Copts Forced to Build Militias for Self-Defense

Egyptian security isn't protecting its Coptic Christian minority, so they have to do it themselves.

Members of the Coptic community in the working-class neighborhood of Imbaba in northwest Cairo are forming militias for self-defense after recent sectarian clashes left 12 dead and hundreds injured.

Copts in Imbaba, who expect more clashes in coming months, say they have organized small groups to protect churches as well as homes and businesses owned by Copts.

The clashes broke out Saturday night after a group of Muslims attempted to storm a church under the pretext of rescuing a Muslim woman who converted to Christianity. A second church was set on fire.

A small group of Copts who gathered near the US Embassy in Cairo on Sunday called for international protection of Egypt's Christian community and criticized the government for not doing more to protect them.

Sunday night, thousands of protesters staged a sit-in front of the state TV building calling for immediate investigation into the clashes and church burning.

Tens of Copts gathered inside the church at the center of the clashes while the army blocked nearby streets.

Christian protesters are accusing the army of collaborating with crowds of ultraconservative Islamists during the earlier attack on a church overnight. A residential building home to Christians was also burned in the overnight violence.
Elder of Ziyon

A Dead Enemy is a Peaceful Enemy

Bumper-Stickers Seen On Military Bases:

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"


"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"


"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume"


"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."


"U.S. Marines - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club."


"U.S. Air Force - Travel Agents To Allah"


"Stop Global Whining"


Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don't Testify.


"The Marine Corps - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"


"Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back"


"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil"


"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"


"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"


"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"


"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It's Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"


"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"


"One Shot, Twelve Kills - U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support"


"My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College"


"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"


"If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher. If You Can Read It In English, Thank a Veteran"


"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the U.S. ARMED FORCES don't have that problem.

Can a Jew Be a Conservative? Israel. Matzav Asks

Somebody could explain to me why being Jewish precludes a belief in limited government, individual rights, free enterprise, traditional morals and manners, etc.
The real question is do conservatives behave according to the ideology they claim to follow.
In the main, they act for big government and unlimited military spending crushing human rights worldwide. There is no competition in their plutocratic state.
The behaviors described do not conform to any religious teachings anywhere.

A Few Answers to the Sex Crimes in the Military

By Dana Goldstein, RH Reality Check
1. Increase the DOD's rate of prosecution of sexual harassment, assault, and rape claims. As Congresswoman Jane Harman wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed last week, outside of the military, 44 percent of reported rapes result in an arrest, and 64 percent of those arrests result in a trial. But inside the military, only about eight percent of reported sexual assaults and rapes lead to a court martial. Under pressure, the Department of Defense reluctantly agreed last year to create a Sexual Assault and Response Office. It must be held accountable and given wide latitude to create training programs that change the military's sexual culture. And every sexual assault victim who comes forward should be given an advocate to represent him or her through the process to a court martial.
2. Repeal Order 17. Order 17, approved by Paul Bremer, exempts American military contractors from being prosecuted for crimes under the Iraqi criminal justice system. As a result, not a single U.S. contractor has been tried for a violent crime in Iraq, despite overwhelming evidence that contractors have committed atrocities against both their fellow Americans and Iraqi civilians.
3. Pressure the Justice Department to prosecute the crimes of military contractors. So far, the Bush administration has been mostly indifferent to victims of sexual assault in Iraq.
4. Disallow work contracts that waive victims' rights to civil and criminal complaints. Halliburton and its subsidiaries have required employees to sign contracts that waive their legal rights, and require all complaints against other workers to be filed through a "Dispute Resolution Program." American courts have disagreed about the legality of the program, but no one should feel pressured to choose between employment and their legal rights.
5. Require that birth control and emergency contraception be available on military bases. Senators Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh, Barbara Boxer, Charles Schumer, Tom Harkin, Joseph Lieberman, and Frank Lautenberg have introduced the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act, which would do just that.
6. Recruit more female military doctors. One American servicewoman in Iraq was raped by her doctor during a routine gynecological exam. Lisa Smith, the subject of Karen Houppert's Nation magazine expose, only began to come to terms with her rape when she was examined, weeks later, by a female doctor in Iraq. Female medical professionals can be crucial allies for victims.
7. Foster women's leadership in the military. Research shows that one of the most effective tools for fighting sexual assault in a war zone is a commanding officer who, from the top, signals a zero tolerance policy for misogyny, sexual harassment, and assault. With the proper training, more male officers can implement that goal, but it is only through diversifying the officer corps that the military can truly change its culture into one of intrinsic respect for women.

John McCain Scuttles the Armed Forces

Brandon Friedman of vetvoice.com details the atrocity

“Yesterday VoteVets.org delivered a petition with 30,000 signatures to the office of Senator John McCain. Through that petition, we asked him to support Senator Jim Webb's new GI Bill. And less than 24 hours later, we have an answer:

"Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits for members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan under the GI Bill...."

The reason for McCain's refusal to support the bill is about the most disturbing rationale one could imagine....Officials in charge of Pentagon personnel worry that a more generous and expansive GI Bill would create an incentive for troops to get out of the military and go to college.”

Some things are so vile and contemptible there is no response to them.

Many years ago I attended a lecture given by Simon Wiesenthal the famous Nazi hunter. Somebody handed out picture postcards. Depicted was an SS Officer posing for the camera his right foot on the neck of a prisoner.

An older man in the audience rose to ask Wiesenthal for one name with an address.

Today, I recalled the emotion with which he spoke.

Suicide for General Officers Serving in Iraq

Petraeus Has but One Honorable Option
Death before Dishonor a Soldiers Code
Suicide Note by Col Ted Westhusing

Thanks for telling me it was a good day until I briefed you. [Redacted name]--You are only interested in your career and provide no support to your staff--no msn [mission] support and you don't care. I cannot support a msn that leads to corruption, human right abuses and liars. I am sullied--no more. I didn't volunteer to support corrupt, money grubbing contractors, nor work for commanders only interested in themselves. I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored. I trust no Iraqi. I cannot live this way. All my love to my family, my wife and my precious children. I love you and trust you only. Death before being dishonored any more. Trust is essential--I don't know who trust anymore. [sic] Why serve when you cannot accomplish the mission, when you no longer believe in the cause, when your every effort and breath to succeed meets with lies, lack of support, and selfishness? No more. Reevaluate yourselves, cdrs [commanders]. You are not what you think you are and I know it.
COL Ted Westhusing
Life needs trust. Trust is no more for me here in Iraq.

Sleeping in My Mercedes Benz

Sleeping in My Mercedes Benz

Watching little TV, I can't say I've missed the writers. By the time they return the recession will be in full swing.
Perhaps, they will find a new profession like building mud brick adobe houses. Mudslinging is their forte I understand.
Still, my horse is behind my cart.
Israel drafted me before I was able to make money writing. After a few weeks dodging rockets in Lebanon, they made me a truck driver.
My truck is much roomier than a Mercedes.