Sunday, August 13, 2006

These Are The Type of People We're Fighting

I'm on an emaillist list of graduates of my alma mater, and one graduate currently works for the United Nations. I won't give any identifying information about this person (name, location, hometown) but I trust this person's word without reservation.

Working for the UN, this person takes a lot of flack from our fellow graduates. Here's the person's most recent contribution to our maillist, and I have received permission to reproduce the following paragraph regarding the Global War on Terror (GWOT):

Last week one of our national staff member's sons was kidnapped. This has occurred in the past to other staff members, but after a ransom was paid, the family member was returned. In this instance the terrorist cut this kids fingers off and used a power drill on his head. He did not survive. He was only 18. Please do not jump to conclusions about my stance on the GWOT.


Let every word of that paragraph soak in. I don't think you need my commentary.

But the lefties do. You sicken me. You'll feel bad that this happened to this poor boy, then you'll start excusing it or justifying it. You'll point out how the US military is no better than these terrorists because a few soldiers who are now behind bars took pictures of some some prisoners' wee-wees. You'll scream about the Patriot Act and about the conspiracy that released information about the proposed trans-Atlantic plane attacks just to take away attention from Ned Lamont's victory lap in the Democratic primary in freakin' Connecticut. You're afraid that the NSA's listening to your calls to some 1-900 smut number and wail along with Mama Moonbat about what an evil person George Bush is--and you were probably doing it as this teenager was getting his freakin' fingers cut off and his head drilled into.

You lefties disgust me. You are repulsive.

Update: Did you see pictures like these on the news, or in the newspaper, from this weekend's anti-Israel rallies? I'll bet you didn't. Zombie does great work, go take a look.

Update #2: (You have to read the first several comments to this post to understand what I'm saying here.) I guess this author, for pointing out leftie lies, is also full of "hate".

Update #3: Here is an example of a local supporter of terrorists. I agree with Glenn--if the Jews cut off heads, this publication would be more "sensitive" to them.

Update #4: Not that this means a lot in the grand scheme, but it's nice to know that not everyone in Hollywood is an idiot. But look at the location of the source: Australia. Will we read about this in the US press? I wonder. They sure spend a lot of time and space talking about Rob Reiner, Sean Penn, and Danny Glover, but I doubt this will get much ink.

NICOLE Kidman has made a public stand against terrorism.


The actress, joined by 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls, has taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in today's Los Angeles Times newspaper.


It specifically targets "terrorist organisations" such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine.


"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas," the ad reads. (emphasis mine--Darren)


"If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.


"We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."


A who's who of Hollywood heavyweights joined Kidman on the ad.


The actors listed included: Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt.


Directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi also signed their names.


Other Hollywood powerplayers supporting the ad included Sumner Redstone, the chairman and majority owner of Paramount Pictures, and billionaire mogul, Haim Saban.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Displaced Anger.

Anonymous said...

If I were a leftie "peace activist" sending money to terrorist organizations, going to pro-terrorist rallies, calling for the destruction of Israel, and supporting left-wing, pro-terrorist "peace now" candidates I'd worry that the NSA were listening to my calls (and tracking my funds) too.

I'd have good reason to worry.

Free speech does not include sedition or treason.

Darren said...

Not displaced at all. The disgust and contempt is correctly aimed.

Anonymous said...

This goes really well with the news of CAIR and such groups upset with President Bush's references to "Islamic fascists".

Anonymous said...

Hummm, I'm a lefty from way back and nothing in your post applies to me at all. That big sack of hate that you never put down is getting to your judgement. take a breath.

atlas

Darren said...

With you lefties it's always "hate". I don't hate. I can be repulsed, sickened, digusted, without "hating". Don't be so emotional. These terrorists and their supporters--see the pictures from San Francisco in my update--deserve all the negative attention they can get. They've *earned* that by their actions.

Anonymous said...

I think that your angst is very displaced. Someone has been murdered, and rather than express any anger toward the murders, you focus your contempt toward people who had nothing to do with the murder, unless you are suggesting the perpetrators of this crime are left wing radicals. Is this the case?

You mention a crime with no context. Where did this crime take place? Lebanon? Israel? San Francisco?

Who carried out this crime? Hezbollah? ANSWER?

“These terrorists and their supporters--see the pictures from San Francisco in my update--deserve all the negative attention they can get.”

You really want to give this sort of people attention in the national media? That would pour gasoline on a fire. For example, Cindy Sheehan has gotten a lot of negative attention, and yet some people are still sympathetic. The only reason to advocate putting these nut cases in national spotlight is if these demonstrations turn violent or you feel that people are too dumb to recognize them for the misguided people they are.

Darren said...

I have nothing but contempt and disgust for the murderers, but I'm under no illusions about my ability to change their minds. However, sometimes I still hold out a naive hope that their supporters here in the US will allow such facts to burn through their hatred of the President and cause them to see sense. I don't blame America's lefties for this murder, but I do blame them for their support of the murderers.

And to protect the identity of the person who told me the story, I won't divulge where this happened.

Ellen K said...

If a community supported the idea of kidnapping and killing someone's child just because they are black, the liberal establishment would be justifiably up in arms. If a community supported the harassment of a person because they chose to wear headcovering, the media would be horrified. But it appears that laws and ethics only apply when the perpetrators are not a perceived "minority" race. I hear daily from my collegues how bad thngs are here. But truthfully, I know of no one who's lives are at risk due to practicing their religion. In the middle east, even wearing a cross can cause someone to lose their liberty and life. So although Darren should be mad at the murderers, he has a right to be angry at clueless celebrities and millionaires with an agenda who play games in order to access power rather than truly defending the cause of freedom. These people set the scene that allows for such atrocities to occur. And Darren, as all thinking Americans, have every right to be afraid that should we ignore the jihad overseas that it will arrive at our own doors with a vengence. It happened to Europe with the Nazi party. And if there was ever a doppelganger, Iran is it. And they are calling the shots to manipulate diplomacy via their hired guns in Hezbollah.

Duez said...

Violence, Violence, Violence... where does it stop and where does it end?

Maybe that is a healthier approach for those who want an eye4an eye.

Anonymous said...

What about the hundreds of innocent Lebonese children who have been killed by Israeli bombing or the hundreds of innoncent Iraqi children killed by "misplaced" bombs in Iraq? Terrorists sicken me...but so does murder hiding under the guise of liberty and democracy.

Darren said...

Israel allowed time for non-combatants to leave, and doesn't intentionally target civilians. Hezbollah hides in civilian communities, attempting to use civilians as human shields to protect their murderous ways. They are not legal combatants under the laws of land warfare, and therefore can't even claim a right to target Israeli military.

No, they are terrorists, using terrorists' tactics. They deserve to die. It's unfortunate they take their countrymen with them, but Israel does not have to tolerate its civilians' intentionally being targeted.

I know you can see the logic of that, Katherine, even as we shudder at the loss of children.

How was your summer?

Darren said...

And be careful of your use of the word "murder". It's a loaded term in the context in which you're using it, and rather inaccurate.

David Foster said...

Katherine B...We live in the real world, in which actions have multiple consequences, not all of them desirable. Do you know of a magical way to kill terrorists who use civilians as shields, without any danger to those civilians?

Are you aware that Allied actions to liberate France in WWII resulted in the deaths of large numbers of French civilians? Would you also consider the accidental killing of French children by Allied bombing, intended to disable to French railroad system to prevent its use by the Germans, to be "murder?" Do you think we should have left France (and the rest of Europe) under Nazi control in order to preserve our moral purity?

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't get out enough because every time you post pictures of leftist rallies I am shocked and appalled at what the signs say and the beliefs of the people carrying them. I was a history major in college and teach U.S. history so I know the history of our country. I follow politics fairly closely and know that our government is not perfect. However, the alternatives are worse. I challenge anyone who thinks that it is better off somewhere else to get the HELL out of here and go live wherever they believe their paradise exists. Biting the hand that feeds you does not sit well with me.

Anonymous said...

People make Hezbollah sound like it's a terrorist organization...

Darren said...

Well, anonymous, it's not the local Tea and Crumpets Society.

Anonymous said...

They're definitely not acting like one, that's true, but neither is Israel.

Darren said...

You can do better than moral equivalence, can't you?

Anonymous said...

I guess my point is, what has Hezbollah done to be considered a terrorist group?

Darren said...

I was actually going to respond to this, and then realized I was just being sucked in. For the same reasons that I'm not going to explain why the moon landings were real and why the US government was not the brains behind 9/11, I'm not going to explain why Hezbollah is a terrorist organization.

I'll just say that the US State Department (not the CIA, not the DHS, not the DoD, but the freakin' State Department) has listed "Hizballah" as a "foreign terrorist organization" and that's good enough for me.
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/45323.pdf

Darren said...

From that same report:

Known or suspected to have been involved in numerous
anti-US and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the suicide
truck bombings of the US Embassy and US Marine
barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the US Embassy annex in
Beirut in 1984. Three members of Hizballah, ‘Imad
Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa, are on the
FBI’s list of 22 Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985 hijacking
of TWA Flight 847 during which a US Navy diver
was murdered. Elements of the group were responsible
for the kidnapping and detention of Americans and other
Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah also attacked
the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the
Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000,
Hizballah operatives captured three Israeli soldiers in the
Shab’a Farms and kidnapped an Israeli noncombatant.

Of course there's plenty more that they've done, and recently, but this should suffice. Oh, and that "navy diver"? Robert Stetham. I've never forgotten his name.

Anonymous said...

Hezbollah was formed to fight occupation by Israel. It's understandable that they would attack them. As for those other claims, remember that it's from a website owned by one of the few countries that considers them a terrorist organization, and they're "suspected" of committing those crimes, not definitely guilty.

Back to the current conflict with Israel, here is how the civilian casualties match up:
Lebanon: 1,130 dead, 3,600 wounded.
Israel: 52 dead, 648 wounded.

Israel has also used laser-guided bombs to destroy: all of Lebanon's power plants, many hospitals, and more. Here's a direct quote from CNN's senior medical correspondent: "It used to be that the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, or some sort of health care sign made you immune in some ways on a battlefield. Not so here. We're hearing stories, confirmed stories, now about ambulances actually being attacked. Hospitals actually being bombed, so much so, that they can no longer function." (In reference to Beirut and the surrounding areas)

Darren said...

Do you get 72 virgins in Heaven for believing that an Islamic terrorist group is not a terrorist group?

If not, what is your motivation for this tripe? "Confirmed" stories, like the dozens of "confirmed" fake pictures? You'll believe anything that makes either the US or Israel look bad.

Darren said...

"Their" country? I thought Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese, who have a government and an army of their own already.

Hezbollah is clearly a terrorist organization. You support them. You are either unthinking or malicious, and neither speaks well of you.

Anonymous said...

My first thought when reading the post was that if the UN had not chosen to pay ransoms for the previous victims, there would have been less incentive for the later kidnapping and murder.

Darren said...

You think??? And this is the organization lefties want to turn to all the time. Amazing.

Anonymous said...

Such strong words for an opinion on one topic.

Darren said...

You don't think they're merited? I do.

Ellen K said...

It's all about cause and effect. Iran wants a foothold within sight of Israel so they fund Hezbollah whose ego driven leader decides to tunnel a half mile under Israel's borders and kidnap two soldiers. When demands from Israel were ignored and indeed more or less jeered by Hezbollah, which had usurped power in southern Lebanon, the Israelis took action. Unlike the Europeans or the western hemisphere, Israel has these lunatics literally right on their border. Israel doesn't have the luxury of a cushion to protect them and so must defend their people from an enemy that outnumbers them. Frankly I don't see where Hezbollah comes off as anything other than a band of braggarts and cowards who stockpile their weapons in apartment buildings and mosques and use women and children as shields for media effect. The CNN reported told of how the Lebanese sent empty ambulances racing up and down the street so photographers could get good shots for the news. And someone is supposed to believe that these people will EVER want to negotiate.