So says the headline in Spiegel. It refers to the fact that the British military are withdrawing from Northern Ireland, as of midnight, July 31st, BST.

August 1st, 2007 will be a red-letter day.

If you want an Irish interpretation (not a Northern Irish [Scots] Protestant view, of course) the headline would really say: “Finally the Hated Strangers are Leaving.”

A friend of mine has a very old book of rules, one handed down from her relatives, on how the Irish peasants were to be treated by their Anglo-Irish landlords. The rules appear to have much in common with the treatment of American slaves before the Emancipation Proclamation.

But now the soldiers are leaving the North:

The longest deployment of troops in the history of the British military ends at midnight, when the army’s operation in Northern Ireland officially comes to an end. But the 38-year-long deployment will be seen as one of the darkest chapters in the army’s history.

To what circumstance do Belfast’s Catholics owe this peculiar liberation? Have the English suddenly become enlightened? Hardly. Generations ago, they deliberately moved their own northern peoples into Ireland to take over the land from the Irish peasants. They systematically destroyed all Irish birth and baptismal records and land deeds. Now, centuries later, with so many of the original Irish families extinct, fled, or imprisoned and exiled from a green land that the British repeatedly laid waste, there would be few left to “give” it back to.

No, the Brits sail away for other, more pragmatic reasons:
- – - – - – - – - -

The official reason is that the situation in Northern Ireland is sufficiently stable for such measures to be taken. The real reason is the lack of recruits. More than 12,000 soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. The British military’s Chief of the General Staff, General Richard Dannatt, said in a secret memorandum that was leaked to the press that the military is overstretched: “We now have almost no capacity to react to the unexpected.”

However, the seeds of destruction planted so long ago by the English will continue to bear their poisonous fruit:

The Protestant militias have not yet handed over their weapons. The week before last, a policeman was critically injured during an internal feud.

Although it is less complete than the Jewish Diaspora, the Irish migration away from the boot of the English served to carry us across the face of the earth. But we brought with us in our DNA an ineradicable memory of that cruel and callous foot on our necks.

Those people destroyed parts of Ireland; they also wasted the lives of their own English boys — all in a vain attempt to bring the Irish to their knees.

Ireland still stands.

From Mac’s Mind, his take on the amazingly positive story in The New York Times about the success of the surge in Iraq:

Back in June Harry and the Retreaters called the Iraq conflict lost and for all to pack it up and head home. Those with intelligence said, “Let’s wait, after all, General Petraeus has a report due in September”. Since that time — although the MSM refused to report on it — the success of the surge has been leaking out. Now in of all places the Ny Times, we get this report:

“Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place.

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with…”

His quote from NYT is much longer than that, but this snip gives you the positive note on which it was written. He goes on to say:

The article was written by Michael O’Hallen and Ken Pollack of the Brookings Institute who just visited the region, they report as many others that there has been progress — significant progress — and that the surge is working.

How Harry and the Retreaters must feel now, after resolution after resolution of defeatist moves to run away from Iraq — from the terrorists, not — I might add — for necessity, but purely to bow to their antiwar uber liberal base. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, anyone who calls for retreat from Iraq spits on the memory of every soldier who has given their ultimate to the success of the mission in Iraq.

That was yesterday. Today, Mac backs up to remind us:
- – - – - – - – - -

You’ll remember that I told readers a month ago that the reason Harry and the Retreaters were carping about getting out of Iraq is that they knew that the surge just might work. Nothing could be more embarrassing or disastrous to Democrats in 2008 than a stable — reasonability stable — Iraq.

Over the weekend as you know the Ny Times story by the liberal Brookings Institute showed that significant progress has been made in Iraq since the surge began. Of course liberals attacked the messenger — as they always do — trying to play down the significance, even calling into question the “liberality” of the authors.

Yet today we have even more. Yesterday, Hugh Hewitt interviewed Pulitzer Prize winner John Burns of the Ny Times who says the surge is working. Even Rep. Keith Ellison, fresh off his embarrassing — though fully intentional — gaff of comparing Bush with Hitler, after visiting Sheiks (debriefing alert) can’t say anything other than the surge is working, Al Qaeda is on the run.

So what does this mean for Democrats? What is going to happen in September when Petraeus comes back and reports that progress has been made? According to their Majority Whip James Clyburn, it could be disastrous.

[…]

Now I’m going to tell you right off the bat that when Petraeus gives his report the left — specifically the uber left — will attack the general’s integrity, as lefty ambulance chaser Glenn Greenwald already has. Look for it, although the mainstream democrats will avoid that, nevertheless it will provide interesting drama.

Specifically with the Clinton/Obama dynamic. Obama has already sold out to the “Bush lied, people died” crowd and it’s basically his only appeal at this point. Hillary on the other hand is still playing “hawk”, at least on her initial vote for the war, which will leave her some wiggle room when the report shows that things might just work out after all.

In any case the Democrats have a problem on their hands and it’s all self inflicted.

As soon as I read the NYT article, I knew that we could forecast blood in the Senate in September when General Petraeus shows up with his report. First, there will be a “kill the messenger” attempt, which the General will side-step. Then there will be cries from the MSM, et al, that the surge is too little, too late.

The anti-war section of the Democrat party cannot afford to have Iraq succeed. There will be the same attempts at sabotage as there were when the troops secured Baghdad.

Wait and see.

Meanwhile, read Mac’s Mind for his embedded links, which I have not copied here. And there is a good post on our Crippled Intel.

Russia is doing a jet deal with Iran:

Israel is looking into reports that Russia plans to sell 250 advanced long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran in an unprecedented billion-dollar deal.

According to reports, in addition to the fighter jets, Teheran also plans to purchase a number of aerial fuel tankers that are compatible with the Sukhoi and capable of extending its range by thousands of kilometers. Defense officials said the Sukhoi sale would grant Iran long-range offensive capabilities.

IntelliBriefs says that Israel and the US complained about the sale, but I’m not sure what there is to worry about, unless it is also selling Russian jet pilots to go along with these sophisticated planes. Iran is having a hard time keeping up its infrastructure and it got rid of all those superbly trained pilots a generation ago. Does the billion dollar price tag include personnel or training for the two aircraft?

The Sukhoi-30 is a two-seat multi-role fighter jet and bomber capable of operating at significant distances from home base and in poor weather conditions. The aircraft enjoys a wide range of combat capabilities and is used for air patrol, air defense, ground attacks, enemy air defense suppression and air-to-air combat.

Like the sale of the jdams to Saudi Arabia by the US, one has to wonder if there are sufficiently-trained personnel capable of using the armaments. We’re not talking IEDs here.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Leaving aside the economics of the situation, would any military readers care to discuss the ramifications of American and Russian sales of military supplies to various factions in the Middle East?

Here’s what one commenter from Eye on the World says:

All the gear, no idea comes to mind.

Saudi Arabia on paper has one of the most formidable armed forces in the world. However they haven’t a clue in how to keep all that equipment in working order.

And as such has one of the most expensive scrap yards in the region.

Iran which acquitted itself very well against Iraq in the air using American planes. Hasn’t the expertise or the pilots (or the fuel) in which to keep such an expensive folly in the air. Let’s be honest here. Any airwave approaching from Iran (or Syria for that matter) will last approximately 2 minutes due to the active nature of the Israeli missile defensive system. (Mind you when Hezbollah flew that UAV over Israel last year it transpired that the Arrow missile system guarding that area had been switched off)

But with Su 30s in Iranian hands I can’t see that happening. Regional defence then yes the plane has the home advantage. Attacking Israel then it will lose big time.

Hat Tip: Kepiblanc

[post ends here]

New York City has decided to use the city’s taxes to build a madrassa in Brooklyn.

Well, they don’t actually call it a “madrassa”, any more than the EU calls its new governing authority a “constitution”.

The Department of Education calls it the “Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA)”. It will be a new public school that will teach Arabic history, culture, and language.

And we all know where the textbooks and curricular materials come from. There are very few resources for Arabic and Muslim education in this country that are not funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Yet Mayor Bloomberg and the school authorities want everybody to go back to sleep.

“Trust us,” they say. “This is just another public school. Everything will turn out just fine. And by the way, I have a nifty little parcel of Florida swampland you might want to pick up while you’re at it…”

And now it turns out that the principal of the new school, Dhabah Almontaser, is directly linked to the folks that are selling these attractive and fashionable T-shirts. “Intifada NYC”! What could be more cool and hip and peace-in-our time than that?

I’ll let Stop the Madrassa tell the story:

The t-shirts read: “Intifada NYC — awaam.org.” Let’s consider what those words mean.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, an intifada is:

Arabic for uprising. Starting in 1987, Palestinians have engaged in an intermittent intifada against Israel on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in their pursuit of a Palestinian state.

So “Intifada NYC” means… what? An uprising in New York City — against whom? or an uprising against Israel, but in New York City? Your guess as good as ours. Here’s what we know — this slogan and logo are this summer’s big publicity campaign for that website that is also listed on the t-shirt: awaam.org .

That awaam.org website can be found here: Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media.

The AWAAM is sponsored by (and apparently housed by) the Yemini American Association: the AWAAM contact information:

- – - – - – - – - -

AWAAM: Arab women Active in the Arts and Media

c/o Yemeni American Association
464 3rd Avenue
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215

info@awaam.org
Tel: (917) 703-0488

Who is the founder and a board member of the Yemeni American Association? Dhabah Almontaser, principal for KGIA.

For the rest of the details on this sordid story, go over to Stop the Madrassa. They also have more general information about KGIA.

Pamela Hall of Stop the Madrassa Community Coalition will be on Glenn Beck tonight, Tuesday July 31 — at 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm EDT on Headline Prime, CNN. Everyone should tune in to see how the issue is treated there in the belly of the beast.

And the other Pamela is also covering the story here.

Fjordman has some gloomy information about Sweden over at Brussels Journal today:

According to news site The Local, a judge who hears migration appeals had his house vandalized by left-wing extremists. Threats were sprayed on the walls, red paint was poured over the steps and an axe was left outside his home. “When a judge in a Swedish court has his home vandalised in this way, it is of course very serious,” said Ingvar Paulsson, head of the Gothenburg District Administrative Court . The group Antifascistisk Action (AFA) writes on its homepage that the attack was motivated by the situation of Iraqi asylum seekers. The Swedish Board of Migration has ruled that they should be deported if they cannot show that a threat exists against them personally.

It should be noted here that Sweden alone in 2006 accepted almost as many asylum applications from Iraqis as all other European countries did combined. Native Swedes, who live in a country that was one of the most ethnically homogeneous nations in the world only 30 years ago, will be a minority in their own country within a few decades, if current trends continue. Sweden is self-destructing at a pace that is probably unprecedented in history, but for the extreme Left, even this isn’t fast enough.

- – - – - – - – - -

AFA openly brag about numerous attacks against persons who get their full name and address published on their website. According to them, this is done in order to fight against capitalist exploitation and for a global, classless society. Their logic goes something like this: If you protest against Muslim immigration, you suffer from Islamophobia, which is almost the same as xenophobia, which is almost the same as racism. And racists are almost Fascists and Nazis, as we all know, and they shouldn’t be allowed to voice their opinions in public. Hence, if you protest against being assaulted or raped by Muslims, you are evil and need to be silenced. If a native Swede is really lucky, he or she will thus first get mugged or battered by Muslims, and then beaten up a second time by his own extreme Leftists for objecting to being beaten the first time. The state does next to nothing to prevent either, of course. Native Swedes who object to a mass immigration that will render them a minority in their own country within a couple of generations have already been classified as “racists,” and racists are for all practical purposes outside of the protection of the law.

[…]

The wave of robberies the city of Malmö is experiencing is part of a “war against the Swedes.” This is the explanation given by young robbers from immigrant backgrounds. “When we are in the city and robbing we are waging a war, waging a war against the Swedes.” This argument was repeated several times. “Power for me means that the Swedes shall look at me, lie down on the ground and kiss my feet. We rob every single day, as often as we want to, whenever we want to.” Swedish authorities have done virtually nothing to stop this.

[…]

In a country where the tax rate is above 60%, higher than in almost any other country on the planet save perhaps North Korea – which incidentally also has almost as much free speech as Sweden – the natives are attacked on a daily basis by immigrant gangs, yet the state seems unwilling to do anything to stop this. Although Muslims openly brag about targeting Jews and Christians, this doesn’t constitute a hate crime. But is does constitute racism and a hate crime if Muslims are not presented with halal sausages at all times or allowed to wear a burka wherever they want to.

[…]

The British author Paul Weston believes that Britain’s national heart has ceased beating: “Our national soul is hovering indecisively above the operating table. The crash team have been called, but the politically inclined hospital switchboard have told them there is no problem, that everything is under control. The life support boys have heard otherwise, they are hurrying to get there, but other hospital staff members have switched the signage to the operating theatre and killed the lights. It is a big hospital, they only have minutes to get there, they are lost, confused, misinformed, and the clock is relentlessly ticking, and ticking, and ticking…”

I’m inclined to say the same thing about Sweden. The Swedish nation is currently on its deathbed. We can only hope there is life after death after all.

Go over to Brussels Journal for the rest of the details. But don’t expect to be cheered up by anything you find there.

Dear Dymphna,

I found this anonymous letter recently, reproduced on an Italian blog called “Penelope alla guerra.” As you can see the letter is not recent, but the situation has not improved in the meantime. If anything, it has gotten worse.

Mark the optimism with which, at the end, the writer speaks of our government (at the time the centre-right one headed by Silvio Berlusconi). My opinion then was that Berlusconi simply managed the catastrophe of illegal immigration without doing anything to actually solve the problem.

With the present left-wing government things are worse.

Note: The punctuation is this letter is erratic, but I left it as it was because it reflects the writer’s deep anguish.

Ciao, all the best,

Minerva

This letter must reach everyone; spread it around as much as possible…

Milan, September 11 ’04

Saturday afternoon September 11 2004. In front of my house there is a mosque of sorts, or rather there’s a building where practically only Muslims live and they’ve set up a room for prayers, they’re all dressed in white, they’re celebrating… yes they’re celebrating September 11, they usually never meet on Saturdays but on Fridays so this is a special day, they’re celebrating the fall of the Twin Towers, they celebrate the massacre that is still vivid in my eyes and in anybody’s eyes…
- – - – - – - – - -
A poll has found out that anyone interviewed today remembers perfectly where he was and what he was doing on September 11 2001 at the precise moment when the two towers fell… showing how much we were traumatized.

They celebrate…

But shouldn’t these be the moderate Muslims? The ones who aren’t terrorists and who want to integrate, the ones who aren’t here to take away our freedom but to share it?

Bulls**t, Bulls**t, Bulls**t.

They aren’t terrorists because they don’t have the courage of their kamikaze buddies but they totally approve their choices, the kidnappings, the slaughter of children, anything feasible to make Europe understand that we are falling under a dictatorship worse than any Italy has ever undergone.

I’ll read to you what they write: European women are a shame! They must be re-educated. Muslim women have no schooling, they don’t work, their only task is to have children… they’re considered as much as animals, maybe worse, they’re even beaten.

I am an anesthesiologist and I see lots and lots of women give birth, lately most of them are Muslim, their husbands don’t come into the delivery room, it is not allowed by their religion and even before our request for help at least to provide some translation they REFUSE if she must die it’s Allah who wants it… so these poor girls (even if they do nothing to change the situation) don’t understand a word of Italian, they suffer like beasts, we tell them to push and they don’t understand, to move, to walk, to stop and they don’t understand, the situation gets complicated and we almost always practice a caesarean. They breed and breed, they must outnumber us within a generation.

At this rate they will succeed… once we are a minority we won’t be able to rebel any more, we’ll wear the burqa, we’ll take down our crucifixes and our freedom will be lost forever… Our politicians don’t deal with the problem, frightened like all of us by these people who are not afraid to die, are not afraid to fight and above all have a precise plan.

Let’s show at least to our government, to the state, to those who have the power to stop this situation that we WANT IT, we want to struggle to get our Italy back, our freedom, to be able to send our children to school without having to withdraw them because the class is attended by too many immigrant children who don’t speak Italian and slow down not to say block our children’s program… So that all it’s left for us to do is pay for public schools and pay all over again for private schools for our children.

Too wrong…

We must stop this situation, stop the clandestine arrivals from the sea of illegal immigrants, hundreds a day and adopt a less moderate less peaceful behaviour towards Muslims, because they for first are the racists against us, they want to change us…

We must take away the peace flags and hang the Italian flag from our houses! A MESSAGE THAT WILL REACH THE EYES OF OUR GOVERNMENT a flag symbol of freedom, of our motherland and of the trust we must have in our government so that things may change.

[Unknowingly, the Baron and I both wrote a response to an email from a reader using the pseudonym Beverly Hills. Her letter is posted below, along with the Baron’s reply. This is my response, which assumes the reader has seen what Ms. Hills has to say. - Dymphna]

Ms. Hills:

Thank you for the effort you took to write us about an important issue. As I said in a recent post, there is definitely power in the names or labels we assign to ourselves and one another.

The meta-argument you make, which is that conservative bloggers could change the course of the national conversation by changing the labels we use, assigns to us far more power than we could ever have to engender such a fundamental alteration. Not only that, we would have to preface every discussion by explaining what we mean by “socialist” and why we don’t employ the more commonly used phrase “left” or “liberal” – even though these are the designations that those who assume those positions assign to themselves. Many would be insulted by “socialist”; some simply wouldn’t get it.

It is a surprise to have a liberal reader who does not vilify us. In blogs written by those who favor people like Barak Obama, Cindy Sheehan, or for those who read Daily Kos, we are called “Bacon” and “Lymph Node.” Our blog is called “The Darkies Are Coming”…
- – - – - – - – - -
Vitriolic ad hominem attacks which never address the content of our posts are the usual fare. James Wolcott, from Vanity Fair, calls himself a liberal and he votes Democratic. He has ridiculed our blog in scatological terms for our philosophy – and that philosophy can most usefully be described as conservative. I say “usefully” because the majority of people understand the word “conservative” in the sense we use it; the only difference is whether they consider it complimentary or pejorative.

Our son spent four years at college getting spittle on the front of his shirt if he questioned the liberal party line. Students who identified themselves as Democrats went into a frenzy when they learned he was not in agreement with their assessment of what they called “conservative s**t”. In fact, during his middle school years, at a Quaker institution he attended on scholarship, he and one history teacher were the only voices of conservatism in the whole school. The others did not self-identify as socialists and would have had no idea what he was talking about had he used the term. They called themselves “liberal” and their general dismissal for those who did not tow the party line was, “you suck.” These were the children of the very wealthy and they held the poor in contempt even while they supported government funded programs to “help” the underclass.

At work, I lived in a liberal world — again, self-defined. People did not call themselves socialists, and, like my son’s peers would have argued the point had they been so designated. These adults, like the school children, believed in large government programs, higher taxes to fund them, abortion without limits, and “gender equality” which included a large dose of hostile, anti-male feminism that I found unpleasant and intellectually sterile.

People choose the names/labels/points of view that they think fit them. The media puts its own gloss on those names. Thus, there are “left-wing activists” and “right wing extremists.” Somehow, Cindy Sheehan has never made it to the “extremist” position in the MSM.

I have edited books for people who define their own political views as “left of center.” Even though their books were not about politics at all, there would nonetheless be de rigueur political jibes aimed at Republicans and conservatives. These would be just stuck into the manuscript for no other apparent reason than to vent their spleen about, say, Margaret Thatcher — many years after her exit from office. It would be like pulling teeth to get them to remove these irrelevant gems.

Even those who write fiction indulge in this reflexive mean-spiritedness. They obviously assume the vast majority of their readers will agree with them. Read Tony Hillerman and you’ll find at least two anti-Republican remarks per book. In contrast, I’ve not found anything positive about the Democrats in his work, just this mandatory conservative-bashing.

In Robert Parker’s mystery novels the villains are often extremist or fundamentalist Christians. They are portrayed as both stupid and ignorant, prejudiced, and socially evil. Otherwise, regarding religion, Mr. Parker is silent about matters spiritual. In the world he creates in his books, it is as though religion didn’t exist. I like the stylistic nature of his novels and continue to read them, but I do notice the bright thread of contempt for Christians he weaves into his stories.

These are just some examples of a pervasive mindset. This phenomenon is an interesting characteristic of many people who are “left of center”: they do not begin by describing what they are for, or what they value. Instead, they use vitriol and ad hominem attacks against those who disagree with their world view. That seems to be their version of a level playing field – i.e., one that has been leveled and cleansed of anything they find disagreeable.

As far as “political correctness” goes, I do not see this label being used to squelch anything but the viewpoints of conservatism. And the people wielding these bludgeons do not consider themselves socialists, Marxists or Communists – unless you factor in the academics, who do indeed understand the truth of what you say. But they also know the negative effect that using these designations publicly would have on their cause; thus such labels are often veiled in public discourse by those who hold the socialist or marxist views you describe.

I do not agree that the countries of the Anglosphere are “about finished.” These are the bright spots of robust economies, active electorates, and a strong sense of identity. We are currently experiencing an unprecedented wave of global migrations fueled by a mixture of hope and envy and the desire for freedom, not to mention the need to find a safe, orderly place for their children. These mass movements of people have created a kind of disjointedness that will take time to resolve. The old solutions do not work, but new syntheses have not yet been created which can effectively address the problems created by our technology — successes that make us a Mecca (so to speak) for those who cannot survive the corrupt, failed states into which they are born.

If, as you say, there are many liberals who visit our website, they are not much in evidence. Occasionally one shows up to excoriate us for our point of view, and liberal websites link to us for ad hominem vitriol, but none have appeared to join in any honest debate of the issues.

It is the common experience of many conservatives that it is better to keep one’s political views private. Liberal friends simply presume we think like they do. And if we explain that we do not and have sound reasons for our conclusions, their animosity becomes overt.

It is not our purpose to change anyone’s mind. We exist to provide a forum for those who are concerned about the exponential spread of government, the dangerous situation Israel faces, and the cancerous growth of Islamists bent on our destruction and the establishment of a fascist Utopia they call the Ummah.

Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan of Brunei, is a rich dude. To put it mildly.

The man invested more in his private jet than I will ever earn in a lifetime. Take a look at this plane. Make sure you click on all the photos and enlarge them.

One blogger reports that

This Airbus 340 aircraft was “remodeled” in Waco . Yes, the sinks are solid gold and one of them is Lalique crystal. The Sultan bought the aircraft for roughly $100M; had it flown to Waco, brand-new, had the interior completely removed; and had the folks at E-Systems (now Raytheon) install $120M worth of improvements inside and outside.

Among the improvements are all those lavish fittings you see in the photos, including the (reportedly) gold fixtures in the bathroom.

Last night our Swedish correspondent LN sent this update on the Sultan’s jet:
- – - – - – - – - -

What happened to his private, luxurious A-340 or B-777 (all decked out with gold poopers and seating for ten people)?

It’s in the shop being remodeled. The poopers are now being replaced with swiveling models that can be turned to face away from Mecca when the plane is on certain routes. Until now the plane often had to change course during pooping, which led to trouble with the aviation authorities.

LN is not only notoriously indifferent to sourcing his material with links, he’s also fond of pulling my leg. I’ve googled my fingertips raw trying to verify his story, but with no luck so far. So we’ll just have to take his word for it.

If it’s not true, it oughta be. To quote the late John Gardner (from memory, in The Wreckage of Agathon — y’all correct me if I get it wrong), “Since the truth is ultimately unknowable, what matters is not what is true, but what is entertaining.”

And this story is definitely entertaining.

Dymphna and I just finished another stint on the radio show hosted by Fausta and Siggy.

If you want to listen to us rant and rave, here’s the permalink.

Fausta and Siggy run a great radio gig!

[Nothing follows]

This morning we received an email from someone name Beverly Hills — not, one suspects, her real name — who took us to task for writing liberals out of the Counterjihad narrative.

The entire email is reproduced without alteration below, followed by my response.

And no, I don’t know what the “Holger Dansk” blog is, so don’t ask.

Dear Dymphnia and Baron,

I very much enjoy your work and writing with this blog. It’s a great service to thos world — no exaggeration. I frequently visit it as well as Brussels Journal, Dhimmi Watch, Jihad Watch, LGF, Fjordman, Holger Dansk. You all do GREAT work.

One V-E-R-Y B-I-G PROBLEM, however. EVERY time you identify this movement of fighting the Islamicization of the West and the related demographic suicide of the West as something only “conservatives” see or something that is based in “the right” or “conservatism” — YOU ALIENATE H-U-G-E numbers of people who otherwise share the same ideas and beliefs as you do.

I myself am a LIBERAL. Does it matter? Absolutely NOT. The criticisms (e.g. “political correctness” and dhimmitude and lack of understanding of Islam AND their own Western culture…) you level at so-called “liberals” and the “left” are FULLY valid. But, you know what? Most people who consider themselves to be Conservatives in this world are also hindered by exactly those same things (e.g. “political correctness” and dhimmitude and lack of understanding of Islam AND their own Western culture…).

The Brussels Journal, for example, identifies its site as “The Voice of Conservatism in Europe”. See this google search.

And I’ve seen many bloggers on sites who go fully unchallanged (not my job…I already spend enough of my time writing about these issues. I don’t need to spend it in a useless battle over “liberal” “conservative”. Anyway, as a “liberal” myself, any “conservative” is far more likely to listen to another “conservative” or the editor of one of these otherwise EXCELLENT blogs when that “conservative” tells them this is N-O-T “conervative” or “liberal” issue.)

Take this September 11th meeting EU protest coming up in Brussels. Read the website and they understand that people involved and concerned about these things come from ALL stripes — politically, nationally, religiously, etc. The time now in Europe and the US is critical. We are A-L-L going over the edge. If you and the core group that met in Denmark actually want to do something to gather critical mass you need to do two (2) things: 1) you need to stop (and revise or remove…) your comments in you websites that identify any of this as some exclusively “conservative” movement; 2) you need to relabel and change the way you address the left and “liberals” — instead of using “liberals” or “left” use the words “Marxist” or “Socialist” or “Communists”.

The problem here is “political correctness” and ALL of the ways that “political correctness” pervades ALL of our entire decision making processes — whether for “conservatives” or for “liberals”. The problem here is the indoctrination we have all received over our Western lives that causes us to put away “freedom of expression” whenever it concerns someone not like us and offers economic reasons for lack of development and poverty (as opposed to RELIGIOUS and the cultures that arise from each religion…) and then which, at the same time, is also hostile to religion…most specifically Christianity. Yes, those “economic reasons” arise in the left in Marxism, but, NO, after 150 years, these ideas even determine how an average “conservative” thinks.

Europe, the West, and the Anglo-American countries are truly about finished. I just spent two hours reading Swedish newspapers and press releases. They’ve taken in 95,500 immigrants this year. It’s a record. You read the articles and there is ABSOLUTELY NO DFEBATE…and NONE ALLOWED in Sweden. Everything in the papes is ROSY stories that are self-imposed propaganda. That country is really lost. Meanwhile the average person there (as anywhere) is fed up with immigration…yet the politicians and human services people call anyone who gives their opinion a “racist” or “xenophobe”. It’s really horrible. That country — along with many others — are LOST.

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So the point is this. We who care about these things come from ALL stripes. Hell, there are even immigrants who are saying SHUT the damn doors. All of the sites I named above REALLY MUST remove things and also challenge bloggers who want to paint “liberals” and the “left” as idiots. Personally, I’m not offended, because I know what you are trying to say; but I can say most “liberals” would NOT take the same view. You need us. We need you. We ALL need each other if we are to even COME CLOSE to closing the door. Remove the language in your headers and titles that claim things like the “voice of Conservatism”. When bloggers on your page hammer “liberals” or the “left” take them to taks ALWAYS and point out that there are many liberals (like me) who visit and write on your websites — and teach them to focus their blasting of “liberals” instead on “Marxists”, “Socialists”, “Communists”, etc. Use those words instead. If you don’t, 50% of people out there will never take your websites or writing …OR THIS IMMENSELY IMPORTANT ISSUE… seriously. You M-U-S-T quit characterizing “conservatives” as the people who have all the answers or who are the only people “in the right” on this. If you can’t do that simple thing…and make sure it is reflected in your blog and your responses to bloggers’ comments, well, what we all know and see is happening right now…is, in fact, far, far worse than done.

Please make sure to pass this on to your colleagues at all of the above named websites. This really has to be addressed in an organized and methodical fashion and be paid attention to EVERY day. Otherwise, as I said, it is TRULY finished. People who call themselves “conservative” CAN NOT and WILL NOT be able to do this alone. Merely by playing the “convervative”/”liberal” and “right”/”left” cards you IMMEDIATELY discredit EVERY issue of concern here AND then alientate the support of HALF of the people we A-L-L WILL AND DO NEED. Thank you.

B. Hills
USA

Here is my response:

Ms. Hills,

I think that you may not have been reading Gates of Vienna very long. There are some peculiar factual errors in your note — for instance, nowhere on our blog do we say that we are the “voice of Conservatism”. I presume you’re confusing us with one of the other blogs you mention.

Putting such inaccuracies aside, however, I’ll address your objections.

Even though we ridicule the left and take it to task, we don’t view it as a monolith. Although I am a conservative, I have often said that the Counterjihad is not — or shouldn’t be — solely a conservative project.

Take, for example, a Gates of Vienna post from last December, in which I featured the anti-jihad comments of an Anarchist. After quoting my Anarchist colleague, I wrote this:

I’ve been saying for a while now that it’s wrong — and counterproductive — to write off the entire Left. Christopher Hitchens and Nat Hentoff are not the only ones who understand what’s important.

Anti-jihad leftists are in the same bind as “moderate” Muslims — they are vilified, ostracized, and threatened because of their heresy. A heretical leftist may get to keep his head, but he will likely find his property destroyed and his career ruined because of his apostasy.

So it’s important to extend a hand to anyone who — without any socialist taqiyyah — genuinely wants to defeat the Great Islamic Jihad.

The problem for the Left is not that it is reviled by conservatives — which it is, often with good reason — but what it does to itself. The core of the Left has made opposition to Islamism a heresy. This is not something that conservatives made them do; they chose to do it themselves. Look at Joe Lieberman if you want an object lesson in how the Left treats its apostates.

And I’ll remind you that if you work for the media, or in education, or in Social Services, and if you want to keep your job and your friends, it would be a good idea to keep your Counterjihad opinions to yourself.

And that is the fault of the Left, not the Right.

“Liberalism” has lost its original meaning, and modern conservatism is what used to be known as “classical liberalism”.

Modern liberalism — the ideology that calls itself “liberalism” in the United States today — supports separate and unequal rights for women under Islam in the name of Multiculturalism. This liberalism is now undercutting our support for democracies overseas, arguing against supporting resistance movements in Iran, for example.

Again, liberalism supports fascism as long as it is Islamic.

This isn’t Marxism or Communism then that is masked as liberalism; it is the fascism of the Left.

When today’s “liberalism” cut its moorings with classical liberalism and became relativistic (not on religion, but on the rights of the individual), it lost its intellectual foundation.

And this makes it vulnerable to any tyranny, masked as the rights of oppressed people, that opposes the United States.

But it seems that you’re becoming a conservative, and we like you for that.

Fortunately, an individual moral revulsion against the fascism of Islam is having the same effect around the world.

It’s getting harder and harder to make sense of the Alice in Wonderland moves and counter-moves in the Middle East.

This latest gambit is making everyone nervous:

The Bush administration will be asking Congress to approve a $20 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf states despite the concerns of some U.S. officials that the Saudis have been hampering U.S. efforts in Iraq…

The size of the proposed package, which would include advanced weaponry, has made Israel and its supporters in Congress “nervous”… The administration is expecting Israeli supporters and Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the deal when it is formally presented to Congress this fall.

To resolve these concerns, the administration has promised Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, and is asking the Saudis to accept restrictions on the “range, size and location of the satellite-guided bombs” and to agree not to store the weapons near Israeli territory…

Do not run screaming from the room just yet…
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Yes, the Saudis are a corrupt bunch. Yes, it does appear that we are arming our enemies, those truly evil Wahhabists who have sewn such destruction in the world. The first thought of a reasonable person has to be: “is Bush out of his mind?”

Actually people have been asking some variation on that question for some time now. However, in this case, Ed Lasky at The American Thinker has a bit of history and a lot of strategy for us to consider.

First of all the details: these sales also involve other Middle Eastern countries. Mr. Lasky calls them “allies” but for most Americans – including me – thinking of Egypt as an ally is a hard concept to get one’s mind around. And he reminds us that Israel has not been left out of the equation. They will receive even more military aid than the others over the ten year period.

But Mr. Lasky wants us to examine the ingredients in this sausage the U. S. is making:

This move [massive arms sales] is being taken in reaction to the provocative steps Iran has taken by not only continuing its nuclear program, but also by being the arms supplier to Syria, Hezb’allah, and insurgents in Iraq. Iran has also been making huge purchases of arms from Russia. Iran has also laid claim to various islands in the Persian Gulf (the Arab nations call this waterway the “Arab Gulf”) and has pressured the smaller nations that line the Persian Gulf to accept Iranian suzerainty over the area.

So Iran is the reason. This is about strategy. What of the history? Well, Mr. Lasky invokes President Reagan’s moves in bringing down the Soviet Union:

The fear of the Sunnis that the Shiite arc in the Middle East is strengthening is also an element in trying to assuage Sunni Arab concerns by expanding arm deliveries to them. However, one other tactic might be at work-and it is one that helped to bring down the Soviet Union. When President Reagan was briefed that the Soviet economy was weak, he undertook a massive military expansion-hoping to bring the Soviet Union’s economy to its knees since he suspected their economy would not be able to match the American build-up in arms and would “go broke” while trying.

In sum, it may not be as bad an idea as it first appears. After all, the sale stretches over ten years. It may be that just a few years down the road things will have changed and the need for shoring up anti-Iran will not seem so compelling. On the other hand, change in Middle East seems as though it does not occur in human terms – it’s more like geological time over there. However, let us bear in mind the fact that The Wall is history; how many of us ever expected to see the fall of the Soviet Union in our lifetime?

Thus, it is well worth your time to read the rest of Mr. Lasky’s brief essay and ponder his view of the situation. Just reading his description of Iran’s current condition offers hope.

Dan Riehl has been following the TNR debacle quite thoroughly. Scroll down through his posts to learn that the mystery soldier is married to a staff person at The New Republic.

Discover the real name of this military journalist sap, and look at some of his former blog entries. Hint: “Integrity” is not his middle name.

Finally, follow Dan’s link to Howard Kurtz at WaPo. Foer, TNR’s editor, is quoted as complaining that his writer has:

“…lost his lifeline to the rest of the world” because military officials have taken away his laptop, cellphone and e-mail privileges.

Poor baby. These horrible events he witnessed: scarred women, dogs run over by soldiers, men doubled over in laughter at mass graves… No doubt all these are seared, seared into his memory.

This guy is in doo-doo so deep that you have to wonder at his intellectual capacity. Did he really think no one would check his credibility? Does he live in a moonbat bubble, even in Iraq?

Be sure to read all of Dan’s reports on the now-outed Scott Thomas. And pay attention to Dan’s ideas about this person’s motivation. Aside from being resentful that he is a poor viktim of the rigid imperial military, I mean. So far he hasn’t claimed to have been drafted, but that may be next.

The boy’s out for notoriety and bucks. Which the not so gentle pacifists will give him in great abundance. This is the new anti-war poster boy. What Kerry did for Vietnam, “Scott Thomas” will do for Iraq. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Follow da money.

[TNR's tawdry mess ends here]