Necessary Evil?

Disengaging

My 2 Cents on Disengagement

We are standing on the eve of the disengagement process in Israel or the Hitnatkut (lit. detachment \ disconnection \ severance), and while my mind is at ease with this process, my heart is aching for the many who will lose their homes and the many hundreds of thousands of others who will see this move as regressing a two thousand year old dream.

THE LOGIC OF DISENGAGEMENT

I have long supported this move by Sharon and see this proactive step as a necessary evil for Israel to gain control over a peace process that has spiralled beyond its control and has become typified by a series of reactive measures. But above all, the disengagement delays the effects of Israel’s biggest threat – “the wombs of Palestinian mothers” (as described by the Palestinian leadership). The threat posed by the disparity in population growth between the Israelis and Palestinians is a ticking time bomb. It is clear to say that Israel does not have time on its side and without disengagement and consequent steps separating Israel from the bulk of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), there will be more Arabs than Jews living between Jordan and the sea – by which time the Palestinian request will no longer be for a two state solution, but rather a one state solution in which they control government.

That said, I share the pain of those who will be affected by this process and of those who have yet to internalise the severity of the threat that disengagement is defusing. I suppose the process is akin to a person who must amputate a gangrenous leg. The process itself is necessary for the survival of the body as a whole, but try and sell that theory to the leg that is about to be amputated.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

The international community will no doubt be on the wrong side of justice once more:

The will not understand that Israel has risked deeply dividing its nation for the sake of disengagement, a cause the Palestinian leadership has cited for not fighting against their brothers in Hamas; they will not understand the inherent unfairness in the fact that the forcible removal of every Jew from the land to be transferred to the Palestinians is seen as a necessaty, while an equivelant forcible removal of Arabs from land controlled by Israel is unthinkable; and as always, they will not understand the extent of the Jewish connection to this land.

They will minimise the sacrifice Israel has made (more concrete than any step taken by the Palestinian side); they will dispute her control over the Palestinian-Egyptian border and Gaza’s ports (air and sea - necessary for arms control); and they will prevent Israel from annexing those parts of the West Bank that will clearly remain Israel under any future agreement (such as Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim).

But nevertheless, this is a process that Israel must go through for its own sake, not for the sake of the international community.

THE DAY AFTER

The disengagement and Netanyahu’s resignation from government last week have some implication on the future of Israeli politics.

• The timing of his resignation suggests that Netanyahu wanted the process of disengagement to be completed under Sharon’s tenure. Netanyahu could have quit some months back and provided strong political leadership for the anti-disengagement movement, but rather he voted for the move, sat in the government throughout its planning phase and merely stepped aside prior to implementation to position himself politically for his next battle – control of the Likud party.
  
• At this stage, Sharon’s future as the leader of the Likud party is shaky and unless a new centrist party emerges in Israel, Sharon now has little chance of being on a ticket in next year’s election.
  
• Sharon will be judged by his last major political move – the disengagement. A process that ends in perceived failure (such as Hamas flags waving on former settlements); on in an unclear result (the most likely result) is likely to reduce Sharon’s popularity. I see no real way of the process being a resounding success. There is only that much spin you can put on an amputation.
  
• With Sharon and Peres out of the running for the next year’s election (barring the emergence of a new centrist party), it will be the battle for the next generation’s leadership (a la Netanyahu vs. Barak’s 1999 election. Certainly, Barak has been doing all he can to have his rematch). The question is can Israel’s next generation offer the public the same security and vision that Israel’s founding generation had?
  
• It seems that Sharon like Barak before him have bet their political future on a single strategic move. Barak lost his bet. Let’s hope Sharon does not lose his.

Israeli Soldiers and anti-disengagement protesters join up on both sides of the fence outside Kfar Maimon to make up the required quorum for afternoon prayers.

Iraq Body Count

Recent media reports quoting the newly sanctioned "bureau of statistics" Iraqi Body Count (IBC) reiterated its claims that 25,881 civilians have been killed in Iraq since April 2003.

Here are some basic calculations:

• IBC have claimed in the past that the 1,200 civilians who died in Afghanistan were in fact 3,800 civilians.
• Considering a standard IBC exaggeration error of 216% (based on the Afghanistan statistic), the Iraqi death count should be scaled back to 8,173.
• Since the liberation of Iraq, mass graves containing 400,000 people killed by Saddam Hussein have been discovered. This figure, which represents a fraction of the dead and does not account for nearly a million casualties of the Iraq-Iran war, averages nearly 17,000 people per annum over 24 years of a brutal regime.
• This figure equates to 37,500 saved lives since April 2005.
• Based on the above, there is a net figure of 29,327 Iraqi men and women who are walking around freely in Iraq who would be rotting in graves had Bush yielded to left wing activists that form the backbone (or lack thereof) of IBC and its sister organisations.

That’s 29,327 reasons why the liberation of Iraq was necessary and legitimate!

When factoring in what the future held under Saddam and what the future holds under the emerging democratic state, this figure expands exponentially.

An Open Letter to the Mayor of London

London mayor defends the use of Palestinian suicide bombers

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

Less than two weeks since the London terror attacks, the city's Mayor Ken Livingstone has sparked controversy by defending the use of suicide bombers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and charging that Israel had indiscriminately slaughtered Palestinians in acts that "border on crimes against humanity."

"Given that the Palestinians don't have jet planes, don't have tanks, they only have their bodies to use as weapons," Livingstone told Sky News in an interview.

"In an unfair balance, that's what people use," said Livingstone, who has often been strongly critical of Israel in the past.

On July 7, more than 50 people died in four London bombings believed to have been carried out by suicide terrorists.

At the time, Livingstone was uncompromising in his condemnation of the terror acts.

Livingstone said that Israel has "done horrendous things which border on crimes against humanity the way they have indiscriminately slaughtered men, women and children in the West Bank and Gaza for decades."

Livingstone also said that he does not distinguish between members of Likud and Hamas, branding them "two sides of the same coin."

"I think it is the Israelis who are leading the stubborn line," said Livingstone. "The Likud and Hamas members are two sides of the same coin. They need each other in order to attract support."

"Each side emphasizes the extremism of the other in order to attract sympathy," Livingstone said.

Livingstone agreed to the interview in the wake of the media frenzy surrounding the possible visit of controversial Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has voiced support for Palestinian suicide bombers and has been banned from entering the United States.

Livingstone denied that Qaradawi will visit London,.

"I believe it is forbidden to take human life," Livingstone said. "I will welcome and meet with senior members of the Israeli government if they come here because they serve their country's government even though I believe they have done terrible things bordering on crimes against humanity."

____________________________

Ken Livingstone
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen's Walk
London SE1 2AA

To the Right Honourable Mayor of London, Mr Ken Livingstone:

I can imagine that your comments (as reported in Sky News, July 20, 2005) equating the Hamas and the Likud and justifying Palestinian terrorism against innocent Israeli civilians have provoked considerable response. Accordingly, this letter may end up in the trash bin, but my hope is that either you, or one of your close aides, will nonetheless take the time to read it.

It is tragic that precisely at this momentous juncture in history, when leaders in the Muslim community in the UK and worldwide are at long last issuing unequivocal and unconditional fatwas against the murder of innocents, that a man in your position has once again found reason to condone the slaughter of my people.

From your equation of the Hamas with the Likud, one can only deduce that you are either ignorant of the historical facts and political realities of the conflict in the Middle East or impassioned by the blind hatred that has inspired so many totalitarian leaders throughout the ages to rationalise the extermination of Jews.

In the sincere hope that the moral flaw revealed through your statements is in the first category, may I remind you of the following:

• The so-called "occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza began in 1967 following a defensive war that saw Egypt blocking the Gulf of Aqaba and 500,000 troops from five Arab armies poised on Israel's borders with the publicly declared aim of its destruction.
  
• Following the conquest of these armies, Israel did what Egypt and Jordan-- the former "occupiers" of the West Bank and Gaza from 1949 -1967 who deliberately left the Palestinian refugees in squalor-- had never done; it built roads, hospitals. schools and housing. Having lived in Israel during that time period and having visited the territories, I can assure you there were no roadblocks, checkpoints or IDF raids. The Palestinians enjoyed the benefits of tourism and an unprecedented economic prosperity that continued until the outbreak of the Intifada. (It is for these economic reasons that 70% of Jerusalem Arabs are today opposed to giving up their Israeli citizenship to live under the corrupt rule of the PA).
  
• Hamas and Islamic Jihad are fundamentalist organizations that reject the concept of a two-state solution and the existence on a Jewish state. Its leaders, like the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, have publicly endorsed the murder of innocent Jews, in Israel and worldwide, as legitimate tools of resistance to the "occupation". (Take note that there are 26 states officially described as "Islamic" and that the tiny sliver of the Jewish State of Israel occupies but a fraction of a percent of these vast Arab lands stretching from Morocco to Iraq.) On the contrary the Likud is a nationalist political party that, in the past, has given up territories conquered in 1967 to make peace with Egypt and Jordan, and, on numerous occasions under different governments has-- unlike the Islamic terror groups you implicitly support-- accepted the notion of a two-state coexistence.
  
• Your spurious claim that a people without an army has no recourse but to target innocent civilians is outrageous and, as mentioned previously, reinforces a repugnant ideology that responsible Muslim leaders are only now attempting to repair. It may be somewhat understandable, though in my mind still unacceptable, to stage attacks on IDF troops stationed in what is perceived by the Palestinians as their land (technically, according to international law, it is not their land; as there never was a Palestinian state, it is legally speaking disputed rather than occupied territory.) How can any decent human being, however, justify the killing of innocent people in restaurants, busses, discotheques, synagogues and wedding halls? Furthermore, leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, who also lacked military forces at their disposal, managed to achieve independence through altogether non-violent means. If the Palestinians had had such leaders, an independent Palestinian state and peaceful co-existence would long ago have become realities rather than wistful dreams.
  
• Intelligence from all sources, Palestinian included, reveal that the Intifada ignited by the late Yasser Arafat begun in the year 2000 was not, as many mistakenly believe, in reaction to Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount (Jewish people visit the Temple Mount all the time); but rather to Ehud Barak's offer to grant the Palestinians their very wish of an independent state on 99% of the territories with Jerusalem as its capital! Unable to co-exist with Israel, because of the same rejectionist philosophy that the Palestinian Authority, despite its public declarations, shares with its Islamofascist brethren, the response to a proposed two-state solution was the predictable bloodshed against hundreds of innocent Israeli men, women and children.
  
• Finally, the alleged "Jenin massacre", where the IDF at great risk to its safety fought dozens of jihadists in hand-to-hand combat in the casbah, was exposed by both UN and Palestinian sources to have been a fabricated media myth. Your declarations notwithstanding, I challenge you to find even a single instance where Palestinian civilians have been deliberately targeted by the IDF or one policy statement by the Israeli government that would endorse such killings. On the contrary, soldiers are periodically brought to trial in Israel when perceived individual violations do occur. In contrast, the murder of innocent Jews is the policy of the jihadist groups; those who commit such crimes, rather than being brought to trial, are exonerated and publicly lauded as "martyrs" with the great reward of 72 virgins in paradise.
  

Given these indisputable facts, your seeming ignorance of them precludes you from making any political commentary on the situation. In fact, in the opinion of many, an ignorance of these truths would debar you from political office entirely, particularly in a metropolitan city like London that has large Jewish and Moslem populations.

If, however, you are aware of these facts, your declaration equating the Likud with Hamas and the justification of Palestinian terror against Israeli civilians is nothing more than racial incitement. If that is the case, rather than occupying the mayoral seat of London, your place should be behind bars, where any criminal who foments the killing of innocent people belongs.

I hope that you, or some of your more responsible associates, will take the time to read this letter, and that you will reflect on the grievous error you have made. Your insidious statements demand nothing less than an immediate retraction and apology-- not only to the government of Israel but to all peace-loving peoples worldwide who eschew the ugly, murderous ideology of terrorism.

Sincerely,

MYB
PO Box 222
Bangalow NSW 2479
AUSTRALIA

The Ultimate Torture

Detainees Told FBI of Koran Desecration
Los Angeles Times

Well, there you have it: Gitmo detainees read Newsweeek - and if that 's not torture, what is?!

Pharaoh & Saddam's ungodly side

Last night, a French lawyer for Saddam threatened to sue The Sun for $1million in damages.

Emmanuel Ludot said: “I think it’s a strategy duly orchestrated by the Americans to destroy the image of Saddam Hussein — to say ‘look at this man, he’s not a god, he’s only a man’.”

The Sun

And what exactly is he suggesting, that he is a god?!

According to Jewish tradition, Pharaoh tried to hide the fact that he defecated as it is unseemly for a god figure and hence used to go out early in the morning to the river where he will not be seen. I guess Saddam in his underpants is tantamount to Pharaoh shitting.

An Ode to Blair & Democracy

Tomorrow I intend to go down to 10 Downing Street like many tourists in London do. However, on this day I will be able to witness the re-election of last of the “Coalition of the Willing” leaders - or the Three Musketeers as some would have it.

In a fair and a democratic society, the election is the most accurate gauge public opinion. British tabloids, American media polls and Australian news commentators have time and time again been getting the basic sentiments of society wrong. It is basic statistical dictum that a poll conducted on 10’s of millions is far more accurate than a poll conducted on 1000. When time and time again, the public manages to baffle the MSM pundits, it would suggest that the media is more out of touch with the populus than the leaders they love to bash.

After all, have the media even considered the possibility that Bush, Howard and Blair may have won ‘because’ of Iraq rather than ‘in spite of it’?!

It is high time for the media to acknowledge that this gap exists and that it is problematic. If they are to call themselves the “Fourth Estate” (after the Executive, Legislative & Judicial) and evoke the concept of ‘freedom’ to declare a free press as an untouchable cornerstone of a democratic system, they must acknowledge another tenant of democracy – ‘representation’. Like the other Estates, the media ought to be represent the nation’s opinions, not attempt to mould them; they must ensure that their editorials are not compliant with the 80:20 rule against Bush or Blair or Howard – or for that matter Michael Moore.

Thank God, the Coalition of the willing is a live and kicking and will hopefully continue to spread Democracy throughout the world, a democracy based on freedom and representation.

A Free Iraqi's Poem

Two years now and
"they" still wonder
And "they" still ask Was it worth it?
Was it right?
Two years and it seems to me Like it was yesterday
Two years and "they" keep trying
To silence the voice inside us
Yet it only grows louder

I was once free When I was a kid
But when I grew up
I couldn't be the man I am
I couldn't be the kid I was
And I couldn't flee

Two years since I finally became
The man in me, and the kid in me.
And "they" want to take this away?
"They" would have to kill them both first
The man and the kid
And turn the clock back around
And still "they" can't change me back

Two years since I stopped weeping
Inside of me, day and night
Two years since the widow
Found her husband's body
In a feast of death for the human death lord.
Two years since the orphan
knew Where his father lied
And now they finally have peace
And they have a future
No matter how painful it is to go on
And their dreams still go on

Two years since I started dreaming
Dreams that have a chance
And are becoming true
Two years since I regained my heart
And then I found her...
And she found me...
And the world looked beautiful!
And "they" think they can separate us?!
Think again, or keep wishing.

Two years and some are still
Trapped in the past
And some cannot withstand the moment
And want to arrive without struggle to a better future
While others just enjoy what is already better now
And work to meet the future, bettered with them.
Two years and they ask Should I be grateful?
Am I?
Do I even need to answer that!?
YES, and to the last breath!

Ali from Baghdad, A Free Iraqi

The Australian gets it wrong

THE fragile truce between Israel and the Palestinians was shaken at the weekend when Palestinian militants fired at least 60 mortar shells at Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip after Israeli soldiers killed three unarmed Palestinian youths who had entered a military no-go area on the border with Egypt.

The Australian

A short analysis of the above:

• Arms: 60 mortars vs 3 bullets
• Targeting: general vs specific
• Victims: settlers vs "unarmed Palestinian youths"

The article is structured so that the latter imbalance justifies the former two. Later on, tucked away in the midst of the article is the following statement: "Palestinian security officials later acknowledged they were involved in an arms smuggling operation" and explains that the figures were crawling through the restricted military zone. With this in mind, is the term "unarmed Palestinian youths" correct? and accordingly, the entire framing of the article is wrongfooted.

Tensions rose further with the attempt by an extreme right-wing Jewish organisation to stage a massive pray-in yesterday on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews. Islamic organisations warned of the outbreak of a new intifada if Jews violated the sanctity of the site, dominated by the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

Another short analysis:

• Temple Mount: "a site holy to both Muslims and Jews" (joint/equal claim)
• al-Aqsa mosque: Islam's third holiest site (special claim: Muslim)

The article fails to mention that the Temple Mount is (and has been for some 3000 years) Judaism's holiest site. Despite that, for the sake of the peace, Israeli police have consistently supported the WAQF (Islamic administrator of the holy site) and refused or limited Jewish entry to their holiest site. The Western Wall is the nearest Jews can get to their holy site.

(Note: Jews all around the world pray facing the temple mount, while Muslims of the middle east will face their backside to the mosque and pray to Mecca)

Further, the article fails on the facts, the temple mount is not dominated by the al-Aqsa mosque, but rather the dome of the rock - Qubbat As-Sakhrah, which does not even make the top three list. In fact, it is not even a mosque, and your local mosque and 123 Main Street is holier than this structure. The following image and links highlight this:

See Wikipedia or your encyclopedia's own definition of the terms Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.

Aerial view of Temple Mount, with the Dome of the Rock in the center and the Al Aqsa Mosque on the upper left of the compound

The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is not to be confused with the Dome of the Rock

Pope John Paul II dies

May he rest in peace.

The Pope at the Western Wall in March 2000 inserting a note that seeks forgiveness for Christian sins against Jews

Arthur Chrenkoff, one of my favourite bloggers, has a great post on the pope's death entitled My Pope. Arthur is of Polish origin and gives over a very interesting perspective. Other "must read"s are PowerLine's article on the Pope as well as Charles Krauthammer's article on the subject.

ScrappleFace's Double Whammy

Condi Congratulates Zimbabwe's Mugabe on Reelection
by Scott Ott | ScrappleFace.com

(2005-04-02) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice today congratulated Robert Mugabe on winning this week's free and fair presidential elections to continue his 25-year rule of Zimbabwe.

"Under Mr. Mugabe's leadership," said Secretary Rice in a written statement, "Zimbabwe has become a recognized world leader in unemployment (70%), inflation (~620%) and HIV adult prevalence rate (33.7%). Thanks to this popular, legally-reelected, leader, the average lifespan of a Zimbabwean has gone from 61 years to 34 years in just the past 15 years, making his nation one of the most rapidly-youthful in the world."

Secretary Rice hailed Mr. Mugabe's leadership as "a textbook case which will be studied in universities around the world for years to come."

In addition to his legal reelection, the 81-year-old Mr. Mugabe's party this week legally won approximately 70 seats in the 150-seat legislature, and he legally will appoint an additional 30 legislators, giving him the two-thirds majority needed legally to re-write the constitution to allow him legally to hand-pick his successor.

As a reelection gift, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Sullivan presented Mr. Mugabe with a bound copy of President George Bush's second inaugural address with this excerpt engraved on the cover.

"All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."

Wolfowitz to End World Bank Funding of Poor Nations
by Scott Ott| ScrappleFace.com

(2005-03-31) -- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, headed for almost-certain approval as the new chief of the World Bank, said his first official move would be to withdraw funding to poor nations whose people suffer from a "low quality of life with little hope of recovery".

"I look at some of these impoverished people and think, 'I wouldn't want to live that way'," said Mr. Wolfowitz. "The most merciful thing to do is cut their funding and let these people slip into a peaceful, euphoric state through dehydration and starvation."

The new World Bank chief said he has the authority to deprive poor nations of food and water, since their leaders have been trying to do that for years.

Terry Schiavo Dies

May she rest in Peace.



(For more, see the New York Times)

The Lily Revolution

Following a corrupted election in which Mugabe will be "reelected" President, the people of Zimbabwe face an window of opportunity to bring the country to a halt and force Mugabe to seek refuge elsewhere.

People of Zimbabwe, look at Georgia's Rose Revolution, Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Kyrgyzstan's Tulip Revolution & Lebanon's Cedar Revolution and be inspired.

Zimbabwe's National Flower

GLORIOSA ROTHSCHILDIANA is a native to tropical Africa. It is known as the "flame lily" in Zimbabwe. The large, claw like flowers open yellow and red and then change to a rich claret edged with gold. Their fascination lies in the way the pendulous buds turn up in a 180 degree curve and then down again. It is a very successful cut-flower that will last two weeks. A mature tuber can give up to 25 blooms. It can grow up to 1.8 meters tall and climbs using tendrils at the ends of the leaves to hold on.

Let's add a Lily to this beautiful mosaic!

Freedom's Beauty

Media Coverage during the 2004 Election Campaign

The State of the Media Report by run by Journalism.org and a stroy reported on by Yahoo News came up with the following startling conclusion: media coverage of the 2004 election was slanted against Bush. After you finish gasping, you might note that this comes from a Journalist body (Strike 1) with ties to academia (Strike 2), namely Columbia Univesity - and yet even they, in a fleeting moment of self reflection, came up with the following facts:





Please note that when unspecified all TV/Media statistics of election coverage INCLUDE Fox News. Imagine what the statistics would be otherwise.

Brainwave: perhaps Fox's slogan "Fair and Balanced" does not mean that they present fair and balanced news but that it is only FAIR they tilt the scales the other way to create BALANCE.

Presidential Campaign TV Ad Spending, 2004




Cable News Believability, by Political Leaning



Bias in Campaign Coverage



Believability of Network News Outlets



Presidential Campaign News for Television Viewers - by Party



Media Outlets Ranked by Believability, 2004



Believability of News Outlets Over Time

From the people who awarded Fahrenheit 911

Last Friday a suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv killing four Israelis. This was the first suicide attack in Israel since November. Five days before, on February 20, the Berlin Film Festival or “Berlinale” came to a close with the awarding of its coveted prizes. The “Blue Angel” Award for Best European Film went to what was undoubtedly the most talked about film in the competition: Hany Abu-Assad’s “Paradise Now”, a by all accounts – including the director’s – sympathetic portrayal of two young Palestinian men recruited to carry out a suicide attack in Tel Aviv. The description of the film in the Berlinale program notes that on the day of the “operation”, things do not go according to plan. “Separated from each other and left to their own devices,” the program comments, “it’s up to them to face their destiny and stand up for their convictions.”

In addition to the “Blue Angel” Award, “Paradise Now” won the “Audience Prize” sponsored by the Berlin newspaper the Morgenpost and intended to capture the sentiments of the public as opposed to the supposedly expert opinions of the jury.

Al Qaida vs The Gladiator

IN one of the more bizarre terror plots hatched by al-Qaeda, Australian actor Russell Crowe was the target of a kidnapping scheme as part of a "cultural destabilisation plan".

Crowe has revealed he was approached by the FBI in the months leading up to his Academy Award win for Gladiator in 2001 and warned, vaguely, of the threat: "That was the first (time) I'd ever heard the phrase al-Qaeda.

It was about - and here's another little touch of irony - taking iconographic Americans [Neo: !!!] out of the picture as a sort of cultural destabilisation plan."

entertainment.news.com.au

Italian Hostage Botch Up

Sgrena told colleagues the vehicle was not travelling fast and had already passed several checkpoints on its way to the airport. The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle.

Guardian

Let's examine this statement:

1. We're supposed to believe that the car she was in took three to four hundred rounds from an armored vehicle, and only one person was killed? An armored vehicle usually has a 50 caliber machine gun mounted on it, or an MK-19 grenade launcher, it would have made Swiss cheese out of that car and all of its occupants. (Hat tip: Marty)
2. Sgrenger now claims that there were no lights or signals. (Fox News)
   
3. If the US intended to assasinate her, as she claims, why on earth did they evacuate her and the occupants of the car to a hospital for treatment?! (Hat Tip: Amos)

It almost looks like she's sniffing for a cause after being bought out of captivity by one of Bush's staunchest allies - the government of Berlusconi. She thanked her captors (!), shunned the Italian government and claimed to be a US assasination target.

Before conspiracy theorists start theorising, is it not possible that there was a beakdown in communication, the car sped and failed to stop, a soldier pacicked and pressed the trigger and his comrades joined the shootout?! That seems far more reasonable than any alternative I have read so far.

---------------------------------------
UPDATE 8 March 2005

• Who does this "B" grade journalist think she is that she is worthy of an assassination plot?
  
• In her latest version, she had tanks firing at her (and yet she walks out in one piece)
• She admits that the car had lost control shortly before - which could concur with the US account.
• The italian press is reporting that Italian intelligence authorities seem to have paid the ransom for Sgrena without informing their American counterparts. Effective communication would have probably prevented the tragedy.
• So the terrorist's got their "cause" promoted on the Italian media in the first instance; cashed in a hefty cheque; and ended up walking away with an even greater media coup than they had in the begining.
• Is Italy suffering from Spanish Mini-Cohones Syndrome?

See also: InstaPundit and ModerateVoice

Black and White Vision

What we are seeing in the Middle East now is a very promising sign that in a number of places democracy and hope are both starting to emerge...

You've had the democratic election of Mahmoud Abbas by the Palestinians and, for the first time in years, there's a real prospect of some settlement. You've seen these very helpful developments in Syria (and) municipal elections in Saudi Arabia and even a multi-candidate slate for the presidential elections in Egypt.

These things wouldn't have been thought remotely possible a year ago, and I have no doubt that ... one of the reasons ... was the overthrow of Saddam Hussein...

Those who were so ready to condemn the coalition, particularly the Americans, for what they did in Iraq should bear that in mind.

John Howard, Australian Prime Minister - News.com.au

Isn't it ironic that it is the "Arab Street", the nuances of which only Europe and the political left supposedly understood, that has bought in to Bush's "cowboy vision" of good and evil, freedom and oppression, tyranny and democracy?!

The Iraqi elections proved the hitherto commonly held notion that Arabs are A) incapable and/or B) undeserving of democracy - a fallacy. It took a man of black and white to rid the world of a grey notion.

In fact, the premise of basic human rights is set on black and white principals that apply to all people and all times at all places - a very ablolutist notion. The left's dependency on relativism has pushed Human Rights championship away from them to the political right.

Let no one fool you, all the changes that are taking place in the middle east would have not occurred but not for Bush's brazen vision. There were no wheels in motion prior to Iraq. On all fronts, the wheels were well and truly bogged down.

Much of the world owes an apology to President Bush, a man whom history-in-the-making is proving right.