#1
Found a recipe last night that I have to add. The irony in its name and ingredients makes it perfect: "Moroccon Braised Pork with Couscous".
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
10/04/2006 7:22 Comments ||
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#2
Roast Pork in Tequila-Lime Marinade.
-3 pound or 2-1 1/2 pound pork loins
salt
freshly ground black pepper 1 cup olive oil
4 limes, juiced
1/2 cup tequila (for cooking. drink some if you wish)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
2 tblspoons minced garlic
2 medium jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
2 tblspoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
season the loin w/ salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk the oil, lime juice, tequila,onions, garlic,jalapenos, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepperlace the loin in a glass baking dish and pour the marinade over, coating both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refigerate over night, at least 12 hours. Remove and let stand to room temperature. Place in oven or grill slowly (200F) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
This also works well with a rack of ribs. Serve with tortilla chips and Zenster's Salsa Casera.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/04/2006 8:24 Comments ||
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#3
Found a recipe last night that I have to add. The irony in its name and ingredients makes it perfect: "Moroccon Braised Pork with Couscous".
IIUC, berbers in north africa have traditions of wild boars hunting and cooking that islamization and arabization couldn't eradicate.
#5
Someone once asked me what couscous was and I said, "Arab Grits". Yes he was an Alabaman like me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/04/2006 11:12 Comments ||
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#6
Just another easy Ramadan port recipe
Sherrys recipe for extremely thin pork cutlets, a recipe that she has no idea where she got it, meaning it is probably a combination of several recipes that she combined, remembering stuff from those other different recipes she couldnt find but had read somewhere! Veal may also be used, but this is really better with pork.
Yields 1 portion
Max time 15 to 20 minutes (15 after you have cooked it several times)
Gather together:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 2oz thinly cut pork cutlets (about ¼ inch think) Im finding them in different groceries stores now
Seasoned flour to dredge in (salt and pepper
3 oz port wine (I use white port) can adjust amount as needed
Bunches of sliced mushrooms
6 oz heavy cream ( I have used milk)
Heat a 10" saute skillet. Add the butter and olive oil. Have mixture pretty hot. Dredge pork cutlets in flour and saute pork cutlets until light brown on each side. (cook 1 to 1½ minutes per side, creating a good crust.)
Remove pork from pan and put in a warm place. Before adding mushrooms, you might want to add a little of that seasoned flour, stirring to mix.
Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cook at high heat (the flour will give then kinda a crusty look. (2-3 minutes) Remove mushrooms and add to port cutlets.
Reduce heat to a medium and pour port wine in slowly, shaking pan around to deglaze the pan with a little of the port wine. I then add a little more flour, (1/2 teaspoon) stirring to mix, then slowly stir in the remaining port wine. Simmer a minute, leaving an oz or so of the port wine. At this point, begin to slowly add the cream (or milk if there is no cream). Sauce should thicken some, being carefully not to let it boil
Add port cutlets and mushrooms to mixture, spooning sauce over the mixture. Quickly warm, then remove to serving plate.
Since you probably dont want to sip the port wine, I guess we go back to that first statement, of everything goes with single malt.
To be real, I had this last night, with some left over fluffy rice and sauted onions with squash, with a little corn meal tossed in, to kinda add a "fried" feeling, without the hassles of frying or the calories.
#7
Someone once asked me what couscous was and I said, "Arab Grits". Yes he was an Alabaman like me.
Aaaaaargh
Coucous is coarse wheat semolina steam cooked over a recipient where you prepare a spicy stuff with typical mediterranean vegetables like eggplants, zuchini, chick-peas, turnips (NO potatoes you have enough fecula with the semolina) plus lamb, chicken and beef meat. Usually also merguez (hot Algerian sausages made with lamb). You want that stew contain a lot of liquid in addition to vetables and meat. For serving you serve the semolina first and pour the stew over it. Most people add harissa who is a hot sauce made with tomato, caraway seeds and lots of cayenna pepper.
As an anedocta last year there was an international couscous contest where of course Israel applied since it is a traditional food between Jews from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Of course Palestinians applied too despite the fact that couscous is totally unheard between Arabs east of Tunisia.
Take a piece of pork around two and half pounds, place small bits of garlic (not entire cloves) in incisions, place the pork in a recipient where you have mixed the juice of a lime and 4 tablespoonfs of oil (I use olive oil despite this not being very brasilian), pepper and salt. Put the whole in the fridge during at the very least 4 hours. It is recommended every couple hours to turn the pork so it gets fully impreganted with the marinade. Heat your oven at 170C (don't know in Fahrenheit) and put the pork with the marinade in it. Don't forget during the cooking to baste the pork from time to time with the marinade and add a bit of water in case this dries.
When pork is fully cooked, put the pork away, add a a few tablespoons water and a bit of viengar in the cooking plate and bring it to boiling while scratching the plate to dissolve all the meat juices. Pour the juice on a bowl. Bring pork and bowl to table.
Two pounds pork meat cut in cubes about 1 inch
Two pounds sweeet potatos
Two big red peppers (sweet not hot)
2 Onions
A clove of garlic
Cayena paper
A table spoon paprika
6 leaves sage (its quality is VERY importnat for this dish)
A big (one pound) tin of tomatos
A glass dry white wine
A glass of chicken stock (I usually omit it and use water)
Open the peppers and remove the seeds and the white parts. Dice them
Peel the sweet potatos and cut them in chubnks about 1 inch.
Peel and slice the onions.
Peel and crush the garlic.
Grind the tomatos (no food processor, please)
Sauté the pork on a brisk heat, withdraw it away from the recipient. Reduce fire and sauté the onion and garlic for 2 or three minutes. don't let it color. Add the diced red peppers, cover and let cook for five minutes.
Add the Cayena and the paprika. Add the tomatoes with their juice, cover and let cook for another five minutes.
Pour with the wine and the chicvken stock. Bring it to boil. Add the pork, athe sweeet potatoes, the sage and salt. Cover and let cook for 45 minutes over a slow heat.
During the cooking the dish will emanate an incredibly appetizing smell who will water the mouths of your guests. Howxever the quality of the sage is very important. While on travel in Germany I tried to cook this for some German friends. But the sage I was able to find (1) with much difficulty, smelt nothing. Strictly nothing not even after adding three or four times the quantity I use in France. I have sworn that next time I go to Germany I will bring my own sage.
(1) A thank you to the unknown German woman who overheard me talking to my wife as we had no idea of the German word and pointed me to it. She spoke French better than most French.
#16
Sweet paprika powder or hot paprika powder, JFM? Also, do you mean (1 Tablespoon = 15 ml), as we do in the US? Because I had a British girlfriend who read tablespoon as meaning serving spoon, which is a great deal bigger (especially when soy sauce is involved!). Finally, (1 glass = 200 ml = 1 cup measure)?
1 tsp EV olive oil
2 (1/4 lb) pork chops, about 3/4" thick
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup pitted dates, sliced
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced
1 cup cooked whole-wheat couscous
1. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork chops with half the salt and pepper, add to skillet and cook until lightly browned, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, cook, stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Add the orange juice, broth, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced, about 3 minutes. Add the pork, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the pork is cooked through, 5-6 minutes.
3. Transfer the pork from the skillet to a plate. Add the dates and apricots to the skillet and boil until the mixture is reduced slightly and the fruit is softened, about 4 minutes. Add the pork and the remaining salt and pepper; cook until reheated, about 1 minute.
A serving is a pork chop, 1/2 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup of couscous. About 400 calories, 12g fat, and 6g of fiber.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/04/2006 22:18 Comments ||
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#18
Apricots, yumm, you've got my attention, Rob... Pork with apricots & orange juice always sings.
1 Set of Frozen Butter Pie Crusts (or make your own)
½-1 Pound Cubed Ham, Bacon or Pork (or combination thereof)
1-2 Cups Mashed Potatoes
1 Cup Chicken or Beef Stock
½ Cup Butter Sautéed Mushrooms
¼ Cup Sautéed onion
¼ Cup Shelled Peas (frozen or fresh)
¼ Cup Diced Carrots (in cubes or coins)
¼ Cup Diced Potato
1-2 Cloves Crushed Garlic
1-2 TBS Butter
1 Cup Light Gravy
Options:
Diced turnip, rutabaga or parsnip
Chopped green or red bell pepper
Minced scallions
Green beans
Preparation:
Preheat oven according to instructions with piecrusts. Remove one of them from the package and line a pie plate with it. Prick the crust in several places to prevent bubbling or place beans in it to weigh it down during baking. Bake only until light gold and not completely cooked through. Reserve for later use. Leave oven on for baking the pie.
Sear meat in skillet with a little butter. Once it is browned nicely, drain and reserve. Add a little extra butter and begin sautéing the mushrooms. After mushrooms begin to change color, add the onions and continue cooking until transparent. Push the pans contents to one side and add the chopped or crushed garlic. DO NOT Brown the garlic. Cook for another three to five minutes and remove from heat.
Make a light gravy by mixing a few tablespoons of roux with the meat stock and thickening over low heat. Bring to a slight boil and reduce heat while stirring constantly. Adjust flavor with salt and pepper to taste. A dash of Worcestershire sauce will add a more complex flavor.
Mix all of the vegetables and diced meat together and pour into the half-baked pie shell. Pour in the gravy all over the filling. Either cover with the second piecrust in the set (usually sold in pairs) or make a true shepherds pie by covering the top with mashed potatoes. To create the potato crust, spread out the mashed potatoes on a sheet of waxed paper until approximately one quarter of an inch thick and the same diameter or larger than that of the pie.
To apply the mashed potato crust, align then deftly invert the waxed paper holding the mashed potatoes over the filled piecrust. The layer of mashed potatoes can also be rolled over onto the pie in a gradual fashion, although this frequently cracks the layer of potatoes.
Dot the potato crust with dabs of butter and dust with salt and pepper. Bake until the center begins bubbling. If needed, place under broiler to brown the potato crust to a golden color before serving.
Notes:
To make a roux, stir equal parts of white flour and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Continue stirring until the flour browns. Set aside and allow to rest for at least fifteen minutes before using. This allows the flours granules to bloom and provides a silky smooth texture to the gravy.
For the best mashed potatoes, peel and boil potatoes in liberally salted water until tender. Drain off any water and add about one cup milk or half and half for every three or four potatoes, depending upon size. Add several tablespoons of butter, salt plus some onion and garlic powder. Add a dash of white pepper to taste and mash well. Allow to cool before using as pie topping.
Any sort of meat may be used in this recipe. Lamb, chicken, turkey or beef all work equally well. Just be sure to brown the meat ahead of time or, in the case of poultry, cook it through. This is a splendid way of using leftover meat and vegetables. For poultry, make a lighter gravy.
#1
The Left hates people of faith, period, so little wonder they despise the Chosen People. The anti-semitism in the Lamont-Lieberman contest has gotten pretty brazen. Within another election cycle, I expect to see them running negative attack ads proclaiming that "Senator Cranchford is a Christian/Orthodox Jew/Catholic who opposes equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans and A Woman's Right To Choose. That makes him unfit to serve."
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2006 12:04 Comments ||
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In Paris today, middle class wage earners are forced to move out of the city to find housing for a modest family of four: the Cachan refugees need comfortable lodgings for families of ten and, whats more, it cant be scattered here and there; they want a reconstituted village, no less. Movie stars like Emmanuelle Béart and Djamel Debouzze photo-op with them, volunteers bring them food and disposable diapers, NGOs and extremist housing rights associations are on the scene. The mayor who offered them the gym is caught in his own trap: either he gets the heartless authorities to pull them out, or he faces the wrath of parents of school children deprived of physical education and exposed to an increasingly unhealthy, tense, and now violent situation.
Next checkpoint passport control. Two policemen in glass cages, and two lines: one for Muslims, one for infidels. You think Im kidding? Two lines. One, slow line for miscellaneous others. One fast track for a party of about twenty escorted by a high ranking border police officer and a female underling, both speaking Arabic, who usher them through the checkpoint with VIP attention. The police officer takes all the passports, calls the passengers to step forward one by one as he hands the passports to the agent on duty who expedites affairs with great speed and minimum attention. Some of the men remove their dark glasses. The women walk through in voluminous black hijab, unperturbed. The last in the line of the privileged few were a family composed of a little boy eating a cookie, his father in casual dress, and his mother, a slim woman, small as a girl, her face completely hidden behind a black veil, only her eyes visible. I wanted to see if she would be asked to lift the veil, but my law-abiding reflexes prevailed over legitimate journalistic curiosity. I assumed I would arouse suspicion if I lingered to gawk at the exotic spectacle. A great read. Pajamasmedia scored a coup when it named Nidra Poller as its Paris editor.
By Anne Applebaum
"Self-censorship out of fear" is how the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, described the decision. One of her allies accused a great cultural institution of "falling on its knees." The word "kowtow" was thrown around, along with "appeasement" and "cowardice" -- and all because the Deutsche Oper in Berlin canceled its production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" for fear that the avant-garde remake's final, unscripted scene (in which the king of Crete lugs onstage the severed heads of Jesus, Buddha, Poseidon and Muhammad) might offend Muslim sensibilities and create a security risk.
Apparently it's a lot easier for Germans to support the intellectual freedom of an opera director who proclaims himself "against organized religion" than it is to support the intellectual freedom of organized religion itself, particularly when violence is involved.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
From the same crowd that cries "war doesn't solve anything" we get abject surrender when muzzies threaten violence. Now is that because they know the muzzies arent brainwashed with the concept of sin/guilt and therefore the wieners have no power over them? Oh, do teach us well on how to treat you.
"Impromptus" column, National Review Online, fifth item.
Did you hear Ralph Nader on Israel? I know Im late to this, but a friend recently sent me the YouTube link. The Conscience of Our Nation says, The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington. The Israeli puppeteer meets with the puppet in the White House and then moves down Pennsylvania Avenue and meets with the puppets in Congress, and then takes back billions of taxpayer dollars.
Wow: He has used an image straight from the historical anti-Semitic playbook. Has he spoken of the poisoning of wells, too? (A. N. Wilson, one of the most honored intellectuals in Britain, has.) And how about the billions and billions I sound like Carl Sagan now that the U.S. gives to Arab countries? Is that wrong, too, Ralph, Mr. Conscience? Is Hosni Mubarak a puppeteer? Was Arafat?
Nader is incredible. At least he kept the Gore vote down.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2006 12:13 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
10/04/2006 13:56 ||
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#1
DailyMotion where I stash my emule videos has a bad reputation among islamophobic froggies for censoring "sensible" videos, but I thought the much bigger youtube allowed pretty much everything. This is pretty disappointing.
Btw, does anyone knows where the Obsession movies has gone at Google video? It seems my bookmark links to nothing; has it been removed?
#4
If Youtube is going to ban video deemed offensive to the muzzies or otherwise un-pc, then it's time for an alternative to Youtube. If it doesn't exist, create it.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/04/2006 14:59 Comments ||
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#5
Unbelievable.
We're really gonna have to fight these fuckers, with guns, on our own soil, aren't we?
#6
YouTube is going to be sued into the dirt. They will get theirs soon enough. If you need to calculate political leaning look at where the Founders live.
#9
I just spent over half an hour scouring the Internet for a download of the movie. Only trailers can be viewed now. It appears as though the producers have scrubbed all copies from general circulation. I'll just say, right now, boy howdy am I glad that I have DSL.
I've just finished watching the first half of this movie and it becomes ever more impossible to have any mercy for the Mythical Moderate Muslim. They have joined a religion with only one exit path, a coffin. If they are in such danger from speaking up, then they're screwed. Don't expect me to have the least sympathy as we're forced to snuff all of them to save ourselves from their death-cult jihadists.
I'll tell you, I'm fucking sick to death of even having these new Islamic death words in my personal vocabulary. I look forward to a world where Korans are archaeological artifacts on display in museums. This shit cannot end soon enough. It appears, more and more, as though success against the people of this religion that wants to convert the world at sword-point will involve them being converted from it at GUN POINT. The only alternative is nuclear holocaust. Something that I am increasingly willing to oblige them with.
PA-12 is shaping up to be something of a horserace.
When the Irey campaign did preliminary polling last spring, the results were not encouraging. The 30-year incumbant in the PA-12 seat, John Murtha, led the little-known Diana Irey by thirty points. Mr. Murtha was emerging as the liberal conscience of the Iraq war, and promised to gain ever more power and influence as part of the House Democratic leadership. He has high-profile influential friends and a bully pulpit provided by a compliant national media that gives him a regular spot on the Sunday shows.
If I were Commissioner Irey I might have considered throwing in the towel and going to the beach for the summer. Fortunately, she did no such thing.
Ms. Irey rolled up her sleeves and got to work. She has gained some recognition on her own as a staunch supporter of the armed forces, the mission in Iraq, an advocate for rigorous immigration policies and a fiscal conservative. She has also been drawing attention to Mr. Murtha's many failings. And she's producing results. The campaign has just commissioned another poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Ms. Irey has closed the gap to ten points as the race now stands at 55%-45%. She gained ten points and brought Mr. Murtha down ten--and the momentum is all in her favor.
Commissioner Irey's mission over the next five weeks is to keep shining a bright light on Mr. Murtha's disgraceful record while articulating her own platform. The POS poll included some interesting numbers on eleven issues that make voters less likely to vote for Mr. Murtha by as much as 57% (a list is appended below)--and when voters read about these issues, Mr. Murtha's numbers drop into the low 40s. It's incumbant on all of us who want to see Ms. Irey in Mr. Murtha's chair come January to help her spread the word that Mr. Murtha is self-interested and venal, and willingly steps on the backs of his former fellow service members to hoist his substantial bulk up the political ladder. And fortunately, the Irey campaign is no longer a lone voice in the media wilderness. She's getting some assistance from a rather unlikely source--no less than the New York Times, which has in the past held Mr. Murtha up as a moral authority on Iraq, yesterday headlined his political "horsetrading" motivated by the desire to increase his personal prestige and bring more pork (from whatever source) to his district rather than by principle or fiscal responsibility. Major television outlets, such as Fox's Hannity and Colmes show, have picked up the story.
The momentum in this race is with Diana Irey. She is poised to win if we all help, and here are eleven excellent reasons to go to her website and donate some time and money:
Congressman Murtha said that U.S. Marines in Iraq had, and I quote, killed innocent civilians in cold blood, end quote, before any soldier had been charged and convicted. (12 percent more likely, 40 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha said we could redeploy U.S. armed forces from Iraq to Okinawa, Japan, 5,000 miles away. (11 percent more likely, 36 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha voted to strip U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities of stronger tools to fight the war on terror when he voted against extending the USA PATRIOT Act. (14 percent more likely, 43 percent less likely)
Congressman Murthas brother is a lobbyist who represents at least ten clients who have received tens of millions of dollars in government contracts from the 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill Congressman Murtha wrote and pushed to passage. (6 percent more likely, 39 percent less likely)
Since Jack Murtha became a Member of Congress 32 years ago, Congress has raised its pay 20 times and Congressman Murtha voted 12 consecutive times to raise his own salary. (8 percent more likely, 43 percent less likely)
Congressman Murthas starting salary as a Congressman was $42,500 per year; it is now $165,200 per year. (7 percent more likely, 37 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha tried to create a new law that would have required taxpayers to pay for the legal expenses of Members of Congress and congressional staffers who have been convicted of taking bribes. (8 percent more likely, 57 percent less likely)
Congressman Murtha hosted a welcome back party in his congressional office for a powerful former congressional staffer who was guilty of taking money illegally from a lobbyist seeking legislative favors. (7 percent more likely, 48 percent less likely)
In 1980, Congressman Murtha was named by the U.S. Department of Justice an unindicted co-conspirator in ABSCAM, the largest congressional corruption scandal in history. (8 percent more likely, 40 percent less likely)
When questioned by the press about his role in the ABSCAM congressional scandal, Congressman Murtha insisted that FBI agents, and I quote, didnt offer me any money despite the fact that they had a tape showing them offering him a bribe. (7 percent more likely, 45 percent less likely)
When undercover FBI agents offered Congressman Murtha a $50,000 bribe, he was heard on an FBI tape saying, and I quote, At this point, you know, we do business together for a while. Maybe Ill be interested and maybe I wont Now, I wont say that some day, you know, I, if you made an offer, it may be I would change my mind some day. (5 percent more likely, 49 percent less likely)
I think we all agree it's time to clean up Congress. And we could do much worse than starting with John Murtha. Vote Irey!
#1
no less than the New York Times, which has in the past held Mr. Murtha up as a moral authority on Iraq, yesterday headlined his political "horsetrading" motivated by the desire to increase his personal prestige and bring more pork (from whatever source) to his district rather than by principle or fiscal responsibility
Interesting that the NYT would throw him to the dogs. Dems must have concluded he's becoming a liability. I wonder what else is coming down the pike.
Grass-roots conservatives are again asserting themselves forcefully and effectively against governmental impudence. Having defeated President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Dubai Ports sellout, conservatives are now flexing their muscles against supremacist judges and money-grasping public officials.
It is remarkable how the 2005 Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., has riled normally apathetic Americans and motivated them into asserting people power over the twin powers of government and money. Thirty state legislatures have passed laws or constitutional amendments to limit the effect of the Kelo ruling and provide protection against abusive seizures of private property for other private purposes.
In addition, 11 states will have ballot measures this year to protect private property rights. The issue carries double-barreled clout because the voters are both repudiating government seizures of private property AND repudiating the favorite liberal goal of increasing the flow of tax money into government's clutches.
Somehow you need to put 'socialist' in there. Then you can understand that for a socialist, there is no personal property. You are only tolerated as stewards of public property, just like as citizens you only enjoy liberty and freedoms at the consent of the state.
#2
well said. If this continues, the socialists in our government may well get the uprising of the workers they've always dreamed of. This is the stuff that revolutions are made of.
So - in light of today's hijacking... how long does it take before a "clash of civilizations" becomes a campaign issue? I don't mean the war on terror in general; I mean, how long until candidates begin talking about issues like the Danish cartoons and the resulting violence, the Pope's speech and the resulting violence, the threats against Ali and the murder of Van Gogh in the Netherlands, the death-threat-for-conversion-to-Christianity of Abdul Rahman?How long until all of these events, signs of Islamic fundamentalism declaring war on modernity, come together to become a potent political issue?
Because this really puts "Macaca," or even Creepy Foley into perspective.
There are five op-eds on today's Washington Post. Four, by George Will, E.J. Dionne, Richard Cohen, and Eugene Robinson, are all variations of "Bush stinks/his cabinet stinks/his administration stinks/the GOP stinks."
The fifth, by Anne Applebaum writing from Berlin, looks at the cancellation of an opera. The cancellation was spurred by concerns of how Germany's Muslim population would react to a scene that depicts the king of Crete lugging onstage the severed heads of Jesus, Buddha, Poseidon and Muhammad. (By the way - notice that there wasn't any concerns of violent protests by Christians, Buddhists, or those who worship the Greek god of the sea.)
So we have four op-eds lamenting the great damage to the Republic done by a cabinet that disagrees on the best course in Iraq, mind-reading Freudian issues into the President, arguing that Foley indicates corruption in the soul of every House Republican, and how Democratic governors are the Great Hope on the Horizon.
And then one op-ed indicating that maybe, just maybe, there's a greater threat from without that we ought to keep an eye on. (And it comes from the one woman almost enough to make me a feminist!)
My sense is, this is a big issue, lurking below the surface of the body politic. President Bush obviously won't address this head-on; he's staked his claim on Islam being a religion of peace, and needs to maintain that position, if for no other reason than diplomatic relations with Muslim countries.
But members of Congress don't need to be so circumspect, and my guess is, if we loaded every candidate for the House and Senate with sodium pentathol, we would get some very different answers from representatives of each party.
My guess is, many Republicans don't buy Bush's optimistic vision of the Muslim faith. To many of them, the evidence is stacking up that way too many adherents of that religion can't play nice with others. At some point, we're going to have it out; either they learn to live with our freedom of expression, or we learn to live under their blasphemy laws; our public discussions of religion will be under the arsonist's veto.
I suspect the Democrats are split on this. I'll bet if you asked a lot of working-class, blue-collar Democrats, they wouldn't sound all that different from the Republicans. I'll bet they think Bush is too kind to the Saudis, and want to see a full-throated defense of the American principle of freedom of speech. Nobody comes into our country and tells us what we can and can't discuss. And that guy who held up a sign saying "ISLAM WILL DOMINATE" at Ground Zero is asking for trouble.
But the elites? Perhaps it's the elites of both parties, but someone is spurring the New York Times to denounce the Pope for his lack of sensitivity to Muslims and demand an apology. Someone spurred that paper to illustrate stories about the Danish cartoons with a picture of the painting of the Virgin Mary in Dung. Someone believes the only interesting angle to the Abdul Rahman story is the potential fight between the President and the religious right; someone believes that this is all fallout from the crusades, and that we have no right to demand the Muslim world treat us with respect, and non-murderous reactions.
I don't know if this issue will really break out into the campaign trail this year. But I'll bet it starts cropping up on the road to 2008.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2006 12:16 ||
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#1
it is the underlying issue of this election despite what the MSM decides to focus un.
#2
Unfortunately its hurting Republicans because Bush keeps up the RoP bullshit. I hear folks saying that maybe the dems would be better. (Frustration speaking.... it needs to be the front page issue. Bush perhaps needs dragging just like he did on a fence with Mexico.)
#3
3dc you might be right but I think anyone with half a brain understand the RoP bullshit is designed so that we don't end up fighting the entire Islamic world and our own left at once.
I think this has been a campaign issue since Sept 11 even if the politicians themselves don't make much of it the voters see. Bush was very beatable in 2004, the only thing that sqeeked him through was this issue and the fact the Dems picked a terrible candidate.
#4
Ignore the bleating bravado from the MSM and the left that "Americans are tired and want to get out" and look at their votes. For all their squealing, only the far leftyist loons have dared to vote against anything but support of this war. Almost everything Bush has asked for in the war on terror he has been overwhelmingly given - though you'd think just the opposite if you only listened to the Dems and MSM.
It was a nice dream. That we would have Pakistan on our side as a stalwart ally in this war on terror was such a wonderful happenstance. It would have gone a long way toward proving that not all Muslim states want to be our enemy.
You have to give President Pervez Musharraf credit. Yes, he has done some iffy things as president by oppressing certain extremists. But he has lent the USA able assistance when he could since 9/11. And, in so doing, he has made himself a repeated target of assassins, one attempt killing 14 and wounding 46.
We must not stop being grateful for what Musharraf has done for us and we should not abandon him too quickly. But the fact is, he was always on the edge of being eliminated as an ally, and by his own people at that.
He has never fully controlled his military, for one thing. He quickly found that, after he led a bloodless coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government in 1999, he never had the unquestioning support of those military officers who supported the Kashmiri separatists. And, after 9/11 and Musharraf's vocal and active support of the US, he found that Al Qaeda and Taleban supporters filled his ranks, as well.
Further, Pakistan's Waziristan region was never really in Musharraf's control and is teeming with terrorist training camps and Al Qaeda supporters despite Musharraf's efforts to stop them.
Now, on the eve of president Musharraf's visit to Washington came word that his government has formally retreated and ceded all control of the Waziristan region to terrorists and their supporters.
Musharraf is cloaking this weakness as a "treaty with tribal leaders," but the calamity is unmistakable to the detriment of both Musharraf's safety and ours.
As the Weekly Standard reportedlast week, "...even in the wake of Pakistan's earlier surrender of South Waziristan, this new agreement, known as the Waziristan Accord, is surprising. It entails a virtually unconditional surrender of Waziristan."
No one who knows even a tiny bit about the situation could disagree with the fact that this is a disaster for all of us.
We are now facing a region that already supported Al Qaeda and other terrorists being assured by the only power in the region with any ability at all to keep them in check that they will have full and unimpeded control in their region.
Sensibly, President Bush is trying to put a calm face on this problem. "We agreed on the need to support tribal leaders on both sides of the border. By helping these local leaders build schools and roads and health clinics, we will help them build a better life for their communities, and strengthen their hand against to fight against the extremists," Bush said this week during the visit to the capitol by Musharraf and Afghanistan's president, Karzai.
And who can blame President Bush? It would be a dangerous thing to have the president of the United States nay-saying Musharraf at this point and it wouldn't do anyone any good for Bush to seem alarmist.
But this loss of the entire Waziristan region will leave the rebuilding of Afghanistan in more danger than it has yet been in. It is hoped that the US military has taken this loss into account and is making contingency plans. They should be expecting a large amount, even more than we have seen to date, of foreign fighters entering Afghanistan from Pakistan.
It is time to plan strikes inside Pakistani borders, something we have yet to really consider with the precarious position Musharraf, our ostensible ally, has been in. Until now, we had to respect his sovereignty and keep our forces out. But, when he falls and who can imagine he will be able to keep control much longer We must be ready to act.
We must get the blessing of both president Karzai and India's president, Abdul Kalam so that they understand our goals and acquire their assistance when the time comes.
If we do not, we will be allowing a nest of viper's to grow next to the schools and public works we are spearheading in Afghanistan and that fledgling state will be overrun with Taliban, Al Qaeda and the like.
I hope we are prepared for the near future in trouble from Pakistan.
Posted by: john ||
10/04/2006 06:17 ||
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#1
Pakistan must be included in the new Axis of evil with Iran and N Korea.
#2
Pakistan was never a true ally, merely willing to be threatened and bribed not to stand openly on the other side. How could it be otherwise when we are kuffir, and they the denizens of the Land of the Pure of Islam? Not to mention the Taliban being a wholly owned subsidiary of the ISI, Al Qaeda just short of a joint development project between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and AQ Khan's Muslim nuclear bomb project having the support of both military and civil governments for the last 20 years or so, both in the development and proliferation phases?
But I would like to think that Musharref's surrender of Waziristan has already opened the way for our guys to pursue the bad guys across the border, and to hunt down those who've brazenly made the area their headquarters for the planned Reconquista of Afghanistan. And rather than a disaster, this is a distinct opportunity for us to do what's necessary without too much fussing from the capitol.
#5
This is not necessarily a great loss. A friend of mine served with the Marines in Somalia and said the Pakistani troops were worse than his local neighborhood watch (who had no military training).
The Pakis were totally intimidated by the Somalis, and we know what great soldiers they are.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/04/2006 12:32 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Pakistan would be easy to crack, it is basically a series of small independent states hobbled together by pride and force. If we apply the right pressure we could see an independent Baluchistan and Punjab.
Waziristan can be given to Afghanistan and the Kashmir question will resolve itself in India's favor with Pakistan gone.
#1
Great article. I also have a slightly different observation. What has changed since 911 is the dialog in western nations. It went from arguing over the merit of lack thereof of destructive liberal ideals, when liberals were actually being given credit for their clotted jargon and illogical ideas. Today serious people have begun talking about the real threats we face to our democracy and freedom and those who proclaim theselves to be enlightened liberals are now being told to shut up, sit down and get a clue.
#3
That's too bad, 5089. But there is a real shift in attitudes and dialog in the majority of the US. Even in places like DC and CA, the leftie loons are finding themselves on the defense instead of offense these days. Their cliques are getting tighter and more shrill, but they are getting smaller and more careful about who they spew their venom to.
#4
That's very encouraging if it is confirmed in the medium/long run; the worst part of the "culture war" (aka the relentless assault of the Forces of Progress against traditional western values) is that it is in fact absolutely one-sided, with the "progressist" alwys on the offensive, and the conservatives always on the defensive. If the momentum truly shifts, this is very encouraging for the USA.
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