The Desire to "Wind it All Up"

The inimitable Wretchard over at Belmont Club has one of his brilliant posts this morning, built round a suicide bomber attack on the India-Pakistan "Friendship Train" between Delhi, India and Lahore, Pakistan. The attack on Sunday night killed 67 people. As Wretchard points out in his post "Passage From India" attacks on innocents are now "part and parcel" of what he calls "extended negotiations" between "terrorist entities" -- barbarians by any other name -- and civil society.

Because we don't want to admit that barbarians exist (it might take us away from worrying about Britney's haircut or whether Al Gore's gonna run), we have to blame these problems on something else, and no doubt Wretchard is correct when he says that it is inevitable that someone will blame this on the "bad international atmospherics created by the United States." (John Kerry, Howard Dean call your offices).

But the most arresting portion of this post is a comment, also by Wretchard, which I reproduce here in full:

Perhaps the idea of War and Peace as a binary state has passed. It would be interesting to see whether an equivalent concept exists among rival tribes in parts of the Middle East or whether they are accustomed to living in a twilight state of neither war nor peace, the condition depending on the time of day.

If, as now seems, the Tribes have imposed their way of war upon the West, then we will long for a definite peace the way Redcoats in North America hankered after the clash of orderly ranks in the open field. Long will we seek it, but seek it in vain.

Then Israel will have proved not the exception, but rather the new rule. And the landscape though apparently open, may little by little come to be divided into besieged demesnes; a new Dark Age arising on the foundation of the new tribalism. And the wonder of it all is that it will have been built in our faces. Perhaps this is the way civilizations finish; when the consensus to go on ends. If the West does not have the inner desire to continue then perhaps it has taken the subconscious decision to wind it all up

Wow. Through a glass darkly. Although Wretchard is far more intelligent than yours truly, I don't necessarily agree. Civilization isn't going to finish, not yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar it's going to change some. If the chattering classes have indeed taken the subconscious decision to "wind it all up:" to prosecute Border Patrol agents protecting our frontiers; to loudly bellow that they "support the troops" while they do everything possible to destroy public support for the cause for which the troops fight -- all so that they may have a few more years of uninterupted conspicious consumption and enjoyment of hairless Britneys -- then we will soon dispense with chattering classes. Peace and physical security for our children are going to be provided for -- one way or another. How will this happen ? Orson Scott Card has an idea.

So the "Tribes" as Wretchard puts it, have imposed their way of war on the West ? Maybe, but the necessary wealth and military power exist to stop Wretchard's tribes. I still think the will is there too -- once the chattering classes are got out of the way or reeducated. If the Tribes have indeed imposed their way of war on the West: woe to them when the West adopts their rules. Civilization will still exist, for members of the Western "tribe," although some of us might not like the rules much. As for Wretchard's "tribes," who have given us suicide bombers and airplanes into buildings, they're going to get all the barbarism they want.

Probably Getting Ready for Astronaut Training

Frequent commenter Louie Louie recently alluded to Britney's new "do." Britney has clearly gone into orbit, and embraced her Sinéad O'Connor side. Maybe Britney's getting ready for serious Astronaut training.

So young, so much money. . .hopefully she manages a safe landing. The odds should be in her favor.

El Gran Ausente

The Great One has been playing truant again. Off to Corpus Christi on the airplane early Friday morning on business, and back to Cuidad el Jefe that afternoon; just in time to pack the Heir off on a Boy Scout campout to east Texas (no El Jefe on that expedition, this time). . .then home to pack up the cats and tear-off to the country Hacienda near Columbus in time to meet SWMBO for a late dinner.

Spent yesterday tooling around on the estate, trying out a new rifle (a Henry .22 Lever Action for the Heir), doing yardwork and such around the premises. Off to Bellville with SWMBO for lunch, (a hamburger at The Hill, which is worth the trip if, like El Jefe, you enjoy hamburgers), a visit to an art and frame shop, and a trip down to Sealy for a yard tool. Spent the evenings watching Law and Order and Magnum P.I. on DVD. Consquently, I have had neither time nor inclination for newspapers nor news till this evening; when I returned to Ciudad el Jefe.

I am even now perusing the papers, the internet, and piles of reports from the ever vigilant and loyal Secret Police, and shall no doubt have something to say soon. Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a good weekend.

Busybodies

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-People's Republic of San Francisco) says that President Bush lacks the authority to invade Iran without specific approval from Congress.

Mrs. Pelosi says that the President has consistently said he supports a diplomatic resolution to differences with Iran "and I take him at his word." Out from under the tables now, Mahmoud, "Mad Jad" Ahmadinejad. You can stop browning your pants now, "Supreme Leader" Khamenei ! Get settled into your new place, Muqtada al Sadr ! You're all safe now -- you and your nuclear bombs too, because Madam Speaker Pelosi and her disgusting little friends will protect you from mean old imperialist, war-mongering President Bush and the US military.

I must have missed the part of the Constitution that appoints the People's Republic's Ambassador to the US the Commander in Chief. (And yes, I'm familiar with the the provisions governing the power to declare war, and the power of the purse). But the Democrats want to playact at leadership: they are preparing to pass a "non-binding" resolution condemning our efforts in Iraq, while expressing "support" for our soldiers.

What this adds up to is that the Democratic majority are too chicken-hearted to vote their private convictions and cut off appropriations. But they can tell all their dim-witted, Chomsky-reading, pot-smoking supporters who take their cues from Hollywood that: "We tried. We really disapprove, truly, we do!" Small miracles the resolution is toothless for now, I guess. In any event, such busybody non-sequitur statements from Madam Speaker Pelosi about Presidential powers are of a piece with this shameful, piece-of-trash of a resolution.

As President Bush correctly said today: "This may become the first time in the history of the United States Congress that it has voted to send a new commander into battle and then voted to oppose his plan that is necessary to succeed in that battle."

Good Morning Rebels. . .Here's a Valentine

Have a look at Iraq the Model, and In from the Cold to see what appeared in the skies over Baghdad yesterday. . .

Apparently it was loitering there, maybe looking to slip some rebels a Valentine.

More on al Sadr

Lieut.-Col. Ralph Peters, writing in the New York Post, has a most entertaining piece on the apparent flight of Muqtada al-Sadr to Iran. According to Col. Peters, he's not the only "bad-actor" who has taken flight. Apparently some of the supporting cast has gone with him.

It is looking more likely that the rebel mullah is indeed gone, an advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is confirming the American reports.

Quite honestly, I don't get it, from Mr. al-Sadr's point of view. Even if his withdrawal to Iran is entirely tactical: to plead for more aid, or on other business, his enemies within and without the government will use Mr. al-Sadr's absconding to Iran to make him lose face. His rivals in his own organization (and a leader always has rivals) will do the same and take the opportunity to weaken his hold on his supporters. Even if he comes back, he's damaged -- and every day he doesn't the damage is worse.

Again, I don't get it. He has followers, the makings of an army, a political party, a name. . .He's a Contender for God's sake, in the Big Game, the only game worth playing, and he's running out on his troops and scuppering his cause. Yeah, the Americans probably want him dead or alive: but that's an occupational risk in the Rebel Leader line of work. The Americans won't be there for ever -- he could be a ruler, a Man of Power, and he's pissing it away. What a wimp ! Good for us, but Go Figure.

Shhhhhh...

Does anybody think it's curious that neither the media nor the Government want to talk about Utah mall-shooter Sulejman Talovic's religion ?

According to AP, Mr. Talovic, who was "walking around and shooting everybody he saw" on Monday at the Trolley Square shopping center -- is evidently a refugee from "war-torn Bosnia." (Aside: it's almost de rigueur to place "war-torn" in front of Bosnia, or Kosovo -- the adjectives are practically part of the place-name.)

In any case, FBI Agent Patrick Kierman, in Salt Lake City, says that the Bureau has no reason to believe that Mr. Talovic was motivated by "religious extremism" or that this was an "act of terrorism." There is no report that Mr. Talovic assured his victims (while he was shooting everybody he saw) that he was not an extremist or a terrorist, so it's unclear what special investigative techniques the FBI and media may have employed to extract this information from the stone-cold-dead Mr. Talovic. (Still, Mr. Kierman's assurances are a load off my mind: mall shooters are one thing, but religious extremism simply cannot be tolerated !)

You don't suppose Mr. Talovic could be a m-u-s-l-i-m do you ? A member of the religion of peace ? I'll be fair: I have no evidence that he is, or isn't, one way or another, much less that religion had anything to do with any of this, and I'm admitting that up front. But the almost complete silence of the talking heads and those charged with protecting us makes me suspicious.

In any event, you can bet your last copy of the Holy Book of your choice that if Mr. Talovic was actually some Christian Evangelical nutcase, that we're in for months of earnest TV documentaries and New York Times recommended books on the dangers of said nutcases and their wackjob cults. However, if it turns out that Mr. Talovic was a member of the Religion of Peace, the TV media silence will be absolutely deafening. After all, the media doesn't want to stir-up the public.

Habeas Mullahus

Rebel mullah Muqtada al-Sadr's followers are insisting he has not fled to Iran, and remains in Iraq.

Maybe Mr. al-Sadr's henchmen are telling the truth: as I said yesterday, I think there are more problems for Mr. al-Sadr if he flees than not -- decamping would seem to be against all the Revolutionary Leader rules at this point. Still, whatever his status, his minions would claim he hadn't fled anyway, wouldn't they ?

Until Mr. al-Sadr turns up someplace and does some blovating, or his acolytes start milling around looking leaderless, Mr. al-Sadr's real whereabouts must be considered a mystery.

Sharon Stone Weirds Out

Because we all need a little comic relief from time to time. . . See Sharon Stone keeping those "nasty Germans" in line at some sort of actor gala in Berlin. (Hat tips: Drudge, Fox News).

al-Sadr Decamps

AP reports that Iraqi rebel Muqtada al-Sadr is in Tehran.

Assuming this is true, (which, in the Middle-East, is a big assumption), this is very interesting, I can't imagine that the regime in Iran would want him in their country, unless he stays quiet, which is unlikely. Bad news for them might be good news for us: an opportunity to clean house on his faction while he is somewhat out of pocket; it reinforces our case that the Iranian mullahs are up to their meddling necks in supporting rebels; and, it gives us another excuse (because we're stupid enough to need one) to pinch the Iranians. In any case, we must make sure, at the very least, that he cannot come back.

From al-Sadr's point of view, I think this is a bad move. Yes, there's about to be an American crackdown, but our idiots of Democrats are going to see that the US troops leave soon, or at least cut back the tempo of operations, which would leave al-Sadr's organization, (the best organized of any of the Shiite factions), in the catbird seat.

Hiding and waiting the Americans out seems at least worth considering. Fleeing to Iran makes it harder to maintain personal ascendancy over his organization -- hard to enforce discipline on your followers from a distance, much less eliminate local rivals -- and also makes him subject to the vagaries of Iranian politics. And just think of all the fun we can have with propaganda painting him as an Iranian stooge.

I will have more to say on all this, I hope, later.

Even I Couldn't Make This Stuff Up

Google "Candle in the Wind" and Anna Nicole. The results are, well, pretty predictable I guess.

El Jefe Commemorative Postage Stamp

At last ! The perfect El Jefe Royal Family postage stamp ! SWMBO, the Heir and the Big Cheese portrayed in spectacular Socialist Realism ! Guaranteed to inspire you to fulfill the production goals of the Five Year Plan ! (Stamp with High Patronesses MILO, FLINKY and SUNSHINE sold separately at all El Jefe Empire State Shops).

Lets Talk to the Bear

One of America's smartest ex-New York mayors, Ed Koch, is playing one of El Jefe's favorite songs today, talking up the benefits of a US-Russian alliance. I have been in favor of this since German re-unification, when it became apparent that our sometime continental allies in NATO no longer had any reason to cooperate with us, and that the EU might really amount to something.

Yes, yes, President Putin has been bad-mouthing the United States, and no doubt he has his reasons. We have done precious little to give Mr. Putin reasons not to snipe: interferring in elections in former parts of the Soviet Union (Ukraine in 2004, for example), tweaking his nose over the absence of democracy in Russia (as if that was ever a possibility), and trying to lock Russia out of Middle-East diplomacy.

Now mind you, I'm not at all a peacenik-lefty. I am not saying that the United States does not need to do any or all of these things -- such steps may well be indicated or necessary for our own state interests -- as Putin's disgruntlement may be for Russian state interests. But there is no harm in quietly exploring the possibility of change, of mutually beneficial arrangements with Russia on certain matters, and I think this should be done.

Although Mayor Koch notes that our NATO allies "shirked" when we needed them to stand with us in Iraq, he is too nice to point out that one of the main reasons for favoring closer ties with Russia is to keep France and Germany honest. Russia has as much or more reason to be concerned over a stronger Europe and an assertive China as we do, and they have similar problems with resurgent Islam. We are fools not to look into improving relations with Russia.

In Case You Were in Antarctica. . .

Say, did ya hear Anna Nicole Smith died ?

Yeah, I know. . .sad ending to a sad life, but the ongoing tabloid festival makes it seem like NOTHING else matters.

ADDENDUM: (13 February). This little Anna Nicole personal reminiscence, by Larry Miller over at the Weekly Standard, is worth reading. The older I get, the more I realize that people are not all of a piece. . .something happens, and you see sides of people you never knew existed, both good and bad. Or maybe it's a lot simpler, and, to quote The Doors and Jim Morrison -- it's just that "people are strange."

Iranians in Iraq

Bill Roggio at The Fourth Rail and Spook 86 at In from the Cold both have good discussions on the US military’s evidence of Iranian aid to the rebels in Iraq. The articles linked in Mr. Roggio’s piece should bring you up to speed. The evidence is reasonably conclusive: and persons who claim that the aid is not both substantial and the considered policy of the Iranian government are either fooling themselves or hopelessly clueless.

The mysterious part of this equation to me is why anyone is surprised that the Iranians are aiding our enemies. I would be in their place: poking at America has amounted to a national pastime for the mullahs since 1978; and they have a rather proprietary attitude towards Iraq and the rest of the Persian Gulf region.

The problem for the Iranians is that smuggling on the border can run two ways. There are plenty of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran who hate Persians and the mullah regime and would be glad of having some bombs to throw or some cash to make trouble with.

For that matter, I suspect there are plenty of former Iraqi military personnel, mostly Sunni, probably some presently involved with the rebels, who would just love an opportunity to give the mullahs a stomach-ache quasi-legally. Sounds like the basis of a working relationship to me.

There’s plenty of local discontent to harness and direct at Iran: without the necessity of open war. So why aren’t we doing it ? The Iranians are running a covert war on us already. Clearly the mullahs think that they can kill Americans with impunity. Are we going to fight back, or not ?

Hurt the Humans to Save the Whales

Reuters reports that the Japanese government is outraged after anti-whaling “activists” from something called the “Sea Shepherd Conservation Society” poured what the “activists” identified as Butyric Acid on the decks of a Japanese whaler in the South Pacific.

Butyric Acid, according to the Reuters story “. . .is a corrosive chemical, and contact can cause severe irritation and burns of the eyes and skin, leading to permanent damage.” More information can be found at an Oxford University website, which tells us that Butyric Acid is “. . .[h]armful if swallowed or inhaled. . . Readily absorbed through the skin. Severe skin, eye and respiratory irritant.” Additionally, it’s flammable. Just the thing to have loose on board a ship.

Two crewmen aboard the whaler were injured, and one is having difficulty opening his eyes. As Eagle 1 has observed, over at the Eagle Speak blog, these people have an interesting set of priorities – hurt the humans to save the whales. Extreme environmentalism is almost a religion to some of these “activists.”

A spokesman for the Japanese Fisheries Agency correctly characterized the acid attack as “completely piratical” and “dangerous” and warned the group (still pursuing Japanese whaling fleets) to “stop immediately.”

Whatever one thinks of whaling (and El Jefe disapproves), this sort of self-help is completely unwarranted, illegal and should not be tolerated. The Japanese would be perfectly justified in using their Navy (oops, “Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force”) to see that such attacks do not happen again. These so-called activists deserve a long spell in jail.

Today in Military History

Today was a fairly eventful day in military history. On this day, in 1807, French Emperor Napoléon I won (barely), the Battle of Eylau, defeating the Russians, and what was left of the Prussian Army. The battle was fought near the little town of Preussisch-Eylau, in East Prussia. The French suffered 10,000-15,000 casualties; the Russians about 15,000. The Russians retreated: four months later, Napoléon would defeat the Russians decisively, at Friedland, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.

Also, on this date in 1904, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur, then a Russian possession, in Manchuria. This attack with torpedo-boats and destroyers began the Russo-Japanese War, and 37 years later, the Japanese would began another major war in much the same way. . .with a somewhat more unpleasant ending, from the Japanese point of view, than the 1904 episode.

ADDENDUM (9 Feb). I decided to add some art. Napoléon at Eylau (1808) is by Antoine-Jean Gros. The naval painting (period and artist unidentified) portrays Admiral Marquis Tōgō Heihachirō, organizer and overall commander of the Japanese attack on Port Arthur - one of the great admirals of world history -- on board his flagship, H.I.J.M Battleship Mikasa, before the decisive battle of the Russo-Japanese War at Tsushima. Mikasa is preserved as a museum at Yokosuka. The early-modern Japanese Navy copied all things British (Mikasa was in fact built in Britain), and the painting of Tōgō closely resembles a similar picture of Admiral Horatio Nelson, the British naval hero, on H.M.S. Victory's quarterdeck prior to the Battle of Trafalgar.

Poking The Eagle Through the Bars

AP reports that the Presently Undead, but Working On It, Iranian Valî-ye Faqîh, (“Guardian Jurisprudent”), Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameini, told Iranian air force commanders today that if the United States attacks Iran, "[the enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a compreshensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world."

No question that the Grand Ayatollah does well in the threats and bluster department, but one wonders if bunker-busters might ruin his lunch. Perhaps: the Ayatollah tells us that ". . .the US president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions. . .but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom. . . US policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response." Wow, maybe Khameini really is dead, and has been replaced by Noam Chomsky, Nancy Pelosi or Michael Moore.

Someone needs to explain to this old croaker that the most miserable American dope-addled street person is worth more than everything and everyone in his little country. A "comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests" will mean that Tehran and lots of other places will turn into glass, and there will be no Iran, or Iranian interests, for us to worry about -- ever again.

Star Trek Meets Fatal Attraction

Buzz Lloyd: [after being asked by Stone what he saw when a psychologist held up a blank sheet of paper during his astronaut acceptance boards] I saw a field covered with snow. And underneath was new oats. Then the snow melted and the field turned to green. But the psychologist said I was all wrong, it was just a blank sheet of paper.

Clayton Stone: He took you anyway?
Buzz Lloyd: Yeah, I guess they made a mistake.
Clayton Stone: No, no, they don't make mistakes.
Buzz Lloyd: That's right, I forgot. They don't make mistakes do they? [the entire crew begins to laugh at the irony].

Marooned (1969) (with Gene Hackman as “Buzz Lloyd”, Richard Crenna as “Jim Pruett” and James Franciscus as “Clayton Stone” (from IMDb database here).

Of course, they never make mistakes. Still, you do gotta wonder a little sometimes, such as after reading about US Navy Captain and NASA Astronaut Lisa Nowak’s mad drive from Houston to Orlando in diapers to confront a romantic rival, armed with a BB-gun, mace, a wig, a mallet and rubber tubing.

A (married) Navy captain and Naval Academy graduate, in a sordid love triangle, possibly charged with attempted murder ? My God: Star Trek meets Fatal Attraction. I wonder if her shuttle flight had any rabbit experiments?

They let this woman fly in space shuttles that go supersonic? Glad she didn't decide her love life sucked on re-entry.

The only thing more surreal than this whole sad business is likely to be the aftermath. Legal/TV circus to rival O.J.'s, book deals, Oprah, Star, Enquirer, Lifetime Movie, here we come.

ADDENDUM: Don't miss Spook 86's post on this subject, "The Wrong Stuff" over at In From the Cold.

The Great Coke Conspiracy

Joya Williams, a former secretary at the Coca Cola World Headquarters in Atlanta, faces up to ten years in prison following her conviction for participating in an plot to steal Coke secrets in order to try selling them to Pepsi.

Bad, bad, bad ! No Coke in the slammer for her.

Linked here is the Wikipedia article on Coca Cola, including a good discussion of corporate history, and lots of info about various products marketed by Coke, now and in the past. The history of Coke is an interesting subject, perhaps inclining you, as it did El Jefe, towards wandering in the direction of the refrigerator. A look at the Pepsi article gets you up to speed on Coke's big rival and should slake your thirst for Cola knowledge.