“Mature societies do not make decisions by wondering what the Bad People want and then automatically doing the opposite. That is the mindset of a child.”
–Salon’s Glenn Greenwald, on the Winograd Commission’s report on the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.
As President Bush prepares to use his power of veto for just the second time in his reign as U.S. leader - the first was to curtail stem cell research, this one to cancel out the Senates Iraq supplemental funding bill - an extremely non-surprising event has taken place - al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed. Perhaps.
Tribes claim leader of al Qaeda in Iraq killed
Unconfirmed reports that al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed come from local tribes and not Iraq’s intelligence services or military, an Iraqi government spokesman said Tuesday.
Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the government won’t be able to confirm al-Masri’s death until it makes an identification of the body.
“Iraqi security forces do not have the body,” al-Dabbagh said on Iraqi state TV. “Iraqi security forces and Multi-National Forces are trying to retrieve the body for visual identification and DNA tests.”
The reports of al-Masri’s death emerged after a confrontation Tuesday between Sunni tribes and al Qaeda in Iraq at a bridge in an area under Sunni tribal control, al-Dabbagh said.
Al-Masri — also known as Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajer — succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq after he was killed in a U.S. airstrike in June.
So while Bush uses a pen for something other than a signing statement for a change, he will very likely be promoting this latest amazing “success” in the War on Terror. And while Al-Masri may or may not be dead, what truly matters is that there are reports he’s dead, and that the PNAC crowd can point frantically at the issue and that terror is everywhere and the U.S. needs to continue to wage war on the Middle East until the end of time, or until we run out of soldiers.
For more of these “coincidences” check out Keith Olberman’s “Nexus of Politics and Terror.”
And keep in mind that the Administration celebrated its great “victory” over Iraq four years ago today.
–WKW
As Dirk Nowitzki tries to find an answer for the Golden State Warriors (!) and Shaquille O’Neal is sitting at home planning his next career move (policeman? FBI agent? Captain America?), I was reminded of what was likely the greatest offensive weapon in the NBA, and one of the most unique threats in all of sports.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Sky Hook.
Unblockable and effective from at least 15 feet, Abdul-Jabbar destroyed teams with this shot. Turned to the defender, his long arm outstretched, releasing the ball downward at its highest point, and deadly accurate it was truly a thing of beauty.
But while it remains as potent a weapon as the NBA has ever seen, no center today dares emulate it. That should tell you all you need to know about the athletic ability of the 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar. What could be an ungainly shot was a masterpiece in his hands.
–WKW