Morning Report: October 6, 2006

New battle fronts. Reports of a planned synagogue massacre in Europe, while a South Asian president feels the heat. Our friend in Baghdad wonders where America's will has gone.

Debka: Pogrom plot uncovered in Prague. Debka reports: 'Arab terrorists planned mass murder of Jews in a Prague synagogue after taking them hostage, according to Czech intelligence. This plot, according to the Prague Daily Monitor, triggered the special security measures announced in the Czech capital for the first time two weeks ago. According to the sketchy information released, unidentified “Arab extremists” planned to penetrate a synagogue during a Jewish holiday, pose unspecified conditions that would not be fulfilled and then blow up the synagogue with explosives they would have had ready for use. They intended killing scores of Jewish worshippers inside. On Sept 23, the Czech government deployed armed guards around dozens of buildings and on the streets of the capital after security services announced an unspecified attack was imminent. They have not divulged any further information. The country’s once flourishing Jewish community was decimated by the Nazis during World War II.' (Debka)

ITM: America's sin. Mohammed at Iraq the Model critiques American foreign policy:

Perhaps America's biggest mistake was the hesitation in keeping up the strategy of preemptive war.

Yes, America used that strategy in Iraq but failed to go on, and instead of chasing terrorists, America stopped at Iraq and sat waiting for terrorists to come in.

Keeping a large number of troops in Iraq and hoping they could root out terrorists can only be described as a bad plan. It really wouldn't matter much if we had 50 thousand in stead of 150 thousand troops in Iraq and in fact what really matters is the distribution of these troops. If we look back at the record of the war since April 2003 we'll see that adding more troops on the ground resulted only in making the enemy call for more reinforcements and the war kept getting more violent. In other words, how much troops we have is not the question, where we put the troops is.

The huge mass of military power looks dull here and there's no meaningful objective for its presence but to protect the political structure of post-Saddam Iraq and this can be done with much less troops than there is now in Iraq. It is unfair to leave this highly-trained, heavily-equipped mighty forces to fight a guerilla war against gangs and faceless insurgents and militias armed with old rifles and rusty mortars. All the sophisticated warplanes, tanks and big organized units will have not have a chance to make the desired impact on the ground or meet the goals such units are built to achieve, which means smaller, more agile units backed by strong intelligence-gathering capabilities can replace the bigger units when the latter can move on to engage bigger targets elsewhere.

The insurgents, terrorists and militias operating in Iraq depend on foreign support for money, training, technology and in some cases men. Moreover the influence of foreign interference is clear even in the political arena in Iraq through the numerous political crises the country had faced.
Thus, this war will not see an end unless America revives the preemptive war strategy and start chasing the enemies and striking their bases in the region, especially in Syria and Iran.

Read the whole thing at the link. (ITM)

Rice to meet Iraqi Kurdish leaders. Reuters: 'U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will urge Iraqi Kurdish leaders on Friday to work with Sunnis and Shi'ites, particularly on the controversial issue of managing Iraq's vast oil wealth. Rice, on a visit to Iraq, pressed Iraqi leaders on Thursday to end their "political inaction" and put aside their differences to rein in sectarian violence that threatens to tear the country apart. Witnesses said Rice, who arrived in the autonomous region of Kurdistan on Friday, was meeting Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region.' AFP: 'US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has met the leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, urging them to cooperate with Iraqi Arabs in building a peaceful and unified country. Grateful for US support in throwing off the yoke of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Kurds have put their long-cherished dreams of independence on hold while the Baghdad government struggles to rebuild the war torn country. But separatist tensions are never far from the surface, and fierce rows have recently erupted over the banning of Iraq's national flag in the north and the Kurdish government's determination to develop its own oil industry.' (Reuters, AFP)

Pakistan: Nothing to see here, move along. ThreatsWatch: 'With today’s discovery of two rockets outside the Pakistani parliament aimed at both the Parliament building and Musharraf’s residence, it is much more difficult to believe Pakistan’s quick claims yesterday that an explosion yesterday in a park near Musharraf’s home had nothing to do with the Pakistani president. Yesterday’s blast seemed unusual in that there appeared no clear target, initially interpreted here as likely an accidental detonation with more sinister intent, especially when unexploded ordnance was found nearby as well. But with today’s find of rockets un-launched but aimed at the parliament and Musharraf’s home, the explosion surely was not accidental. Together they should be seen as a message to Musharraf by al-Qaeda and like-minded Pakistani terrorists: “We can reach you. You are not safe.” Considering that the Taliban-al-Qaeda alliance is currently trying to wrest the whole of the North West Frontier Province from Musharraf and the Pakistani government just as it did in both North and South Waziristan, the message is likely intended to twist Pakistani arms to hand over more territory to the terrorists. ...' Map at the link. (ThreatsWatch)

Saudi link in US embassy plot? Arutz Sheva: 'It has been learned that last month’s terror attack against the US embassy in Damascus was planned in Saudi Arabia, carried out by four Syrian nationals. While it was first reported they were linked to al-Qaeda, investigators now state this is not true, stating a local Saudi religious figure influenced the terrorists to carry out the attack.' (A7)

Muslim-French civil war? Sandmonkey thinks so. 'It seems that France is paying for its colonial sins by the truckload. Or the dozen. Dozen of police Officers a day that is. ...' Read the whold story at the link. (Sandmonkey)

Merideth Howard remembered. Mister Ghost at Little Green Colloquium has a tribute to 52-year-old SFC Merideth Howard, United States Army. Meredith Howard was the oldest US servicewoman to give her life in combat. Go to the link for lots of information about the life of this amazing woman, including an exclusive interview with her friend Rebekah Bridges-Tervydis, and a selection of "Merideth Howard in her own words". (LGC)

Iran: Time for sanctions? ThreatsWatch: 'US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Iran is simply employing another “stalling technique” with its latest offer for a French consortium overseeing Iranian uranium enrichment and that Iran is clearly not going to halt enrichment in any case. Dr. Rice said that it is therefore time for the Security Council to take up Chapter Seven sanctions against Iran. Addressing the issue during her Middle East tour, Rice said, “I think we have come to a time when the Iranians have to make their choice, and the international system has to act accordingly.” It has been over one month since the Security Council’s August 31 enrichment cessation deadline has passed.' (ThreatsWatch)

Transatlantic passenger data accord reached. Stratfor (subscription service): 'The European Union and the United States have agreed on a preliminary accord over new rules to transfer personal data on trans-Atlantic air passengers to U.S authorities, an EU official said Oct. 6. The accord will allow U.S. law enforcement agencies easier access to credit card information, addresses and other personal data as part of the fight against terrorism. EU justice ministers, who must formally approve the accord, were scheduled to meet later Oct. 6.' (Stratfor)

Morning Report applauds. Gay Patriot declares a Foley-free zone. (Gay Patriot)

Commentary. The price of America's indecision has been high, allowing our terrorist enemies to gain ground in places like Waziristan. But our side is gaining ground, I think, on the mental battlefield. The recent incident at Columbia University and the tiresome antics of the leftists are not likely to gain much sympathy for the anti-America, anti-Bush cause.

The breaking report of a plan to massacre Jews in Prague ought to set off more alarm signals in the West. Will it? How many more innocent lives have to be lost before we wake up and do what must be done?

ITM: America's Sin

Mohammed at Iraq the Model has posted his critique of American policy:
America's sin - hesitation.

Perhaps America's biggest mistake was the hesitation in keeping up the strategy of preemptive war.

Yes, America used that strategy in Iraq but failed to go on, and instead of chasing terrorists, America stopped at Iraq and sat waiting for terrorists to come in.

Keeping a large number of troops in Iraq and hoping they could root out terrorists can only be described as a bad plan. It really wouldn't matter much if we had 50 thousand in stead of 150 thousand troops in Iraq and in fact what really matters is the distribution of these troops. If we look back at the record of the war since April 2003 we'll see that adding more troops on the ground resulted only in making the enemy call for more reinforcements and the war kept getting more violent. In other words, how much troops we have is not the question, where we put the troops is.

The huge mass of military power looks dull here and there's no meaningful objective for its presence but to protect the political structure of post-Saddam Iraq and this can be done with much less troops than there is now in Iraq.
It is unfair to leave this highly-trained, heavily-equipped mighty forces to fight a guerilla war against gangs and faceless insurgents and militias armed with old rifles and rusty mortars. All the sophisticated warplanes, tanks and big organized units will have not have a chance to make the desired impact on the ground or meet the goals such units are built to achieve, which means smaller, more agile units backed by strong intelligence-gathering capabilities can replace the bigger units when the latter can move on to engage bigger targets elsewhere.

The insurgents, terrorists and militias operating in Iraq depend on foreign support for money, training, technology and in some cases men. Moreover the influence of foreign interference is clear even in the political arena in Iraq through the numerous political crises the country had faced. Thus, this war will not see an end unless America revives the preemptive war strategy and start chasing the enemies and striking their bases in the region, especially in Syria and Iran.

Read the whole thing at the link.

And while we're on the subject, pay a visit to the new Regime Change Iran.

Tags:
Iraq
Iran
Syria

Foley

I've been watching the Foley scandal but haven't posted on it yet. And right now I think the best thing I can do is send you to Gateway Pundit's comprehensive roundup on the Representative Mark Foley affair.

Feminist Nancy Kobrin's Book Blocked by Islamic Fascists

The Jawa Report:

Rioting and threats of violence from Muslim extremists have apparently triumphed once again over the First Amendment.

According to psychoanalyst Dr. Nancy Kobrin and noted feminist Phyllis Chesler, who wrote the introduction, Kobrin's new book, "The Sheikh's New Cloth: The Naked Truth about Islamic Suicide Terrorism", was to be published in November by Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc., but Dr. Kobrin's contract was suddenly cancelled over concerns for their staff's safety.

Ms. Chesler writes:

...in the wake of the Pope's mistreatment, they would not be able to provide security for their staff people were her book to inflame the "Muslim street." Dr. Kobrin's book discusses, in depth, the normalization of cruelty and child abuse, including pederasty and daughter-abuse that is pandemic in the Arab Muslim world and how such shame and honor childrearing practices renders adults vulnerable to death-cult temptations and brainwashing. She focuses on the degradation of women in the Islamic world and how that is a crucial factor in suicide terrorism.

Bluto adds that 'Looseleaflaw is a small publisher and can hardly be blamed for getting cold feet' and I quite agree. Full post at the link. This is appalling, sad, and tragically ironic in light of some of my liberal friends' ravings about the supposedly imminent "brown shirts and book burnings" resulting from the new anti-terrorism bill.

Media Ignores Pro-Israel Rally at the UN

Thousands of people showed up at the United Nations colony in New York to protest uber-fascist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to support Israel.

Good Lieutenant:

The small 2000-person anti-war anti-Bush morons got the news coverage, but as usual, they're not the story.

Atlas has lots more, with pictures.

Tens of thousands of freedom loving people showed up from all over the country.

It was gorgeous. They came in droves to protest holocaust denier, nuked up Ahmadinejad's outrageous appearance at the UN.

They're saying 35,000 to 40,000 people were there.

JTA:

Jewish groups and others came out en masse Wednesday to protest against Ahmadinejad in a rally organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and other groups.

Some 35,000 people rallied across from the United Nations to protest Ahmadinejad’s presence at the world body. The crowd also wanted to show solidarity for Israel and implore the United Nations to enforce Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended Israel’s war this summer with Hezbollah and calls for the release of three Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Go read Cobb.

Just do it. I'm too tired and preoccupied with petty worries to write anything tonight, so I'll just direct your attention to this fiercely intelligent and underappreciated blogger. Here's a post on the Pope's speech, explaining that to act against reason is to act against the nature of G-d. (I dealt with a similar theme recently, but Cobb's summary of Pope Benedict and Father John Neuhaus puts it in the perspective both of Christianity and of current events.) And there's his post on the history of marching, and of the black church in America - its achievements and its limitations. And as much as he admires the Pope, he's not keen on the idea that it's America's job to defend everything the Pope says.

Don't forget to bookmark Cobb on your browser.

Milestones

Dreams Into Lightning began publishing on Blogger in April 2004 and on TypePad in April 2006.

On September 11, 2006, a reader in Los Angeles, running Firefox on a Linux system and apparently looking for an e-book download of "Redemption Ark" by Alastair Reynolds, became the 50,000th visitor to DiL on Blogger according to SiteMeter.

Also on September 11, a reader in Tucson, running Internet Explorer on Windows XP and looking for information on Ghazal Omid, became visitor number 6,000 to DiL on TypePad and spent almost 12 minutes perusing the site.

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit.

Adnan Shukrijumah, Nuclear Terrorist

Lifeboat Foundation:

OVERVIEW

We would like the nuclear terrorist Adnan G. El Shukrijumah to be captured. There is a $5 million reward for assisting in his capture.

DATA

Date of Birth Used: August 4, 1975
Hair: Black
Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia
Eyes: Black
Height: 5'3" to 5'6"
Sex: Male
Weight: 132 pounds
Complexion: Dark, Mediterranean
Build: Average
Remarks: El Shukrijumah occasionally wears a beard. He has a pronounced nose and is asthmatic. El Shukrijumah speaks English and carries a Guyanese passport, but may attempt to enter the United States with a Saudi, Canadian, or Trinidadian passport.
Aliases: Adnan G. El Shukri Jumah, Abu Arif, Ja'far Al-Tayar, Jaffar Al-Tayyar, Jafar Tayar, Jaafar Al-Tayyar.

AKI:

Dubai, 12 Sept. (AKI) - Osama bin Laden is planning to carry out new, more destructive attacks inside the United States, and there is someone working on this terror plot currently in the US, according to Hamid Mir, the famed Pakistani journalist who obtained the only post-9/11 interviews with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In an interview quoted on the website of the al-Arabiya television network, Mir spoke about his last trip to Afghanistan and his meeting with al-Qaeda members and Taliban leaders.

In his interview with Al.Arabiya.net, Mir said that the al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters referred to attacks targeting the US-led coalition forces during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins on 24 September, and that the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden was in "good" health during a meeting he had recently with the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Mir also said that bin Laden has assigned a man named Adnan Al-Shukri Juma to carry out a new attack within the US which is intended to be larger than the 11 September, 2001 attacks. According to Mir, Adnan Jumaa has smuggled explosives and nuclear materials into the US through the Mexican border over the last two years and is hiding somewhere in America where the FBI has not been able to locate him.

The Pakistani journalist also gave a brief background on Adnan Jumaa. Born in Saudi Arabia, he moved to the US where he met a group of a Al-Qaeda members in the Al-Farouq mosque in New York in 2000. He then traveled to an Arab state and from there to Pakistan then Afghanistan. He left there two years ago and since then has smuggled nuclear material from Mexico to the US. Jumaa has earned the nickname "Al-Qaeda nuclear whizz" and is tagged to play the same role in a future attack as Mohammed Atta did in the 9/11 attacks. ...

Canada Free Press:

Urgent news from Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan:

Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S.

Muslims living in the United States should leave the country without further warning.

The attack will be commandeered by Adnan el Shukrijumah ("Jaffer Tayyer" or "Jafer the Pilot"), a naturalized American citizen, who was raised in Brooklyn and educated in southern Florida.

The al Qaeda operatives who will launch this attack are awaiting final orders. They remain in place in cities throughout the country. Many are masquerading as Christians and have adopted Christian names.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban will also launch a major strike (known as the "Badar offensive" against the coalition forces in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan.

The American people will be treated to a final audio message from Osama bin Laden which will be aired within the next two weeks. ...

Ace of Spades: Ace of Spades Reader Spotted Wanted Terrorist?
Aliases: Adnan G. El Shukri Jumah, Abu Arif, Ja'far Al-Tayar, Jaffar Al-Tayyar, Jafar Tayar, Jaafar Al-Tayyar


More at:
Gateway Pundit - Terrorist Shukri-Jumaa may have been spotted in Texas.
Jawa Report - Al Qaeda dirty bomber spotted in Austin, Texas?
Beth at My VRWC - Adnan el-Shukrijumah update.
Gateway Pundit - Video of "nuclear terrorist" Adnan Shukrijumah found.

One note: From what I have been able to read so far, it is not entirely clear to me whether the planned act of terrorism would be committed with a nuclear fission device or with a radiological device.

UPDATE. Stratfor (subscription) reports: 'According to the FBI, El Shukrijumah is especially dangerous because of his intelligence and because his appearance, which enables him to pass as a Latino or Indian, allows him to blend in with non-Muslims. Also, having spent a considerable amount of time in the United States, he speaks English well and is familiar with U.S. culture. The State Department, through its Rewards for Justice Program, is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to El Shukrijumah's arrest. There also is speculation outside of the government that he is well-versed in nuclear technology and is an accomplished pilot, but these claims are not supported by the FBI's investigation. His technical background, however, suggests he would be able to construct a dirty bomb. Operationally, an "American Hiroshima" plot would be difficult to successfully carry out. ... ' Full report is avialable to subscribers.

Creation

Rosh ha-Shanah comes this weekend, and although we won't be reading the creation story in Genesis (parashath Bereshith) until next month, it's not too early to start pondering the meaning of Creation and the role of G-d in the universe. After all, Rosh ha-Shanah is "the birthday of the world".

About a month ago, Richard Fernandez posted his essay A Reason to Believe at Pajamas Media. As anyone who reads this site knows, I'm a big admirer of Fernandez and a daily reader of The Belmont Club, but I found myself shaking my head when Fernandez cited Ann Coulter:

Ann Coulter claimed that “if a Martian landed in America and set out to determine the nation’s official state religion, he would have to conclude it is liberalism, while Christianity and Judaism are prohibited by law.” Liberalism, Coulter argues, is a religion in all but name with its own sacraments (abortion), holy writ (Roe v. Wade), martyrs (from Soviet spy Alger Hiss to cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal), clergy (public school teachers), churches (government schools,) and creation myth: Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Fernandez adds somewhat lamely that "Coulter’s comparison is provocative, but fails in one essential respect: unlike “early revolutionary Communism”, liberalism is neither visionary enough nor sufficiently disciplined to qualify as a fighting faith."

A couple of thoughts.

First: If Ann Coulter is the only thing standing between us and islamist fascism, then G-d help us all.

Second: Note that Coulter's statement is not an argument - that is, a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition - and Fernandez doesn't try to claim that it is. It is simply rhetoric, and I think it fails on a lot more than "one essential aspect".

I don't intend to expend a lot of energy arguing with Ann Coulter, but I do want to zero in on the implicit assumption that there's a fundamental dichotomy between "religion" (which, under this assumption, strictly implies a literalist, six-day scriptural belief in creation) and "secular science" (which dogmatically rejects any role of the Divine in the evolution of the universe and the Earth).

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was one of the great religious leaders of the 19th and 20th centuries; he was Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem and of what was then "British Palestine", and a founder of what we now know as religious Zionism. His life was spent walking the highwire between intellect and spirituality, the religious and the secular, Israel and the nations. He is one of my personal heroes.

I am by no means qualified to interpret Rav Kook's teachings, but let me share this with you, from no less a source than Arutz Sheva:

The Torah does not come to negate scientific knowledge or theory. In fact, science can often expand our understanding of Torah ideas. Nonetheless, it must be noted that unlike religious truths, scientific knowledge is constantly being challenged and changed.

Rabbi Kook, in a series of letters that address the thrust of your question, gives us an encompassing approach to this issue.

Concerning the story of the world’s creation, Rabbi Kook writes:

“The Torah certainly obscures the meaning of the act of Creation and speaks in allegories and parables, for indeed everyone knows that the stories of Genesis are part of the Kabbalah. If all these narratives were taken literally, what secrets would there be? The Midrash states, ‘To reveal the power of the act of Creation to mankind is impossible, and therefore the text, In the beginning, is worded vaguely.' What is important about the act of Creation is what we learn in regard to the knowledge of G-d and the truly moral life.”[citation in original post]

The Zohar underscores the importance of this deeper understanding:

“Rabbi Shimon said, Alas for a man who regards the Torah as a book of mere tales and everyday matters…. The stories of the Torah are only the outer garments, and whoever looks upon those garments as the Torah itself, woe to that man for he will have no portion in the World To Come….Wine cannot be kept save in a jar – so too the Torah needs an outer garment. These are the stories and narratives, but it behooves us to penetrate beneath them.”[citation in original post]

Rabbi Kook continues:

“There is no contradiction whatsoever between the Torah and any of the world’s scientific knowledge. We do not have to accept theories as certainties, no matter how widely accepted, for they are like blossoms that fade. Very soon, scientific technology will be further developed, and all of today’s new theories will be derided and scorned, and the respected wisdom of our day will seem small-minded - but the word of G-d will remain forever.”[citation in original post]

Go to the link for the rest. For further reading, here's a discussion of the issue at an Orthodox Jewish site, Hirhurim:

R. Avraham Yitzhak Kook also wrote of the possibility of accepting the theory of evolution. In two letters published in Oros Ha-Kodesh (pp. 559, 565) and translated into English in Challenge, R. Kook discusses the matter:

The evolutionary way of thinking... has caused considerable upheaval among many people whose thought had been wont to run in certain regular, well-defined paths. Not so, however, for the select, hard-thinking few who have always seen a gradual, evolutionary development in the world's most intimate spiritual essence. For them it is not difficult to apply, by analogy, the same principle to the physical development of the visible world.

R. Kook goes on to say that those who are reluctant to accept evolution as a possibility have hesitations but "[t]hese hesitations have nothing to do with any difficulty in reconciling the verses of the Torah or other traditional texts with an evolutionary standpoint. Nothing is easier than this. Everyone knows that here, if anywhere, is the realm of parable, allegory and allusion."

There's much more at the link, and it's a fascinating and illuminating read.

I do not think the present conflict requires us to choose between one fundamentalism and another. Nor do I believe that we must choose between faith and reason. I would wholeheartedly agree with Richard Fernandez' main point, that we must find within us the strength and the wisdom to counter the terrorist enemy with something deeper and nobler. I would submit that the belief in an all-present Divinity, working eternally and unseen according to an unknowable plan, is a part of that something. So, too, is the belief that humankind are called to be co-creators with G-d - a belief that is deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition.

The End Is Near!

Debbie Schlussel: Men wear blouses. World ends.

August 22 and Iran

Iranian military exercise and August 22. Debka:

Washington is keeping a sharp weather eye out for Tuesday, August 22, which this year corresponds in the Islamic calendar to the date on which many Sunni Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on his winged horse Buraq to “the farthest mosque”, which is traditionally identified with Jerusalem.

According to the Muslim legend, on that day, a divine white light spread over Jerusalem and the whole world.

DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report that information rated “highly credible” has reached US undercover agencies of a secret report presented to Iran’s supreme ruler Ali Khamenei by Abdollah Shabhazi, one of the heads of the Supreme National Security Council. He claims to expose a mega-terror plot against Jerusalem scheduled for August 22, which aims at killing large numbers of Jews, Arabs and Christians. This atrocity will reportedly arm the United States and Israel with the pretext for hitting Iran’s nuclear installations, as well its capital, Tehran, and other big cities. Shabhazi says the US and Israel need to launch a military campaign to restore the deterrent strength they lost in the Lebanon war. The massive attack will reportedly focus on the Old City of Jerusalem and its eastern suburbs. The Iranian report claims that the plotters, who are not identified, are eager to recreate the divine white light whish spread over Jerusalem in the year 632. It does not rule out the use of a non-conventional weapon.
DEBKAfile reports that the authorities in Israel do not appear to be taking this threat seriously, unlike Washington – and Tehran.

US to push for sanctions if no joy from Tehran. Vital Perspective: 'On Thursday, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the U.S. will push quickly for sanctions if Iran fails to suspend uranium enrichment by an end of August deadline, set by the Security Council. Tehran has said it will respond by August 22 to an offer of economic incentives from the P-5 + 1. The incentives would be in exchange for a suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment activities.'

North Korea link? CTB: 'When news broke Friday that North Korea may be preparing for an underground detonation of a nuclear device, the question that immediately arose in my mind was whether this was linked to Iran's self-imposed Aug. 22 deadline for providing a final answer about its nuclear development. Certainly the two countries have cooperated in the past.'

Bernard Lewis explains it all. Via LGF, historian Bernard Lewis explains the significance of the August 22 date:

In Islam, as in Judaism and Christianity, there are certain beliefs concerning the cosmic struggle at the end of time--Gog and Magog, anti-Christ, Armageddon, and for Shiite Muslims, the long awaited return of the Hidden Imam, ending in the final victory of the forces of good over evil, however these may be defined. Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers clearly believe that this time is now, and that the terminal struggle has already begun and is indeed well advanced. It may even have a date, indicated by several references by the Iranian president to giving his final answer to the U.S. about nuclear development by Aug. 22. This was at first reported as "by the end of August," but Mr. Ahmadinejad's statement was more precise.
What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

A passage from the Ayatollah Khomeini, quoted in an 11th-grade Iranian schoolbook, is revealing. "I am decisively announcing to the whole world that if the world-devourers [i.e., the infidel powers] wish to stand against our religion, we will stand against their whole world and will not cease until the annihilation of all them. Either we all become free, or we will go to the greater freedom which is martyrdom. Either we shake one another's hands in joy at the victory of Islam in the world, or all of us will turn to eternal life and martyrdom. In both cases, victory and success are ours."

In this context, mutual assured destruction, the deterrent that worked so well during the Cold War, would have no meaning.

August 22 and uranium enrichment. DebkaNet Weekly (subscription): 'Next Tuesday, Aug. 22, Tehran will reveal to the world that it has made important progress in uranium enrichment development following a breakthrough in the activation of P-2 centrifuges.
A loud international outcry is expected to ensue, together with another urgent demand from Washington to impose punitive sanctions on the Islamic Republic. However, foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki predicts that the Lebanon war’s impact will mute Western protests and persuade the Europeans more easily to oppose sanctions for long enough to give Iran more breathing space. The Russians and Chinese and their vetoes are in the bag. He is sure Europe will now shrink back from any military showdown with Iran and even the United States will reconsider any planned assaults.'

Uri Grossman, 1985-2006

Last night I responded to the book meme posted by JMK. Among the books I mentioned (one that "made me cry") was See Under: Love by the Israeli novelist David Grossman.

Only a few hours later, David's son Uri Grossman was reported killed in Lebanon. As the Jerusalem Post notes, 'In a press conference convened by author David Grossman along with fellow writers A.B. Yehoshua and Amos Oz last week, the three pled with the Israeli government to reach a cease-fire agreement – two days later, Grossman's son, Uri, was killed in Lebanon. ... The three authors initially expressed unequivocal support for a military act of self-defense at the outbreak of the war, but later changed their position in the face of the cabinet's decision to expend operations in Lebanon. Grossman himself argued that Israel already exhausted its self-defense right.'

Arutz Sheva: 'The son of left wing author David Grossman was killed in action in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The soldier, Sergeant First Class, Uri Grossman, is from Mevasseret Zion, outside Jerusalem. Grossman was killed when his tank was hit by a missile in the south Lebanese village of Khirbet Kasif.'

Imshin has more: 'Our girls grew up on a steady diet of Grossman’s wonderful Itamar books, when they were little. I also loved reading them to them, over and over again. He must be a wonderful father to write such magical children’s books. My favorite is called ‘Itamar the Dream Hunter’, in which Itamar’s father teaches him to deal with the demon that haunts his dreams by facing it. ...'