Uncommon Sense Applied to Islamic Insurgency

I was reminded of this excellent article by the current issue of the Gathering Storm newsletter. The link in the newsletter led me to Right Side News. Below you will find several excerpts from that article.[My comments are between the quotes.] You will also find links to more of the author's works.

How to Defeat Shari'a-driven Islam's Army for Jihad

By Colonel Thomas Snodgrass (USAF, ret.)

Aug 15, 2007

Today a debate rages. Part of the debate - certainly the most immediate component of the debate - is what to do with Iraq. To cut-and-run seems unthinkable when one considers the consequences. To stay and pursue existing strategies seems almost as unthinkable given the corrosive effects domestically and the lack of American will for another long drawn out war with no real end in sight.

How can anyone disagree with that analysis? A pullout will be followed by an internecine blood bath. No matter who comes out on top, it will be one of our enemies. In any case, Iraq will revert to status quo ante: a state sponsor of terrorism. Terrorists the world over will be empowered and emboldened to launch new attacks against us and our allies.

I have demonstrated, as have many other war analysts, that there is no such thing as a war against terror. The Global War on Terror does not exist. "Terror" is a tactic (see, e.g., What are the military options in Iraq? and Iraq and the War: A Military Reader's Digest). The war we are fighting is against men, cells, networks, regimes and peoples who embrace a hegemonic political ideology driven by traditional and authoritative Islamic law, or what is termed Shari'a. In our war against the Sharia-faithful, the strategic level encompasses all theaters of conflict and the interactions between them - Middle East, Africa, Europe, Pacific, Homeland, etc. Within the Middle East Theater, Iraq and Afghanistan constitute operational levels of war, while Baghdad, Fallujah, Kabul, and Kandahar are examples of areas of operation (AO) at the tactical level.

Why not come right out and write the truth: the enemy making war against us is Islam? To learn what Shari'a rules about Jihad, read Book O, Chapter 9 of Reliance of the Traveller.

It almost goes without saying that, if a belligerent is on the strategic defensive not attacking his enemy's center of gravity to end the war, but is nevertheless on the operational/tactical offensive actively seeking combat within a limited AO, a high number of friendly casualties are going to result. But friendly casualties in a drawn out limited war environment brings us back to the fundamental formula of war and the MOTIVATION factor. If a belligerent's domestic support base, especially in representative polities, will not tolerate significant, continuing casualties inherent in strategic defensive limited war, that belligerent cannot afford to undertake a drawn out limited war. Vietnam, and now Iraq, leaves no doubt about the veracity of that statement.

Got a clue yet? They are bleeding us to death, at least in our own perception and that of our media and politicians. Withdrawing from active defensive action, allowing Islam to inflict more casualties at home, without effective resistance is not the answer.

In Vietnam, the enemy's center of gravity was North Vietnam, and in Iraq it is in Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. U.S. counterinsurgent operations in Vietnam were no more effective in their day than the surge will prove to be in Iraq. The lesson of Vietnam, and now Iraq, is that the strategic defensive or limited war, even when waged on the operational and tactical offensive, will only end if and when the enemy's motivation is impaired because its strategic CAPABILITY is unimpaired.

Trimming around the trees won't produce satisfaction, we must mow the lawn. Cut off their supply lines and interdict their reinforcements. No sanctuaries!!!

After 9/11, the U.S. went to war in the same wrongheaded way we have gone to war in every instance since World War II. In spite of the president's ringing rhetoric about permitting our enemy no sanctuary, even to the point of engaging the enemy preemptively, the U.S. again donned the national security straitjacket of strategic defensive limited war (Limited War Doctrine: A Fatal Flaw). The operative assumption underlying limited war postulates that even the most ardent ideological fanatics will accept stalemate or defeat before employing every means of warfare available to them and will not continue the war notwithstanding the continued capability to wage war. History has not borne out this sanguine assumption.

The idea that the U.S. wouldn't employ its ultimate means (i.e., nuclear weapons) has come to also limit the U.S. ends sought in the conflict. In other words, our refusal to use the ultimate weapon must mean we are not committed to ultimate victory in the form of the decisive defeat of our enemy. Instead, we seek "regime change" and "democracy-building" rather than unconditional surrender of all combatants. Indeed, counterinsurgency is the effort to maintain and build a civil society in and around limited kinetic battles with an enemy we don't seek to destroy. Rather than setting our strategic goal as the destruction of the enemy's CAPABILITY to wage war, we seek to contain, co-opt, integrate, re-integrate, and engage politically all in an effort to reduce the enemy's MOTIVATION to continue the war.

All of the parties in the Iraq conflict know that the CAPABILITY of both stateless Jihadi groups and state-sponsored Jihadi groups is sustained by the logistical centers of gravity located in surrounding states. But the U.S. strategic end of fighting a limited, defensive war confines operations within the border of Iraq. (See, e.g., This is No Way to Win a War!)

We must jettison our Cold War national security thinking featuring limited war and instead realistically reassume our World War II strategic offensive posture.

We should have nuked Tora Bora while Usama was still holed up there.

Insurgencies can be fought indefinitely if the re-supply lines remain open. This means that Coalition forces and their airborne assets are better utilized to prevent cross-border re-supply by striking depots in Iran than engaging in urban warfare at close quarters.

This implies cutting off communication between Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq so that the men, material and money can no longer cross the border at will and unimpeded. This implies an aerial campaign against the training camps and supply staging areas in Iran & Syria.

The U.S. must ruthlessly use our technologically superior ground firepower and airpower to fight an asymmetrical war that plays to our strength -- technology, rather than being lured into close urban combat which capitalizes on the suicide commitment of the Shari'a-driven Jihadists.

Whether in conjunction with the current combat in Iraq or at some later date, the Jihadi-sponsoring states of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and possibly Pakistan will have to be confronted militarily and the Jihadi centers of gravity destroyed.

U.S. gun camera film showing Jihadists being vaporized by Western weapons and emphasizing Islamic impotence should flood the Internet and the TV airwaves.

Rigid control of our borders and immigration policy is a must to stave off the inevitable attempts to attack us from within.

Click this link to read the entire article.
Other Articles by Colonel Thomas Snodgrass (USAF Ret.)...
How to Defeat Shari'a-driven Islam's Army for Jihad Colonel Thomas Snodgrass (USAF, ret.)
Strategy, Tactics and Winning Wars (Part Two of Two) Col. Thomas Snodgrass (USAF, ret.)
Strategy, Tactics, and Winning Wars (Part One of Two) Col. Thomas Snodgrass (USAF, ret.)
Is there a viable military strategy for disarming Iran? Part Two - What is 'Air Control?' Colonel Thomas Snodgrass (USAF, ret.)
Is There a Viable Military Strategy for Disarming Iran? Conclusion of Part 1
Is There A Viable Military Strategy For Disarming Iran? Part One (of Two)
This Is No Way to Win a War! Part One (of Two)

Colonel Snodgrass published his article at Family Security Matters. That organization publishes many excellent articles, visit their site and sign up to receive their newsletter.

Pakistani and US Troops Exchange Lead and Steel

~Snooper~

BREAKING NEWS

Pakistani soldiers fired at American reconnaissance helicopters that were escorting Afghan and U.S. ground troops along the volatile border Thursday, sparking a five-minute ground battle between the countries which have been allies in the war on terrorism, officials said.

Attempting to play down the incident - the first serious exchange with Pakistani forces acknowledged by the U.S. - Pakistan's president said only "flares" were fired at foreign helicopters that he said had strayed across the border from Afghanistan into his country.

The five-minute exchange, which could have easily escalated into a much bigger conflict, could heighten tensions at a time the U.S. is stepping up cross-border operations in a region known as a haven for Taliban and al Qaeda militants. [...]

This isn't good news, folks but it was bound to happen. I hope the libtards are happy now that their wish of the former President leaving Pakistan leadership because he was friends with GWB. I wonder how many Troop casualties will please them this time when the Real Deal starts.

AAFIA SIDDIQUI ARRESTED FOR ATTEMPTING TO KILL UNITED STATES OFFICERS IN AFGHANISTAN

~Snooper~

I saw this late last night and once again, Atlas Shrugs is on top of things:

Aafia Siddiqui is a MIT-trained neuroscientist who married a top Al Qaeda operative who intended to blow up gas stations or poison water reservoirs in the United States.. She is a possible associate of Majid Khan and she is believed to have links to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She allegedly arranged travel documents for another suspected terrorist. [...]

Another Jihadi scum and murderous hack off the streets...

Others: Gateway - Hot Air - Michelle Malkin -

TERROR ON THE RUN

~Snooper~

Maybe someone should hire us at A Newt One. It seems like the "MSM" (chuckle-chuckle snort-snort) is always behind us. We have been saying this for nearly forever.

AS 2007 drew to a close, embarrassed journalists sought to play down American military successes and avoided questioning Democratic presidential contenders about their predictions of inevitable failure in Iraq.

Magically, Iraq disappeared from the headlines - except on those rare occasions when a problem could be reported. At the close of a year of stunning progress, media stories on New Year's Eve leapt to report that 2007 had been the deadliest year for US troops. (read the rest)

Yes, OBL has admitted defeat and then he changed his mind. Yeas, Murtha said we lost and then he changed his mind. Yes, Reid said we were defeated and then changed his mind.

Dumbass Leftinistra...laughing stock of the Universe.

And, yes, casualties were high for 2007 and the Leftinistra signed off on the Ultimate Plan before they condemned the man as being incompetent. Go figure. The Troops knew it as well before they went in. Give them some credit and give honor and respect where it is due.

Leftinistra: Perish The Thought...BAD News For Us

The Lame Stream Media is being forced to report the Good News in the GWOT because well, the Bad News they love is becoming far and few between.

Ever since the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed General Petraeus, the Lame Stream and their moppets of the Leftinistra, namely, the ReidCos and the PelosiCos have performed magnificently in their efforts to derail the war effort all in the name of the Almighty Political Power. Their plots and plans have failed and now they have stated that troops will be in Iraq at least until 2013. Their subversion, sedition and at times treasonous escapades goes back further than that, actually.

The Lame Stream Media and the Leftinistra began their ignorance and their thwarting of military and political success in the GWOT in the battlefield called Iraq clear back to 2004. Why? Because elections were soon coming and to get behind the war effort as a Patriot should and would do, they decided that their political aspirations would go down the toilet if they were part of an actual by God Victory in the war on terror.

And now, even the WaPo has stated the obvious and it has got to have the Leftinistra doing their best Linda Blair imitations.

[...]

In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed in action numbered 43 -- down 43 percent from August and 64 percent from May, which had the highest monthly figure so far this year. The American combat death total was the lowest since July 2006 and was one of the five lowest monthly counts since the insurgency in Iraq took off in April 2004.

During the first 12 days of October the death rates of Iraqis and Americans fell still further. So far during the Muslim month of Ramadan, which began Sept. 13 and ends this weekend, 36 U.S. soldiers have been reported as killed in hostile actions. That is remarkable given that the surge has deployed more American troops in more dangerous places and that in the past al-Qaeda has staged major offensives during Ramadan. Last year, at least 97 American troops died in combat during Ramadan. Al-Qaeda tried to step up attacks this year, U.S. commanders say -- so far, with stunningly little success.

[...]

That HAS to hurt! Actual by God GREAT News and absolute Bad News to the Defeatists and the anti-Americanists. All their dreams to wrangle absolute political control is history yet they are fighting the currents of the eddy, flushing them into the Abyss of Obscurity.

Bill Roggio has an excellent write-up along these lines here at the Long War Journal.

The Tank has yet another.

[...]

According to the Press Association Ltd, Saturday's civilian death toll in Iraq was at the "lowest level in recent memory":

[...]

And the Abyss of Obscurity gets deeper and deeper for the Leftinistra.

From Wake Up America

Following the recent trend in lowering death tolls in Iraq since general Petraeus started implementing his counterinsurgency techniques, we see in todays headlines that the civilian death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest numbers in recent memory on Saturday.

[...]

I wonder how the anti-Americanist groups are sleeping these days. Check it out over at meme or you can slide over to the slut-filled skank tank at Sadly Retarded.

Trackback: American Power Blog

Is There ANY Doubt As To Which Side The Lame Stream Media Is On?

From The Tank:

Al-Qaeda Internet Communications Go Dark to U.S. Intelligence [Daveed Gartenstein-Ross]

Today Eli Lake has an important article in the New York Sun claiming that U.S. intelligence lost its access to al-Qaeda's Internet communications system (known as Obelisk to American analysts) after recent leaks concerning Osama bin Laden's September 11 video disclosed that al-Qaeda's communications system was penetrated. As Lake notes, this blunder initially appeared to be a victory for U.S. intelligence, since the federal government managed to intercept bin Laden's new video appearance a full four days before al-Qaeda intended to air it.

On September 7, when ABC News posted excerpts from the speech, some of my contacts in the American intelligence community were concerned. They felt that we gained nothing from this triumphalist disclosure, and that disclosing the video's interception could compromise our intelligence-gathering. As Lake reports, these fears proved to be correct:

One intelligence officer who requested anonymity said in an interview last week that the intelligence community watched in real time the shutdown of the Obelisk system. America's Obelisk watchers even saw the order to shut down the system delivered from Qaeda's internal security to a team of technical workers in Malaysia. That was the last internal message America's intelligence community saw. "We saw the whole thing shut down because of this leak," the official said. "We lost an important keyhole into the enemy."

By Friday evening, one of the key sets of sites in the Obelisk network, the Ekhlaas forum, was back on line. The Ekhlaas forum is a password-protected message board used by Qaeda for recruitment, propaganda dissemination, and as one of the entrance ways into Obelisk for those operatives whose user names are granted permission. Many of the other Obelisk sites are now offline and presumably moved to new secret locations on the World Wide Web.

The founder of a Web site known as clandestineradio.com, Nick Grace, tracked the shutdown of Qaeda's Obelisk system in real time. "It was both unprecedented and chilling from the perspective of a Web techie. The discipline and coordination to take the entire system down involving multiple Web servers, hundreds of user names and passwords, is an astounding feat, especially that it was done within minutes," Mr. Grace said yesterday.

Over the past year, I've witnessed a number of puzzling leaks to the press that risked compromising sources or methods of gathering intelligence — but never have the repercussions been this dramatic. While I'm not convinced that U.S. intelligence has completely lost its access to the Obelisk system (there may have been other points of infiltration), I hope that the right lessons are being learned.

There isn't any doubt in my mind which side our own media is on. At every turn, at any and all opportunities, all in the name of The Big Scoop, the ways of which our Intelligence Services are mysteriously leaked which enables the enemy to take measures to block the ways we track the enemy.

Time after time, this is the case. The NYSlimes and their collaborators betray the American People. What is it going to take for our CONgress Critters and our much self-vaunted Law Enforcement Agencies going to stop this utter treason?

Have our newsies no brains? Have they no Patriotism? Can they not see the damages they cause? Can they sleep well with themselves? Can they look themselves in the mirror and see that which they have become?

And don't dare tell me that it is under the guise of "the people have the right to know". There comes a time when the people can be told but NOT during current National Security on-going operations. Perhaps we as a nation can learn from the Israelis in this regard.

And who are these "leakers"? Why are they not prosecuted? Surely the ones that are "in the know" are few and far between. It should not be all that difficult to hunt these cretins down and hang them when found.

This is serious business and all these reports do is place us all in more danger than that which we already are, thanks to idiots thinking that "radical and backwards people" cannot do us harm.

Complacency will be the death of us all.

This is unacceptable.

Catch the wave.

Track back: StormWarning's Counterterrorism

KISS Me

Keep It Stupid Silly! No. Wait. That wasn't it. Was it? Oh. Wait. Yes. That was it but it was ReidCo what dunnit.

Keep It Simple Stupid. THAT'S what I was looking for.

It seems as though the only ones that know what this war we are in is all about don't have the avenues of expression as the idiots that are clueless have at their disposal. How many Fatwahs need to be issued for some to get a clue? How many videos are transcripts will it take for the idiots to begin to be able to think about maybe seeing The Light?

The United States didn't declare a Holy Jihad. The Holy Jihadists did and they made their declaration public. Wasn't anyone listening?

While on the subject of KISS, listen to this:

Verbatim: 'Our Current Course Is Hard. The Alternatives Are Far Worse'

By AMBASSADOR RYAN CROCKER

Iraq is experiencing a revolution, not just regime change. It is only by understanding this that we can appreciate what is happening in Iraq... READ MORE

That man has a clue.

As opposed to this fool:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday rejected the call by the top U.S. general in Iraq for a reduction of up to 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by next summer, saying it does not go far enough.

"This is unacceptable to me, it's unacceptable to the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid said the recommendation by Gen. David Petraeus, expected to be embraced on Thursday by President Bush in a speech to the nation, "is neither a drawdown or a change in mission that we need. His plan is just more of the same."

That man does NOT have a clue and, I use the term "man" very loosely for "mister" reid. I have to give something to him, however. He sticks by his guns even though the chambers are empty and the ammunition has been spent...in the wrong direction.

He mentions "the American people". And who would they be? These clowns here? Or here? Or, perhaps even here? It most certainly is NOT these people here. ReidCo hasn't a clue. I hope he continues with his stupidity and he can have stretch has a personal strapping post if he so desires.

ReidCo is in good company with these nitwits.

So, We Aren't Winning?

Just some late night & early morning thoughts having just finished reading a plethora of Leftinistra crap.

Then why is the Taliban trying to turn Saudi Arabia into what they once had in Afghanistan?

And why are the "Jews" being referenced to as bacteria?

And why are the Leftinistra ignoring that which they have been whining about?




And why are the Leftinistra upset about the Viet Con?

And what of the terrorists being captured/killed in an ever increasing number?

Rev Guards Base Uncovered in Syria

And so, there we have it. Iranian Terror Troops right smack dab where Iran has said they weren't. Imagine that. Now, why would they be there? Did they have to travel through Iraq or Saudi Arabia or even Turkey to get there? Or perhaps they merely flew over?

From the Reform Party of Syria

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian terrorist organization, is managing a new training base near the city of Homs located west of Syria and less than 50 km from Lebanon. The base is off-limit but intelligence delivered to RPS indicate that there is no Syrian presence at the base, which makes it a fully operational foreign base and the first of its kind in the country.

It is believed that the base is armed with the second generation of the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) with a range of 2,100km able to hit major metropolis in the Middle East including Israel.

I wonder what the response will be from Iran and/or Syria.

Over at NewsSlobbers: (apparently, this group has their heads stuffed up a Leftinistra's arse)

The reason Ledeen trusts them is because they are a construct of the neocons, in their entirety. The leader of the RPS is Farid Ghadry. He came up on my radar back in April because he was being cited (at NRO) as a source for reports that Nancy Pelosi's "meddling" in Israeli/Syrian diplomacy at Israel's request had "damaged the dissident movement in Syria". Gadry's SourceWatch entry is long, but here are the highlights:

Click, read and shake your head in viral and pathetic disgust. It is apparent that NewsSlobbers doesn't know about the Logan Act and how the wanna-be President One Day SoH Pelosi screwed up the unapproved of and unqualified to go mission so badly, it got the government of Israel pretty much in a tizzy.

NewsSlobbers also doesn't know that the CONgress voted on "confronting Iran on its proxy attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq".

And just fore the hell of it, let's give the apologist hacks of the Leftinistra something else to whine and gyrate about:

The Pentagon has formulated a "three-day blitz" plan to annihilate Iran's military that targets 1,200 sites, including Tehran's nuclear facilities, in order to render its military incapable of conducting offensive, defensive or retaliatory missions.

According to the London Sunday Times, citing Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, the Pentagon has rejected a strategy of "pinprick strikes" against Iran's nuclear facilities.

"They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," Debat said.

Buzz at memeorandum


Perhaps the Iranian leadership is upset over Lebanon zapping their pets inside of Lebanon?

On The Folks Over At Think Regress

These folks call their organization Think Progress. Ya. Sure. It is more like Think "Progressive" and we all know what that means, as previously stated here.

They are becoming "Rather" vocal now that the Moonbat Fruit Loop Brigades have lost quite a few influential politicians that were once upon a time in agreement with them. Too bad for them. Have they ever given credence to at least the possibility that their rhetoric emboldens the enemy? Can it be that they hide behind the facade of "dissent" all the while contributing to sedition, subversion and perhaps a hint of treason? Perhaps they should get acquainted with the laws in this regard.

Seeing that the MAJORITY of Americans see them for what they are, enablers of the enemy, the United States military has FINALLY put a lid on their treachery. Naturally, they whine about it. And, I might add, it is indeed about time.

Some Think Regress apologists are now whining that the military is bad for democracy. Good. Democracy, in its inherent form, is actually anarchy. If you don't know that, too bad for you. Do some homework for once and stop bantering about terminology you know nothing about.

The comments at Think In Reverse are hysterical and just have to be made by young punks that have no idea what they yap about. Some are under the delusion that we can "negotiate" with terrorists and that diplomacy is the best way to settle Iraq. Clearly, none of them have faced these terrorists down. Notice to the Regressives: terrorists view diplomacy and negotiation as WEAK.

The poor slogs even think General Petraeus is going to lie. Morons.

Into The Final Stretch...

...here comes the Pelosi.

A few days ago, I was wondering where Nancy was. And, here she is trying to get relevant. Well, she gets no cigar. She has a habit of vanishing from the scene.

For some reason, SoH PelosiCo are stuck on the premise that politics solves everything. How so? When has politics and politician ever solved anything? And if our own politicians can't hardly get anything done how in the world can our politicians expect Maliki to get anything done, in a war environment, in about a year in office? What have our politicians accomplished since 11/06? Anything meaningful? Substantial? Perhaps they should clean that mirror off instead of looking at the black hole.

Nearsighted Nancy

Iraq: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the military success of the surge "misses the point" and complains of too little political progress in Baghdad. Is she blind, or does she and other Democrats just refuse to see?

HA! A rhetorical question! The obvious answer is this; it isn't that they refuse to see. They see but if they were to acknowledge it, they would have to admit that they were wrong all along and using our troops as political footballs.

Read the rest...very informative it is.

Specter Babbles

A loyal reader of my blog and a friend for quite some time, has granted me permission to post the letter received in their email, in its entirety, personal data redacted, naturally.

Please note the usual and debunked reference to the "had we known" hindsight garbage. Also, please take note of the references to the WMDs, like THAT was the #1 reason/cause/affect of the War IN Iraq. Silly politicos.

Also, take note that there are some that after years and years and years of FAILED policies of "negotiations" and "diplomacy" with a body of murderous thugs, ie terrorists, some still think it is a viable solution. I thought these were intelligent people in our CONgress. No matter. The Conservative Tsunami will overtake this one as well.

Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX :

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the ongoing situation in Iraq . I appreciate your taking the time to bring your views on this important matter to my attention.

I believe that had we known Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction, the Congress would not have authorized the invasion of Iraq . Nonetheless, now that we are there, I feel we should give the Iraqis an opportunity to solidify a democratic government and do our best to establish the capabilities of Iraq 's army and police forces to provide adequate security. However, continuing violence and instability have made it apparent that Iraq is in a state of civil war and that the past policies of the U.S. and Iraqi governments have been ineffective.

As a member of Congress, I have urged the Administration to work with the Iraqi government and Iraq 's neighbors, including Iran and Syria , to develop cooperative stabilization efforts. To that end, I have personally met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran 's Ambassador to the United Nations in an attempt to help facilitate such an effort. I have also expressed support for the Iraq Study Group, an independent, bipartisan commission led by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Lee Hamilton which has echoed my call for a new and enhanced diplomatic effort to help stem the violence in Iraq.

In recent months, the U.S. has participated in international conferences organized by the Iraqi government to address regional peace and security, which were also attended by representatives of Iran and Syria . On May 28, 2007 U.S . Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker held talks with his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad . I believe these meetings by the U.S. , Iranian, and Syrian governments could represent a positive step towards easing tensions in Iraq and urge continued dialogue.

On January 10, 2007, President Bush outlined a new strategy for Iraq , to include the deployment of more than 20,000 U.S. troops in support of increased numbers of Iraqi security personnel. I believe there is unanimity that no action be taken by Congress to exercise our "power of the purse" to cutoff funds that would in any way endanger our troops. However, on this state of the record, it remains unclear what a surge in U.S. troops in Iraq will accomplish. The Iraqi government's failure to live up to previous commitments have left me skeptical that such a plan will produce stability in Iraq.

On the issue of troop withdrawal, it is my opinion that the Iraqi government should be put on notice that U.S. forces will not remain in Iraq forever. I believe that our presence, with no indication of departure, has spurred continued violence and has allowed the Iraqis to rely too heavily on the U.S. for security. Nonetheless, at this time I do not support a definitive timeline for withdrawal, as I believe Congress can not micromanage the war and that a timeline would enable the enemy to win by waiting us out. I want to give the diplomatic initiatives with Iran and Syria an opportunity to stabilize the situation.

Although I question the impact of a surge in U.S. troops, I am cognizant of the consequences of a premature departure. The Iraq Study Group concluded that "Because of the importance of Iraq, the potential for catastrophe, and the role and commitments of the United States in initiating events that have led to the current situation, we believe it would be wrong for the United States to abandon the country through a precipitate withdrawal of troops and support." U.S. forces should not remain in Iraq any longer than necessary. Iraqi government forces will ultimately be responsible for securing their country. As ever increasing numbers of Iraqi security forces are trained and able to conduct operations on their own, U.S. forces should gradually redeploy.

Thank you again for contacting me. The concerns of my constituents are of great importance to me, and I rely on you and other Pennsylvanians to inform me of your views. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://specter.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter

From the intent of this letter to a member of his constituency, it is obvious to me that this person does not keep up with current events. C'est la vie, I suppose. We shall see if the "spin tone" and the "avenues of waffle and escape" changes come mid-September.

News The left Hates and Ignores

Former Dean of Islamic Law at Qatar University Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari Speaks Out in Support of U.S. Presence in Middle East

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:

The following are excerpts from an interview with former dean of Islamic law at Qatar University, Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari. The interview aired on Abu Dhabi TV on July 26, 2007.

To view an entire page of interviews on Arab TV of Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari please visit

To view this clip, please visit

"We Still Repeat the Same Mistakes, to the Point That the Criteria of Victory and Defeat Have Been Distorted"

Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari: "Unfortunately, the history of the Muslims has become confused with their religion. The Muslims are no different than other nations. Some actions of the Muslims are not in line with the teaching of their religion. Some traditions have dominated Islamic society for over a thousand years, although they run counter to the religion of Islam. The shura [consultation] is a lofty principle in Islam. Since the rule of the four Righteous Caliphs, which lasted 30 years, the shura has disappeared from the lands of the Muslims – even though we are in need of the shura, which nowadays is synonymous with democracy. The people of the nation have the right to elect their ruler, and to hold him accountable. All these values disappeared with the disappearance of the shura."

There is quite a bit more in this presentation...Read On and view the videos. What are our media moguls so afraid of?

There is more from MEMRI...the news our OWN media is sorely afraid of...I wonder why...

This can be viewed in two locations, here and here:

The massive increase in oil revenues in most of the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait – has created unprecedented opportunities for the building of infrastructure, the provision of social services and, at the same time, for investments overseas.

These investments have been channeled through two principal pipelines – acquisition of assets and the purchase of shares in high quality financial and industrial firms. According to the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat of August 13, the Gulf countries have channeled $140 billion for overseas investments in the last three years. In a relatively short time, some of the Gulf countries have become respectable actors on the international financial scene.

At the same time, a hospitable investment environment, the privatization of state-owned entities, and the prospects of mutually profitable deals have attracted a massive influx of Western financial services and industry to the Gulf region. The opening of the real estate market for foreign investors, particularly in Dubai, has created a massive construction boom which is fueling economic growth at a rapid rate.

On the relationships between Iran and Syria for the uneducated, the uninitiated and those suffering from Ostrichitis

The cooperation between Iran and Syria has recently broadened in a variety of areas, including the military, security, economic and scientific spheres.

Close relations between the two countries are evident, inter alia, in numerous reciprocal visits by their leaders and in statements made during these visits. Thus, for example, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei declared, during Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's February 2007 visit to Tehran, that Iran and Syria constitute a strategic depth for one another.(1) Strategic cooperation between the two countries was also expressed in statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Al-Utri during his March 2007 visit to the country, when he said, "Iran and Syria have common enemies, [a circumstance] which requires perfect coordination vis-à-vis enemy plans, attainable through a maximal deepening of relations between them."(2)

Assad, on his part, declared in Tehran in February 2007 that "enhancing relations between Tehran and Damascus is extremely important for solving the problems of the Islamic world, as well as for the progress of both Iran and Syria."(3) Furthermore, in February 11, 2007 meeting marking the 28th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, held at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Al-Utri stressed that "strategic Syria-Iran cooperation and coordination are the only way to deal with the pressures and with the evil attack on them [by the West]."(4)

MEMRI improves their video access ports:

THE WORLD'S LARGEST ARCHIVES OF FOOTAGE TRANSLATED FROM ARAB AND IRANIAN TELEVISION

MEMRI is announcing the redesigned website of the MEMRI TV Project, www.memritv.org.

The MEMRI TV Project maintains the world's largest archives of footage translated from Arab and Iranian television. The project has so far produced 1,527 clips, totaling more than 14,000 hours of footage.

MEMRI TV is viewed in 197 countries around the world, and to date over 20 million visitors have accessed its website.

The main focus of the MEMRI TV Project is the latest developments of the Middle East in the political, ideological, religious and social spheres.

Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan Justifies Suicide Bombings in Buses: Israeli Soldiers Ride Those Buses

"The Occupation Soldiers Also Have a Security Motive in Using Public Transport: They Shield Themselves Behind 'Civilians' Within the Zionist Entity"

Interviewer: "Islamic law has forbidden aggression during jihad – by forbidding the killing of women, children, the elderly, clerics who devote themselves to the worship of God, and other noncombatant civilians who do not serve in the enemy's army. Do you consider all the Jews in Palestine to be combatants who have plundered the land? We've witnessed martyrdom operations that targeted buses and restaurants."

Osama Hamdan: "First of all, let me clarify something very important. What is the ruling regarding those who live in Palestine, in the so-called Israel, and who are aggressors and plunderers of the land? The way we see it, they all came to Palestine from abroad, whether before the declaration of the Zionist entity or after it. If you were to conduct statistics within the Zionist entity, you would find that all these people have their origins in other countries – they came from Europe, Eastern Europe, from America, South America, or other places."

Please click the links and learn something other than It Is America's Fault Crap.

Why Stop There?

US To Make More Good Jihadis Out Of Bad Ones?

Aren't we in a GWOT? Is cutting off funds enough? Not hardly. Just look at the UN-Iraq scandal. The sanctions worked great didn't they? Again, not hardly.

Like Wake Up America says, "IT IS ABOUT TIME!" However, to me, this action is a baby's First Step. It isn't enough and we have already, in many instances across the globe, have "waited for the right moment" to do the right thing out of fear of the much dreaded Global Permission Network and the Political Correctness Quagmire/Nonsense.

Does anyone remember this?



From WaPo: Iranian Unit to Be Labeled 'Terrorist'

The United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group's business operations and finances.

I often wonder what takes some folks so long to make the obvious decisions. It has been shown time and time again that the Iranians are arming both the AQ in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Taliban.

If it were me, I wouldn't stop at "business operations and finance". Five or six strategically placed MOABS over and above taking their funds is an appropriate action. Their explosives and ammunition has been used against military members of the United States and that in and of itself is an act of war and the United States hasn't done anything to Iran since Jimmy Carter.

Iran is holding Americans hostage...again...and what are we doing about it? The same as Jimmy Carter and England? Give me a break.

I do believe this is another incident of that Compassionate Conservative thing GWB prattles on about. Sorry President Bush. This action is really no action at all in my book. Perhaps this is a First Step but the initial step isn't quite...well...the stride is not what it could be.

Cutting off their funds is one thing. Destroying the CURRENT and IN USE arsenal is another. Are we going to wait until their arsenal is used up and THEN go "in" after the fact? How many of our military members are we going to "wait and see with"?

Sorry. I cannot buy into this unless there is an immediate "show of force" to convince them we are serious. We have pussy-footed with the enemy for far too long.

The designation of the Revolutionary Guard will be made under Executive Order 13224, which President Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorist activities. The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the list, U.S. officials said -- a highly unusual move because it is part of a government, rather than a typical non-state terrorist organization.

A highly unusual move? Under "normal" circumstances...perhaps. We are not dealing with a "normal" country. The Iranian government and "religious leaders" is a group of people running a country's ruling elite, made up of and controlled by terrorists. Period.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps -- with its own navy, air force, ground forces and special forces units -- is a rival to Iran's conventional troops. Its naval forces abducted 15 British sailors and marines this spring, sparking an international crisis, and its special forces armed Lebanon's Hezbollah with missiles used against Israel in the 2006 war. The corps also plays a key role in Iran's military industries, including the attempted acquisition of nuclear weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, according to Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Having two separate and rival military units internal of one country is not "normal" by any stretch of the imagination. "Normal" chats with such rival governing bodies within one country is not possible. Are we to repeat in Iran the errors in Iraq?

Others with similar and opposing opinions below.

Robin Wright / Washington Post:

Iranian Unit to Be Labeled 'Terrorist' — U.S. Moving Against Revolutionary Guard — The United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials …

Link Search: Google, Ask, Technorati, Sphere, and IceRocket

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Discussion: New York Times, The Corner, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Roger L. Simon, Wake up America, My Two Sense, The Reaction, Brian Beutler, Dean's World, Blogs of War and Daily Pundit

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Discussion:

Helene Cooper / New York Times: U.S. Weighing Terrorist Label for Iran Guards

Michael Rubin / The Corner: Designating IRGC as terrorists

Dan / Riehl World View: Iran: You Know Where This Is Headed

Allahpundit / Hot Air: U.S. to Revolutionary Guards: You're all terrorists

Roger L. Simon: Reading the WaPo on Iran

Spree / Wake up America: U.S. Moving Against Revolutionary Guard

Chris Achorn / My Two Sense: Bush To Call Iranian Military Group "Terrorists"

Edward Copeland / The Reaction: How's that surge going? — Iraq has experienced its deadliest …

Brian Beutler: Where do we go from here? — When we're in a "war on terrorism" …

Dave Price / Dean's World: U.S. To Declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps A Terrorist Group

Blogs of War: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Finally Gets a Terrorist Label

Bill Quick / Daily Pundit: appearing to do something while actually doing nothing


I'm not liking this until I see stronger steps. There are tactical issues here and merely "freezing/taking funds" is a strategic move. The military units in the field, I am sure, would "Rather" have the Iranian explosives removed from service first. Take the money later.

Morally Paralyzed?

So many misguided individuals in this country we call the United States have an intellectual pitfall when it comes to understanding the Islamic Menace the world faces in these modern times. Some say the Islamic Menace is a reaction to the policies of the United States. They are correct but for the wrong reasons.

What do the Islamic Fascists want? Does anyone know? When are the American People going to at least begin to have an inkling of a idea to at least have the wherewithal to perhaps one day, maybe, think that there just might be a threat to our existence? Those of us that have been studying and actually confronting the terrorists since 1974 (at least for me anyway) already know what they want. "They" want us, the United States out of their way.

For years and decades, the Islamofascists have been conniving, plotting and scheming as to what would be the best way to get America out of their way. They tried bombing our embassies. They tried kidnapping our citizens. They tried killing our citizens of which they kidnapped. They tried hijackings around the world...aircraft and ocean-going vessels. None of those actions seemed to work in their favor or, so it was thought. They escalated their efforts around the globe.

They started attacking our friends and allies which boils down to extortion or at least political blackmail. They tried to bring the WTC crumbling down in NYC in 1993. That didn't work. They tried several other avenues and that didn't work. America was still in their way. We just wouldn't allow them their freedom to conduct worldwide murder. How unfair of us.

Then, the modern Day of Infamy,91101, transpired. Surely America would listen now. Yes? No? The answer was a resounding "NO!".

The GWOT was commenced and in a plethora of speeches, interviews and press conferences, the majority of the political leadership agreed in that this activity of the terrorists could no longer go unattended or unanswered. Would America cave to the terrorists? Could America stand idly by while the Caliphate become re-instituted? Yes? No?

Perhaps our leaders finally understood the Fatwa declared against us in 1996. This is when the actual war began but our leaders shrugged it off as just another Islamic Radical mouthing off. Nothing could have been a larger mistake. Thank you President William Jefferson Clinton.

The AIJAC has the perfect explanation that most will ignore because it is considered to be that dreaded fear mongering diatribe. Let me tell you. Fear can kill and fear can save. I know. And those close to me know what I mean. Fear kept me alive on many "activities".

Osama bin Laden’s "Declaration of War Against the Americans," August 1996.

"The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies — civilians and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it..."

Osama bin Laden in a fatwah issued February 23, 1998.

The article above was published 10/01.

DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST THE AMERICANS OCCUPYING THE LAND OF THE TWO HOLY PLACES. A Message from Usama bin Muhammad bin Laden unto his Muslim Brethren all over the world generally, and in the Arab Peninsula specifically Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and ask for his pardon. We take refuge in Allah from our wrongs and bad deeds. Who ever been guided by Allah will not be misled, and who ever has been misled, he will never be guided. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah no associates with Him and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

The above was a spattering of a 17-page document. In fact, the above is the preamble. Some would have us believe that this is a war of ideologies. This is an incorrect analogy and conclusion. Just reading the preamble should, to a rational being, reveal that this war declared upon the United States of America is a religious war. We, as a Nation, do not believe as they do. So, we must be either converted or put to the sword, as it were. Read the fatwa and prove me wrong.

Please note that the Fatwa was declared in 1998. Three years before the infamous Day of Infamy of 91101. Thank you for nothing President William Jefferson Clinton.

The Caliphate is a ruling body of "holy" Islamofascists "preachers" that want strict adherence to Islamic law from the Plains of Iberia to Indo-China, where it once ruled and existed. The Caliphate was dismantled before 1930. 77 years have gone by, approximately, and the Caliphate has started to roll right along and slowly begin to rise and assert itself.

Thomas Sowell has a piece up over at Townhall. It is entitled, "Morally Paralyzed". In the article, Mr Sowell draws some astounding conclusions which I have espoused through the years and his words ring true and every American needs to listen up.

"Moral paralysis" is a term that has been used to describe the inaction of France, England and other European democracies in the 1930s, as they watched Hitler build up the military forces that he later used to attack them.

It is a term that may be painfully relevant to our own times.

Back in the 1930s, the governments of the democratic countries knew what Hitler was doing -- and they knew that they had enough military superiority at that point to stop his military buildup in its tracks. But they did nothing to stop him.

Instead, they turned to what is still the magic mantra today -- "negotiations."

No leader of a democratic nation was ever more popular than British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain -- wildly cheered in the House of Commons by opposition parties as well as his own -- when he returned from negotiations in Munich in 1938, waving an agreement and declaring that it meant "peace in our time."

We know now how short that time was. Less than a year later, World War II began in Europe and spread across the planet, killing tens of millions of people and reducing many cities to rubble in Europe and Asia.

Looking back after that war, Winston Churchill said, "There was never a war in all history easier to prevent by timely action." The earlier it was done, the less it would have cost.

At one point, Hitler could have been stopped in his tracks "without the firing of a single shot," Churchill said.

Click the link to read the rest, please.

What does he mean by "moral paralysis", then? We in the Western World believe that people should be free to do what they please as long as it doesn't interfere with freedom and liberty. At least that is the way it USED to be. Now, the very word freedom is a four-letter dirty word. Some would say that in this modern world, freedom is allowed only if you think one way or another. Some are "free" as long as they adhere and abide by some imam someplace hiding under a rock or in a cave someplace. Or, you are "free" to live as long as you live in fear of a tyrant or under a socialist or communist regime.

We in America travel freely from one place to another without checkpoints and black helicopters flying over head tracking your every move. We eat what we feel like. We buy what we feel like. Under any other "regime" or form of government, these freedoms don't exist. We are free to worship God and we are free to not worship God. Under an Islamic Caliphate, this is controlled. You either worship as the imam says or you are executed or sold into slavery.

Having said all that, I see the parallels to the Rise of The Third Reich to the Rise of The Caliphate. Do we sit back and do nothing, as Europe and America did in the early 1930's? When do we and where do we draw the Line In The Sand? Do we wait until the enemy is strong enough to conduct worldwide war? Why, yes we do. Because that is EXACTLY what has happened. Thank you very much President James Earl Carter and President William Jefferson Clinton as well as Presidents Bush and Bush. president Carter enabled the Rise of The Caliphate, President Clinton did NOTHING because he was too busy chasing skirts and enjoying Power and Control. GHB started out dealing with The Rise of The Caliphate and dropped the ball in 1991. GWB has carried the ball a little further but that ball has a yo-yo affect. Someone needs to cut the string.

If we do not wake up, it will be too late to prevent the rise of the Caliphate. The ROE needs to be modeled after the ROE of WWII...anything shy of a complete and total military victory will equate to a total failure in this modern rise of the Caliphate. Utter destruction of the enemy is what is needed. We must make it a distasteful consequence to the enemy to continue the reestablishment of the Caliphate and this can only transpire if the ROE is as ruthless now as it was in WWII.

But, we suffer from Moral Paralysis and trying to be Mr Nice-Nice is the ROE. Only kill the leaders of the enemy. All that does is send the Underlings to caves until they can get more leaders. The ROE should be...KILL ALL TERRORISTS.

Join the buzz

While you are here, join the other buzz

Did you see the video up top? Just below the Bush Was Right video? Check it out. And for more videos exposing the Islamic Menace, go here.

No Worries...It's Just Dirty Radiation...Harmless

Hat Tip to Wake Up America

From the DEBKAfiles...

The threat was picked up by DEBKAfile’s monitors from a rush of electronic chatter on al Qaeda sites Thursday, Aug. 8.

The al Qaeda communications accuse the Americans of the grave error of failing to take seriously the videotape released by the American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gaddahn last week. “They will soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations,” said one message.

Another said the attacks would be carried out “by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center.”

Click the links provided to read the rest.

What will it take? When will the threats we face as a nation sink in? When will those that hate GWB get off of their high and hobby horses and realize the realities of this dreaded and widely ignored Global War On Terror?

When will our political leaders explain to the American People how dangerous these times are?

Did you know, that we, the United States, are fighting this war in close to 50 countries?

Let's examine how President Bush described the Global War on Terror in the immediate aftermath of 9/11:

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.) From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.

Why are the words of the president so widely ignored? And, to what end. And, for what cause?

The American Micro-Wave attention spans are pathetically short.

Wake Up.

As President Bush explained and the Congress agreed upon, this war we are in has been waged against us for many years before 91101 and now, very few remember or seems to care. The short attention spanned detractors and those that have a viral case of BDS need to be sat down and silenced.

Dissent is one thing. Doing and saying the types of things they are saying these days is something else other than dissent.

Amy proctor has The Smoking Gun that proves how wrong the majority of the "war detractors" are.

The War In Iraq is central to the current war. As I have said privately I will now say in the open. "We" watched AQ and Taliban flee from the onslaught of Superior Military Might in Afghanistan. Those which remained were canon fodder to bide the time required for the enemy to regroup. They knew they could not withstand a head to head battle with American and American led forces. They ran like good little moonbats do.

To where did they run off to? "We" watched them flee through the mountains of the "Stan" countries to the northwest and northeast of the "entry" points. "We" watched them run west. "We" watched them run east. The majority ran nearly due west...Iraq. About as half as many ran west...Pakistan. The remaining stood their short-lived ground in Afghanistan. They did not expect the United States to fulfill the bluff. To cover for their mistakes, they began their propaganda machines and said that the United States took the bait. If anyone believes that, I can show them that a dead gnat has more brain power and common sense than they do.

One can find a very watered down "story" here.

I have seen my fair-share of elephants and I wouldn't want to see any here, on American soil.

How about you?

FINALLY!

DEBKAfile:

DEBKAfile Exclusive: New Al Qaeda threat of radioactive truck attacks naming New York, Los Angeles, Miami — The threat was picked up by DEBKAfile's monitors from a rush of electronic chatter on al Qaeda sites Thursday, Aug. 8. — The al Qaeda communications accuse the Americans …

Link Search: Google, Ask, Technorati, Sphere, and IceRocket

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Discussion: Take Our Country Back, Riehl World View, A Blog For All, Blogs of War, Gateway Pundit and The Gun Toting Liberal™

–

Discussion:

Snooper / Take Our Country Back: No Worries...It's Just Dirty Radiation...Harmless

Dan / Riehl World View: The NYC Dirty Bomb Threat

Lawhawk / A Blog For All: Developing: NYPD Searching Vehicles In Response To Unverified Radiological Threat

Blogs of War: Unsubstantiated Manhattan Terror Threat: Radioactive Dirty Bomb on 34th Street

Gateway Pundit: Unconfirmed Reports: Dirty Bomb Entered New York City

The Gun Toting Liberal™: Newest al-Qaeda Threat: Death To America

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Dirty Bomb Threat In New York — New York City has deployed radiological detectors throughout the subway system and at bridges and tunnels tonight in response to a threatened terrorist attack. The city has not raised its alert status yet, but the attack was specific for tonight (via One Jerusalem):

Link Search: Google, Ask, Technorati, Sphere, and IceRocket

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Discussion: One Jerusalem Blog and Riehl World View

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Discussion:

One Jerusalem Blog: New York Dirty Bomb?

Dan / Riehl World View: Academics Refine Dirty Bomb Strategy

RELATED:

Reuters: NY hikes security on dirty bomb Internet chatter

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