istory tells us something very important about France - they don’t learn from it. Contemporary events tells us something else important about France. Their antisemitism is deeply embedded.

France should be able to see a similarity, if anyone cared to look, between how they approach dangerous Islamist elements today and the appeasement policy prior to WWII. Or perhaps France could see the similarity with the appeasement policy prior to WWI - when France, Russia and Britain instigated the mess, which defines the Balkans and Middle East of today. It could be said then that the unintended results of appeasement could not have been foreseen. It certainly cannot be said today.

The French appear ever-ready to pit themselves against common sense - it is an historical norm for France. From aligning themselves with the Ottoman empire to further their own imperialist ambition against England and Russia to Vichy appeasement of the Nazis; to French appeasement of Saddam and now French appeasement of Hamas.

At a time when Israel celebrates 60 years of struggle for existence against tremendous odds, it comes out that France elevates this terrorist group to the level of statehood  by treating them as a moral equivalent of Israel.

It was even more striking because French President Nicolas Sarkozy has embraced Israel since taking office a year ago, in contrast to predecessors who nurtured France’s traditionally strong relations with the Arab world. But experts noted Sarkozy has signaled the need for “bridges” in response to Carter’s contentious visit.

Speaking on French radio Europe-1, Kouchner insisted the French contacts with Hamas over “several months” did not amount to “relations” or “negotiations.”

He did not delve into the substance of the contacts, but said Hamas has become more “flexible” - even if it still refuses to recognize the Jewish state’s right to exist.

These are “contacts, and nothing else, to inform us about the situation - first on the humanitarian front, and then especially the political one. That’s it,” Kouchner told reporters later at the Foreign Ministry.

“I think … we’re not the only ones to have contacts of this type - just to inform ourselves - and particularly in the European Union,” he added.

The French government is exhibiting yet another example of the myopic approach to dealing with those who vow the destruction of not only Israel, but anything not contributing to the benefit of an Islamic caliphate. Those of you who think this is much ado about nothing have no understand of the goal of these Islamists since the 13th Century especially.

It is a Kaffiya-licious day for all you who “identify with the struggle” of the Shia Mujahaddin. Hizb’allah is now in control of Western Beirut! Having wrested control from the evil, elected, pro-western government they are determined to solidify a cornerstone of a new Persian/Ottoman Empire.

Hezbollah militias took control of western Beirut on Friday, dealing a major blow to the U.S.-backed government in the worst sectarian violence since the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990.

Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader and part of the pro-government coalition, described it as a “coup.”

Two pro-government TV stations shut down. Nadim Mounla, the head of Future TV, said Hezbollah was sending a “clear message” that it would destroy the stations.

Later, an engineer from Future TV said that, according to witnesses, the station’s building in predominantly Muslim West Beirut had been set on fire.

I am certain there are celebrations happening in Syria, Iran, and US College campuses at this historic return to chaos and antisemitism in what was once a gem of a city.

Set aside the pre-war statements by prominent Democrats about the need for regime change in Iraq. Set aside, the post invasion castigation of our “reasons for the war”. Set aside the attacks by prominent Democrats on our military. They attack using every angle of their geopolitical virtual reality as possible.

The simple truth is the leftists in America will not be disabused of their silly positions on Iraq by the facts.

But Democrats said President George W. Bush, who began the war five years ago and who will leave office in January with more than 100,000 troops still there, was failing to focus on the bigger threat of al Qaeda from the Afghan-Pakistan border.

“Protecting this nation from direct attack is job number one, yet our allocation of forces does not match this imperative,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Armed Services Committee.

The implication is the Iraq is detracting the US from the threat of terror attacks in the US. Really?

• Jose Padilla was interdicted at O’Hare airport - we was returning from Pakistan and had been recently messing about with nuclear materials.
• The Lakawanna  Six were apprehended for plotting an attack after having trained in Pakistan with AQ.
• Eleven men - four of whom plead guilty - were apprehended in Virginia for working with AQ and the Taliban.
• Dhiren Barot was apprehended for plotting to blow up major financial institutions, including the NYSE, after training in Pakistan.
•  James Elshafay and Shahawar Matin Siraj were arrested for plotting to bomb a subway station in New York City.
•  Umer Hayat and Hamid Hayat were arrestedafter the Hamid’s attendance at an Islamic terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
• Assem Hammoud, an al-Qaeda loyalist living in Lebanon, and others, was arrested for plotting to bomb the New York City train tunnels.
• A plot to blow fuel pipelines that runs through residential neighborhoods at the Kennedy International Airport in New York City was foiled.

Combine your knowledge of these instances with the simple fact that NO terrorist attacks have occurred on US soil since the invasion of Iraq. Add, as a seasoning if you will, the fact that AQ had a substantial subsidiary operation in Iraq. That AQ found it more desirable to attack US forces in the Middle East than to attack the US itself.

If the Democrats were serious about securing America from the potential of terrorist attacks, they would be more active in securing the borders. They are simply posing yet another childish “Nya!” to something they philosophically have no ability to understand.

 This post will define for you - exactly - the completely irrational nature of the philosophy driving Islamo-fascists. If you still think you can reason with these people after reading this, you are incurably delusional.

Al-Zawahiri - Al-Qaeda’s Deputy Commander - had no compunction against killing civilians of any stripe in the planning of the 9/11/2001 attacks in the US. Since this time, AQ has been responsible for scores of deaths of women and children across the globe.

Even as recently as yesterday, when he called for attacks in Algeria against military and civilian targets, he can explain why some women and children are killed by AQ operations.

He is able to explain this away by calling them human shields to the “real target”. You see how he can bastardize his beliefs to make something abhorrent seem acceptable - this is the depth of his lie.

Hamas randomly fires 20 - 50 Qassam rockets from gaza into populated areas of Israel on a daily basis. These rockets have no guidance system and there is no way for the person firing them to know what the target will be.

 GAZA, April 5 (Xinhua) — Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Saturday denied it aims at killing Israeli children and women by the rocket it fires from Gaza Strip.

    ”Hamas doesn’t mean to kill children by its rockets,” spokesman Ismail Radwan told reporters in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. His remarks were in response to al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader Aymanal-Zawahiri who said Hamas’ random rockets kill Jews women and children in violation of Islam law.

Now, you see the depth of the Hamas’ lie. ” We don’t purposely target women and children.” is technically a correct statement, since the rockets cannot “target” anything.  Yet, the statement is also n insidious lie because the rockets are designed to create death and chaos in order to achieve a percieved political outcome - the very definition of terrorism.

Oh - about Al-Zawahiri’s condemnation of the Hamas rocket attacks on women and children. This is easy to figure out. Hamas is on a course toward the international community offering Israel the latitude to wipe Hamas off of the map. If this happens, a more moderate governing body will fill the Hamas vacuum in Gaza -  killing any chance of AQ to use Gaza as an operations center. Having AQ operating on a large scale that close to Israel is the dream location for the Islamo-fascists. They don’t want Hamas messing that up.

As the violence dwindles in Southern Iraq, the United States is ostensibly pleased with the performance of Iraqi forces in dealing with the recent Sadrist uprising. The Iraqi government is ostensibly pleased with their ability to respond with appropriate force and to stand up on their own in this crisis.

I said ostensibly. The truth of the matter is the real winner of the recent events in Southern Iraq is Iran - although again, it is ostensibly Muqtada al-Sadr.

Yes, Iraqi government forces responded well and the results of unequaled training, along with a more ecumenical devotion to a unified nation, is evident in the performance of Iraqi forces - although they still have a way to go. Iran gaining victory has nothing to do with military prowess, nor with the willingness of Iraqis to defend Iraq’s emergence as a viable government.

Al-Sadr himself has acknowledged there are many groups which have split off from his personal control. While he is in Iraq, speaking as Muqtada al-Sadr, his influence is limited - much like a local mob captain. However, you must note that he is in Iran now for some “special religious training”. Though his followers have not seen him for many weeks, not only does he have the ability to influence their actions on a broad scale, he has the ability to influence the activities of many of those “break away” groups as well.  His followers understand that his presence and training in Iran is not a coincidence. In a theocracy, an invitation to take special religious training is a huge, ostentatious vote of confidence. The ability of al-Sadr - little more than an upstart at the beginning of this war - to stop the violence by issuing a proclamation is a large feat. Al-Sadr has definitely been given a big Shi’ite promotion.

Iran was able to gain victory because the power of the Iranian theocracy, with al-Sadr as the conduit, was the sole reason for the ending of hostilities. The fighting in Basra is over because Tehran wished it to be.

I cannot conceive, nor has it been posed, what we intend to gain by supporting Kosovar independence from Serbia. I have said several times in these pages there is only the obvious desire to show our “even-handedness” to Muslims. We really have no dog in this race. We may get a military base out of this, but with a few thousand troops in the area, we have that already.

We have used the United Nations to conspire the break-up of a member nation for no clear reason other than to gain favor with terrorists. Kosovo is the United States’ Balkan Tragedy.

UPDATE:

By Michael Averko

Original Posted at American Chronicle

Numerous reasons are presented to support Kosovo’s independence. Upon presentation, there is often little challenge to those points. Much of the pro-Kosovo independence advocacy involves fuzzy history and double standards.In an effort to deflate Serbia’s claim on Kosovo, Albanian nationalists portray the province as being initially inhabited by Albanians. In conjunction with that view is the comment about Slavs arriving in the Balkans after the Albanians. The origin of the Albanians is a matter of historical debate. It is said that modern day Albanians are likely derived from one or more groups, who were in the Balkans before the Slavs. In terms of significant numbers and a well established presence, reasonable evidence indicates that the Serbs predominated the Kosovo area of the Balkans before the Albanians. More recent history shows that the Albanian numbers in Kosovo started to increase in the 15th century, after the region had a noticeably inhabited Serb makeup.

The more convincing pro-independence argument focuses attention on Kosovo’s present day Albanian majority, overwhelmingly favoring separation from Serbia. The past 120 years have seen a process of Albanians replacing Serbs as the majority in Kosovo - a demographic change resulting from a series of ethnic cleansing campaigns, immigration from Albania (much of it illegal) and the comparatively high birth rate of Albanians.

Kosovo has been part of modern day Serbia since 1912. Centuries before, it had been an integral part of Serbia. Kosovo was never part of an independent Albania, or an independent entity unto itself. Kosovo’s historic attachment to Serbia is very real and legitimate. It is therefore inappropriate to dislodge Kosovo from Serbia. Allowing Kosovo great autonomy as a continued part of Serbia can hypothetically include the province having full United Nations membership (like Belarus and Ukraine during Soviet times) and International Olympic Committee representation (like non-nations Puerto Rico, British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong). This scenario appears to come closest to simultaneously matching the conflicting Albanian and Serb desires.

For consistency and fairness sake, Republika Srpska (the predominately Serb portion of Bosnia) would be offered the same option (in Republika’s Srpska’s instance, a continued affiliation with Bosnia). Based on the existing circumstances, the whereabouts of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic (two Bosnian Serbs leaders wanted by an overly politicized legal body, who are thought to be residing in either Republika Srpska and-or Serbia) is not a valid counter-argument against Republika Srpska’s inclusion. The dubious trio of Hasim Thaci, Ramush Haridnaj and Agim Ceku are considered acceptable leaders for Kosovo. Like Kosovo, Republika Srpska’s territory was part of former Yugoslavia. Unlike Kosovo, Republika Srpska has the status of a republic and shows itself capable of governing a multi-ethnic land at peace.

Diehard anti-Serb/pro-Kosovo independence enthusiasts are not convinced by this proposal. They have a series of talking points which in their view legitimizes the dismembering of Serbia.

One of them pertains to the period from 1974-89, when the non-Serb Communist dictator Tito granted Kosovo autonomy as part of the Serb republic in Yugoslavia. The follow-up claims that Kosovo during that period was essentially a republic. In point of fact, it remained a continued part of Serbia. That period of great autonomy saw an increase in violence against non-Albanians.

This reminds one of how the concept of American “states’ rights” has been viewed. It is ideal to allow a reasonable amount of regional autonomy. But what if such a scenario results in a greater ethnically related persecution? During the Kosovo autonomy years, Western mass media news reports detailed the increased ethnic violence in that province. By 1988, a consensus was reached in Yugoslavia about the failure of autonomy in Kosovo.

Enter the period of armed skirmishes between Yugoslav authorities and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The 1999 NATO led bombing of Yugoslavia in support of the KLA is an example of what happens when a country does not have nukes, Capital Hill lobbying clout and membership to an American club. Reference Russian actions in Chechnya, Israeli strikes against its adversaries and Turkish actions against the Kurds. For that matter, note the number of civilians killed as a result of the 2003 American led attack on Iraq. These examples are given to put into perspective how the Serbs have been mistreated.

This mistreatment is compounded by the thought that as punishment for fighting the KLA, Serbia lost the right to Kosovo. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 contradicts that belief. It specifically states that Kosovo is a part of Yugoslavia. Serbia is internationally recognized as the successor state to Yugoslavia. In Communist and post Communist Yugoslavia

Kosovo was part of the Serb republic. UNSC 1244 calls for a return of refugees, as well as of Serb military and government bodies to Kosovo. This has yet to happen. In legalese, the 1244 clause about taking into “full consideration” the unsigned Rambouillet diktat is not a green light for independence. It simply means that aspects of Rambouillet can perhaps be considered. Prior to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Clinton

Administration and Kosovo Albanian nationalists wrote a clause in Rambouillet which would have (if signed) permitted Kosovo to vote on independence after three years from the accord’s signing. I specifically recall noted American University law professor Paul Williams bragging about his having written that segment on Geraldo Rivera’s MSNBC cable news show. No one questioned Williams’ objectivity as a then adviser to the Kosovo Albanian nationalist leaders. Madeleine Albright was quoted as having said that Rambouillet was written in a way that was unacceptable to the Serbs. An obvious pretext for starting the war that was to be. The “final outcome” status for Kosovo is stated towards the end of 1244. It relates to how Kosovo should be governed as a part of Serbia. What other logical way can be otherwise suggested when the very same document recognizes Kosovo as part of Serbia, while stating that refugees, Serb government and military bodies should return to that province?”

Turkey and Iraq have not lost parts of their land to create a Kurdish state. Past Kurdish and Turkish actions against Kurds were more oppressive than what the Serbs could be legitimately accused of doing to the Albanians. Keep in mind that there is much wrong to be found on the Albanian side. Serbia minus Kosovo is more democratic than Kosovo, Iraq and Turkey.

The view that Kosovo is a “special case” for independence is not in sync with a reasoned comparison of the disputed former Communist bloc territories. Regarding human rights and history, Pridnestrovie (Trans-Dniester) has a much better case for independence than Kosovo. Pridnestrovie’s historical relationship with Moldova is nowhere near as close as Kosovo’s ties to Serbia. Pridnestrovie has better economic conditions than Kosovo. The former is also free of the level of ethnic divisiveness in the latter.

There is a somewhat Machiavellian reason for going against the Serbs - the idea to please the “Muslim street”. Russia has sympathized with Serbia and fought a war involving predominately Muslim Chechnya. Yet, Russia does not seem to be as much on the hit list of Muslim extremists when compared to some other countries. Some have stated that the Russian-Serb fraternizing is over-emphasized. Seeing how Russia is not so chastised in the Muslim world, it appears that the Muslim street point to support Kosovo’s independence is the more overrated of the two views.

The inconsiderate attitudes taken against Serbia and comparatively greater concern for accommodating Muslim concerns (real and exaggerated) bring up the not so talked about matter of there perhaps being a bias (subconscious or otherwise) against Slavic Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Christians at large. If I’m not mistaken, Ukraine’s slant continues to not side with Kosovo independence. If true, note how some Ukrainian views get propped over others (like the ones bashing Russia, which are not shared by many in Ukraine).

Adrian Karatnycky’s 1999 article “The Condescension of the Christian West” has a few compelling observations. Among Western intelligentsia, not much effort is given to consider the views of Orthodox Christians on issues like former Yugoslavia. On the other hand, there is concerted effort to understand and reach out to perceived Muslim interests (real and exaggerated). The populations in predominately Orthodox Christian countries were overwhelmingly against the 1999 Clinton administration led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).

Religious extremism is not relegated to one faith. Note that Orthodox Christians do not propagate their causes by guiding vehicles into office buildings and military installations. Punishing passive behavior in favor of the law of the jungle is not civilized. Some Albanian nationalist leaders and their Western supporters have hinted that enhanced violence might occur if Kosovo does not become independent. Rather than condemning such comments, they suggest that it is a valid reason for supporting independence. This opinion encourages violence as a means of independence elsewhere.

Sources:

American Council for Kosovo

http://savekosovo.org/default.asp

Edward Herman, “Book Review: Travesty”, Z Magazine Online, Apr. 2007

http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Apr2007/hermanpr0407.html

G. Richard Jansen, “Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo: An Abbreviated History”, Colorado State University, June 15, 2007

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~grjan/kosovohistory.html

Adrian Karatnycky, “The Condescension of the Christian West”, First Things, Aug./Sept. 1999

http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9908/opinion/karatnycky.html

Nebojsa Malic, “The Suspended Castle: Kosovo’s Unsustainable Independence Claim”, Antiwar.com, Nov. 2, 2000

http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m110200.html

****

Michael Averko is a New York based independent foreign policy analyst and media critic. His commentary has appeared in the Action Ukraine Report, Byzantine Sacred Art Blog, Eurasian Home, Intelligent.ru, Johnson’s Russia List, Russia Blog, Serbianna, Siberian Light, The New York Times and The Tiraspol Times.

Averko has appeared as a panelist on several radio shows, including the BBC World Service’s Have Your Say and the The Jay Diamond Show, when the latter aired in New York.

He initiated an on line Guardian Unlimited forum, which discusses former Communist bloc issues.

Terrorists, operating out of the Gaza Strip, fired rockets into an Israeli kibbutz, wounding a 3-year-old girl.

A report released by the Israeli army on Sunday revealed that with recent improvements in Palestinian rocket technology, some 190,000 Israeli civilians now live under direct threat of artillery attacks from Gaza.

Here is a little background on the Qassam rockets.

Qassam rockets are named after the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of Hamas, itself named after an Islamic Mojahed and fighter Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who led a Palestinian fighters group during the 1930s. According to Hamas, the Qassam rocket was first developed by Nidal Fat’hi Rabah Farahat and Mohamed Khaled and produced under the direction of Adnan al-Ghoul, the “Father of the Qassam”, who was assassinated by the Israeli army on October 22, 2004.

Qassams were first fired at Israeli civilian targets in October 2001.The first Qassam to land in Israeli territory was launched on February 10, 2002. The first time an Israeli city was hit was on March 5, 2002, when two rockets struck Sderot. Some rockets have hit as far as the edge of Ashkelon. The total number of Qassam rockets launched exceeded 1000 by June 9, 2006. During the year 2006 alone, 1000+ rockets were launched.

So, I am thinking waterboarding has just become the new extreme sport for Islamo-fascists.  Heck, you could do theme parks in Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia - all based on the waterboarding experience.

Zayn Abidin Muhammed Hussein abu Zubaida, the first high-ranking al-Qaeda member captured after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, broke in less than a minute after he was subjected to the technique and began providing interrogators with information that led to the disruption of several planned attacks, said John Kiriakou, who served as a CIA interrogator in Pakistan.

You know - this solidifies two things for me:

1) John McCain needs to shut up about torture - it is perfectly clear that his ranting about this is to draw attention to himself, not trying to correct an “injustice” in our intelligence collection techniques. He is doing the exact same thing on interrogation techniques that he did to us on immigration. I bet you a month’s pay if the polls showed that the American people thought waterboarding was a great means to extract intelligence from high-value detainees, John McCain would tell us how he has “learned a valuable lesson”.

2)  Our Islamist enemy consists of a bunch of pansies because the Code Pink idiots took more than 35 seconds.

In an interview, Kiriakou said he did not witness Abu Zubaida’s waterboarding but was part of the interrogation team that questioned him in a hospital in Pakistan for weeks after his capture in that country in the spring of 2002.

He described Abu Zubaida as ideologically zealous, defiant and uncooperative — until the day in mid-summer when his captors strapped him to a board, wrapped his nose and mouth in cellophane and forced water into his throat in a technique that simulates drowning.

The waterboarding lasted about 35 seconds before Abu Zubaida broke down, according to Kiriakou, who said he was given a detailed description of the incident by fellow team members. The next day, Abu Zubaida told his captors he would tell them whatever they wanted, Kiriakou said.

“He said that Allah had come to him in his cell and told him to cooperate, because it would make things easier for his brothers,” Kiriakou said.

Man! Thirty-five seconds of hell on earth and you get a personal visit from Allah!? Why are we not selling this?

Here is another things to digest. I was always taught that the minute you put your hands on a detainee, anything that person says is suspect. However, our enemies have become much more sophisticated and every technique we have ever taught interrogators is studied and an “antidote” developed and trained for. Our techniques have to change as well. To spend weeks with a captive and get nothing but philosophical monologues vs. getting relevant results in 35 seconds is huge. Especially when the captive is in exactly the same health today as he was the day before his capture.

Our military basic training puts thousands of our young men and women through more rigorous and physically demanding forms of “torture” than 35 seconds of water boarding. Heck, SERE training is tougher than what waterboarding has been described and demonstrated as being.

Because of all of these things coming to light, I am much more supportive of the practice than I was when the perception we were being fed was that there were these hours-long torture processes happening - you know, like in the movies.  But this information is divulged at a cost, even so.
Twenty years ago, the name of the Director of Central Intelligence was classified. Now, we have the guy publicly defending the actual techniques used by interrogators. This means that in terrorist training camps across the world, someone is developing a syllabus for the next generation of terrorists on how to resist this technique. Tougher terrorists necessitates tougher interrogation techniques.

So, keep ranting about waterboarding. Force the intelligence community to adopt even tougher methods of extracting information.

Another young woman lies dead in the morgue, because her families honor was at stake. As much as I would like to say this is the headline from a newspaper printed a thousand years ago, it isn’t. It is the headline story from Foxnews.com. A 16 year old in Canada was just beaten to death by her father for refusing to wear a head scarf.

For those liberals out there, that scream at this country for trying to stop the insanity in the middle east, try to stop the tyrannical leadership of countries where people are killed for their beliefs, it is time to wake up. The Radical Islamic agenda is to invade our countries, use our own laws against us and kill any who oppose them. If you think it cant happen, take a look at the Netherlands. That region of the world can be considered a far left society, offering health-care for all, high taxes and choking Political Correctness. But they are starting to wake up. Their citizens are being murdered for speaking out against the Islamic agenda, they are being threatened and forced to live 24/7 under government security because the mass influx of radical Islamic fundamentalists are taking over their country.

Wake up, or we are next.