Though Hitler was certainly no Muslim, he *did* have an affinity for the Islamic religion, which he compared favourably against the Christianity in Germany. Albert Speer, Hitler’s wartime Minister of Armaments and Munitions, records in his memoirs,

“Hitler had been much impressed by a scrap of history he had learned from a delegation of Arabs. When the Mohammedans attempted to penetrate beyond France into Central Europe during the eighth century, his visitors had told him, they had been driven back at the Battle of Tours. Had the Arabs won this battle, the world would be Mohammedan today. For theirs was a religion that believed in spreading the faith by the sword and subjugating all nations to that faith. The Germanic peoples would have become heirs to that religion. Such a creed was perfectly suited to the Germanic temperament. Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous natives, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire.

“Hitler usually concluded this historical speculation by remarking, ‘You see, it’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn’t we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the highest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness….”5 (A. Speer, Inside the Third Reich, pp. 142-143)

This demonstrates that Hitler found Islam more to his liking than Christianity. He was particularly attracted Islam’s penchant for violence. This is the most outward manifestation of Islamic theology (its penchant for violence) and there was also the common thread of hating the Jews which the Nazi party had with Muslim leaders in the Arab world at that time.

A rare view inside the mind of a suicide bomber. Ghulamsaki tells Jack why we is going to kill the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the Ambassador. It is NOT because he expects to get 70 virgins, it is because he was co-opted and brought into the family of bin laden.

This scene shows Jack interrogating Malikyar, an extraordinary terrorist cell leader who was working for Osama Bin Laden and Gulbideen Hekmatyar. The Terrorist Plan was to kill 500-1000 American soldiers at Bagram Airbase and conduct simultaneous assassinations of the Afghan Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and key Ambassadors who were American Allies to start a civil war.

There are more videos, and they are powerful.

Jack and his men brought one of the captured terrorist taxicabs to ISAF for Explosives testing. The terrorist were going to kill American soldiers and American allies.

There are more videos at Task Force Saber 7 and Rogue Radio Live.

This is Jack’s story. With moving pictures, not bullshit blog posts. Go and see the videos.

These aren’t movies of some guy standing in a cowpatch in Wisconsin. There are explanations for each one, and these are explosive, in my opinion.

Crossposted from Stop The ACLU

The ACLU thinks that parents have no right to know if their pregnant underage daughter is seeking an abortion.

vs. America

80% of Americans think that parents have the right to know if their minor daughters are seeking an abortion. (CBS News Poll July 13-14, 2005)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU believes anyone, for any reason at any time should be allowed to abort a child.

vs. America

75% of Americans believe that there should at least be some restrictions on abortion. (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll June 24-26, 2005)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU opposes abstinence education.

vs. America

96% of American parents with children under 17 want their kids taught that abstinence is the best approach to sex.
93% of American parents with children under 17 want their kids taught that having sex leads to disease and pregnancy.
85 % of American parents with children under 17 want abstinence to be taught with at least equal emphasis as contraception receives.
79% of American parents with children under 17 want their kids taught that teen sex leads to harmful psychological and physical effects. (http://www.heritage.org/research/welfare/bg1722.cfm)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU has fought to have constitutionally-sound displays that include the Ten Commandments removed from public property.

vs. America

75% of Americans believe that the Ten Commandments should be displayed on public property. (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll June 24-26, 2005)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU is on record as supporting polygamy.

vs. America

92% of Americans think polygamy is morally repugnant. (The Gallup Poll May 5-7, 2003)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU has filed cases across the nation to redefine marriage against the repeatedly expressed will of the people and, now the overwhelming affirmation by even Left-leaning courts that the state is justified in retaining the definition of marriage. (Note: the ACLU got smoked in an attempt to prevent Tennesseans from even having the opportunity to express their will at the polls this year.)

vs. America

21 states have recently voted to protect marriage by an average of 70%: Alaska 68%, Hawaii 69%, Nebraska 70%, California 61%, Nevada 67%, Arkansas 75%, Georgia 76%, Kentucky 75%, Louisiana 78%, Michigan 59%, Mississippi 86%, Missouri 71%, Montana 67%, North Dakota 73%, Ohio 62%, Oklahoma 76%, Oregon 57%, Utah 66%, Kansas 70%; Alabama 81%; Texas 76%

________________________________________________________________

The ACLU believes that children should be trapped in failed public schools, even inner-city children whose parents desperately want to escape the captivity of government education.

vs. America

69% of Americans believe that parents should be able to choose their child’s public school rather than being assigned based solely on residence location. (http://www.edreform.com/_upload/2005ncsw-poll.pdf).
63% of Americans believe that parents should be able to choose the best school for their child, whether public or private. (Zogby International Polling July 2002)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU opposes personally-initiated prayer in school and moments of silence as well as individual acknowledgement of religious beliefs at public events.

vs. America

83% of Americans think prayer should be permitted during school activities including graduation ceremonies. (Gallup/CNN/USA Today Poll June 25-27, 1999)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU has filed lawsuits and threatened cities and schools all across the country to prevent Christmas from being openly celebrated in public fora.

vs. America

96% of Americans celebrate Christmas
87% of Americans believe Christmas displays should be allowed on public property.
(FOX News Opinion Dynamics Poll December 3-4, 2003)
________________________________________________________________

The ACLU has attacked Mt. Soledad memorial in San Diego since the the very beginning of Bush the Elder’s Administration because it includes a cross. This is just one of countless examples of the ACLU’s seek and destroy mission to eliminate all religious symbols from public grounds.

vs. America

76% of San Diegans voted to save the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial from the ACLU’s attack on behalf of a single atheist. That atheist, Jim McElroy was quoted as saying following the vote: “It still doesn’t mean a damn thing,” he said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Voters should have never voted on it. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

_______________________________________________________________

The reaction from ACLU-types will predictably be something like: “What is right and Constitutional is not always popular.” Easy answer: What the ACLU does is invent rights and distort the Constitution, which is why the ACLU is so UNpopular. The ACLU has used dubious interpretations of law NEVER imagined by our Founders with compliance from radical judges to push an agenda abhorrent to most Americans and indeed to the intent of the Constitution. Look no further than the ACLU’s pro bono defense of a website that advocates pedophilia and instructs its visitors in how to rape children and evade prosecution. So…the ACLU considers encouraging instruction on how to commit and get away with child rape a First Amendment right…does anyone believe that the Founders would agree? Therefore, can’t we conclude that if the ACLU is so wrong on this, that it may be wrong on many other things? Judge the evidence for yourself.

This has been a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay or Gribbit. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 200 blogs already on-board.

From Straight-Talk dot Net:

ADOLPH HITLER USED EVOLUTION AS HIS JUSTIFICATION FOR THE HOLOCAUST.

In fact, the theory of Evolution is inherently racist as compared to Christianity which seeks to break down barriers based on race- as you can see in the following bullet points.

• Planned Parenthood Federation of America (See Abortion section) was started by a racist, Margaret Sanger, who drew upon writings from socialists and eugenicists. She even published articles from Adolf Hitler’s director of eugenic sterilization, Ernst Rudin, and spawned “The Negro Project,” her strategy for eliminating the black population. In the last week of July 2002, a lawyer in Missouri filed a federal lawsuit against Planned Parenthood for their failure to fully inform women about abortion. The lawyer also agreed that PP is a racist organization that targets minority women.77

• Alfred Russell Wallace , one of the few 19th century nonracists, believed that the differences in behavior found between the black and white races, contrary to the conclusions of evolutionists around him, were because of cultural conditioning which ‘can integrate the rudest savage into our own most courtly life.19

• Today, all human beings in the world today, are classified as Homo Sapiens and scientists now admit that, biologically, there really is only one race of humans.15

• An ABC News science page stated, “More and more scientists find that the differences that set us apart are cultural, not racial. Some even say that the word ‘race’ should be abandoned because it’s meaningless.”15

• The Bible does not even use the word “race” in reference to people, but does describe all human beings as being of “one blood” (Acts 17:26)15

• Scientists found that if any two people from anywhere in the world were compared, the basic genetic differences between these two would typically be around 0.2 percent - even if they came from the same people group.15

• So-called “racial” characteristics that many think are major differences (skin color, eye shape, etc.) account for only 6 percent of this 0.2 percent variation, which amounts to a mere 0.012 percent difference generically. In other words, the so-called “racial” differences are absolutely trivial.15

• Recent I.Q. tests of people throughout the world have found that, with allowance for cultural differences, the IQ ranges of all extant identified races is extremely close. The pygmy population of Africa, supposedly the most backward race extant today, test close to average when acclimated to Western life. Few differences are found between the second and third generation pygmies living in large Australian cities who are acclimated to the established European population.19

• It is now widely accepted that, given equality of background and similarity of experiences, blacks as a whole closely equal whites in across the-board performance. This confirms prominent anthropologist, Ruth Benedict’s early conclusion that “the most careful investigation” shows there is no significant difference between the scores of blacks and whites, even though it is difficult to control for the accumulative effects of deprivation.19

• Most studies also find that Orientals and Jews score about ten points higher than Europeans. Reasons other than innate differences are often found to account for this difference, and few scientists now accept the view that genetic differences can account for the level found.19

• Recently, in Louisiana, African American State Representative Sharon Weston Broome charged that, “Darwin’s ideas on how humans evolved are racist and the key reason for race problems [and] provide the main rationale for racism.” As Broome logically concluded, “If evolution has provided the main rationale for racism, and we are teaching our children evolution in schools, then correspondingly we are teaching them racist principles.”8

See the references here.

8 “Charles Darwin: In Trouble,” The Wallbuilder Report, Spring 2002, PO Box 397, Aledo, TX 76008
19 “Darwinism, Evolution, and Racism,” Dr. Jerry Bergman
15 “Creationists Link Evolution to Racism,” Impact, Aug 2000, Coral Ridge Ministries, Fort Lauderdale, FL
77 “Racism and Planned Parenthood,” Sandy Rios, Aug 5, 2002 FYI, Concerned Women for America, Washington, DC

Darwin’s idea that evolution means “the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life” eventually led to Nazism and the Jewish holocaust - even though Darwin himself would have been appalled at the thought.”19

Sir Arthur Keith wrote: “The leader of Germany is an evolutionist, not only in theory, but, as millions know to their cost, in the rigor of its practice. For him, the ‘national front’ of Europe is also the ‘evolutionary front;’ he regards himself, and is regarded, as the incarnation of the will of Germany, the purpose of that will being to guide the evolutionary destiny of its people.”59 and “Christianity makes no distinction of race or of color; it seeks to break down all racial barriers. In this respect the hand of Christianity is against that of Nature, for are not the races of mankind the evolutionary harvest which Nature has toiled through long ages to produce?”19

In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the German word for evolution (Entwicklung) many times, citing “lower human types.” He criticized the Jews for bringing “Negroes into the Rhineland” with the aim of “ruining the white race by the necessarily resulting ization.” He spoke of “Monstrosities halfway between man and ape” and lamented the fact of Christians going to “Central Africa” to set up “Negro missions,” resulting in the turning of “healthy . . . human beings into a rotten brood of s.” In his chapter entitled “Nation and Race,” he said, “The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness. Only the born weakling can view this as cruel, but he, after all, is only a weak and limited man; for if this law did not prevail, any conceivable higher development (Hoherentwicklung) of organic living beings would be unthinkable.” A few pages later, he said, “Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”59

The success in breeding cattle, dogs and other animals with certain desired characteristics gave empirical support to the concept of racial breeding as advocated by eugenicists and later Hitler and others.19

Hitler exterminated over 273,000 people even before the Holocaust! “The first to be killed were the aged [those who are an economic burden, who detract from the happiness of society as a whole], the infirm, the senile, the mentally retarded, and defective children [that included epileptics]. Then there were WW I veterans - amputees - still in hospitals. Their reward for giving an arm or leg for Germany was extermination as ‘undesirable.’ Even bed wetters and children with badly modeled ears were put to death - all part of the euthanasia project of Germany.”33

Instead of letting chance factors dominate reproduction decisions, Hitler proposed that the scientists use the power of the state to influence these decisions so that the gene pool would shift to what “informed conclusions” concluded was the desired direction. Consequently, Hitler encouraged those individuals that he perceived as having Aryan traits to mate, and discouraged “interbreeding,” supposing that this policy would gradually cause the Aryan race to evolve “upward”. He believed that the Nazi race programs would further evolution by intelligently deciding which traits were not beneficial, and preventing those with them from reproducing.19

An important argument that Hitler used to support his programs of racial genocide of the Jews, Blacks and other groups was that they were genetically “inferior” and that their interbreeding with the superior Aryan race would adversely affect the latter’s gene pool, polluting it, and lowering the overall quality of the “pure race.”19

“From the ‘Preservation of favored races in the struggle for life’ [that is, Darwin ’s subtitle to Origin of Species] it was a short step to the preservation of favored individuals, classes or nations - and from their preservation to their glorification . . . Thus, it has become a portmunteau of nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and dictatorship, of the cults of the hero, the superman, and the master race . . . recent expressions of this philosophy, such as Mein Kampf are, unhappily, too familiar to require exposition here.” - Gertrude Himmelfarb, Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1962

See the references here.

19 “Darwinism, Evolution, and Racism,” Dr. Jerry Bergman
33 “All They That Hate Me Love Death,” Sermon Transcript by Dr. D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Ministries, Fort Lauderdale, FL
59 “Ten Questions to Ask Your Biology Teacher,” Sept/Oct 2001, Family Voice, Concerned Women for America, Washington, DC. Also on the web

This is a trailer for Jack’s film, “DISAVOWED”. Snatch it from youtube and put it up for your readers at your website, if you’re so inclined.

All I know is…his story needs to be told…

From the Youtube description:

Disavowed by their governments and thrown to a Taliban Court to be punished for saving the lives of American soldiers and American allies, this is the true story of Americans and Mujahadeen, fighting the war on terror, and losing everything to politics.

Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries is showing a documentary called “Darwin’s Deadly Legacy” this weekend. This documentary will show you how what you believe can lead to a horribly deadly end; case in point, Hitler and the holocaust.

Some folks like meathead are having a fit about this subject matter, and to be honest, I think that’s terrific! It means people are talking about it. Horrified that his idols would be taken to task or be exposed for their true belief systems rather than swallow the stupidity of leftists lulled into a trance with mantras and eastern chants–it is satisfying to see bloggers attacking Kennedy, because where they’re leftist outrage, you know you’ve struck a chord with the truth.

From the Coral Ridge Ministries website here:

Ann Coulter is stunned. How is it, she asks, that she could go through 12 years of public school, then college and law school, and still not know that it was Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution that fueled Hitler’s ovens.

“I never knew about the link between Darwin and Hitler until after reading Richard Weikart’s book,” said Coulter, a popular conservative columnist and a featured expert on the new Coral Ridge Hour documentary, Darwin’s Deadly Legacy, which airs August 26 and 27. Hitler, she said, “was applying Darwinism. He thought the Aryans were the fittest and he was just hurrying natural selection along.”

Coulter is among those who appear on Darwin’s Deadly Legacy, a disturbing look at the historical impact of the theory of evolution and the shaky scientific ground on which it rests.

Other guests on the program include Richard Weikart, author of From Darwin to Hitler, Lee Strobel, author of The Case for a Creator; Jonathan Wells, author of Icons of Evolution; Phillip Johnson, author of Darwin on Trial; Michael Behe, author of Darwin’s Black Box, and Ian Taylor, author of In the Minds of Men. “Among German historians, there’s really not much debate about whether or not Hitler was a social Darwinist,” said Weikart. “He clearly was drawing on Darwinian ideas.”

No Darwin, No Hitler
“To put it simply, no Darwin, no Hitler,” said Dr. Kennedy, the host of Darwin’s Deadly Legacy. “Hitler tried to speed up evolution, to help it along, and millions suffered and died in unspeakable ways because of it.”

But the social fallout from evolution has not been limited to Hitler. Eugenics, the idea that social engineers should monitor and manage choices to marry and have children, is the intellectual offspring of evolution. Darwin’s own cousin, Francis Galton, coined the term and campaigned for using human genetics as a means to breed a superior breed of humanity.

Eugenics took root in America in the early twentieth century—some 33 states adopted forced sterilization programs to prevent the “feeble-minded” and other “defectives” from reproducing. Planned Parenthood is a direct result of the eugenics movement in America. Its founder, Margaret Sanger, believed in removing what she called “the dead weight of human waste.” “Eugenics is applied Darwinism,” said Coulter. “And it sticks out like a sore thumb that all of these German eugenicists preceding the Nazi regime were enthusiastic Darwinists.”

Evolution is taught in every public school in America, and not without consequences, as Darwin’s Deadly Legacy documents. Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 people and themselves in the worst school shooting in U.S. history. Their goal was to bring death to more than 500. Harris wrote on his website, “YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE??? Natural SELECTION! It’s the best thing that ever happened to the Earth. Getting rid of all the stupid and weak organisms.”

The autopsy report for Harris revealed that on the day of the attack, he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Natural Selection.” Harris and Klebold, who planned their rampage for a year, paid homage to their hero, Adolf Hitler by carrying out their killing spree on April 20, Hitler’s birthday.

Grim Legacy
The legacy of Charles Darwin, Dr. Kennedy said, is “millions of deaths, the destruction of those deemed inferior, the devaluing of human life, and increasing hopelessness.” All this from a theory based on a crumbling scientific foundation—as the special makes plain.

“The time has come,” Dr. Kennedy said, “to recognize that evolution is a bad idea and should be, frankly, discarded into the dustbin of history.”

At WorldNetDaily:

Rabbi defends show linking Darwin, Hitler
Coral Ridge production stirs controversy before broadcast

Rabbi Lapin, whose organization (Toward Tradition) works to advance the nation toward “the traditional Judeo-Christian values that defined America’s creation and became the blueprint for her greatness,” had a different perspective.

“I believe it appropriate for thoughtful Jews to support the Coral Ridge documentary and perhaps even for it to be shown in Jewish schools because there really are only two ways to account for human presence on our planet. One is that God created us in His image. The other is that by a lengthy and random process of totally unaided materialistic evolution, primitive protoplasm evolved into Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. This approach, ruling out any role for God, is simply incompatible with Jewish values,” he said.

At the American Chronicle there’s an article about it, go read it.

And while you’re at it, watch your television programming for “Darwin’s Deadly Legacy,” or purchase several copies of the CD and distribute to friends and family!

From The Christian Post:

The 60-minute special will feature Coulter; Richard Weikart, author of From Darwin to Hitler; Lee Strobel, author of The Case for a Creator; Jonathan Wells, author of Icons of Evolution; and other experts.

Also see

‘Darwin’s Deadly Legacy’ Gives Shocking Look at Social Impact

Also see this post at the ID Report

“‘Evolution’ Study implies U.S. Science Education Lagging behind Europe,” Agape Press, Aug. 21, 2006

“Darwin-Hitler connection sparks attacks,” WorldNetDaily.com, Aug. 22, 2006

“ADL Furious Over Darwin Documentary,” NewsMax.com, Aug. 22, 2006

“Americans Stubbornly Refuse to Accept Evolution,” NewsMax.com, Aug. 23, 2006

I have noted quite a bit of this before, but it’s always amusing to see meatball come out of idiotaria to offer his stupidity on the subject…as though all of these experts don’t know what they’re talking about.

Previous:

Why Evolution breeds monsters like Hitler, Trotsky and Stalin

Marx & Engels: writings quotes and parallels to today’s leftists

Eugenics and the left

Incidentally there is some evidence here regarding the Third Reich’s persecution of the Christian Churches. Hitler was not a creationist; he was a GREEN who believed in the ‘animal element’ one of the reasons why they made smoking illegal, and made the Black Forest a ‘preserve’.

From Ecofascism: Lessons from the German Experience comes an excellent piece called Fascist Ecology: The “Green Wing” of the Nazi Party and its Historical Antecedents by Peter Staudenmaier, which presents a brief and necessarily schematic overview of the ecological components of Nazism, emphasizing both their central role in Nazi ideology and their practical implementation during the Third Reich. A preliminary survey of nineteenth and twentieth century precursors to classical ecofascism should serve to illuminate the conceptual underpinnings common to all forms of reactionary ecology.

“We recognize that separating humanity from nature, from the whole of life, leads to humankind’s own destruction and to the death of nations. Only through a re-integration of humanity into the whole of nature can our people be made stronger. That is the fundamental point of the biological tasks of our age. Humankind alone is no longer the focus of thought, but rather life as a whole . . . This striving toward connectedness with the totality of life, with nature itself, a nature into which we are born, this is the deepest meaning and the true essence of National Socialist thought.” 1

1. Ernst Lehmann, Biologischer Wille. Wege und Ziele biologischer Arbeit im neuen Reich, München, 1934, pp. 10-11. Lehmann was a professor of botany who characterized National Socialism as “politically applied biology.”

From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany was released in 2004 (paperback edition in 2005) with Palgrave Macmillan in New York, a major publisher of historical scholarship. Here’s a short blurb from the narrative on the dust jacket:

…many leading Darwinian biologists and social thinkers in Germany believed that Darwinism overturned traditional Judeo-Christian and Enlightenment ethics, especially those pertaining to the sacredness of human life. Many of these thinkers supported moral relativism, yet simultaneously exalted evolutionary “fitness” (especially in terms of intelligence and health) as the highest arbiter of morality. Weikart concludes that Darwinism played a key role not only in the rise of eugenics, but also in euthanasia, infanticide, abortion, and racial extermination, all ultimately embraced by the Nazis. He convincingly makes the disturbing argument that Hitler built his view of ethics on Darwinian principles rather than nihilistic ones. From Darwin to Hitler is a provocative yet balanced work that should encourage a rethinking of the historical impact that Darwinism had on the course of events in the twentieth century.

Take a look at this post and then keep an eye out at her blog Thursday.

Give her some support and watch her do her first live blogging of an event!

This week Wictory Wednesday is highlighting the candidacy of Michael Steele for the Maryland Senate. It is a closely watched race that is in contention for a GOP and conservative pickup in the Senate. Currently there are two main contenders for the Democratic nomination, Kweisi Mfume and Ben Cardin.

Michael Steele is something of a mythical candidate to the left; he’s a black conservative Republican and there has been a history from the left to use racial attacks against him. Two former staffers of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were found guilty of stealing Steele’s credit report — a federal crime.

Lt. Gov. Steele supports strong programs to continue to grow the American economy and is particularly focused on expanding home ownership. It is crucial that as many citizens as possible own their own homes as home ownership is one of the major keys to economic independence and success. He understands that low taxes and reduced government grow the economy and increase jobs.

Steele is a supporter of transparency of lobbying expenses and fundraising and seeks to eliminate many of the “perks” of being a Senator, like gifts from lobbyists. He is solidly a supporter of earmark reform, a process that allows legislators to slip in pork barrel projects without executive or legislative review. Surprisingly there is no rule preventing a legislator for putting in an earmark where he stands to personally gain from that earmark. Steele is looking to end that.

Michael Steele understands that legal immigration is essential to a successful nation, however, a nation worthy of its name must enforce its laws. He supports sealing the border that allows such a flagrant area of lawlessness inside American soil. He also supports Social Security reform because he understands the nation’s youth and young adults will have no retirement system if drastic reforms aren’t made.

Please consider donating to or supporting the campaign of Michael Steele

This has been a production of the Wictory Wednesday blogburst. If you would like to join Wictory Wednesday, please see this post or contact John Bambenek at jcb (dot) blog [at] gmail {dot} com. The following sites are members of the Wictory Wednesday team:

One of the biggest problems faced by those of us who campaign, week-in, week-out for the release of falsely-imprisoned U.S. Special Forces soldier Jack Idema and his compatriot Brent Bennett is the fact that mud sticks.

What this has meant for Jack and Brent is that the outright lies that they were guilty of kidnapping and torture have been repeated so often that many people assume there must be some truth behind the allegations. There isn’t.

The section of Jack’s counter-terrorist work, then, that has bearing on his arrest and the charges brought against him involved:

• Arresting suspected terrorists.
• Interrogating them in order to obtain actionable intelligence.

Let’s look at these in turn, weighing the credibility of Jack’s case against the claims made against him.

First, then, was Jack entitled to make arrests? The U.S. State Department and Karzai denied that this was the case, and, further, claimed Jack was never operating in an official capacity. However, if this was really the case, we need to ask ourselves how it is that Jack is able to provide ample photographic evidence to the contrary? Indeed, the attempts to deny Idema was involved in official counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan begin to look more than a little shaky when you see pictures of him:

• Leading columns of Northern Alliance troops
• Rescuing civilians from earthquake-hit regions
• Meeting with no less than five top Afghan Generals

All of the above should, if nothing else, make the Karzai/State Department denial that Jack was working in an official capacity seem scarcely credible. And if that’s that the case, how could he possibly be guilty of kidnapping the terrorists in his custody?

Second, did Jack torture anyone? This is, more than anything else, the aspect of the case that disturbed most people at the time of the first (September 2004) trial. Here’s what Jack and his men were accused of in early press-reports:

These terrorists, who were working directly for Osama bin Laden and Gulbideen Hekmatyar, both on America’s Most Wanted list, now claim they were tortured and abused; now claim we smashed their heads in bloody bags, cut off fingers, poured boiling water on them, hung them upside down and dipped them in boiling water, repeatedly burned them with cigarettes, beat them day and night, and refused to feed them.

Certainly, this makes for grim reading … Only, here’s the thing: No evidence that any of this took place has ever been presented. None.

When the terrorists Jack and his team arrested appeared in court to give evidence against him, all were in good health, with nary a scold, cigarette-burn, missing finger or bashed head in sight. Also, no photographic or forensic evidence of the alleged ‘torture’ was produced, and all Jack’s accusers refused to be sworn in (on the Koran) before giving testimony. Most tellingly, witnesses claimed that the head-basing and finger-chopping took place in the basement of Jack’s house. One, small problem with this claim is that the property in question had no basement.

So that’s the ‘case’ against Jack Idema and his team. Now here’s Jack himself, describing the real methods he used:

We kept them awake with 24 hours of non-stop questioning, played loud Rock and Roll music and offered to let them work for us if they would turn over on the others. All that we questioned turned on each other. When one didn’t, we did not beat him, we simple confronted him with two that were cooperating and he quickly decided to join the same team.
Once they told us a little we gave them non-stop Miranda soda and restaurant kabob and promises of a new job working against terrorism.
The soldiers in Iraq that claim their abuse of prisoners was ordered by MI (Military Intelligence) are liars. You only have a few days at most to get actionable intelligence. Let a terrorist sit in a cell and you lose the initiative to find the others. Beat the terrorists and he admits to anything or nothing. Again you lose. Humiliate the terrorist and he hates you and feeds you lies.
Your only way to get the terrorists to talk is sleep deprivation, promises for freedom if he gives up the other terrorists, and convincing the terrorist you are his friend.

So who do we believe? A group of known terrorists making claims that they either cannot substantiate or which are demonstrably untrue (Jack’s vanishing basement, the absence of bashed-in heads and missing fingers)? Or a U.S. Special Forces soldier with decades of service to his country behind him? Whatever the MSM who so-uncritically covered the case might think, this isn’t a trick question.

So what can we do? Well, anyone reading this with their own blog can sign up for the weekly Free Jack Idema Blogburst by emailing Cao or Rottweiler Puppy for details. I’d urge everyone to do this, as we’re still terribly short on takers. If you want to know more about the story, Cao’s Blog has a large section devoted to Jack Idema. There’s also a timeline here, and, of course, a huge amount of information is available over at SuperPatriots, without whose work none of us would have learned about Jack’s story.

You can also contact the following people and make your feelings known:

Secret US EMBASSY Fax: – 301-560-5729 (Local US Fax: Goes RIGHT TO Ambassador)
c/o US Ambassador Ronald Neuman
6180 Kabul Place
Dulles, VA 20189-6180

US Consul Russell Brown – 011-93-70201908 (Fired)

US Consul Addie Harchik- 011-93-70201908 (denied them water and mail at Thanksgiving)

US Embassy Translator Wahid – new – 011-93-70201902

US Embassy Translator Bashir Momman– 011-93-70201923

US Consul (friend of Jack’s Now fired) Dawn Schrepel– 011-93-70201908

Embassy of Afghanistan (Good guys, Northern Alliance)
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Ph: 202-483-6410, Fax: no. 202-483-6488

Ambassador Massoud Khalili (wounded with Massoud)
Islamic State of Afghanistan
Embassy of Afghanistan
New Delhi, India

H.E. Said Tayeb JAWAD (Afghan Ambassador- powerful in US)
Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington
2341 Wyoming Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: (+1-202) 483 6414
Fax: (+1-202) 483 9523

Mr. Jahed Hamrah, Consul General (pro-Taliban)
CONSULATE GENERAL OF
AFGHANISTAN IN NEW YORK
360 Lexington Avenue,
11th Floor New York,
New, York, NY 10017
Tel.: (+1-212) 972 2276 or 972 2277
Fax: (+1-212) 972 9046

Honorable Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E880
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Ph: (703) 692-7100
Fax: (703) 697-9080

Lt General William Boykin
Deputy Undersecretary
of Defense for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E836
Washington, DC 20301
Ph: (703) 697-0170
Private Fax: (703) 697-9080

Stephen Cambone
Principle Deputy Secretary for Intelligence
1800 Defense Pentagon – Room # 3E
Washington, DC 20310-0100

General Peter J. Shoomaker
Chief of Staff, Department of the Army
200 Army Pentagon – Room # 3E528
Washington, DC 20310-0200
Ph: (703) 695-2077 / Fax: (703) 614-5268

The Honorable John D. Negroponte
Director National Intelligence
New Executive Office Building
725 17th Street, N.W., Room 4203
Washington, DC 20503

The Committee
On Homeland Security
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Chairman Peter Hoekstra
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
H-405, U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC 20515-6415;
Office: (202) 225-4121 / Fax: (202) 225-1991
Toll Free: (877) 858-9040

M. Cherif BASSIOUNI
Independent Expert of the Commission on Human Rights
On the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Ph: +41(0)22 917 97 27 Fax: +41(0)22 917 90 18
Email

Senator Steven Saland (Jack’s Rep and Neighbor)
9 Jonathan Lane
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack’s Rep)
United States Senate
310 New Bern Avenue, Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Fax: 919.856.4053

Senator Elizabeth Dole (Jack’s Rep)
United States Senate
555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100

Senator Richard Burr (of Interest)
United States Senate
217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3154 / Fax: (202) 228-2981

Senator Bill Nelson (in the fight on Jack’s Side)
United States Senate
Hart Senate Office Building
Room 716
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274 / Fax: 202-228-2183
FL Fax 407-872-7165

Senator Dianne Feinstein (Bennett’s Representative)
United States Senate
Hart Office Building, Room 331
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3841

Representative Mike McIntyre (Jack’s Representative)
United States Congress
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2731 / Fax (202) 225-5773

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (reference Captain Bennett- CA citizen)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841 / Fax: 916-445-4633

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by Julie of Degree of Madness

Follow-up on last week’s Blogburst about the outside collection agencies the IRS is employing to collect delinquent taxes.

On August 23, this was the headline: IRS Warns Against Phony Debt Collectors.

The IRS warned taxpayers Wednesday not to be duped by scammers posing as private debt collectors the agency has hired to chase unpaid tax debts.

The program isn’t even in place yet and concerns are already being raised, and not just by this Blogburst writer.

The Internal Revenue Service designed the debt collection program to minimize that risk “because we know what it’s like out there with regard to identity theft nowadays,” said Brady Bennett, IRS Director of Collections.

The IRS designed the program to minimize the risk. Well that’s comforting. The IRS is looking out for you.

And this article addresses something I wasn’t sure about and that is whether the private collection agencies would have access to social security numbers. They will.

The IRS plans to give the collection agencies basic identifying and account information about the chosen taxpayers, including their names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The agencies do not have access to tax returns.

Also from the article:

Identity thieves have posed as IRS agents in “phishing” schemes that use the tax agency’s logo to lure victims. The e-mail schemes are designed to dupe taxpayers into revealing personal financial information.

The IRS does not communicate with taxpayers through e-mail, and it will not e-mail taxpayers about debts turned over to private collectors. The IRS also does not ask taxpayers for any passwords or PIN numbers that would allow the agency to access bank or credit card accounts.

Bennett also cautioned taxpayers chosen for the debt collection effort to make any check or money order payable to the U.S. Treasury, not a private company, and to send the money to the IRS. The collection agencies have been told to provide addresses to the taxpayers they contact.

This is all well and good but the IRS cautioning taxpayers via articles such as this probably won’t be very widely read. Is the IRS planning to contact taxpayers directly to advise them of this program? I’ve not received anything from them. And from the first line of the article, “The IRS warned taxpayers”, how did they warn them? By telling the AP?

I read some of the comments last week on blogs that posted the Blogburst. One commenter responded to the statement I made about our tax information being private by suggesting that since the government knows our tax information it is not private. Good point, but that doesn’t mean I want them passing it out to employees of private companies. And if we had the Fair Tax the government would know much less about our private financial information. KnightHawk at PoliPundit had some really good responses to some of the questions raised. There were some good questions raised and worth a look.

Now on to this week’s blogburst.

Our representatives in Congress are finally getting the message that Americans are “fed up” with the current tax code. The question is, how do we fix it?

I contacted my (Alabama) Senators and Representative in Washington to let them know of my support for the Fair Tax. Three letters, three different responses. Congressman Spencer Bachus (6th district) is a co-sponsor of the Fair Tax Act of 2005, H.R. 25. Good news. Senator Jeff Sessions has not endorsed any specific proposal for reform, but does agree something has to be done about the tax code. From his letter: “Most taxpayers that I talk to are not only fed up with the complexity of the tax code, but the enormous tax burden that has been placed on them.” Senator Richard Shelby supports “a flat tax, as opposed to a national sales tax”. I wanted to address Senator Shelby’s position because I believe his concerns about the Fair Tax are probably shared by many on Capitol Hill.

From his letter:

I support a flat tax, as opposed to a national sales tax, because I believe that the flat tax encourages savings in a more effective manner without leaving the federal budget vulnerable to fluctuations in our economy. Under a flat tax, government revenues would not fluctuate as severely because of changes in the economy as they would with a national sales tax. This is the same problem that many state budgets are facing today because they depend too much on sales taxes.

I’m not really sure about the “encourages savings in a more effective manner”, but his concern about the fluctuations in the economy is interesting. In other words, if our economy slows down the government should not have to slow down. Changes, I’m assuming he means negative changes, in the economy would surely affect the taxpayer but he would get no relief from Uncle Sam. While the taxpayer’s personal economy fluctuates (downward), the government keeps right on spending. To me, this would be a good argument for the Fair Tax. If the American taxpayer had to cut back and budget better, why not the federal government? But according to a study by American Farm Bureau, #9 in the Fair Tax FAQ, consumption is a more reliable source of revenue anyway.

Is consumption a reliable source of revenue? Yes, in fact, consumption is a more stable source of revenue than income. A recent study by American Farm Bureau economist Ross Korves shows the FairTax base is less variable than the income tax base. Why? Because during difficult times due to loss of a job or an inability to work, people may not have as much income, or may have no income at all. They borrow funds or use savings. They may not have earnings, but they still continue to consume.

Another argument from Senator Shelby:

Additionally, a flat tax better protects poor and low-income Americans because they are not forced to overpay taxes through their daily purchases, and then wait until the end of the month for a rebate check, as many national sales tax plans have proposed. These Americans need this money immediately to pay their bills and meet their needs. Under my proposal, the “Tax Simplification Act,” low-income Americans would not have to pay for these distortions in the first place because of a personal deduction that would apply to all Americans.

The Fair Tax proposes a “prebate”, paid at the beginning of the month. And low-income Americans would have the same advantage as everyone else, no deductions from their paychecks for federal withholding or social security and Medicare. This is important. Even if the low-income American has no federal tax withheld, the social security and Medicare taxes will still be deducted under the Flat Tax. Currently it is 7.65% and everyone pays the same regardless of income bracket.

Please follow this link for Senator Shelby’s proposal for a flat tax. It certainly would be better than the current system, but it doesn’t get rid of the IRS, it does not eliminate the corporate tax which is a huge plus for the Fair Tax, and it doesn’t get rid of the social security and Medicare tax. The Fair Tax does.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

Cheers to Wednesday–what some folks call “hump day” because once you’ve reached the afternoon, you’re over the hump on the way to the weekend!

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The infamous polygamist, Warren Jeffs, was arrested a two evenings ago after being pulled over by the cops in Nevada. He is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was on the FBI’s most wanted list. He wanted in Utah and Arizona on suspicion of arranging marriages between men and underage girls.

Between this guy and Fred Phelps, I think there’s a growing trend of wackjobs who don’t represent Christianity but who are making a bad name for Christians out there.

It’s the weirdest thing, and they wasted considerable resources bringing him back only to find there wasn’t sufficient evidence to even charge him. The cheek swabs that were taken from him were not a match to the dna evidence that was collected at the murder scene of Jonbenet Ramsey. One has to wonder about the psychology of someone who would lay claim to perpetrating such a sickening crime.

The announcement by the Boulder County district attorney, Mary T. Lacy, incited a storm of questions about why Mr. Karr, 41, had been believed in his admissions and how he could have led prosecutors into what became an elaborate global farce. Hordes of reporters had tracked Mr. Karr’s journey, from his apprehension in Thailand nearly two weeks ago to his return to the United States.

In a motion asking a judge to dismiss the arrest warrant, Ms. Lacy wrote that Mr. Karr’s obsession with the case and its details, combined with his own statement of guilt, had compelled her to act first and test later. But in the end, she said, his words were all there was.

“No evidence has developed, other than his own repeated admissions, to place Mr. Karr at the scene of the crime,” she wrote. “Mr. Karr was not the source of the DNA found in the underwear of JonBenet Ramsey.”

The resulting anger, in a case that has produced numerous investigative blunders over the years, was immediate.

“They took this man and dragged him here from Bangkok, Thailand, with no forensic evidence confirming the allegations against him and no independent factors leading to a presumption that he did anything wrong,” Mr. Karr’s lawyer, Seth Temin, said outside the Boulder County Jail, where Mr. Karr was still being held Monday afternoon. “We’re deeply distressed.”

The whole charade is sick.

In her five-page motion to dismiss the case, Ms. Lacy said that Mr. Karr’s interest in young girls, largely revealed in e-mail correspondence and telephone conversations with a University of Colorado journalism professor, Michael Tracey, supported the notion that Mr. Karr’s talk of a personal involvement in the Ramsey killing might have been real.

Under the pseudonym Daxis, Mr. Karr told Professor Tracey that he had been involved romantically and sexually with young girls, that age 6 was his preference,

Karr not only obsessively studied the Ramsey case closely and was also obsessed with Polly Klass. He still faces five misdemeanor counts in California of possessing child pornography, which were found on his computer. The DA in Sonoma said in a written statement that he will probably be extradited there to face those charges.

He’d also been under psychiatric evaluation in Thailand for a sex change.

Staff at the Pratunam Clinic, Thailand’s top transgender centre, confirmed 41-year-old John Mark Karr was a patient of theirs - but wouldn’t say how close he was to getting “sexual reassignment” surgery.