Mark Bossingham

Just keep talking ...

I JUST wrote a long post on Hezbollah, but mostly as a vehicle to express the view that international negotiators just keep talking because that is simply what they do. They don't solve problems, they just talk. And I am not exclusively blaming the Europeans.
    Unfortunately the computer crashed and I lost the essay. Too lazy to repeat myself. An abbreviated version would include Condoleeza Rice's comment that to "have a ceasefire you have to have a plan." No kidding. And that her plan includes Hezbollah voluntarily disarming. Hmm. That indeed is a plan. A little more realistically is the latest "plan" by the Lebanese government in which the terrorists do not openly display their weapons. And best yet--this is all reported seriously by AP.
    I started the deleted port with the comment that the arc of history is almost invariably visible in hindsight, but not so now. We can see the vapor trail already. We can see the explosion if we care to look. That most prefer not to is understandable. Why drive yourself mad worrying about something you cannot change. I don't blame them. But that won't stop the coming events.   
    An AP dispatch was a real howler today. Remember how the French were going to mount up and save the day? We'll D-Day has arrived as described:
    The first small contingent of reinforcements for the peacekeeping force - 49 French soldiers - landed Saturday in inflatable dinghies at the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura, with 200 more expected next week.
    So we got 49 French guys--the equivalent of a Seabee platoon--going in in their little rubber boats to setup tents for a vastly larger, huge deployment of a, uhh, company-sized contingent. Thanks France. One thing we can count on is France being France.
    Also mentioned, though AP would rather not mention it at all, is that there were 2,000 U.N. "troops" in Southern Lebanon BEFORE the war. What were they doing? To hazard a guess the same thing Blue-Helmet guys do all over the world. In something like this order: Nothing. More nothing. Take bribes. Rape the indigenous women. But now things are going to change. Right.

Dumb and dumber

WILLING TO die for their beliefs--that's the conventional wisdom on the Islamic terrorists. I have my doubts. Melanie Phillips' new book "Londonistan" just arrived. I am looking forward to reading it. Maybe it will provide some answers. But for now, I remember being a teenager--as a number of these so-called ideological killers are. My belief system was not well-formed. I suspect that is the case with these Mohammad Atta wannabes. On the dole, too lazy to get into university, why not go out with a bang and take a lot of (more successful than you) "infidels" with you. OK, maybe there won't be 60-odd virgins waiting at the end of the road, but what the hell, blowing shit up beats the hell out of working at the local curry shop. If they weren't so dangerous, they'd be simply boring.
    Point No. 2. Heard all the Democrats raving about the British and their efficiency at nabbing the Islamics? If the U.S. wasn't so focused on Iraq we could do the same, the spin goes. Come on. Last time I checked the punks blew up the London tube. How many post 9/11 attacks have there been in the United States? Zero, squat, nada. And let us not forget the Brits have far more invasive techniques than we do. What do you think the Democrats and the ACLU would say if we tried to hold a suspect 28 days without charge?
     Regardless, whatever classified measures the Brits used to catch the almost-killers would have been leaked by a "disgruntled" Democrat in Justice and splashed by Bill Keller all over the pages of the New York Times. Let's not forget NYT reporters tipped off Muslim terror fund-raising organizations that raids were imminent a few years ago.
    Indeed we are not as far down the road to multicultural suicide as Britain, but let the East Coast liberals have their way and we will sure give them a run for their money.

OK, IT'S Sunday, and I am as usual struggling to type on this Japanese-configured keyboard. Tonight is the Odaiba fireworks display. It was supposed to be last night but was delayed due to thunderstorms. They were so bad the dog actually crawled into bed with me--something she hasn't done in at least 10 years. This will be the last year we Will be able to see it from out balcony. A couple of Kiyomi's friends are coming over. Oh, duh, why the last year? this is why. A 20-story office building is going up in our backyard. Looks like it should be less than 100 yards from our back window. So much for my view of the river. But let's face it--this is Sim City and anybody that expects their great view to remain great for long is deluding themselves. We have been here for 5 years. Consider ourselves lucky. Anyway, here's a shot of a big crane lifting a little backhoe out of the main building site:

Just got back from couple hour bike ride in Tatsumi Park. Not bad, has a bad reputation for perverts so it is usually pretty derserted and has a lot of off-road trails. Fun. Probably wouldn't want to ride through there at night but wha thte hell.

I guess I can't blither without some comment on the state of the world. The word terrible comes  to mind. Bush and Rice are failing badly. The idea of letting those U.N. clowns into Lebanon is absurd. If they can only use their weapons in self-defense, precisely what are they there for? Let's say I am a Hezbo terrorist. I intend to shoot a rocket into Haifa but not at UNIFIL position. According to the rules of engagement that's perfectly OK, I suppose. That Korrupt Kofi's "troops" have previously been implicated in the kidnapping of Israelis doesn't matter I guess. (Sorry, but I gotta say. Kofi Annan is lying son of a bitch and the worst U.N. chief ever).
    My solution? Bush says. "Let's end this. Let the best army win." Even a clam knows that this is just an interregnum between battles.
    Re the kerfuffle over the fake Reuter's photos? Big surprise. Reuters hates the Jews, as seemingly do most Europeans. There are days I think they wish they had finished the job in the 1940s. They shame all of us.
    But the arc of history is a lot clearer than usual. Victor Davis Hanson made the point that the Muslims do not know when to quit. They will eventually back the West into a corner. Then it ends--in a horrible bloody mess.
    Did I show you the new bike? Pretty cool huh?