From Taranto’s Best of the Web:
Rumors flew last week that a U.S. missile strike in eastern Pakistan had killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s No. 2 man. Reports of Zawahiri’s death turned out to be exaggerated, but yesterday came the news that the missile appears to have hit another important target [from ABC News’ “Which Side Are They On?”]:
ABC News has learned that Pakistani officials now believe that al Qaeda’s master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week’s U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of four known major al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit in the village of Damadola early last Friday morning.
The United States had posted a $5 million reward for Mursi’s capture. He is described by authorities as the man who ran al Qaeda’s infamous Derunta training camp in Afghanistan, where he used dogs and other animals as subjects for experiments with poison and chemicals. His explosives training manual is still regarded as the bible for al Qaeda terrorists around the world.
“The bible for al Qaeda terrorists,” huh? Someone’s having a little fun over at ABCNews.com. Over at The Weekly Standard, the Manhattan Institute’s Dan Darling elaborates on Masri’s importance:
If [Abu] Khabab can be said to have had a lasting effect on the development of Islamist extremism, it would be that he moved the possibility of Islamists using unconventional weapons out of the theoretical and into the practical. Those wishing to view his legacy need look no further than the extremely crude but deadly chemical and biological experiments set up under the auspices of Ansar al-Islam in northern Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion.
Or as the Democrats call it, northern Iraq which has nothing to do with northern al Qaeda.
Anyway, the TigerHawk blog has a roundup of reaction from left-wing blogs, before it was reported that Masri was hit:
AmericaBlog: “At least when Clinton ‘lobbed cruise missiles at tents’ he wasn’t blowing up entire innocent families in small villages who had no idea what was about to happen to them.”
“mcjoan," DailyKos.com: “What this strike has achieved is the further alienation of Pakistan, and provided further proof of the Bush administration’s utter ineptitude. It’s a reminder that the disastrous Iraq debacle diverted resources from the critical effort to contain al-Qaeda and calls into question exactly what it is that our intelligence agencies are doing.”
Juan Cole: “Ooops. The bombing of a village in northern Paksitan [sic], apparently done in hopes of killing al-Qaeda #2 Ayman al-Zawahir, missed its intended target.”
“Scrolling through perhaps a dozen big lefty blogs, I did not see a single post that actually expressed regret that we had not killed al Zawahiri,” TigerHawk notes. And it’s not just the bloggers; consider this column from Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe:
The airstrike in Pakistan reaffirms how our behavior is plummeting in the direction of the evil we proclaim to fight. At home, we are appalled by drive-by shootings that take out innocent children. Abroad, the fly-by airstrike is the source of no remorse, with dead children and mothers taken very lightly.
It strikes us that some of these people are so consumed with hatred for President Bush that they have crossed the line into reflexive anti-Americanism. As a prominent politician once said:
There is nothing patriotic about hating your country, or pretending that you can love your country but despise your government. There is nothing heroic about turning your back on America, or ignoring your own responsibilities.
The speaker: Bill Clinton, May 5, 1995.
Sure. But in in Mr Clinton’s defense, a guy’ll say just about anything while he’s having the Jimmy wet waxed.
****
(h/t Terry Hastings)
Now Jeff, it’s not that they hate America. They just really, really like Islamists.
And the first lesson comes from the Mursi’s 2nd Book of Nails, chapter 11 verse 2:
And lo, though I prefer to mix shingle nails with the C4, with their many sharp edges, 10-penny ring-shank will work just as well. Verily I say unto you, fill your vest with drywall screws and your bits will be twice as lethal when you are blown to them.
Here endeth the lesson.
…And the mujadeen did rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and breakfast cereals…
Aw, man. Now I’m gonna be craving a heapin’ helpin’ of tree-sloth barbecue.
Or maybe an orangutan hoagie.
Odd, has UBL hit all of the trolls with his Destro-Matic (that’s due any day now…hmmm)?
Where is AnonLib and the girls? I only got a single portion of Islamo-nazi* agit-a-prop when UBL made his annual state of the mole-people address.
I need my fix, libs! Where are you?
*(I stole that from somewhere, probably Tigerhawk)
The evil voice in my head wishes that the libs actually were in charge just for the high comedy that would ensue:
–Negotiations with OBL
–Star Jones as Secretary of Peace in a Kucinich administration
–Quotes like “France gets along fine with two aircraft carriers…so can we.”
–Making apprehension of Islamo-loons scattered about Waziristan a “law enforcement” matter
–Al Gore
–Immediate referral of Iranian nuclear tests to the Code Pink Security Council
And then I realize someone has to be the grown-up. But then the evil voice changes topics to Jessica Alba in that Fantastic 4 spandex job and makes it all better…
Spittle, spittle, lather, lather.
Sorry about that, I just had to get that out of the way having cleared the title. Carry on.
Our second reading is from Toyotas 3:16:
And yea, though the guard yells Halt, I will not deccelerate. Allah will stomp on the gas for me while I sit in my own crapulence, looking to the heavens and pulling the cord. And I’ll pray that Allah guide at least one of my projectile eyeballs to land in the soup of a an outdoor cafe patron, causing him to lose his appetite.
Here endeth the second lesson.
Midhat Mursi?!???!
Who calls their kid “Midhat”?
Foghat, sure, name ‘em after a band, but Midhat?
Okay Jeff.
You made that up.
P.S. It’s not about destroying Terrorists, it’s about destroying George Bush. That’s pretty much all the Left has cared about for some time now isn’t it? I mean most of them called a truce for a week or two after 9/11, but since then?
“Hello, Professor Falkan.”
“Hello, Joshua. Shall we play a game?”
(pause)
“Who’s the coke-blown chick standing next to the kid from The Producers?”
They have crossed the line. If they took a hard look in the mirror they would realize they are saying:
1. Screw the Iraqis
2. Screw the soldiers
3. Screw the cause for democracy
4. Everything my opponent does is wrong/evil/a conspiracy.
5. Trade my soul/itegrity for political advantage
6. My fury is everything
And the thing is, it isn’t working.
Chinese Embassy? Aspirin Factory?
Is there a giant rock I don’t know about?
A 24 hour wait period before keyboard tapping might help.
Paging the trolls? Now where have they gone to…
Let me know, topsecret9, if you find that huge rock. I’m fiending for some
al QaedaDemocrat talking points.Considering just how deranged the left is getting, I would definitely want them marked with pink iridescent spots if the war comes over here. That way, we’ll know who ALL of our enemies are.
Pearls of wisdom from the reality based community.
The Clinton quote is from a time those of us without personal memory holes can vividly recall, when the Democrats waged a years-long Donahue– and CNN-fed crusade to paint ANY criticism of ANY government official or program, or ANY suggestion that ANY of them ever be even slightly altered in ANY way via, e.g., term limits, line-item veto, or spending increase-reductions spun as “cuts,” as de facto right-wing terrorism.
Rememer the “militia movement?” A handy media-created imaginary friend to the left.
Remember when you rightly called that dirty bullshit dirty bullshit, WSJ? Good times.
Now: [giant middle finger]
Like the D’s sick power-nostalgia needs feeding.
(My state has a Republican governer now, so I still see the mild half-conservatism=terroristic sedition equation slyly underlying local editorials and “alternative” news coverage. And it’s still fucking grotesque.)
Can we have pills? And cook the corn?
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri
Khabab – code for
kabob?
Heh.
lol, you missed that tour from your what-to-do-in-Denver-if-you’re-dead series.
They used the hydraulic doors from the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain in Wargames.
I was reminded by someone today that the score is 7-3 for Reps over Dem administrations over the past few decades. Since the left has so graciously obliged us by mounting a 24/7/365 attack on a man who will retire from office anyway at the end of his 2nd term, rather than bother with any sort of plan or platform for their party, I’m taking odds we’ll make it 9-3 very soon. Life is good.
ha ha, i saw the perfect description at Winds–
/gratuitous Watership Down reference
Jimmy!?! Jimmy?!?
Whatever happened to calling it a dick or a peter, or even . . . a jeff.
I demand pie now!
Rememer the “militia movement?†A handy media-created imaginary friend to the left.
uh, not neccessarily. the post about the jawa report reminded me of the couple times rto had a hand in getting some militia people arrested/convicted.