One of the many wondrous peoples that poured forth from the rich imagination of the late J. R. R. Tolkien were the Ents. These tree-like creatures, agonizingly slow and covered with mossy bark, nursed themselves on tales of past glory while their numbers dwindled in their isolation. Unable to reproduce themselves or to fathom the evil outside their peaceful forest — and careful to keep to themselves and avoid reacting to provocation of the tree-cutters and forest burners — they assumed they would be given a pass from the upheavals of Middle Earth.
But with the sudden arrival of two volatile hobbits, the nearby evils of timber-cutting, industrial devilry, and mass murder became too much for the Ents to stomach. They finally "wake up" (literally). Then they go on the offensive — and are amazed at the power they still wield in destroying Saruman's empire.
I am somewhat of a Tolkien buff. Hanson's characterization of the Ents is fairly accurate. The Ents were also very wise, powerful ancient creatures, immortal, guardians of the trees. In that sense, the Dutch (or any other Europeans) are very unlike Ents.
But I like the idea of Europeans being provoked to the point where they do remember that
...the Western military tradition is European. Today the continent is unarmed and weak, but deep within its collective mind and spirit still reside the ability to field technologically sophisticated and highly disciplined forces — if it were ever to really feel threatened.
We ARE threatened. We just refuse to acknowledge it. Of course Islam is not a serious enemy, IF Europe would just decide to recognize the fact that Islam sees the West as its enemy.
[In France] Thousands of unassimilated Muslims mock French society. Yet their fury shapes its foreign policy to the degree that Jacques Chirac sent a government plane to sweep up a dying Arafat. But then what do we expect from a country that enriched Hamas, let Mrs. Arafat spend her husband's embezzled millions under its nose, gave Khomeini the sanctuary needed to destroy Iran, sold a nuclear reactor to Saddam, is at the heart of the Oil-for-Food scandal, and revs up the Muslim world against the United States?
Then Hanson makes a point that is crucial. I have been making it for years:
Only now are Europeans discovering the disturbing nature of radical Islamic extremism, which thrives not on real grievance but on perceived hurts — and the appeasement of its purported oppressors. How odd that tens of millions of Muslims flocked to Europe for its material consumption, superior standard of living, and freedom and tolerance — and then chose not merely to remain in enclaves but to romanticize all the old pathologies that they had fled from in the first place. It is almost as if the killers in Amsterdam said, "I want your cell phones, unfettered Internet access, and free-spirited girls, but hate the very system that alone can create them all. So please let me stay here to destroy what I want."
So what's Europe going to do?
Read Hanson for his thoughts on it. I think Europe may shape up yet. But it's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.
French surprised, annoyed at Israeli "anti-Frenchism"
"I think there is a neurosis that causes anti-Frenchism," the ambassador, Gerard Araud, told Army Radio. "This anti-French neurosis has led to France being so hated in Israel. The relationship between the two countries is very difficult. You simply love to hate us."
It's true that France does not criticize Israel anymore than most other European countries (not that that is a consolation). But what IS different about France is the extent and intensity of its ties to the Arab world.
France hosted Arafat when he was dying, honouring him as if he were Churchill, not the worst terrorist that ever lived.
France is the major beneficiary of the Oil-For-Food scandal, apart from the Annan family crime syndicate.
Of course, France is not averse to a little over-the-top violence when a few French soldiers get killed.
The French act as though there's no problem being normal to your face, and at the same time being best friends and partners with the homicidal maniacs who are out to kill you and your entire family.
I love it when others take the time to rip to shreds the miserable SOB Annan. Corrupt, arrogant, Jewhater, opportunist: Exactly what you'd expect as a UN leader. Hal Lindsey on the Oil-For-Food scandal:
...That doesn't mean Annan is without friends. The ever-faithful Jacques Chirac phoned him to say, as Chirac later told the press, "At a time when some voices whose underlying motives are open to question are trying to call into question the merits ... of Mr. Kofi Annan, all of us in Europe, and indeed in Africa and Asia, consider it legitimate to express our gratitude and our friendship to the U.N. secretary-general."
One would think so! During the Oil-For-Food program's heyday, France was among Saddam's most reliable apologists – and one of the largest recipients of Saddam's kickback program.
None of what Lindey says is much news, but I give him credit for repeating something that the MSM (=MainStream Media) conspicuously leave unsaid (but badly needs repeating):
Kofi Annan should step down because he is – at best – grossly incompetent, and at worst, the leader of one of the most successful criminal organizations the world has ever known. His elaborate bribe and kickback scheme clearly involved Annan's handpicked manager of the program, Benon Sevan, who made millions in kickbacks and then abruptly retired.
Top government officials for permanent Security Council members France, Russia, China, and others are also implicated. Among the recipients of Oil-For-Food cash were the Palestinian terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Iranian Marxist terrorist group Mujahadeen Khalq.
Lindsey concludes that nothing will save the UN, not even Annan's immediate abdication. He's probably right, but the end of the UN will be late in coming about, no matter when it actually happens. A slimebucket like Annan is really only a symptom of the disease that is the UN, not the cause. And if Annan finally gets lost (well taken care of I'm sure), another miserable autocrat will take his place. After all, it'll still be the same old UN.
In this article in the JeruzalemPost, results of a poll are published. Subject?
...more than 50 percent of Germans believe that Israel's present-day treatment of the Palestinians is similar to what the Nazis did to the Jews during World War II.
You might for a second be inclined to forgive the present-day Germans. After all, it was their fathers and grandfathers - not the modern German - who were responsible for the greatest genocide in the history of mankind, as well as thirty million or so people killed besides.
But of course these Germans have hardly any less an excuse than their ancestors to hold an opinion like this. It's part of a natural tendency in Europe to blame the Jews for everything that's wrong in the world. Remember when a Europe-wide poll revealed that Israel was seen as the single greatest threat to world peace?
The survey also found that 68 percent of Germans believe that Israel is waging a "war of extermination" against the Palestinians, while some 32% disagreed with such a statement.
The people who were interviewed were clearly lying, because if ANYONE knows what an actual extermination is and how to go about it, it's the Germans!
When a Yad Vashem official is confronted with these results, he naturally ends up concluding there was a "long-suppressed felling [sic] of anti-Semitism" and "the result of the release of pent-up feelings of guilt built up from the Holocaust".
I don't think there was ever much guilt. Or if there was, it's the kind you feel when you get caught and punished for stealing from the cookiejar, but you don't actually FEEL any remorse. You would do it again if you thought you could get away with it.
It really makes me wish the Americans had dropped the Bomb on Berlin, not Hiroshima.
The Dutch government has decided to use the European blacklist of terror organizations. Believe it or not, this list is EVEN stricter than the one the Dutch used to date. This means that organizations like Hamas, Al-Aqsa martyrs brigade and the Kurdish PKK are now illegal in the Netherlands. Organizations allied to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are also outlawed.
Is that tough or what?
Being blacklisted does not mean organizations have to be disbanded, but its members have to cease all activities. If they don't, they risk a jail sentence of up to one year.
Just in case you're wondering: This is not a joke. Well, it is of course, but the measure itself is serious.
The Thai seem to be inflicted with the European Appeasement Virus. A shame, they were doing so well until now.
Thailand's troubled south has been hit by fresh violence, just hours after army planes dropped 100m origami birds as a peace offering.
The paper bird drop was arranged to coincide with the 77th birthday of Thailand's revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, and ordinary Thais across the country wrote messages on paper birds they had folded.
As the birds fell to their targets in the provinces of Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani, school children rushed out to collect them and seek the notes inside.
So what would any sane Muslim do to respons to such overt weakness?
A bomb exploded in Narathiwat province on Monday morning, injuring at least one soldier, police said.
On Sunday, as the 50 planes made their drops, suspected Muslim militants shot dead a former prosecutor in Pattani.
On the other hand,
The bird drop caught many people's imaginations, but has been criticised by southern leaders as insufficient.
I like the idea of bombarding the Malaysian-backed Muslim terrorist in Southern Thailand. It's just the type of ordnance I take issue with.
We search the purses of little old ladies so that recent immigrants from Saudi Arabia named "Mohammed" wearing massive backpacks don't get singled out.
