.

Payback for the grief those godless sons of bitches caused thousands of American families but at least equally as important, the self defense of America in an all-out war declared upon us and all western nations by a satanic enemy purporting to represent all of Islam.

Our President initiated a global war on terror and was followed into the breach by numerous other leaders who realized that we are, indeed, at war, not by our choice but by the declaration of war by the worst enemy we have faced in the entire histories of the United States and the western world.

He was opposed by nations whose reticence was dictated by profit concerns as they violated UN sanctions they themselves had signed off on, by the UN itself as the organization’s very leadership was making money off corrupt transactions with Saddam Hussein. He was opposed by American traitors whose opposition stemmed from pure internal partisan politics or from political leanings that by their ultimate nature are against the principals that have made America the world leader we are.

To this day he is villified by those same treasonous entities, but George Bush is willing to weather the abuse in order to carry on a mission whose success will guarantee the perpetuity of those same dissenters’ right to criticize their own government, those assholes like Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, San Francisco and Berkeley socialists and others who would see the United States of America destroyed if they had their way. As far as I’m concerned, those anti-American, pro-Islamofascist, liberal traitors can leave this great country and move to France, Canada or some other country that embraces their socialist needs.

For me, Ground Zero represents every reason why we need to decimate every last vestige of fundamentalist Islam on earth, by any means necessary, and those who endeavor to obstruct our doing so can go to fucking hell.

A heartening WSJ editorial(today’s Opinion Journal) called EUROPE TOUGHENS UP: How do you say “Patriot Act” in Italian and German? talks about the Eurofolks finally wising up to the realities of Islamofascist terror.

Mr. Blair is once again playing a leading role in the war on terror and, unlike in the Iraq war, most of Europe appears ready to follow this time. From Spain, which suffered the March 11, 2004, train bombings in Madrid, to less likely targets such as Sweden, the Continent finally is waking up to the universal and very real threat that terror poses. France, for all its objections to the Iraq war, already has some of Europe’s toughest anti-terror laws.

It’s about damn time!

Worries of an imminent attack are particularly acute in Italy. A recent poll by the daily Corriere della Sera found that more than 80% of Italians believe that terrorists could strike within months. Since the London attacks, Rome has granted to the military search powers that previously were reserved for police. It has broadened law enforcement’s scope by doubling, to 24 hours, the amount of time suspects can be detained and by making telephone and Internet records more accessible to investigators, among other measures. Police will spend more time carrying out raids against terror suspects–authorities made 200-plus raids in one week shortly after July 7–and will keep closer tabs on suspicious mosques.

Italians who think their vulnerability is the result of their participation in the Iraq war should look no further than Germany, which opposed the war yet feels compelled to step up its security. Interior Minister Otto Schily has been outspoken about his belief that Islamic terrorists are at war not just with the U.S. and its allies in Iraq but with Western society in general. Mr. Schily has called for increased search and detention powers in cases involving terror suspects who are known to be a threat but who haven’t yet committed a crime.

While the Euro Countries have their unfair share(like we do) of liberals who will naturally rail against their governments taking any really definitive action to defend them, we must hope that those leaders who weren’t born with spines grow some and do what has to be done, like George Bush and Tony Blair have and are, despite the inevitable suicidal whining from the left.

With Europe in the game at last, the terrorists will find themselves with many less safe havens in which to coordinate operations, take some R & R, spread their hate and preach their intolerance for all that is not Islamic.

Good.

The videos from this site, Patriot Files, are really cool when you can see them(there’s often a backlog of available bandwidth or whatever that is indicated by a notice to try again later). Awhile ago I linked to the Patton’s Ghost video. Check this one out.

This is just too awesome not to share!

Hat tip to Brenda, my Conservative Democrat aunt who, unlike most of her fellow travelers, was blessed with the gift of logic and the strong sense of patriotism that runs in our family. 

In today’s Jerusalem Post, there is a dubious article titled Palestinians condemn London bombings.

Why do I call it dubious? No, I don’t question the article itself, merely the fact that Palestinians quoted “condemned” Thursday’s tragic events in London on the one hand, adding that they believe such acts can be harmful to Muslims and Arabs, then attempted to justify the bombings from the terrorists’ perspective.

Here is a good example, courtesy of Hamas. After condemning that which they specialize in(attacking the innocent, et al) they continue:

“We in Hamas call upon the international community to stop all forms of occupation and aggression against Arabs and Muslims, especially in Palestine, Iraq and Iraq(quotation as it appears in the article), “said the statement. “The continuation of the occupation and aggression will lead to more tensions, hatred and bomb blasts.”

I’m reminded of that terrorist in True Lies called Aziz, the “Sand Spider”, when he is raving into the videocam about how he’ll use his stolen nukes to “rain fire” on American cities if his demands are not met.

That’s all that’s about.

Oh, and of course there’s the usual condolence/ deplorement bit from Arafat heir Fatah whip/ PA owner Mahmoud Abbas to Prime Minister Tony Blair, principally, I suspect, because Abbas desperately needs friends. It’s not an unrealistic idea that Hamas might eventually take down Fatah and rule the Palestinians(yes, I said “rule”, terrorist organizations don’t support democratic causes the way Democrats support terrorist causes), using the polls to achieve this goal. 

The article points out the fact that unlike in the aftermath of 9/11, the Palestinians didn’t party in the streets after the London bombings. Of course they didn’t, because they learned the first time what the rest of the world thinks of animals who joyously celebrate the butchery of large quantities of “infidels”.

This time, they’re trying to put a humane face on themselves, but don’t be fooled: Even as they “condemn” a terrorist attack, they plan their own such operations against innocent men, women and children in Israel. 

Recent history has shown that the late Rabbi Meir Kahane was right.   

Intellectual Conservative offers this right on  post about the western traitors(my take) who take the side of terrorism in order to self-justify their pro-terrorist, anti-western political bias.

If they feel so strongly, why don’t they emigrate?

In Jewish World Review, Mona Charen has a to-the-point column on why the Islamic terrorists are stupid. Per my second to last post, I concur.  

I have to wonder whether Bin Laden and his hordes of Islamofascist murderers are grossly overestimating their actual potentials to carry on their Godless campaign of global terror, as far as recruiting and safe havens, both of which are vital to them if they are to “stay in the game,” are concerned.

I mean,  you would think they already have enough on their plate, what with having to staff their operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as local troops and Coalition forces take their people out of the equation, and keep their activities in other parts of the world going as well. Instead of taking their war against mankind battle-by-battle with a controlled and controllable number of fronts, they are motivating an increasing amount of countries to move against them with increasing resources.

They kidnapped and executed the Egyptian Ambassador to Iraq, Ayheb al-Sherif, using harsh rhetoric against Egypt and also threatened other Muslim countries of the same treatment should they send diplomats to Iraq to intercourse with the new democratic government. This could only result in the loss of much of their support base in their own bailiwick and also provoke military responses from countries that formerly, if quietly, cheered them on. It could deprive them of places to hide, to store smallarms, explosives and supplies and potentially decrease their recruitment pool(there are almost certainly Muslims who would be more than happy to get to those 72 virgins in the act of murdering Jews, Americans and other westerners, but who would not want to make war on fellow Muslims nor even condone such a concept).

On Thursday, they pissed off the British more than they already were at terrorism and the rest of the Euro community(except maybe France, where they butt- munch tyrants and terrorists) by killing and severely wounding  a large number of innocent civilians, while threatening Denmark and Italy. They’ve already gotten the Dutch people royally P.O.’d, and those folks are a tolerant lot if there ever was one. 

After the butchery in London the other day, a stark reminder of 11 September 2001, I can only hope that a whole bunch of liberals wake up to the fact that we really are fighting a war against an enemy who wants only two possible conclusions: That they slaughter us all or that they rule us under the brutal and oppressive yoke of fundamentalist Islam.  These “liberated” liberal women would love, I’m almost positive, the opportunity to wear the burka and serve their men as complete slaves who can be beaten by their husbands and even their sons for forgetting their “place,” or stoned to death in public for not veiling themselves. The assholes who have managed to take prayer out of schools and who fight so hard to eliminate any references to God on any public properties or in any official forums would have a blast, I’m sure, if their political leadership not only forced them, under penalties of death or torture, to pray five times a day, observe Ramadan and ruled them according to strict Sharia law. 

Back on topic, though, I definitely see the al-Queda murder organization inviting its own demise, another defeat in the history of Islam, a history, from the religion’s beginning, of aggressive war against body of citizens that doesn’t worship as they do, which will merely be a reprieve until the next time they feel they are “ready” to challenge the free world. Then they’ll crawl back out from under their stone….

Over at Slate, William Saletan delivers a highly perceptive and in my opinion spot-on analysis of the current bin-Laden PR strategy.

After the London bombings, I don’t think Osama will receive the western reactions he hopes to. You don’t stir up a hornets’ nest and then expect not to get stung. 

This morning, in a post about Camp Delta titled Club Gitmo, Vilmar of Ranting Right Wing Howler fame linked to an article in FRONTPAGEMAG.COM by Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu, who wrote about a visit to GITMO to see first hand this detention center referred to by (Bene)Dick(t) Durbin as everything from a concentration camp to Pol Pot’s killing fields.

In the article, the author described extremely humane circumstances, big meals and generally a state of detention any inmate in a carefully monitored U.S. federal prison would envy.

The only inhumanity he cited was the agressive hostility of the prisoners, who physically attack guards who are bringing them meals or other items, reaching under face masks to try to rip out eyes, trying to grab and break guards’ limbs, thowing feces, yelling death threats, you need to read the article, then compare what you read with the remarks of Dick Durbin.

You are right to worry about inhumane treatment taking place at GITMO. But your concern should be for the dedicated, well trained, highly professional American men and women who are subjected to a daily barrage of feces, urine, semen and spit hurled at them along with vile invective as they implement a humane, enlightened system of confinement on men who want nothing more than to kill Americans.

These quiet, professional Americans, who live under the motto “Honor Bound for Defense of Freedom,” deserve our utmost respect and concern. Shame on anyone who slanders or disrespects them for short-term and short-sighted political advantage.  

As Vilmar pointed out in his post, you’d better read it there because you won’t see it anyplace else, and he was definitely correct there, as I searched several MSM venues for any reference to the fact that Durbin had it backwards: The detainees are the people doing the mistreating. You know, the detainees the liberals are so deferrent to, those peaceful Islamic souls who would just as soon butcher an American liberal’s six month old baby as they would any other American’s. 

I did find an article over at Fox News titled Senators Agree On Gitmo Operations that unsurprisingly got no mention in the New York Times. After all, it wasn’t anti-Bush enough to earn its place in the Newspaper of Record. 

WASHINGTON- A group of senators who travelled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, this weekend to observe the conditions at the detention facility held separate news conferences on Capitol Hill Monday, but seemed to agree on one point— that the facility should not be shut down.

Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Ben Nelson of Nebraska said that while they believe some kind of standard should be set for the status and treatment of the prisoners there, they did not observe anything in interrogation practices or conditions that would prompt them to agree with a call to shut the facility down.

“It is my opinion that closing the detention camp at Guantanomo Bay would result in less accountability in the treatment of prisoners, not more,” Wyden said. ”The question we have to ask is who do we trust more to treat these prisoners humanely — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt or the United States?”

…Wyden said that past practices he had heard about at Guantanamo, a.k.a. Gitmo, have been changed, and procedures and conditions at Camp Delta, where the prisones are housed, offer the best committment to human rights. He acknowledged that the prisoners at Guantanamo “are not your garden-variety criminal defendants.

“However, the most urgent task now is for Congress to articulate what reasons can justify holding these prisoners and for Congress to finally establish the precise legal status of these prisoners,” Wyden said. “Just because it is a war doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any concrete rules.”   

That’s nice. The Democrat couldn’t find anything wrong and couldn’t very well make anything up about what he saw because also present were two GOP senators, so he told the truth about Camp Delta, albeit putting a nowwww it’s okay spin on his statements and adding that Congress needs to establish the legal status of the detainees and justification for detaining them, a little lip service to his party. His remark that, “Just because it is a war doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any concrete rules.” is pretty lame.

I don’t remember finding any special humanitarian rules posted anyplace that determined special guidelines for fair and balanced treatment of those human beings who died in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on the morning of 11 Sep 01. Still the point has been made by two Dem senators that conditions at Camp Delta are fine.

Also on the trip were Repulican Sens. Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Mike Crapo of Idaho, both of whom went further than Wyden and Nelson and said not only are conditions acceptable at Guantanamo Bay, but that they want to ”set the record straight” that prisoners are being treated in a way that’s totally consistent with American values. They noted that the new facilities at Gitmo include air conditioniong, good meals, facilities for religious worship and “top-notch health care.”

Prisoners have “everything to make them as comfortable as possible in detention,” Bunning said.

“It’s my conclusion that I don’t think you would be able to find a detention facility where people were better treated … the health care is better or equal to what our own troops get,” added Crapo, who did say it might be useful to come up with some kind of new status for these prisoners. Crapo said the reason is not to ensure better treatment but only because it would set a universal understanding of their status.     

When I looked through the NY Times earlier for some mention of this visit and these remarks and couldn’t find any, I figured there are two possible reasons:

1. GITMO being found not to be the gulag they’d hoped the two Dems would report it to be is not in their best interest to share with their liberal readership.

2. They might print the story later, after they’ve had the time to get the right anti-Bush spin on it.

What!? No gulag? No killing fields? No electrodes for the detainees’ testicles? This… This is outrageous!

At CENTCOM’s website today was a report that U.S. forces discovered still another stash of essential tools used to promote The Religion of Peace.

I don’t think I need to add anything, do you?