Zawahiri claims Al Qaeda has “broken the back” of US military; MSM just nods

Ever since old Baghdad Bob started spouting off his transparent lies in an attempt to downplay the crushing defeat US & Coalition forces were dealing the Iraqi military we have all become accustomed to statements by our enemies to the effect that they’re beating us like a drum. The recent release of an Internet video from Al Qaeda in Iraq’s Al-Zawahiri contains this kind of spewage. Have a look:

Al Qaeda’s No. 2 said the terror network’s branch in Iraq had “broken the back” of the U.S. military with hundreds of homicide bombings, in a video posted Saturday that was the latest in a string of new messages by al Qaeda’s leaders.

…

He said that U.S. and British forces in Iraq had bogged down in Iraq and “have achieved nothing but loss, disaster and misfortune.”

Al Qaeda in Iraq “alone has carried out 800 martyrdom operations (homicide attacks) in 3 years, besides the sacrifices of the other mujahedeen, and this is what has broken the back of American in Iraq,” al-Zawahiri said.

It should go without saying that Al Qaeda is never going to openly say that they’re doing anything but achieving glorious victory. What should be noted is the deference that opinion gets from the MSM. This AP story carries the message of this video with exactly 1 sentence of rebuttal from US forces and that’s from an unnamed source. They carry the quotes I provided above and a few others in the linked story but they let stand univestigated or answered the allegation that the US and British military’s backs are broken. Those of us who understand the MSM is doing an incredibly poor job in actually covering the war on terror as it’s happening know better. The people who don’t blog or read blogs only know what the MSM tells them.

And, today, the MSM is telling them that a highly-placed terrorist leader is claiming to have broken the backs of our military without a single named quote from a member of our military rebutting that statement. What are people to think about that? Would it have killed the AP to talk to someone in CentCom and to have given the basic state of our military forces in Iraq? Sure, I know our military is strong, well positioned, and in high spirits. I know that because I talk with soldiers deployed there and I read their blogs. But people like my mother and several of my more extended family don’t. The MSM is clearly falling down here when they can’t even muster the jouralistic decency to report the whole story, rather than just serve as a mouthpiece for the enemy.

Saudi tourist arrested in CA intending to have sex with a minor

Yes, it’s true. And I suppose a 2 1/2-year-old is technically a “minor.”

A tourist from Saudi Arabia traveled to California to molest a 2 1/2-year-old girl, federal and state officials said Friday.

Nabil Al Rowais, 37, was arrested at a Vallejo hotel Thursday night after he arrived for a visit he’d arranged by e-mail with a man he thought was the girl’s father, officials said.

The girl doesn’t exist and the “father” was really an undercover agent.

Al Rowais told investigators he is a practicing psychiatrist in Saudi Arabia, though he entered the United States on a nonimmigrant visa issued in Canada, according to a joint statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento, and the California Department of Justice.

The story says he faces 5 to 30 years if convicted. Personally, I’m all for bringing a little of this guy’s home to America, just for him. Let’s have a public beheading for this one.

Sorry if that’s shocking, folks. Very, very little brings my blood to an instant boil faster than this kind of child abuse.

“In Virginia, the Death Penalty for Gambling”

At first I was inclined to think this headline was the result of a reporter trying to drum up more outrage than his story warranted. If true, it’s hasn’t gone far enough. Literally outrageous.

Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office catches 14 illegals

Just so no one thinks this is only a problem for the southwestern states, this is a press release from our local Sheriff’s Office:

A Loudoun Sheriff’s Deputy on routine patrol near Waterford uncovered a possible human trafficking ring and now 14 people are in the custody of federal authorities. 

The investigation revealed that the group, all of whom are believed to be illegal immigrants, had traveled from the U.S. border in the southwest to Virginia. Each of them is believed to have paid $1500 for the transportation. There final destination was unclear.

The possible ring was discovered by a Sheriff’s Deputy who was driving on Charles Town Pike (Route 9) around 12:15 AM Thursday. In the parking lot of the Waterford Shell the deputy observed a suspicious pick-up with Oklahoma tags. The deputy shined his light at the Ford F-Series pick-up and noticed several occupants inside. Upon further investigation 14 people were found crammed inside the truck. They included three people in the front seat, four in the extended cab area and seven in the bed of the truck. The bed of the truck was covered with a camper shell and had tinted windows.

Special Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) responded to the scene and took all 14 suspects into custody. The suspects, who are believed to be illegal immigrants, included 12 males, an adult female and a juvenile female.

The investigation into the possible case of human trafficking is being handled by members of ICE. Members of the Loudoun Sheriff’s Gang Intelligence Unit and the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force assisted with the initial investigation.

I’m a bit unclear about how you arrive at the conclusion that this was a case of “human trafficking” when each of the humans involved were paying for the traffic, but that’s up to the investigators, I suppose. Virginia, Colorado, Ohio, and other states well removed from the southern border of our nation are paying the price for enforcing our border security both in terms of time and funds. At the closest approach I can eyeball, Waterford, VA is just over 1700 miles from the southern border. That’s an awfully long way to allow people whose identity and intent are unknown to travel in this country. Check out that map. There’s a lot of America between those 2 points.

Securing the perimeter of this nation is one of the explicit tasks assigned to the federal government in the Constitution. It’s not supposed to be up to the States, individually, to be the primary line of defense and that’s what’s happening here. Had it not been for a vigilant Virginia sheriff’s deputy these people would have simply dissolved into the local population or moved further on into the country. Congress needs to pass the House’s legislation and get a perimeter fence built now. We can debate what’s appropriate for the illegals who are already here to our hearts’ content but we must secure that border to make any such debate meaningful.