Hope And Change Does Not Come To Al Qaeda

Here's one for the "go figure" files - a terrorist mastermind (and the new leader of Al Qaeda) has a bad personality:

WASHINGTON — American counterterrorism officials all but welcomed the announcement on Thursday that Ayman al-Zawahriwould succeed Osama bin Laden as leader of Al Qaeda, arguing that his deep flaws are likely to weaken the core of the terrorist network.

...

Independent specialists largely agree that Mr. Zawahri is not an inspiring model for young militants, noting his lack of combat experience, his long history of ideological squabbles and his abrasive manner and pedantic speeches — including a recent six-part series of audio messages about Egypt that trailed well behind the events there.

“He’s always been a divisive figure, going back to his years in Egypt,” said Brian Fishman, an expert on Al Qaeda at the New America Foundation in Washington. “He’s just personally disliked by many in Al Qaeda. His personality always gets in the way.”

Pedantic speeches, eh?  He'll drone on until its drones-off.

Comments

[Yep, bin Laden was a well rounded hale fellow well met sort a guy.]

Wishful thinking. When we abandon Afghanistan, AQ will get its refuge back, and all the personality defects in the world won't protect us from the consequences of that.
==============

[Clarice]

Isn't this non-charismatic, uninspiring fellow, the man who radicalized OBL?

[Pofarmer]

Ah, ah, ah Clarice. This is the NY Times. Mustn't let facts intrude on the story line.

[google Livingston and Penn.]

Apollo laughs at us from the clouds. Mark Lynas, previously a big CAGW believer and the author of 'Six Degrees of Warming' doubts the IPCC.
==============

[We are cooling, folks; we don't yet know how.]

Do you suppose Obama has questions for John Holdren today. This sun business can place him so badly on the wrong side of the political equation is will make the Banking Business of September '08 look like an mere human invention.
===============

[Ignatz]

Independent specialists largely agree that Mr. Zawahri Mr. Obama is not an inspiring model for young militants,* noting his lack of combat experience, his long history of ideological squabbles and his abrasive manner and pedantic speeches — including a recent six-part series of audio messages about Egypt that trailed well behind the events there.

*Except for particulraly stupid ones from the USA and Western Europe.

[narciso]

'Unexpectedly' they have the wrong template,
Zawahiri, has the street cred, he went to prison for the Sadat hit, while the rich kid,
the poser, Osama, snapped up the credit. And he's been languishing in middle management ever since.

[narciso]

wth, is this about:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/report-person-taken-into-custody-near-pentagon/2011/06/17/AGX7xbYH_blog.html

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 19 at Raz today.

[What a mess we are in.]

That was the setting sun on his logos.
========

[Extraneus]

One of the few things we know about terrorists is that they're all about charisma.

[Danube of Thought]

You left one out, Ext.:

[Melinda Romanoff]

Three Egyptians, one Afghan and one Yemeni.

Interesting list of coincident backgrounds.

[MarkO]

Obama has lost the Midsle East.

[Melinda Romanoff]

MarkO-

Not familiar with that theater of operations.(Heh).

[Extraneus]

Ah yes, how could anyone forget that charmer?

And this one's certainly got that dashing sumpin' sumpin'. That je ne sais quoi...

[narciso]

This is the fellow that Soufan, Coleman, Cloonan, wanted to make us feel sorry for,
by leaking to Risen, Susskind, Mayer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abu_Zubaydah.jpg

[Rob Crawford]

Ext -- not fair slipping a pic of Rosie O'Donnell in there!

[Mossad kept intel secret on 9/11]

Corncob;

Mr. Conspiracy theory went off the rails on the gunrunner 'story'. *chuckle

Are you a 'Troofer' as well, Corny?

Holy Moly.

[Chicken Little]

"Officials are in the process of reopening the roads, which were gridlocked for hours Friday morning"

Obama's always clogging roads with his motorcades. Who does he think he is?

I think it's another 'under the radar' Obama operation to keep people from visiting their friendly gun dealer.

Or he;s trying to discourage Pentagon employees so that they quit and he can cut the Budget without having a lot of unemployment claims to further stain his
job performance.

[sbw]

An occasional humorously different signature might work, ... but more and more I skate by any "Posted by:" name that changes.

[Extraneus]

Via Ace, The Machine That Destroys Everything.

[narciso]

Does it really matter if it's Zahiri, Al Adel,
or al Rubbaish, if this foolishness spreads

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/16/2270624/sharia-law-is-not-a-threat.html

[Chicken Little]

"They sensationalize Arabic words to feed on society’s fear. The hottest topic these days is the Sharia. They claim that “Moozlims” are trying to replace the U.S. Constitution with the Sharia"

Obama, the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOSLIM !

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

[Danube of Thought]

We left out this chick magnet:

[Chicken Little]

The Pentagon suspect is an Ethiopian.

Probably one of Obama's consorts from neighboring Kenya.

[narciso]

Yeah, I don't where they get that silly notion, in the LUN

[matt]

naw, I'm just afraid of Obama the moron/incompetent/ideologue/neophyte/fill in your fear here. He's done the country enough damage already.

Those shovel ready jobs seem to be at the cemeteries for various productive enterprises.

There's another reason Muslim women wear burqas & chadors, obviously. So they can't see how skanky their menfolk are.

[Cecil Turner]

Obama, the MOOOOOOOOOOOOOSLIM !

Yeah, the real point is that Obama is a fiscal incompetent:

IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis

Here's a war-on-terror tie-in to get us back on topic:

* Obama's stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War -- more than $100 billion (15%) more.

[Chicken Little]

Although I was 1-y during VN due to hypertension, my son who is an avid military historian has wanted nothing since age 5, but be a marine. He was tested at 60 but was rejected because of a history of asthma. Although a social liberal, I have always honored the true believers who volunteered.

Some of you may not understand what I mean when I say "He was tested at 60." Well that's for me to know and you to find out, Mister Man.

[Danube of Thought]

A handy illustration from Cecil's link:

[Extraneus]

I got that sumpin' sumpin' thing from MayBee, btw. Hope I got it right.

[Ratf***ing is second nature]

"Yeah, I don't where they get that silly notion, in the LUN"

try a filter. they come in handy when sifting through the imaginary 'facts' speculated upon by wishful thinkers

[Redemptive Self-Awareness]

cherry-picking is your by-line......

"As of February 2010, around $704 billion has been spent based on estimates of current expenditure rates,[1] which range from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimate of $2 billion per week to $12 billion a month, an estimate by economist Joseph Stiglitz.[2"

[Redemptive Self-Awareness]

What's the real cost?

Just add the interest paid to China as the money was borrowed and kept out of the Budget by Bush, as well as the cost of rehab for wounded vets, and you have a magical..

$Trillion.

[Danube of Thought]

Just add the interest paid to China as the money was borrowed and kept out of the Budget by Bush

Both are already included, you pathetic moron. The data are for expenditures, not budgets. We haven't had anything in the budget for the past 2 1/2 years of Democrat rule--does that mean we haven't spent anything?

Apart from being very disturbed, you're dumb as a post.

[Danube of Thought]

February 23, 2011:

Congress‘ chief scorekeeper has again raised the cost estimate of President Obama’s two-year-old economic-stimulus program, calculating it will end up costing taxpayers $821 billion — or $34 billion more than originally projected.

[Melinda Romanoff]

And it's comments like that, that's giving posts a bad name.

Useful things, those posts.

[Cecil Turner]

Apart from being very disturbed, you're dumb as a post.

But consistent. That's a plus, right?

But the best part of the liberal fiscal stupidity is that it's so . . . unexpected (this from Feb '09):

President Obama’s economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

And the Dem solution: do it again.

[MarkO]

I, for one, am getting my shovel ready.

[narciso]

Oh, this just gets better and better:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/top-atf-official-very-much-weeds-gun-run

[Threadkiller]

Ext, DoT, will you please stop posting underwear photos?

[Cecil Turner]

Both are already included . . .

It's amazingly amusing how many libs think Bush "hid" the cost of the Iraq war, "erasing" them from the expenditure charts:

Many Obama defenders in the comments are claiming that the numbers above do not include spending on Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years. They most certainly do. While Bush did fund the wars through emergency supplementals (not the regular budget process), that spending did not simply vanish. It is included in the numbers above.

The other blithering talking point, that tax cuts led to the current deficit, is debunked by a simple glance at a spending/revenue chart:

[Rob Crawford]

Someone needs to sew the sphincter shut -- it's dribbling all over.

[Extraneus]

Questioner: "In the past, lowering the capital gains tax rate has led to increases in revenue from the tax, and vice versa. So why raise the tax?"

Obama: "For purposes of fairness."

[Rob Crawford]

The other blithering talking point, that tax cuts led to the current deficit, is debunked by a simple glance at a spending/revenue chart:

The facts will never satisfy people who cannot stand the idea that someone, somewhere, is not their indentured servant.

[Old Lurker]

"someone, somewhere, is not their indentured servant..."

...or that someone(else), somewhere is the cause of their failure to thrive...and that someone(else) should pay for that.

[Extraneus]

WashTimes: Still no suggested motive for Operation Fast and Furious. Yet...

The agents testified that Phoenix ATF supervisor David Voth "was jovial, if not, not giddy, but just delighted" when Fast and Furious guns were subsequently recovered at multiple Mexican drug busts. And emails released Thursday by Rep. Darrell Issa,R-Calif., revealed that acting director Kenneth Melson even arranged to watch live feeds from ATF cameras in gun stores being used by the program while sitting at his desk.

But delight turned to devastation on Dec. 14, 2010 when two Fast and Furious rifles were found at the scene of Border Agent Brian Terry's murder approximately 18 miles inside the U.S. border with Mexico in the Arizona desert.

The program ended the next day.

[Rob Crawford]

In other words, Extraneus -- Voth was gleeful at the idea that the guns he ordered sold to criminals were being used to shoot Mexicans, but horrified when they were used against Americans.

Sheesh. I bet he mouths all the right platitudes about immigration and racism, though.

[Ain't I numerate?]

Well, the answer is 42, which is 60 minus 18, assumed age of enlistment, but also plus 2, assumed lead time for testing.
==============

[Leave 42 out of it. She's not responsible.]

Well, you know, plus 2 from the minus 18 leaves 16, presumed age of prelim. testing. Past 40 and I run out of fingers and toes. That's why the large computer to get high numbers like 42.
==============

[Rob Crawford]

I thought "42" was the answer to "What is six times eight"?

[sbw]

No "42" is the answer in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" where the Earth is a computer ... unfortunately, the Earth was destroyed during Vogon stellar interchange construction and the question was lost.

[Rob Crawford]

Um, sbw, at the end of the series, it's revealed that the question -- or at least, the one the Earth came up with -- was "what is six times eight".

[pagar]

Off/Topic

Mel, any thoughts on why anyone in the stock market still feels LPS (lender processing services) has some value at any price?

http://4closurefraud.org/2011/06/17/false-statements-lender-processing-services-maiden-lane-abs-2008-1/

[Frau Turnverein]

Rob, dribbling is as bad as a Weiner tweet. Kegel exercises for *both* locker rooms. LUN

Here's the 1866 Milwaukee Turnverein for clarice:

[sbw]

See, Rob? The blessing of getting old is that you can read and enjoy the series all over again.

Don't panic!

[jimmyk]

Here's the 1866 Milwaukee Turnverein for clarice:

And, per yesterday's discussion, I'm guessing they're all still alive--if they stayed in Milwaukee.

[Dave (in MA)]

Here's some useful literature to supplement Frau's LUN. The benefits are not only physical.

[Clarice]

The Milwaukee Athletic Club which I believe they started is still in existence and sits jowl by jowl with Carl Ratsche's an outstanding German restaurant which my DC standards is impossibly inexpensive. Not far from there is Usingers a sausage company from that same time, where the goods are purveyed on marble and brass counters and the employees have free lunches of the stock . They consume tons each year.
If they aren't alive, I bet their kids are--checking thru my high school reunion notes, I have a classmate whose mother is about 103 now and another whose mom is 96 or 97..and I don't think that's particularly unusual.

[Clarice]

Speaking of books, here is a beautifully illustrated one by my son's mother in law about a girl and her dog.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=saya+and+sumi&x=24&y=18

[Redemptive Self-Awareness]

"What did Attorney General Eric Holder know and when did he know it concerning the underlying concept, operational protocols and legal status of the Operation Fast and Furious program in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau?

Nice tag-line for the F&F Troofers, but where is the evidence of your default conspiracy theories?

More re-hashing of the same relevant facts
is not new evidence.

I maintain the idiocy of middle management is the culprit here. But Upper mgmt should have known the chance of screw-ups down to the street.

Again...your evidence of malevolence in place of mere malfeasance?

Maybe Breitbart can photoshop some titillating fuel for your conspiracy.

[daddy]

I had no idea that in my brainstorming last night about new job opportunities for ex-Congressman Weiner, that I'd have to worry about competition for my job.

Look what Toby Harndon of the UK Telegraph suggests as option number 7 in a story titled 10 jobs for a 'Comeback Kid' Anthony Weiner:

"7. Fedex spokesman. He certainly seemed adept at promoting his package."

Help! For my sake send Weiner back to Congress:(

[Redemptive Self-Awareness]

""someone, somewhere, is not their indentured servant..."

What a laugh.

Corporations have been longing for the days
of Dickens when they could make children work 18 hour days without government interference,

You could reinstate debtor's prisons.

Wouldn't THAT delight you.

[OldTimer]

Does anyone think that the Chinese setting up self-contained city/industrial centers (with planned expansion across the country) is a good idea? They'd like to start in Boise, Idaho..

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/12/31/1472023/chinese-company-eyes-boise.html

[Rocco]

Frau

Part of that photo was cut off. Here's the whole thing.

[Dave (in MA)]

Red Self: Maybe Breitbart can photoshop some titillating fuel for your conspiracy.

Yeah, because Breitbart uses photoshopped or other faked media, right? Oh, wait--I must have had him confused with the NYT, BBC, Rather and Reuters for a sec.

[Dave (in MA)]

Rocco, I think you meant to direct that to Red Self.

[Redemptive Self-Awareness]

I must have had him confused with the NYT, BBC, Rather and Reuters for a sec.

(skipping the evidence(?)) I understand.

Forgive me for disturbing your dream state.

[sbw]

Feeding trolls again, I see.

[Dave (in MA)]

The evidence is not in evidence.

[Bush's Legacy]

"The evidence is not in evidence."

Maybe you can wish on a star.........

[Chubby]

Clarice that looks like a beautiful book. One thing that really struck me during the time of the Japanese earthquake was how many pictures there were of the victims clutching their dogs. And there was that big story of the dog that was rescued out at sea floating on a small piece of roof. I had no idea the Japanese loved dogs so much.

[Cecil Turner]

I love that the "Breitbart photoshopped the evidence" meme persists even after Weiner 'fessed up. Some lefties are so openminded their brains are falling out.

[Extraneus]

Heh Cecil.

[Clarice]

Thanks, Chubby. She really is a great artist.

[Rob Crawford]

Oh, wait--I must have had him confused with the NYT, BBC, Rather and Reuters for a sec.

You left out NBC and their brilliant use of pyrotechnics in automotive reporting.

[Bush's Legacy]

Again...your evidence of malevolence in place of mere malfeasance?

Care to add to the trove of conspiracy gossip.
poster-boy for redemptive self-awareness?

[Extraneus]

Now wait just a minute. Is Debbie Wasserman-Shultz "cute"?

[Cecil Turner]

Well, he wanted to call her "smart" . . . but couldn't deliver the line without guffawing.

[narciso]

One recalls, Rob, the media fame for photoshop
was so obvious, even CSI used it as a plot point, and lets not forget Stephen Glass, Jason Blair, among other luminaries, I wouldn'r quite put Barnicle, in that category.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Ex-

Yeah cute like in the doctor slapped her mother instead of her at her birth.

[Melinda Romanoff]

pagar-

It has value as long as people think that the mortgage problems will pass over and are no big deal.

And here's an excellent post on just that subject: At Simon Johnson's blog the trader.

[narciso]

'That word you're using,. . .'

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/06/eric-lets-hold-ksm-trial-in-nyc-holder-says-lawmakers-are-endangering-war-on-terror/

[Rocco]

Obama bin Weinering

[Ignatz]

--I maintain the idiocy of middle management is the culprit here. But Upper mgmt should have known the chance of screw-ups down to the street.--

The head of ATF is not middle management and, since its removal from Treasury and installation in DOJ, reports directly to the AG. The Assistant AG is also not middle management and was fully aware of and involved in Gunrunner and also reports directly to Holder.
Of course if you prefer to live in a world where any head of ATF and Assistent AG, whether Repub or Dem, is going to stick his neck out by watching and allowing strawman mules to tote guns to Mexican drug cartels while he watches from his office without the full knowledge of the AG then I suggest you refrain from any talk of redemptive self awareness, idiot.
But hey, I guess plausible deniability sounds a lot better when its your team looking at the subpoenas and one hopes, hard time.

[matt]

Dory Wasserman-Schultz? LUN.

[Clarice]

The latest--good news--from Jay Cost
http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/wp-admin/post.php?post=25693&action=edit

[Dave (in MA)]

|
Separated at birth

[Extraneus]

After over six months in the majority, why is Darrell Issa only holding hearings on Operation Fast and Furious so far? I remembered Dan Burton's chairmanship in the '90s as being much more active. I hope there's a lot more going on behind the scenes.

Btw, I've been surprised that hardly anyone is asking whether OF&F was intended more to set up a meme about how too many American guns are flowing into Mexico than it was about "taking down" drug cartels.

I haven't read everything out there, but has anyone seen a believable explanation for how this fiasco could have related to "taking down" drug cartels?

[Extraneus]

Clarice's link

[Jack is Back!]

iggy,

Wasn't the reason for ATF in Treasury was because they were tax enforcement not law enforcement. Like the IRS and Department of Education they have long expanded their mandate to include law enforcement, foreign crimes intelligence, war on terror, etc. IOW's all these bereaucracies created for one specific duty have all assumed different and diverse powers but who the hell gave them those powers?

They did and Congress saied Okay, how miuch more money do you need to set up a Civil Rights section, a SWAT team, a foreign liaison office, etc. The other thing they have that should be cut immediately is an Office of Congressional Affairs that lobby's Congress for each Cabinet department and most other of the quangos in DC.

And we wonder where all the money went and how government has grown in the last 20 years? Ha!

[daddy]

Let's change that last paragraph from TM's NYTIMES Link and see if it works:

Original:

“He’s always been a divisive figure, going back to his years in Egypt,” said Brian Fishman, an expert on Al Qaeda at the New America Foundation in Washington. “He’s just personally disliked by many in Al Qaeda. His personality always gets in the way.”

Weinerized:

“He’s always been a divisive figure, going back to his years in Schumer's Office ,” said Brian Fishman, an expert on the DNC at the New America Foundation in Washington. “He’s just personally disliked by many in Congress. His personality always gets in the way.”

Works for me.

[Ignatz]

--Wasn't the reason for ATF in Treasury was because they were tax enforcement not law enforcement.--

Yep, JiB. 'Revenuers' for alcohol and later tobacco.
Think they took on firearms in 1968 with the passage of the GCA of 1968.
Ruby Ridge and Waco were both prompted by ATF overreach.

[Extraneus]

Probably linked here already, but here's an article by Walid Shoebat on Huma Abedin's Muslim Brotherhood connections, via The Tatler.

Also confirmed by Arab sources is that Huma Abedin has a brother who works at Oxford University named Hassan Abedin. Oxford, which has long been infiltrated by Islamists who founded the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), has Huma’s brother listed as a fellow and partner with a number of Muslim Brotherhood members on the Board — including al-Qaeda associate Omar Naseef and the notorious Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi. Both have been listed as OCIS trustees. Naseef continues to serve as Board chairman.

[snip]

It is sacrilege in Islam for Huma’s mother to accept the reality that her daughter is married to a Jew. Yet neither Saleha nor Huma’s brother Hassan denounces her marriage to Weiner, especially when it was considered null and void by some of the highest authorities on Islamic Sharia rulings.

Huma’s brother has been key in furthering the Islamic agenda and has worked with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on a program of “spreading Islam to the west.”

I wonder what the Israelis think of Huma's close association with the Secretary of State.

[Ignatz]

--I haven't read everything out there, but has anyone seen a believable explanation for how this fiasco could have related to "taking down" drug cartels?--

You will not find it because there is no plausible, nor even conceivable way that supplying drug cartels with 2000 illegal weapons could have led to any harm, let alone the downfall of, already well known bloodthirsty gangs of murderers.

The Obama administration demonstrated the only point of this operation when it loudly trumpeted phony statistics about how many drug cartel weapons were being funneled through US dealers at the exact time it was forcing the supply through the dealers and over their objections.
The cynicism and, absent any conceivable legal benefit, blatant illegality of it is astounding.

[Clarice]

Thanks, Ext. I have to stop that.

[daddy]

Talk Radio roundup:

Glen Beck is currently doing an excellent job simply playing audio of the numerous lies told by Anthony Weiner over the month. Excellent radio.

Dennis Miller was asked by a caller what 3 books he would recommend to someone learning about what Conservatism and without batting an eye he whipped out:

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
The Road to Serfdom (Hayak)
Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (Thomas Sowell)

On Hannity Ann Coulter was asked what she thought about the Repub candidates at the recent debate. She immediately answered that though none of them were her personal favorites she said that every one of them was better than John McCain. That includes Ron Paul.

[Jack is Back!]

iggy,

It had nothing to do with the drug cartels but the progs Golden Fleece/Holy Grail of undermining the 2nd amendment even more than they have already.

I can think of no other reason for such an obvious subterfuge of legal arm sales than that.

[Clarice]

McCain must have got the message. I no longer get fund appeals from him.