2008, My Best Year, As Far As Deer Hunting Goes

2008 was a rough year for me. Had a lot of changes as far as my personal life goes. But deer season went better than ever. I finished the year with 6 deer. My previous best was 5, two years ago. Before you say anything, I hunt Tennessee and Virginia, so I stayed within my limits.

Today was my last day for this year. I am already looking forward to November.

But at least now I can finally get back to the keyboard. I will pick it up in a few days but for now I would just like to pose a question to Israel:

What the Hell took you so long?

A question to the UN:

Is it possible for you to get your heads out of your asses?

The last question goes to the American people:

How long would we be willing to allow Canada or Mexico to bomb our country before we acted just as Israel is?

I don't know how you would answer this question, but this American would be ready to go the very first time.

I hope Israel stays and gets the job done. The world needs to be rid of this vermin known as Hamas.

Iran Tests New Missile That Can Reach Israel

You have to wonder how long Israel can let this kind of stuff go:

Iran said it successfully test-fired a new generation of long range surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday — one that could easily strike as far away as southeastern Europe with greater precision than earlier models.

The Sajjil is a solid fuel high-speed missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar said on state television. At that range, it could easily strike Iran's arch-foe Israel and go as far as southeastern Europe.

President Bush has repeatedly encouraged Israel to let the sanctions work. These sanctions have not made a dent in Iran's rush toward the destruction of Israel. I know, Obama has stated that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear missiles. Do you believe he will take the actions that will be required to stop them? If Bush won't do anything to stop it, why would you think Obama would?

I expect Israel is thinking the same thing. At least I hope so. I expect there will be an attack by Israel before the end of the year. I hate to see this happen, but I do not believe Israel will have any other option than to stop them with force. I only hope the President will back Israel when they do have to stop Iran.

John Bolton: "Israel, Iran, and The Bomb"

This is a great article:

Iran's test salvo of ballistic missiles last week together with recent threatening rhetoric by commanders of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards emphasizes how close the Middle East is to a fundamental, in fact an irreversible, turning point.

Tehran's efforts to intimidate the United States and Israel from using military force against its nuclear program, combined with yet another diplomatic charm offensive with the Europeans, are two sides of the same policy coin. The regime is buying the short additional period of time it needs to produce deliverable nuclear weapons, the strategic objective it has been pursuing clandestinely for 20 years.

Read the rest at the link. You will not be disappointed.

I had to add this paragraph:

Thus, instead of debating how much longer to continue five years of failed diplomacy, we should be intensively considering what cooperation the U.S. will extend to Israel before, during and after a strike on Iran. We will be blamed for the strike anyway, and certainly feel whatever negative consequences result, so there is compelling logic to make it as successful as possible. At a minimum, we should place no obstacles in Israel's path, and facilitate its efforts where we can.

How true this line is: "We will be blamed for the strike anyway, and certainly feel whatever negative consequences result..."

Oh, how I wish this man still represented us in the United (against American Issues) Nations.

U.S. Officials Should Take Notes From Meir Amit

Amit is the former director of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency:

"I am in favor of using the power of force against Iran, because if we let things go as they are we will find ourselves in a very dangerous situation," Amit said. "We have good intelligence, and we shall decide what is the right timing for any attack."

Asked about media speculation and statements from officials and former officials that the best window of opportunity for Israel to attack Iran is before President Bush leaves office in January, Amit responded that U.S. politics should not be a consideration.

...

Pressed on the issue of media reports quoting anonymous Israeli and American officials speaking about the timing of an Israeli strike, Amit replied, "When you decide to attack someone, you don't let that person or country know anything about the timing in advance. You do it at the right moment without any initial warning or announcement."

He is absolutely right. The U.S. will have to deal with Iran sooner or later. For Israel it will have to be sooner. Iran has called for Israel's complete inhalation. They have called for our destruction too, but given the hatred Iran has shown toward Israel there is little doubt that Israel will be first on their list. The time to act is rapidly approaching.

Is Israel Preparing An Attack On Iran's Nuclear Facilities?

U.S officials think so:

Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Several American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.

More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and over Greece during the first week of June, American officials said.

Israeli officials claim it was routine training. But, the article goes on to say:

...the scope of the Israeli exercise virtually guaranteed that it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies.

Was Israel training for an attack on Iran? If they were smart they would. Check out my last post for a perfectly good reason for it.

One official thinks it's purpose was to send a message to other countries that Iran will act militarily if needed. I would hope so. The Iranian government has expressed their desire to "wipe Israel off the map" dozens of times. Nobody can dispute that fact. I just wish the rest of the world were as concerned about Iran gaining nuclear capabilities as Israel seems to be. While it is true that Israel would probably be the first to be attacked, they would not be the only country that gets attacked.

One more thing I would like to discuss about the article:

Iran has shown signs that it is taking the Israeli warnings seriously, by beefing up its air defenses in recent weeks, including increasing air patrols. In one instance, Iran scrambled F-4 jets to double-check an Iraqi civilian flight from Baghdad to Tehran.

"They are clearly nervous about this and have their air defense on guard," a Bush administration official said of the Iranians.

Iran being nervous about this is a good reaction. A lot better than the reaction the U.S. and their counterparts got from their last try at appeasement:

"In the nuclear issue, the bullying powers have used up all their capabilities but could not break the will of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state television.

World powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- on Saturday offered Tehran a new package of technological and economic incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment activities.

Keep it up Israel. You are proving that some people will not pay any attention to sanctions or bribes. They do seem to respond to the threat of force though.

Iran With Nuclear Weapons

Unfortunately, it looks like it will come to that. What can be done has been a key issue the last several years. Charles Krauthammer's opinion is that we will have to treat Iran the way we treated the USSR during the cold war:

During the Cold War, we prevented an attack not only on the U.S. but also on America’s allies by extending the American nuclear umbrella — i.e., declaring that any attack on our allies would be considered an attack on the United States.

Such a threat is never 100 percent credible. Nonetheless, it made the Soviets think twice about attacking our European allies. It kept the peace.

Go over and read the rest. It is a good article.

I don't think this will be as strong a deterrent as it was with the Soviets. This worked with them because we had just proven our strength and determination during WWII.

Iran does not fear the US. They have thumbed their noses at us for a long time now, and they now feel the US is weak. They have declared this many times over the last 20 years. I agree to some extent. Not about our military mind you, about our leaders. They have proven time and again that they are more interested in popularity than keeping the US safe. As far as the UN goes, that whole organization is a joke and Iranian leaders know it.

What I think needs to be done is this. We need to give Iran a reason to fear us. We need to stand with Israel to ensure Iran does not get these weapons in the first place.

I do not see that happening though.

So then we would have to take Mr. Krauthammer's advise:

How to create deterrence? The way John Kennedy did during the Cuban missile crisis. President Bush should issue the following declaration, adopting Kennedy’s language while changing the names of the miscreants:

It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear attack upon Israel by Iran, or originating in Iran, as an attack by Iran on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon Iran.

Of course I don't think this will happen. If this warning were given, Iran would not take it seriously. Given the actions of our leaders over the last 20 years I can't say as I blame them.

Give It Up Condi

Condoleezza Rice is trying to save the peace talks:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejects a plea from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to resume peace talks with Israel.

Miss Rice is trying to save a barely started Israeli-Palestinian peace process from collapsing today amid continuing exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Miss Rice, who met with Mr. Abbas after talks with Egyptians officials in Cairo, told Palestinians that she feels their pain from a weekend Israeli military campaign that left more than 100 dead, but she put the blame squarely on Hamas.

Read the rest at the link.

It is sad that the Bush Administration will not wake up and smell the coffee. The chance that we will see peace in that region is almost 0%. The goal for these people is to destroy Israel. They are not going to go by any peace deal. Even if they do agree to one.

Miss Rice also said:

“Hamas gets armed by the Iranians, and if nobody helps to improve the security capabilities of the legitimate Palestinian Authority security forces, that’s not a very good situation,” she said at a press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Wonder if Hamas will get any of the nuclear weapons from Iran, if and when Iran is successful in developing them?

The new sanctions are not going to deter the Iranians any more than the last two did. We need to take serious action against Iran to make sure they do not get nukes. We also need to stop them from supplying terrorists with these weapons.

Israeli Intelligence Agency Disputes Latest US Findings On Iran's Nuclear Program

From Breitbart:

Israel's Mossad spy agency estimates Iran will develop a nuclear weapon within three years and continue to provide rockets to regional armed groups, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mossad director Meir Dagan, in an intelligence assessment presented to Israel's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee on Monday, said the Jewish state would face increased threats on all fronts, Maariv daily said.

Dagan's estimate of Iran's nuclear ambitions differs sharply from an assessment by the US intelligence community late last year that said Iran had mothballed its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

This is a major problem for Israel. They have to keep a close watch on Iran, while dealing with the reluctance of the US in dealing with Iran's nuclear program. One thing is for sure; we will know when Iran gets a nuke. They will use them. Or they will supply a terrorist organization with one. My only hope is that one does not end up here.

Look people, we need to get our heads out of the sand on this. Iran is at war with us the same as Al-Qaeda is. Whether we want to accept it or not. I understand the desire to have peace over there. The only problem is we do not have a choice in the matter. I know that is hard for a lot of Americans to accept. We will have to deal with Iran in the future. The only question is how much pushing are we going to take before we wake up and deal with this issue.

I know, you are saying we have sanctions against them. The only problem is; the countries that are supposed to be with us on sanctions are still trading with Iran.

Stop Iran now!

Terrorist Leaders Are Worried About Olmert's Health

From World Net Daily:

Palestinian terrorists today expressed frantic concern for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's health following media reports he would hold a news conference announcing the diagnosis of a medical ailment.

At the news conference, held at 1 p.m. Jerusalem time, Olmert told reporters he will undergo a surgical procedure in the coming months to remove the early stages of a "cancerous tumor" in his prostate.

Olmert told the packed news conference he would continue with his duties as prime minister and will not undergo chemotherapy or radiation. He said the tumor was detected 10 days ago during a routine checkup, shortly before a trip to Russia.

The prime minister's doctors said the microscopic tumor was very treatable and the surgery was not urgent.

Prior to the press conference, television channels and radio networks today dramatically announced Olmert would disclose an unspecified illness.

Following the reports, WND's Jerusalem bureau received calls from almost a dozen terrorists, including senior leaders, asking whether the online news agency had any information about Olmert's illness and expressing concern for the prime minister.

The terrorists were all members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the declared military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. The Brigades, together with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, took responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past three years and has carried out thousands of shootings, grenade attacks and rocket launchings aimed at Jewish civilian population centers.

"I don't want him to leave office or die before he has the occasion to follow through with his promises of granting amnesty," said one leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

He may be the only Jew these terrorists do not want to see dead.

I have complained about Olmert time and again on this blog. He is too eager to give up strategic sites inside Israel.

I hope he is alright and makes a full recovery from whatever health issues he has. I also hope that he changes his beliefs that if he gives in to the terrorists, they will suddenly stop wanting to kill the citizens of Israel.