He smells the coffee

Even Hugo Chavez can be influenced. It turns out the way to do this is not diplomacy, but consistent and dogged pressure on activities that he should not be engaged in, such as his support for Colombia's rebel FARC. Chavez said the following, as reported in the NYT:

You in the FARC should know something. You have become an excuse for the empire to threaten all of us.

Of course, this is coming after some very damaging episodes that have made clear Venezuela's support for the Colombian terrorists. The FARC's days seem at an end, with the death of Manuel Marulanda and Raul Reyes and the increasing stability of Álvaro Uribe's Colombian government. This is a good thing.

Good News

Manuel Marulanda, the longtime leader of the FARC, died in March according to several reports. I'd like to see a body, but as that may never happen let me just say that he was a bad man who deserved to die.

Good riddance.

Si Camina Como Pata

As I read this article I realized that I have never expressed the full depth of my contempt for Hugo Chavez.

He is an enemy of democracy. He is a socialist. He is a friend to Fidel and Ahmedinejad. Like all dictators he has based his rule on cronyism and the weakening of opposing forces and institutions.

Now it appears that there is evidence linking him directly to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). FARC is a terrorist organization. They kidnap, extort, and murder for gain. Computers seized from a FARC camp were examined by Interpol and found the following:

Venezuelan officials set up contacts with Australian arms dealers and arranged for missile training in the Middle East, according to the documents, which were on computer hard drives seized by Colombia.
Venezuela's ties to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, came under further scrutiny Thursday when Interpol said it had concluded that the Colombian government hadn't tampered with the seized computers.
Interpol's report bolsters Colombia's claims that the computers contain evidence of meddling by Venezuela in its neighbor's war with FARC. Venezuela has asserted the files on the computer are bogus, and on Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced the Interpol report as "ridiculous."

Read the article for more. I'm disgusted.

Saddam & Terror

It appears that Saddam Hussein DID have extensive ties to terror and terror networks.

More trouble from Chavez

I was dismayed by this report about troop mobilizations by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. He has moved units to the Colombian border following that country's successful killing of a top FARC leader. As I've written before, Chavez has recognized FARC as a legitimate political actor, despite the fact that they are funded through illegal and immoral activities. He did this to undermine the Uribe government in Colombia, a close ally to the United Statets.

I mentioned that I was dismayed, but that is less so at the behavior of Chavez (hardly surprising) than at that of Congress which failed to approve enhanced trade relations with Colombia. Colombia has greatly improved over the last several years, but politicians in Washington don't seem to understand how tenuous that success is.

The death of Raul Reyes and 16 of his comrades is the death of more terrorists. We all know how I feel about that.

The Only Good Terrorist is...

A dead one. This news came out several days ago, but in case you didn't hear it already Imad Mughniyah is dead. Who is Imad Mughniyah?

For many, Mughniyah was a reviled figure, wanted by both Israel and the United States for his alleged role in numerous attacks on American and Israeli targets—including the truck-bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the attack on the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992. (Formally, the FBI most-wanted him for his role in the 1985 hijacking of an American airliner to Beirut and the murder of a U.S. Navy diver on board.) For researchers such as myself, Mughniyah was of great interest because he represented a constant figure in Hezbollah throughout its evolution from an Iranian-backed Lebanese militia in the 1980s to a nationalist insurgent group in the 1990s and finally to its current incarnation as the most powerful political party in Lebanon—both in terms of weapons and popular support.

Good riddance. Before 9/11 no terrorist had killed more Americans than Mughniyah.

Good news

This is a pretty fascinating account of a major Allied victory over the Taliban in Afghanistan. Some background on the battle for Musa Qala:

In a controversial move, Musa Qala had been abandoned the previous year after British troops lost seven lives defending a base in the town from waves of Taliban attacks. Although handed over, in theory, to the elders of the town last October, it was taken over by the Taliban by February and became one of the few major places in Afghanistan where the Taliban could operate in the open, trying to set up their own local government and courts.

Our victory was decisive, the only Coalition casualties resulting from mine detonations, likely dating back to the Soviet occupation of decades ago.

Good reporting.

Awesome Video Saturday XIX (Early Edition)

AweVidSat comes early this week. I'm making a pilgrimage to the Orange Bowl to watch the Hurricanes play there one last time. Here goes:

This is an amazing video. There is some brief profanity, but it seems justified. A commenter on this video's YouTube page said the following:
Seems a little big for an land mine, we called these "sub surfaced IEDs" -- my guess is probally 3 to 4, 155mm shells buried too deep for any possible effect.



This is a very emotional video about a father surprising his son at school after returning from a long deployment. It tugs at the heart strings, big time.

Progress

U.S. military deaths continue to decline in Iraq, hitting a 14 month low. That is good news. More good news comes from the World Tribune:

The U.S. military is eliminating Al Qaida's chain of command in Iraq.
Officials said several leading aides to Al Qaida network chief Abu Ayoub Al Masri have been killed by the U.S.-led coalition. They said two out of the four foreign aides of Al Masri remain alive.
Shortly before he died, [aide] Al Tunisi wrote a letter that warned of a threat to Al Qaida operations in Karkh. The lettter, found by the U.S. military, sought guidance from Al Qaida leaders amid coalition operations that hampered Al Tunisi's network.
"We are so desperate for your help," the letter read.

That's what I like to hear.

Asking "Why?"

Mark Steyn is a favorite writer of mine. This column came out yesterday. It examines explanations for why 9/11 occurred. Although I don't think that his characterization of the Massachusetts Governor is entirely accurate, his general point is spot-on. An excerpt:

Fritz Gelowicz. Richard Reid. The Australian factory worker Jack Roche. The Toronto jihadists plotting to behead the Canadian prime minister. The son of the British Conservative Party official with the splendidly Wodehousian double-barreled name. All over the world there are young men raised in the "Multi-Kultur Haus" of the West who decide their highest ambition is to convert to Islam, become a jihadist and self-detonate.
Why do radical imams seek to convert young Canadian, British and even American men and women in their late teens and twenties? Because they understand that when you raise a generation in the great wobbling blancmange of Deval Patrick-style cultural relativism – nothing is any better or any worse than anything else; if people are "mean and nasty" to us, it's only because we didn't sing enough Barney the Dinosaur songs at them – in such a world a certain percentage of its youth will have a great gaping hole where their sense of identity should be. And into that hole you can pour something fierce and primal and implacable.

How little we've learned

9/11 was a seminal event in my life. I remember watching the Challenger explode. I remember watching Tienanmen Square protests and subsequent crackdown. I remember watching the Berlin Wall be torn down. And I remember watching the second plan hit the Tower and the resulting horrific catastrophe. 9/11 will always be a tragic day to me.

I was so inspired by much of what happened in the days and weeks following the attack. I was optimistic about the future. I still am, but not in the way that I thought I would be. Now my optimism comes in spite of what I see in the news every day. It comes despite the idiocy of people like Russ Feingold and Dick Durbin and Nancy Pelosi.

Norman Podhoretz has a great article in today's WSJ. You can read it for free at Opinion Journal. He explains how the Left is using the lessons of Vietnam (the lessons they learned) today.

I wish I had time for more. Instapundit has a good roundup.

Quick Hits

There are a lot of things I want to bring to your attention today:

• A major terrorist plot was disrupted in Germany. The individuals in question were in possession of large amounts of explosive ingredients and military-grade detonators. The NYT has more. I'm sure more information will come out regarding this successful intervention.
• The surge in Iraq is bearing fruit. I maintain that entering Iraq was the right thing to do and that persisting in that effort is essential. Some Democratic congressmen, such as Washington's Brian Baird, have witnessed the surge-borne improvements and expressed that to the public. These honest assessments are not without cost, as leftist groups like MoveOn.org have moved against Baird and others.
  The anti-war element makes a grave misjudgement by criticizing Baird. Baird was opposed to the war and the surge, yet he sees the progress being made, as well as the concern in other states at what a US withdrawl would mean. He said the following:
  I believe I must speak and act based on what I believe is in the best interest of our nation regardless of political advertisements or partisan interests. Based on personal visits to the region, I believe the dynamics on the ground in Iraq are changing for the better and, while there are still multiple and serious challenges, and while the course is uncertain and dangerous, the changes I have seen warrant continued support of current actions through next spring.
• President Bush went to Australia in support of embattled ally John Howard. Howard's support for our country has earned my admiration. I hope he is able to retain his position in the next election.
• There was a Republican Presidential Debate last night. Meh.
• Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson thinks it is God's will that Iowa have the first say in the presidential primaries. Seems a little weird to me. I think there are more important things on the Divine Agenda. All this business of the various states jockeying for preferred order in the primaries is tiresome. I don't think their movement forward is a big issue, as it may allow more time to vet the real candidate. Some disagree.
• Ted Kennedy is catching flack for his opposition to an offshore wind farm near his Nantucket sailing grounds. He and some of his pals in the Senate have made a serious miscalculation in opposing this initiative. Follow the link for more.

Finally, Luciano Pavarotti has died. The linked article has some good information about the tenor. It is a sad day, as Pavarotti found acceptance among opera lovers and those indifferent to the discipline. Enjoy a performance of Nessun Dorma, appropriately subtitled in Spanish.

SPOTD #129

I wanted to cover some things quickly in today's SPOTD. Fantasy Football is due to start soon. We may have a slot or two open and I will send an e-mail if that is the case.

Today's phrase:
From Aristotle.

Actual:
En las adversidades sale a la luz la virtud.

Phonetic with emphasis on bold syllable:
Enn lahs add-ver-see-dah-days sah-lay ah lah loose lah veer-tude.

Translation:
In adversity virtue comes to life.

From the Blog
It's been a slow few weeks.
-It was my birthday and Lacy made me a very nice video. I'm a lucky guy.
-We can win the war.

Close Call
My friend and old roommate Dave Carlson didn't realize that a quick trip to his neighborhood Supercuts would lead to him being forced to the floor and locked in a room in the course of a burglary. Read the article for more.

Petraeus
Peggy Noonan has a nice feature on General David Petraeus, the very effective U.S. Commander in the Middle East.

Hold the Cheese
If you don't, I'll sue you for $10 million! So says a man who supposedly had a severe allegic reaction to the cheese on his burgers. This story is ridiculous.

Iran & Terror
Only the terror they are inflicting this time is on their own citizens.

17...and counting!
There is a couple in Arkansas that just had their 17th (17TH!) child. And they may have more.

'Look, you didn't kill me. You'll never win.'
This is a great story about a young man from Gainesville who was badly injured while deployed in Afghanistan. What he has done since then is an example of determination trumping adversity.
Link of the Day
Shane Lewis is an artist with a video game developer. He shares some of his art on his blog along with various thoughts. I like the art.