Threaten away! When the camel humpers pull the slightest infraction...we'll have some Urban-style Hamas Hunting!
Preface:
Threats to Israel emanate not only from the Palestinians. Syria stations thousands of troops on Israel’s northern border, harbors and supports numerous terrorist groups, and controls Lebanon with an occupation force of 25,000 soldiers.
It remains a serious destabilizing factor in the region. I, therefore, recently introduced the bipartisan Syria Accountability Act of 2002, along with the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, to penalize Damascus for its behavior.
Until Syria halts support for terrorism, withdraws from Lebanon (as Israel has already done), ends development of weapons of mass destruction, and stops violating the oil sanctions against Iraq, the United States must restrict its relationship with the Syrian regime
Statement:
Successive administrations have tried to engage Syria through diplomacy and a variety of carrots and sticks, and have been largely unsuccessful. Along with the Majority Leader of the House, I have introduced legislation to provide new tools to hold Syria accountable for its destabilizing policies.
I agree with the President's comments of September 20, 2002, "every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. . .either you are with us or you are with the terrorists."
Unfortunately, numerous terrorist groups, including Hizballah and Hamas, maintain offices or training camps in Syria or areas of Syrian-occupied Lebanon. Syria, which sits prominently on the State Department's terrorism list, is in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 which directs all states to "refrain from providing any form of support" for terrorists. And, just as the Israeli - Palestinian situation was reaching a crisis, Syria unleashed Hizballah and other groups to attack Israeli troops and Israeli civilians in northern Israel.
Not only does Syria undermine regional stability by harboring terrorist groups. Its 25,000-strong occupation force has denied Lebanon its internationally-guaranteed sovereignty and political independence. As called for in UN Security Council Resolution 520, it is time that Lebanon is run by the Lebanese, not the Assad regime in Damascus.
I am also deeply concerned about Syrian efforts to field chemical and biological weapons and its development of longer range ballistic missiles. As President Bush affirmed in his State of the Union address earlier this year, America must strive "to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction."
Finally, UN oil sanctions on Iraq were designed to ensure that the proceeds of Iraqi oil sales will not be used to enrich Saddam Hussein's regime, but will be used to help the Iraqi people. By permitting illegal transshipments of Iraqi oil through Syria, Damascus is providing hard currency flow for Saddam's coffers, giving him the means to perpetuate his rule.
My legislation, the Syria Accountability Act of 2002, imposes a variety of penalties upon Damascus until Syria ends support for terrorism, withdraws from Lebanon, stops developing weapons of mass destruction, and halts violations of the UN oil sanctions against Iraq.
It is time to send a message to Damascus that the time has come for Syria to rejoin the family of responsible nations. With a large, bipartisan list of cosponsors in the House of Representatives and a similar bill in the Senate, it is my hope that the Syria Accountability Act of 2002 will become law later this year.
I'm still cleanin' the .50 BMG.
Item - there's a gunshow tomorrow where I live.
Item - my birthday is in two weeks (the big five-oh, book 'em Danno)
Item - payday is today
[walks off shaking his head, sound of humming...it's Beethoven's Ode To Joy...]
With all these warnings and nothing happens, or something happens without warning, it might seem like both terrorists and our leaders are trying to make us twitchy.
The fact that these morally depraved sickos would openly take "credit" for for terrorist attacks that kill innocent and defenseless civilians means that they have forfieted their right to live among us.
They need to be either locked up or permanently removed from this world.
Threaten away! When the camel humpers pull the slightest infraction...we'll have some Urban-style Hamas Hunting!
http://www.mininggazette.com/Archives/aeditorialjune02.html
Mueller’s lunch with terrorists unappetizing
FBI Director Robert Mueller cannot reasonably be blamed for whatever intelligence errors the agency committed prior to Sept. 11, since he only started on the job a week before the awful day.
But his foolishness in the face of a continuing terrorist threat is not easily excused, and he should either face the harsh realities of battling terror or resign.
Today, Mueller is scheduled to have lunch with the American Muslim Council, a group that has publicly supported terrorists and which has publicly criticized the Bush administration’s efforts to crack down on terrorist fund-raising fronts in the United States.
An FBI spokesman said this week that Mueller plans to go ahead with the luncheon speech because he regards the American Muslim Council as “the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States.”
Here’s moderation, AMC-style: Longtime AMC Director Abdurahman Alamoudi declared at a 2000 rally near the White House: “We are all supporters of Hamas ... I am also a supporter of Hezbollah.” AMC also has publicly praised the Holy Land Foundation, shut down last fall by the Bush administration for funneling money to Middle Eastern terrorists.
The Holy Land Foundation, the AMC says, is possessed of “strong global vision” and its closure was “unjust and counterproductive.”
The names Hamas and Hezbollah are familiar to anyone who reads with horror the accounts of suicide bombings. Indeed, those two terror groups have been up to murderous no good for a very long time.
If these are the sort of folks Mueller regards as “moderate,” one can only wonder to what extent the FBI will be successful at preventing future terror attacks. Mueller has no business lending legitimacy to these unsavory characters by publicly praising them as moderates, let alone participate in a luncheon with them — photographs of which will be used as Islamist propaganda for a long time to come. Moreover, President Bush should sit Mueller down for some straight talk about the nature of the struggle before the nation and the kind of leadership it will take to win.