Google video now has the full 54 minute video of the FBI’s Abscam sting of that great patriot John Murtha:

[googlevideo]2131539854655700584[/googlevideo]

Google video caption: The complete and unedited video of Congressman John Murtha’s January 7, 1980 meeting with the FBI’s undercover Abscam investigation. At Abscam’s W Street townhouse in Washington, D.C. With FBI Special Agent Anthony Amoroso, informant Mel Weinberg, and Howard Criden.

It’s must see TV.

The American Spectator has a transcript of this momentous meeting.

The latest educational installment in our ongoing series in preparation for the future.

From those keepers of knowledge at Islam Question and Answer:

Fasting person using the siwaak and swallowing his saliva afterwards

Question:

What is the ruling on using the siwaak during the day in Ramadaan? Is it permissible to swallow the saliva after using the siwaak?

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

It is mustahabb to use the siwaak at all times, when fasting and when not fasting, at the beginning of the day and at the end. The evidence for that is as follows:

1 – al-Bukhaari (887) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “ Were it not that it would cause hardship to my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwaak for every prayer.”

2 – al-Nasaa’i narrated from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The siwaak purifies the mouth and is pleasing to the Lord.” Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 5; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 5.

These ahaadeeth indicate that it is mustahabb to use the siwaak at all times, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not make an exception in the case of one who is fasting, rather the general meaning of the hadeeth includes both those who are fasting and those who are not fasting.

It is permissible to swallow the saliva after using the siwaak, but if anything comes out of the siwaak in the mouth, you should spit it out and then swallow the saliva, just as the fasting person is allowed to do wudoo’, then he should spit out the water from his mouth and then swallow his saliva. He does not have to dry his mouth completely from the water used for rinsing.

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’ (6/327):

Al-Mutawalli and others said: When the fasting person rinses his mouth, he has to spit out the water; he does not have to dry out his mouth using a cloth or the like. There is no difference of scholarly opinion on this point.

Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Chapter: Using fresh or dry siwaak for one who is fasting … Abu Hurayrah said, narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Were it not that it would cause hardship for my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwaak for every wudoo’.” Al-Bukhaari said: There is no difference between one who is fasting and one who is not. ‘Aa’ishah said, narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “The siwaak purifies the mouth and is pleasing to the Lord.” ‘Ata’ and Qutaadah said: he may swallow his saliva.

Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath:

By using this title, he refuted those who say that it is makrooh for a fasting person to use a fresh siwaak. This was preceded by Ibn Sireen’s likening the fresh siwaak to the water used for rinsing the mouth (in wudoo’).

“There is no difference between one who is fasting and one who is not” means also that there is no difference between fresh and dry. By stating this it becomes clear that everything narrated in this chapter fits the title. This is all summed up in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, “Were it not that it would cause hardship for my ummah, I would have commanded them to use the siwaak for every wudoo’.” This implies that it is permissible at all times and in all situations.

“‘Ata’ and Qutaadah said: he may swallow his saliva.” This comment suits the title in the sense that the worst thing that may be feared from using a wet siwaak is that something may come out of it in the mouth. This is like the water used for rinsing the mouth; if the person spits it out from his mouth, it does not matter after that if he swallows his saliva.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said:

The correct view is that use of the siwaak by one who is fasting is Sunnah at the beginning and at the end of the day. Fataawa Arkaan al-Islam, p. 468

The siwaak is Sunnah for one who is fasting throughout the day, even if it is fresh. If a person uses the siwaak whilst fasting and finds that he can taste it, and he swallows it or spits it out from his mouth and there is saliva on it, then he swallows it, that does not affect him. Al-Fataawa al-Sa’diyyah, 245.

He should avoid that which contains something that could come out of it, such as the fresh siwaak and those which have added flavours that come out, such as lemon and mint. He should spit out anything that breaks off in the mouth, and it is not permissible to swallow it deliberately, but if he swallows it accidentally it does not matter.

From Sab’oona Mas’alah fi’l-Siyaam (Seventy Issues Related to Fasting).

And Allaah knows best.

Thankfully, further guidance on toothpick use and mouth hygiene in general is also provided by Islam Q&A:

A miswak.

What is the sunnah with regard to siwaak?

Question:

What the regulations regarding the miswak (tooth stick) and its usage:

1. its length and type;
2. how to hold and brush with it according to the Sunnah;
3. when to use it: before beginning wudu, before one rinses one's mouth, or just before beginning salat;
4. its recommended, permissable, disliked and forbidden times and circumstances for usage;
5. whether lemon, mint flavored ones are permissable;
6. its virtues?

More »

From those champions of justice at Reuters:

U.S. terrorism trials face court challenges

Sat Sep 30, 2006

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New military trial rules for terrorism suspects that President George W. Bush endorsed and Congress approved will draw vigorous court challenges and could be struck down for violating rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, critics and legal experts said.

The legal battle will likely be ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which could be troubled the rules unconstitutionally restrict the suspects' rights, they said.

They cited the bill's provisions that strip foreign suspects of the right to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts, the broad definition of enemy combatants and what they described as unfair rules for military trials, including some use of hearsay and coerced evidence.

"I have no doubt that this is headed for the Supreme Court. Once again, the administration has overreached, and that makes it more likely that the court will strike it down," Stanford University law professor Jenny Martinez said.

"It allows the use of coerced evidence, which our laws have rejected since the founding of this country. It also denies noncitizens, including those in the U.S., access to court for fundamental human rights violations like torture," she said…

Democrats and even some Republican lawmakers said taking away the prisoners' right to have habeas corpus hearings in federal court was unconstitutional and would be struck down by the Supreme Court. The experts agreed.

"I believe that the court will conclude that the habeas-stripping provision is unconstitutional," said Eugene R. Fidell, a Washington attorney and military law expert who is president of the National Institute of Military Justice…

Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents hundreds of Guantanamo prisoners, vowed to challenge the removal of the habeas corpus rights.

Ratner said such an opportunity could arise when the administration moves to dismiss pending Guantanamo cases in order to apply the new rules. Defense lawyers could then respond by challenging the rules' constitutionality.

This is a really shocking development.

Those who pushed these changes through, like Senator John McCain, must not have foreseen all of these litigious challenges that will tie up our court system for years.

(Of course I kid.)

New military trial rules for terrorism suspects that President George W. Bush endorsed and Congress approved will draw vigorous court challenges and could be struck down for violating rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, critics and legal experts said.

Are these detainees being given US citizenship along with their honey-glazed chicken?

But just Google the names of the cited "legal experts":

 

Jenny Martinez and José Padilla.

Jenny Martinez is the attorney for accused "dirty bomb" terrorist José Padilla.

Eugene Fidell (R) with US Army Muslim Chaplin James Yee.

Eugene R. Fidell is defending the accused spy and Muslim Chaplin James Yee.

Michael Ratner addresses a "World Can't Wait, Drive Out The Bush Regime" rally, sponsored by the Communist Party.

Michael Ratner is the head of the Communist front America-hating group that is defending almost all of the accused terrorists detained in Guantanamo.

Which of course makes them all perfect choices for unbiased "legal experts" in this matter.

Way to go, Reuters! That is real objective reporting!

From the DNC’s Associated Press:

Iraqi security forces guard a group of men wanted for suspected terror activities after their arrest in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006.

Detained guard suspected of Iraq attacks

By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer

Sat Sep 30, 8:09 AM ET

U.S. troops detained a bodyguard for the leader of Iraq’s biggest Sunni Arab political group on suspicion the guard was preparing suicide bombings, and fearful officials on Saturday enforced a total ban on movement in this city of about seven million people.

The U.S. command said the man was believed to be a member of al-Qaida in Iraq and was preparing a series of suicide attacks inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the Iraqi government, parliament and the U.S. and other western embassies.

Khudhir Farhan was taken into custody Friday at the home of Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament, al-Dulaimi told the Associated Press.

"Credible intelligence indicates the individual, a member of Dr. Dulaimi’s personal security detachment, and seven members of the detained individual’s cell were in the final stages of launching a series of (car bomb) attacks inside the International Zone, possibly involving suicide vests," the U.S. military said in a statement without identifying the man by name.

He is suspected of having links to a car bomb network operating in the southern area of Baghdad, the military said.

Immediately after the arrest Friday afternoon, al-Dulaimi denied that the guard had terrorist links. But when contacted by the AP on Saturday he said: "That individual joined my residence as a guard no more than a month ago, therefore I haven’t got complete data about his background."

"Anyhow, they are only suspicions about his involvement, which have not been proved," al-Dulaimi said…

When will the world understand that the US troops are the peace-keepers there?

From those lovers of terror at Reuters:

Pakistan group behind Mumbai blasts - police

Sat Sep 30, 2006

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian police said on Saturday they had found evidence that Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the July 11 serial blasts in Mumbai and Pakistan’s military spy agency was behind the plot.

"We have solved the July 11 bombings case. The whole attack was planned by Pakistan’s ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and their operatives in India," A.N. Roy, Mumbai’s police chief, told a news conference…

The Indian announcement came a day after Mumbai police said they had arrested four more people in connection with the attacks on rush-hour commuter trains and stations.

The new arrests took the total number of people in custody for their alleged role in the blasts to 15, Roy said.

They include an engineer, a journalist, a computer software professional and a doctor.

A total of seven blasts ripped through commuter trains and platforms in India’s financial hub and home of Bollywood cinema…

The Pakistani government and Lashkar have denied any role in the attacks and Islamabad offered to help with investigations.

I wonder if Musharraf mentioned this in his book?

From those celebrants of submission at the Christian Science Monitor:

At Prayer: Melissa Matos, of the Council on American Islamic Relations, is one of a growing number of Hispanic Muslims. The population has grown 30 percent since 1999.

More US Hispanics drawn to Islam

September 28, 2006 edition

By Amy Green | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

ORLANDO, FLA. – With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn’t look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she’s from, often they are surprised that it’s not the Middle East but Colombia.

That’s because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in modesty. "When I was in my country I never fit in the society. Here in Islam I feel like I fit with everything they believe," she says.

Garcia is one of a growing number of Hispanics across the US who have found common ground in a faith and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage. From professionals to students to homemakers, they are drawn to the Muslim faith through marriage, curiosity and a shared interest in issues such as immigration.

The population of Hispanic Muslims has increased 30 percent to some 200,000 since 1999, estimates Ali Khan, national director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago. Many attribute the trend to a growing interest in Islam since the 2001 terrorist attacks and also to a collision between two burgeoning minority groups. They note that Muslims ruled Spain centuries ago, leaving an imprint on Spanish food, music, and language.

"Many Hispanics … who are becoming Muslim, would say they are embracing their heritage, a heritage that was denied to them in a sense," says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky…

The trend is a sign that Islam is becoming more Americanized and more indigenous to the country, Bagby says. As Republican positions on issues such as immigration push Muslim Hispanics and blacks in a less conservative direction, Islam could move in the same direction…

"The more Hispanics and other Americans [who] become Muslim, the stronger and wider the bridge between the Muslim community and the general larger American community," Bagby says. "Their words and approach have some weight because they are a source of pride for Muslims throughout the world."

Garcia left Colombia to study international business in the US. Always religious, she considered becoming a nun when she was younger. But her Catholic faith raised questions for her. She wondered about eating pork when the Bible forbids it, and about praying to Mary and the saints and not directly to God.

In the US she befriended Muslims and eventually converted to Islam. Her family in Colombia was supportive. Today she says her prayers in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and she eats Halal food in keeping with Islamic beliefs.

"It’s the best thing that happened to me," says Garcia in soft, broken English. "I never expected to have so many blessings and be in peace like I am now."

What a heart-warming story. An illegal alien, here on an over extended student visa, converts to Islam to feel more like herself. And so she doesn’t have to eat pork.

And damn those evil conservative Republicans for pushing Hispanics like her towards Islam anyway.

By the way, this piece looks suspiciously like a one year old article from the Miami Herald. Which in itself smacked of being a CAIR press release.

Apparently it is very important to get this message out over and over again.

And the CSM is only too happy to oblige.

From the New York Post:

Anti-W. $oros: I Quit Politics

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

September 29, 2006 — Billionaire liberal financier George Soros, who spent millions of his fortune trying to oust President Bush in 2004, yesterday said he hopes to stay out of politics from now on.

"In the future, I’d very much like to get disengaged from politics," Soros said at a Council on Foreign Relations meeting on the Upper East Side. "I’m interested in policy and not in politics.

And yet we have this report from the self-same event, courtesy of  his love slaves at Reuters:

Soros: U.S. can’t bomb its way toward Mideast peace

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros said on Thursday the war in Iraq has undermined U.S. leadership in the world, mocking the concept that peace and democracy could be achieved through war.

"The idea that you can introduce democracy via military force is a non-starter," Soros told a gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have lost the moral high ground." …

Soros, who is promoting a book lambasting U.S. Middle East policy, said the resentment generated in the Arab world by the bloody conflict in Iraq more than offsets any possible benefits gleaned from efforts to open the country’s political process…

Soros argued that Bush’s with-us-or-against-us stance in the fight to combat terrorism has hampered America’s ability to differentiate between groups like Hamas and Hizbollah, which he said could be dealt with politically, and al-Qaeda…

Pull the other one, György.

While the media is pondering the subject of Bill Clinton’s foreign policy accomplishments while President, we should note that the end of September marks the 6th anniversary of the so-called "Al-Aqsa Intifada."

Just to refresh our memories, Wikipedia describes this, the Second Intifada thusly:

Al-Aqsa Intifada

The al-Aqsa Intifada is the wave of violence that began in September 2000 between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis; it is also called the Second Intifada. "Intifada" is an Arabic word for "uprising" (literally translated as "shaking off"). Many Palestinians consider the intifada to be a war of national liberation against foreign occupation, whereas many Israelis consider it to be a terrorist campaign…

It is also called the Oslo War by those who consider it a result of concessions made by Israel following the Oslo Accords, and Arafat’s War, after the late Palestinian leader whom Israelis blame for starting it…

The death toll both military and civilians of the entire conflict in 2000-2006 is estimated to be 3,651 Palestinians and 1007 Israelis,  although this number is criticized by some sources for not differentiating between combatants and civilians…

Prior events

By signing the Oslo Accords, the Palestine Liberation Organization committed to curbing violence in exchange for phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and Palestinian self-government within those areas through the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. However, both sides ended up deeply disappointed in the results of the Oslo Accords.

In the immediate five years following the Oslo signing, 405 Palestinians were killed; 256 Israelis were killed, more than the amount slain in the previous fifteen years (216, 172 of which were slain during the First Intifada)…

Tactics

…The tactic which the Palestinians have become most infamous for is the suicide bombing. Conducted as a single or double bombing, suicide bombings are generally conducted against "soft" targets (civilians) or "lightly hardened" targets (such as checkpoints) to try to raise the cost of the war to Israelis and demoralize the Israeli society. Most suicide bombing attacks (although not all) are targeted against civilians, and conducted on crowded places in Israeli cities, such as public transportation (buses), restaurants and markets. Contrary to popular belief, most suicide bombers are not uneducated, nor are they from the most destitute sections of the population - they generally are relatively well off and well educated…

The anniversary of this heroic movement of suicide bombers is being celebrated throughout the Arab world:

But there is a revealing quote from Ziyad Abu’Ein of Fatah during an interview on Alam TV July 4, 2006, courtesy of MEMRI:

Ziyad Abu ‘Ein, Member of Fatah Leadership: If Not for the Oslo Accords, There Would Have Been No Intifada

7/4/2006 Clip No. 1205

Following are excerpts from an interview with Ziyad Abu ‘Ein, member of the Fatah leadership, which aired on Al-Alam TV on July 4, 2006:

"The Oslo Accords were not what the Palestinian people dreamt of. The dream of the Palestinian people is the return, self-determination, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, and the liberation of its land.

However, there would have been no resistance in Palestine if not for Oslo. It was Oslo that strongly embraced the Palestinian resistance. All the occupied territories - and I was one of the activists in the first and second Intifadas, and I was arrested by Israel several times… If not for Oslo, there would have been no resistance.

Throughout the occupied territories, we could not move a single pistol from one place to another. If not for Oslo, the weapons we got through Oslo, and if not for the "A" areas [now controlled by] the Palestinian Authority, if not for the training, the camps, the protection provided by Oslo, and if not for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners through Oslo - this Palestinian resistance could not have carried out this great Palestinian Intifada, with which we confronted the Israeli occupation."

And, lest we forget, it was none other than Bill Clinton who pushed through the Olso Accords. Indeed, it was the high point of his foreign policy "successes."

Alas.

From Saddam's fans at the DNC's Associated Press:

Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa

Brother-in-law of new Saddam judge slain

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The brother-in-law of the new judge presiding over Saddam Hussein's genocide trial was killed and his nephew was wounded in a shooting Friday in Baghdad, the latest deadly violence linked to proceedings against the former Iraqi leader.

Kadhim Abdul-Hussein was fatally shot, and his son, Karrar, was wounded in the capital's western Ghazaliyah neighborhood by unidentified assailants, police 1st Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said.

It was not immediately clear whether they were targeted because they were related to Judge Mohammed Oreibi al-Khalifa, a Shiite Muslim who took over the Saddam trial last week, or if it was another of the sectarian attacks that have been plaguing Baghdad.

During Saddam's first trial, three defense lawyers were killed, and in July, Saddam and three other defendants refused food to protest lack of security for lawyers and conduct of the trial…

So the question is whether these people were attacked because of being relatives of the new judge or merely for being of the wrong brand of Muslim.

But this brings up a question the media has never explained. If an unidentified person is driving along in their car or just walking on the street, how can anyone tell which Islamic sect he belongs to?

Could it be that so many of these deaths are just the victims of blood-thirsty savages who are addicted to killing?

From our friends at CNS News:

Torture Tactics Refined In US Prisons, ACLU Says

By Nathan Burchfiel
September 28, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - The director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prisoner Project Wednesday accused U.S. governments past and present of honing torture tactics in American prisons before they were allegedly implemented in terrorist detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"If you look at the iconic pictures from Abu Ghraib," Elizabeth Alexander told reporters at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, "you can match up these photos with the same abuses at American prisons, each one of them."

Alexander said the infamous torture tactics uncovered at Abu Ghraib were first used in American prisons, but without cameras. "The photo from Abu Ghraib showing a mock execution matches events in Sacramento, California, in which guards staged mock executions of prisoners," she said.

The images of dogs being used to intimidate prisoners portray similar events that occurred in a Texas jail, according to Alexander, who added that the sexual humiliation that occurred in Abu Ghraib is similar to sexual abuse in women’s prisons in the United States.

She said the ACLU knows and has proven that the torture tactics have been used in American prisons, but lacks the photographic evidence found at Abu Ghraib because "you could never get a camera into an American prison."

Alexander made the accusations at a panel discussion on the "history, experimentation, techniques, training, exporting and use of torture by [the] U.S. government," sponsored by outgoing U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.).

McKinney was not at the event, which was moderated by her Special Project Assistant, John Judge. Calls placed to McKinney’s Washington, D.C., office were unanswered Wednesday.

In a written statement submitted by University of Wisconsin Professor Alfred McCoy and read by Judge at Wednesday’s event, McCoy asserted that the tactics used at Abu Ghraib were "not the sadism of a few creeps but instead [are] the two key trademarks of the CIA’s psychological torture."

McCoy wrote that psychological torture has been developed over the "past half century" in the U.S. intelligence community into a "distinctively American interrogation technique."

McCoy, who recently published a book entitled "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror," argued that the CIA has been testing and implementing various forms of psychological torture since the 1950s.

He called psychological torture "a central, if clandestine facet of American foreign policy."

James Carafano, a senior research fellow for national security at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said if there is evidence of abuse in American prisons, it should be given to authorities.

"If somebody made this assertion I would hope they have evidence to support it," he told Cybercast News Service, "and if they have evidence to support it they should give it to the authorities and people should be tried for crimes because torture is illegal. It’s illegal whether you do it inside or outside the United States." …

What would we ever do without the ACLU looking our for our liberties?

Lest we forget, here are some of the Torture devices used by Saddam Hussein’s son Uday on members of Iraq’s Olympic team as tools of punishment for bad performance:

But never mind all that.

The ACLU has its priorities.

More good news from those pining for the caliphate at Reuters:

Surin Pitsuwan meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan at Bangkok International Airport.

U.S. to back Thai Muslim as UN chief: paper

Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:44 AM ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Former Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, a Muslim with wide international respect, emerged on Thursday as a possible last-minute candidate to replace Kofi Annan as United Nations Secretary-General.

Citing "informed sources", Thailand's Nation newspaper said Surin was about to receive backing from the United States, who felt he was a "strong candidate".

"He is an Asian, a moderate Muslim and a former foreign minister who is well-known and respected in the international community," the paper quoted an unidentified source as saying…

In New York, Richard Grenell, the spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said the Nation report was "completely wrong" in reporting that Pitsuwan was about to receive U.S. backing for the post.

UN Security Council members conduct a third informal vote on Thursday on their preference for the seven declared candidates. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has emerged top of the two previous polls…

Thailand's declared candidate, Surakiart Sathirathai, a deputy prime minister in the government ousted in a coup last week, has come third in the previous votes…

Never mind that the US Mission has denied it is backing Pitsuwan. Reuters went with what they hope will happen for their headline.

And the sad thing is Reuters and the Thai paper are probably right.

Shocking news from the keepers of the faith at Reuters:

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana (L) and Iranian nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani chat prior to talks on September 27.

EU and Iran fail to reach nuclear deal

Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:43 PM ET

By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Thursday he had failed to reach a deal with the chief Iranian negotiator on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, but said they would hold another round of talks soon.

Several Western diplomats who were briefed on Solana’s talks with Larijani said the Iranians were still refusing to commit to suspending their uranium enrichment program and said Larijani appeared to be trying to drag out talks with Solana.

"We have been progressing," Solana told reporters after discussions with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani.

"We still have some issues that have not been closed," he added without elaborating. Solana said he hoped to renew contact with the Iranians by the middle of next week…

Larijani said seven hours of talks over two days in Berlin had brought "some possible conclusions" and added that talks would continue.

"We hope to be able to embark on the main negotiations as soon as possible," he said, referring to the incentives package…

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was open to negotiations and would accept "fair conditions". But he criticized the West’s demand that Iran freeze its enrichment program, which it hid from U.N. inspectors for 18 years.

"Why are they insisting that we suspend our atomic work? Because they control the advertising network of the world and they want to tell the nations that they were right, and Iran wanted to produce nuclear weapons, and after that they would never let us continue our programs," Ahmadinejad said…

But don’t give up hope. They might be able to negotiate another round of talks — on possible future talks.

Meanwhile, let’s all welcome Iraq to the nuclear club.

From a deeply saddened Associated Press:

Abu Ayyub al-Masri: "Join us!"

Iraq terror leader recruits scientists

Sep. 28, 2006
PATRICK QUINN

CAIRO, Egypt - In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

That comment was believed to be the first major statement from insurgents in Iraq about their losses.

"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir - also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri - the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq…

"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them," he said.

In the recording, al-Masri also urged Muslims to make Ramadan a "month of holy war" and called for insurgents in Iraq to kidnap Westerners. Sunni Arabs began observing Ramadan in Iraq on Saturday, while Shiites were to begin Monday.

Al-Masri called on insurgents in Iraq to capture Westerners so they could be traded for the imprisoned Egyptian sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.

"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," the voice on the tape said…

More than 4,000 dead foreign terrorists in Iraq? (And you know that is a gross underestimate.)

It sounds like the plan is working.

In the reports of Iva Toguri's death the media are vying with each other to whitewash her past and heap praise upon her heroism. It's clear they identify with her.

Here is Reuters' encomium:

Woman tried as ‘Tokyo Rose’ dies

Sept 27, 2006

CHICAGO - An American woman convicted of treason and later pardoned for being “Tokyo Rose,” one of several radio announcers Japan used during World War II to spew propaganda to undermine American morale, has died, a Chicago hospital said Wednesday.

Iva Toguri, 90, died Tuesday from undisclosed causes, a hospital spokesman said.

She was convicted of treason in 1949 based on suspect testimony that she was the legendary “seductress of the short wave” who had sought to persuade American soldiers to surrender because their cause was lost and their girlfriends were deserting them at home.

She served more than six years in prison, though many historians believe she was not one of the dozen announcers dubbed “Tokyo Rose” by American soldiers, who mostly laughed off the surrender appeals.

Toguri did work as an announcer for the “Zero Hour” program on Radio Tokyo, but mostly played jazz records and uttered facetious comments meant to bolster, not weaken, American resolve, say historians.

Stuck in Japan during war

Born July 4, 1916, in Los Angeles, the young college graduate was visiting a sick relative in Japan when she became trapped there as war broke out. Starving and sick, unable to speak Japanese, she answered an ad to become an English-language typist for Radio Tokyo.

She married another station employee, Felipe D’Aquino, a Portuguese of Japanese descent.

After the war, a pregnant Toguri sought to return to the United States but broadcaster Walter Winchell and others cited her possible role as Tokyo Rose and criticized the U.S. administration for not punishing her. Toguri eventually signed interview notes implicating herself, thinking she could speed her return home.

Later, President Gerald Ford, made aware that she had likely been made a scapegoat during the nervous climate in the early days of the Cold War, pardoned Toguri in 1977.

After her release from prison, Toguri opened a small shop in Chicago and fought for a pardon.

The only other American woman convicted of treason was Mildred Gellers, known as “Axis Sally” as a broadcaster for Germany.

Ms. Toguri was pardoned by President Gerald Ford after watching a love note to Toguri from CBS's 60 Minutes.

Of course fresh from their success in helping the US lose the war in Vietnam, CBS News was especially empathetic to "Tokyo Rose." And what should have more weight in our legal system, a trial or a popular and famously fair television program?

This Reuters article manages to work in almost all of the apologies for Toguri.

You see, most nameless (and unfindable) historians agree that there was no such thing as "Tokyo Rose." So Toguri was not "Tokyo Rose."

And even if she was "Tokyo Rose," she intentionally used a funny voice. So nobody took her taunting propaganda seriously. And besides, Toguri needed the job. Plus she helped her fellow propagandists imprisoned patriotic Americans. And she used her program to "bolster American resolve."

Furthermore there is some question whether World War II really actually happened, or whether it isn’t just another invention of rightwing McCarthyites. And even if it did happen, WWII really wasn’t so bad. A lot of people had a great time. (Unlike the Reign of Terror under McCarthy.)

She served more than six years in prison, though many historians believe she was not one of the dozen announcers dubbed “Tokyo Rose” by American soldiers, who mostly laughed off the surrender appeals.

Never mind that the fact that Toguri signed a contract and took money based on her claim that she was indeed “Tokyo Rose.”

From her fan site, Orphan Ann:

Orphan Ann” Home Page: III. The Hunt for “Tokyo Rose”

When General Douglas MacArthur’s plane set down at Atsugi on 30 August 1945, it also carried dozens of military and civilian reporters covering the historic event. Among them were Clark Lee of INS and Harry Brundidge of Cosmopolitan. These two reporters had joined forces to get the beat on the two most sought-after interviews in post-war Japan: Hideki Tojo and “Tokyo Rose.” The former was easy to find, he was under house arrest in Tokyo, but “Tokyo Rose” was a mystery.

Brundidge offered a $250 reward to anyone who could put him in touch with “Tokyo Rose” and $2,000 to “Rose” herself for an exclusive interview. The $250 reward was equal to ¥3,750 or about three year’s income. $2,000 was over ¥30,000—a fortune by either standard. Leslie Nakashima, a Nisei at Radio Tokyo, gave them Iva Toguri’s name, which Clark Lee promptly reported to the world at large.

Iva, figuring that she had as good a claim to the name and therefore the money as anyone else, signed a contract that identified her as “the one and only ‘Tokyo Rose.’

Of course it’s very understandable that our one party media would go through any contortion to convince us that there is nothing wrong with producing propaganda for the enemy during a war. It’s what they do every day.

And after all, nobody takes them seriously. And they need the jobs or they would all starve. Moreover, their Photoshopped photos and stories about Korans being flushed down toilets are meant to "bolster American resolve."

By the way, it should once again be noted that Google has assiduously cleansed the internet of just about any and all images of Ms. Toguri broadcasting for the Japanese. or any mention of the content of these broadcasts. Google could give Stalin airbrushing lessons.

The photograph at the top is from the cache of a fawning online article about the clearly harmless Zero Hour radio broadcasts. The caption they put under Toguri’s photo reads: "As American as a cheeseburger with fries!"

(Thanks to Studmuffin for the heads up.)

On page 22 of Cindy Sheehan’s scholarly tome "Peace Mom," one finds this pronouncement from her concerning the root cause of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq:

All one has to do is look at the puppet government headed up by President Karzai to understand that the United States needed to take Afghanistan first to provide access to land to build a pipeline for Iraq’s oil, because the only other way through the gulf was via Iran, and we all know that wouldn’t have been possible.

No wonder she claims that the war in Iraq is all about oil

The trouble is Mother Sheehan appears to have her conspiracies mixed up.

The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline was the initial tinfoil explanation for the US invasion of Afghanistan — and for Afghanistan only.  (The "attacks" on 9/11 were faked to give this nefarious scheme cover.)

It was promulgated by such intellects as Michael Moore (in Fahrenheit 911 and elsewhere) and Michael Rivero. Consequently, it became an article of faith in the hate America first religion at the time.

But the Afghani pipeline has never been advanced as a motive for the war in Iraq — probably because of one minor flaw. It has nothing to do with the oil in Iraq. Nor was it ever intended to.

The pipeline conspiracy was at one time so powerful it now has an entry in that repository of all learning, Wikipedia. But even Wikipedia manages to point out:

Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline

The pipeline will transport Caspian Sea natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, into Pakistan and the Indian Ocean.

Nope. Nothing to do with Iraq.

The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline is shown in green.

Enlarge

Perhaps someone should show Cindy a map — and point out to her exactly where Iraq is.

It’s enough to make one question Mother Sheehan’s grasp of geopolitics altogether.

(Thanks to Wardmama4 for the book quote.)