AQ offering a truce for Iraq, Afghanistan

A new audio tape supposedly from Al Qaeda is offering a truce for the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan while promising more attacks in the US. It also says that the security measures here in the US aren’t the reason there’s been no attacks, it’s that things take time to plan.

Yes, that’s one explanation and it has the virtue of requiring no proof whatsoever to make. A more reasonable explanation is that the people who had been planning such operations are either captured or dead and that the preparations for those attacks were disrupted by the various anti-terrorist operations that have taken place since 9/11. We know for a fact that terrorists have been captured while planning additional attacks. We know for certain that some have been killed. Funds and materiel have been seized or destroyed. In any endeavor, those events would delay the planning and execution of anything such an organization would be attempting to accomplish. So, to say that the security measures haven’t been effective is (if not an outight lie) an exaggeration.

I find it interesting that the word used in the offer was “truce” instead of “peace.” A truce indicates a simple staying of combat. What AQ is saying is that they’ll offer the Iraqis and the Afghanis time to rebuild and then attempt to subvert any freedoms they’ve won. Nice of them. Of course, offering a truce when they’re getting their asses kicked is an obvious face-saving maneuver, too.

Oh, no, no… it’s not that our forces have been decimated. It’s not that we can’t field an effective force any more. It’s that we’re offering a truce. Yeah, that’s it.

Of course, they want the truce to be held on both sides, so that will give them the opportunity to recover and rearm themselves. Possibly even move out to more favorable ground. The Iraqis and the Afghanis will, I hope, realize that it’s not in their best interests to take AQ up on the deal.

A new church opens

I was happy to assist in the opening of a new church out here – a church I’ve been working for for a few years. Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church opened its doors Tuesday in a high mass officiated by both of our parish priests, a number of visiting clerics and the head of our diocese, Bishop Paul Loverde.

It’s been a long time coming but it’s finally open and it’s a beautiful church. The stained glass windows were rescued from a church that was being decommissioned up in Elmira, NY. They’re lovely and – wonder of wonders – you can actually view every one of them here at the church’s web site. Our first Sunday masses will be held this weekend and I’m looking forward to taking the family there. I was there Tuesday in a support role for the reception since the mass was mid-day and the wife and daughter weren’t able to attend.

Congrats to Fathers Saunders and Belli for seeing this through and to the rest of us for pulling together on it.

Voter fraud and intimidation in 2004 now going to trial

In the one confirmed and undeniable case of voter intimidation and a premeditated attempt to keep people from the polls, 5 men are now standing trial in Wisconsin. These 5 upstanding citizens are charged with destruction of private property in which they slashed the tires of 25 vans rented by the Republican Party of Wisconsin to drive people to the polls. There is no question that what they did was for the purpose of keeping voters who would likely vote for George Bush in 2004 from getting to the ballot box. The editor for the Wisconsin State Journal puts it quite eloquently:

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This is not just another run-of-the-mill case of vandalism. It’s an affront to our democratic system. The Republican Party of Wisconsin had rented the vehicles to shuttle GOP-friendly voters to the polls. That’s perfectly legal. In fact, it’s noble. If you need a ride to the polls, you probably can’t drive or don’t own a car. Perhaps you are disabled or elderly. Democrats target similar help to voters likely to vote Democratic. What’s not OK is preventing people from voting by sabotaging their transportation. It’s dastardly and far worse than the actual physical damage to the vehicles, esti mated at over $2,500.

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What’s also dastardly is the massive silence the media is putting off about this case. If this were a case where 5 Republicans – two of them sons of prominent Republican elected officials – had engaged in blockading Democrats from getting to the polls you wouldn’t be able to turn on the TV without seeing footage from the courtroom. Then again, the media would also be screaming that it shouldn’t take 16 months to convict them, either.

But it’s not 5 Republicans. It’s 5 Democrats. So it’s “Move along, nothing to see here,” from the news media. Sure, no bias there.